Crafting Sound and Surfing Through Life: A Conversation with Soft Spot’s Gianni Fevers
Interview ★ Kenzie Gay ★ @kenzwrites ★ 4 Minutes
Connecticut is a state that has been and probably always will be a great place of artistry and the humanities in general. We’ve seen creatives such as Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things), and plenty more hail from “The Constitution State” - but who’s next? Who is the next Connecticut-based star that will change art as we know it? Personally, I’d like to throw Soft Spot into the ring.
Based in the Stamford area of Connecticut, Soft Spot is a rising rock trio composed of Gianni Fevers (guitar, vox), Marc Marenco (drums), and David/Dave Eisermann (bass). After taking the victory for Connecticut for our recent “What is The Best Underrated Band in Each State?” contest, we got the chance to sit down with Gianni to discuss the band and music at large.
Soft Spot photographed by Elijah Vicks
Walk me through how the band met and how you all went about making music in the start.
Gianni: Soft Spot was birthed out of the pandemic. I’d just graduated and previously I had a band in college so I was looking for people to play with. I started with a different drummer than we have now and it was a White Stripes sort of thing with just the guitar and drums but then we met Dave at the 20 year reunion show for this band called Shank - legends in the Stamford area - and Dave’s band was on the bill that night. We met, he asked if I needed a bass player, and the rest is history!
With our new drummer, Marc, I used to play with him in high school and we’d jam in his basement all the time. He moved to Philly for a little bit but then he came back at the perfect time because we were looking for a new drummer so it just fit.
What is your opinion on AI usage in music? Do you think it has any place in art?
Gianni: I don’t think there’s any place for it, truly. From all perspectives, there’s no real benefit. It learns from pre existing art so what’s the point? I’m not into AI. I love it when real people do real art.
What is one of your favorite albums? What about a least favorite?
Gianni: One of my favorite albums…well, right now I’m listening to alot of Hum so I’ll say Downward is Heavenward. As for least favorite? I’ll just say one that didn’t live up to my expectations which is The Slow Rush by Tame Impala. I really wanted it to be great like Currents.
So Guitar Player magazine has a series they call “My Life in 5 Riffs” where they ask guitarists and bassists to name 5 riffs that have impacted and influenced their sound. That being said, what are your 5 riffs?
Gianni: All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, Them Bones by Alice in Chains, Fourth of July by Soundgarden, Forever Halloween by The Maine, and Stars by Hum
You guys released your debut album this past June. Can you shed some light on the process it took to create this album? Or maybe share a fond memory from the studio?
Gianni: Some of the record was written years ago when I started Soft Spot as a solo thing. It was a very emotive time because I’d also just gotten out of a long term relationship. Songs like High and Dry and Time were written around this time then the others came after - Down was the last song written for the album.
I think the full record is a good representation of our growth as a band. Not that the songs sound super different from one another but just that you can hear the evolution throughout. We’ve been crafting our sound over the last 4 years and the sonic-ness of Down in specific is what we’d been chasing sound-wise so it really completed the record . Doing trial and error over the last few years has led us to this.
What are some things outside of music that you frequently partake in or care about? So like hobbies, tv shows, movies, politics, etc.
Gianni: By trade, I work as a barista and I have been for ten years. I’m a pretty good latte artist. Music is everything, of course. I really like soccer. For a little while, I did wood burning. I’d like to get into surfing even though we don’t have good weather for it since I feel like I’m surfing through life as is. I have a cat, too. She’s pretty cool.
Can you share anything about Soft Spot’s plans for 2026?
Gianni: Oh, heck yeah. Yesterday, we hit up our buddy who records us so we can record some stuff in December. Hopefully, we’ll be starting the year off with a new single. We want to do a little B sides cover thing like they used to back in the day.
In March, we want to head back over to the Midwest for tour. We’ll definitely be playing some new tunes at those shows. We’ve been actively writing and working on fresh stuff. Ideally, we’ll do a couple tours next year - West coast and Europe would be a dream - but we’re still trying to see if that’s tangible. We’re also working on a music video next month! You can definitely expect new music and some shows.
