Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian & Jason.
Hi Brian & Jason, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
We are Brian Hartman (20) and Jason Marhenke (27), founders of an Alternative-Indie band called Teahouse™ coming out of Fort Myers, Florida. We met a few years back when Brian came into the Kava bar that I (Jason) was working at, at the time. Brian came into an empty bar with just me on my laptop and the kavatender on shift. He came in with a guitar and a friend that day. He asked me if he was allowed to play his guitar in the bar, and me being a music lover myself, of course, I said yes. We got to talking and the rest is history. We frequented his attic space to jam, practice, and get to know each other, and we became great friends.
I (Brian) was previously a mildly successful solo acoustic artist playing a mix of bars/restaurants around Fort Myers. I was making good money for a high school teenager, but the reason I say “mildly successful” is because of what I wasn’t able to do at a lot of these gigs. I’ve always been a very passionate songwriter, waiting for the opportunity to share my music with the world. The only problem? The world I had built my business around didn’t want to hear it. After about a year and a half, I decided to put my solo cover show to rest and get back to the drawing board. I realized that in order to even get close to where I wanted to be as a musician and as a business, I had to completely change the model. One night in a moment of “right place, right time”, I bumped into a local producer at an open mic. He told me his name was Connor Blair and he loved my original music. Connor handed me his card and said
“I’ll be at work in Studio A tommorow. Come by and I’ll give you a tour.”
I shook his hand, and out of pure curiosity, I actually showed up for the tour. After the initial shock and awe, the “tour” ended up turning into the first recording session of our first single “Rainy Days.” I finally felt like I was just where I needed to be. This was the moment my dream turned into a vision. This was the moment “Teahouse” was born.
I (Jason) was in a handful of bands and groups in the previous years as a now 14-year drummer, playing shows downtown Fort Myers, FL practicing in garages and hot bedrooms. I always dreamed of playing bigger, better shows for loads of people. I’ve just never played with anyone that wanted to take it further. Now, after performing in 7 bands and only ever playing for a maximum of 200 people, I had finally found Brian, who was the most enthusiastic and passionate person I have ever met when it comes to music. It was he who also wanted to take it to the highest level possible. Albeit surreal, I jumped on the bandwagon for the ride, and it’s been a wild experience ever since. One day, Brian eventually told me about a local studio in town, where he wanted to record some originals. He pushed and pushed me to come join him to start recording for a couple weeks. It took me a while to say yes to joining him in the studio, but once I did, I fell in love with the scene. It felt so empowering to just be in the studio.
Along the line, we realized we would probably need to expand Teahouse and its members. Brian told me he spoke with a guy named Sebastian, who had apparently played music at the bar I managed. I didn’t remember him, but more importantly he told me that he played guitar. And man o’ man does he play a mean guitar. So, we (Brian and Jason) organized a meeting with him at a restaurant downtown Fort Myers. We discussed having him become a possible member of Teahouse, along with his brother, Daniel who plays a mean bass guitar. After all, was said and done, we agreed to do a test run practice with us in Brian’s attic space. That first jam we ever played as a quartet ended up becoming amongst my favorite jam sessions I had personally ever had in my 14 years as a percussionist. The two brothers still play with us to this day and beyond. We’ve been incredibly happy to have them on board ever since.
Fast forward to the present day, we have a full studio EP released, our first studio Single, and are currently working on our next full-length concept album, practicing in the very studio we record in today (Just Velocity Records), playing numerous sold out local shows each month.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The “road” of any sort of artist is one paved with struggle and adversity. Has it been easy for us? Absolutely not. One of the biggest obstacles we encountered at first was, of course, money. Jason and I (Brian) are very proud of the fact that we have remained 100% self-funded in everything we’ve done so far. The initial investment that it took from both of us in order to get here was, at the very least, substantial. It’s all the little things that we don’t think about as musicians. All sorts of huge expenses that we never even thought were necessary. Maxing out our cards, taking as many shifts as we could at our day jobs, and overall putting ourselves into challenging financial positions for the benefit of the business. It was and still is a challenging time, but one that we’ve accepted as necessary to our ambition.
I’ll admit, at the start of all this it was very apparent neither of us really knew what we were doing. That’s the beauty of the music industry; there’s no clear road map to success. You have to draw it yourself. There’s no one right way to do it. In other industries, there are clear milestones one must complete in order to reach their occupation. Every step, every path, written out for others to follow. As musicians, our map looks like an endless maze filled with dead ends. Learning to navigate a road like that changes you. It definitely changed us. Transitioning from the mindset of imaginative musicians to that of cutthroat businessmen was a monstrous struggle for the both of us. The music is the easy part. It comes effortlessly. Lawyers, accounting, negotiating, marketing, etc. did not come so easily. It felt like learning how to ride a bike for the first time. After all those sleepless nights and long days spent researching just about everything we could about running a small business, I can confidently say that it might be our biggest strength. Learning from the ground up how to run a business the right way and integrating that with our artistic personalities has served us better than anything. Though an arduous journey, it has led the way for every success we’ve had as a band and as a business.
For me (Jason) I believe I’ve had a good number of personal obstacles I have been facing, as most people may encounter in their daily lives. One big one was stage fright. In all of my 10 years playing small shows, 14 years total of being a drummer, I never was able to get over my stage fright. It had always been a challenge for me, as you would think it would get easier over time. For me, it was always there. I only saw an improvement with it when I started playing with Brian, Sebastian, and Daniel. For whatever reason it felt right; I felt comfortable playing with them by my side. Their energy is amazing and their relaxed and groovy nature made it easier for me to become more relaxed as well. Then, slowly, it started getting easier for me to hop on stage in front of loads of people. A more recent show being in front of a crowd of 700+ people. That was easily our biggest show yet, and yet, I was humble and content. We played a killer show, and it turned out to be one of our best performances yet.
I’d say another challenge, and one of our biggest is that Brian and I (Jason) have had to completely rearrange our daily schedules and our lives in order to run our business, our band, finances, merchandise, etc. Brian is more technically intelligent on the backend of things. He’s always one step ahead of me with things we need to have or do as a business and as a band. It is something I strive to be better at, being one step ahead. However, the idea of becoming a successful musician is very far from just writing and performing the music. There are so many things in between that most people don’t see that goes into it that most well-known musicians know all too well. From making excel sheets and charts that manage our merch, tickets, sales, etc. to sitting down and having meetings about what’s next and how we can get our names out there. It’s a huge change of daily routine for us. But the beauty of it: One day we will be performing what we love, doing what we love, in front of tens of thousands of people that only want to spread the joy and love of music with us.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In a world full of just about everything you could ever imagine it can be hard sometimes to set yourself apart from others. For us, it always come naturally. Being like everyone else has never really been a strength of ours. Ever since I (Brian) met Jason, I knew he was somebody I wanted to be around. He’s a weird guy, I’m a weird guy. It just worked. I had a sort of suspicion we would hit it off just the same as business partners and I was right. I knew from the start that we could build something huge with each other, but also that both of us wanted to do it differently than everyone else. We ditched the typical bar/restaurant business model after the results we saw with our first show. We put on a private, invite-only performance at my house in front of about 30 of our close friends. It was supposed to be more of a practice show but what it turned into was nothing short of amazing. We brought in professional photographers, professional videographers, lighting, sound, and even got a sponsorship from a local Kava/Kratom company (MITRA9) who brought plenty of refreshments for everyone. Seeing 30 of our closest friends enjoying our own original music, our fully staged event, and all without alcohol put a vision in not only my head but the head of Joe Catalano, one of the owners of Just Velocity Studios. Both of us being prominent members of the local Kava/Kratom community we envisioned a world where all of our community members, sober or not, could come out and enjoy high-quality concerts. As a recovered addict himself, Jason was fully on board with the idea. We then set off to do the impossible. A rock band selling out a sober concert. Myself, Jason, Joe, and his people worked tirelessly to bring the idea to fruition. The result? We put on the biggest sober event our community had ever seen, selling over 700 tickets to our EP release party. Since then, we’ve always made it a point to provide high-quality sober alternatives to alcohol at any production we’re a part of. We’re very thankful for the community that has supported us unconditionally and we will continue to return the favor.
We aim to change the way people experience music. As art. We strive to see a world where anyone can turn on a radio station at any time and experience a quality of art that has been lost for decades. We aim to continue organizing live concerts that push the boundaries of what’s expected and produce music in the same fashion. Music that incites thought. Music that has a profound impact on the listener. An unforgettable auditory experience unlike any other. I’m very proud of what we’ve built, where we came from, what we’ve turned into, and what we can be.
For me (Jason) I’d say I’m most proud of my desire to continue my percussion career, especially as the drummer of Teahouse. It’s always been there. I’ve always been a “tapper” so to speak. Which was a mixture of my anxiety and my love for percussion. I’ve stuck with things for a while; then I would drop them or get bored and move to something else. I think my ADHD gets in the way of a lot of things I do in my daily life. I used to start a project of any sort, then out of nowhere it’s as if I never knew why I started it in the first place. Like I became spontaneously bored or irritated by it. Picture being excited about undertaking something, anything, and then partway through it, you don’t want anything to do with it. That’s kind of what it’s like. But, still, being a drummer has always been a constant in my life. Now, along for the ride with Brian as his partner, it’s never felt so important and genuine like any passion is. For years I was always that kid in school who would grab two pencils and tap away on my desk making a beat. I did it so much sometimes I wouldn’t even realize that I was doing it. I would annoy quite a few people, but every now and then, it would interest someone, or they would join me with their mechanical pencils. It was never a dull time for me. I tried other instruments of course until I found my calling. I learned some guitar, bass guitar, piano, cello, and violin. None of those spoke to me and felt quite right, like two drumsticks in my hand, playing a groove. It’s such a satisfying sound, such a necessary element for my brain. I can say it brings me nothing but satisfaction and happiness to create a beat and see it turn into something greater but still be pure on its own. I reckon I would consider it to be like a medication for me, playing drums. The way I see it, a percussive groove can go anywhere, be anything, or stand alone as the heartbeat to match my own. That in my mind, that’s the beauty, the magic of it. It has worked for me so far and has been the medication to my happiness ever since. I wouldn’t know what to say if anything sets me apart from any others. I’m just a passionate drummer in a world equal to all who are also striving to do something they love. What better way to find happiness in life other than to be around the people you love, doing what you love? The only way it can get any better for me is doing what I love in front of an unbelievable mass of people!
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Brian and I (Jason), I’d say, have a mutual agreement on what we love about the city we live in (Fort Myers FL.). There is always the question of “right place right time” in any situation, right? For example: Brian and I met at the Kava Bar that I managed, we got to talking about music, we practiced together and now here we are creating full projects and running a business together. Albeit incredible how our partnership has come to be, there has always been a constant in all of this. The Kava Bars themselves. Brian and I met at a Kava bar, we have our meetings at Kava Bars, we met our studio mates through Kava Bars and most importantly, we ourselves have been and always will be huge advocates of Kava Bars, the community they provide, and the benefits thereof. In the state of Florida, there are more Kava Bars than most places in the world. The community that they create could “terraform” so to speak, a multitude of other states and countries into a world more aligned with love, friendship, and respect. It’s hard to grasp or even understand if you haven’t been to one of these bars. It stands to be such a simple concept, yet their message goes so far and hits home with Brian and I and so many others. The community that these places create is so genuine, loving, friendly and most of all creates such an amazing sense of family that you feel right at home shortly after walking through the door. To put it into perspective, I’ve (Jason) made more friends dare I even say very close friends at these Kava Bars than I believe I ever have throughout my entire lifespan. They’re such a place of love. More importantly and secondarily, they are a place of a sober mindset, for people to come find solace in knowing they’re not alone. For a small example: Kava (Piper Methysticum) helps people to step away from drinking if it so be an issue for them. They’re miracle plants, and they have helped me (Jason) through quite a bit. Indeed, Brian and I most likely would have never met and came to be where we are today if it wasn’t for these Kava Bars. For that, we both are incredibly appreciative of their existence. When it comes to dislikes about Fort Myers, I would say between Brian and I (Jason), I can easily say one thing at least: There isn’t as big of a musical voice down here as there would be in other cities or even entire states. We view it as an opportunity. There may be a shortage of quality events in Fort Myers, but there is no shortage of music lovers. We as Teahouse are determined to keep providing our people with the quality shows they crave. None of this would be possible without our community and their support. Every aspect of the Teahouse brand is kept local. We support our local business just as much as they make what we do possible. That’s the beauty of mutual small business support.
We hope to own our own “Teahouse” one day, allowing us to further our integration of music, community, and wellness.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/officialteahouseband
- Twitter: twitter.com/teahouseband
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6VHSJw72MJhc9aZh0w7PCJ
Image Credits
Brian Hartman
Rambo Hinogami
Shane Thompson
Zachary Lepek
