With so much music coming out on a daily basis, the title of “legend” is more meaningful and coveted than ever. Even then, sibling duo Durry are carving a path for themselves to reach that status, starting with their evocative debut album, Suburban Legend. The project opens up with a nostalgic dial-up internet sound before bridging past and present with thoughtful storylines, lyrics, and metaphors that describe the everyday problems we all run into with a refreshing new angle that only Austin and Taryn could deliver.
“It feels like we’ve been waiting for a frozen burrito in the microwave for like 6 months,” Durry tells TREMG. “Honestly, we’re SO ready to get these songs out. It’s nerve wracking to finally release them, but we’re really proud of what we’ve made, and hope all the fans really dig in and connect with this album.”
With every song from Suburban Legend, you’ll feel like Durry either eavesdropped on your conversations with friends or flipped through that beat-up composition book you wrote in everywhere throughout high school. There’s a personal yet universal element to each track and each story they tell on the project, and you’re bound to see yourself in at least a handful of those stories. For example, see the standout “Hasta La Vista Baby” – it reflects on how our lives change after we leave high school and try to navigate the real world, with euphorically punchy lyrics like “your prom dress conquest left you in the dust, and that old letterman’s been getting kind of snug.”
They share, “So glad you picked that line, ’cause it’s literally my favorite. That’s a pretty deep cut, too! That song is all about a has-been, peaked-in-high-school, tough guy. I think that line in particular really gives a lot of story info in only a few words that I really love.”
Suburban Legend feels like so much more than simply an album. It’s a walk through your hometown during a trip to visit your parents. It’s an angsty vent session with your best friend as you lay in a field and look up at the stars. It’s a flip through your high school yearbook as you reminisce on times with your classmates and reread the messages they wrote on the last page. It’s a triumphant thesis statement for one of the alt scene’s most promising new acts, reminding you that “you’re still here and that’s worth something” no matter what the hustle and bustle of young adult life is making you feel like.
“We’re just so thankful to be doing what we’re doing, and so grateful to have anybody listening to these songs we make,” Durry says. “We just hope y’all love these songs!”
You can find Suburban Legend on your favorite streaming services now, and get to know Durry on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and their website! Keep reading for more from our interview with this incredible rising duo.
Hi Austin and Taryn, congrats on your debut album, Suburban Legend! How does it feel to finally be sharing the project with the world?
It feels like we’ve been waiting for a frozen burrito in the microwave for like 6 months. Honestly, we’re SO ready to get these songs out. It’s nerve wracking to finally release them, but we’re really proud of what we’ve made, and hope all the fans really dig in and connect with this album.
How did you know that now was the right time to release your debut album?
Oh, I don’t think anybody really knows when it’s the right time. But this microwave burrito is ready to bust. We’re a very new band, but these songs have been so meticulously crafted for so long. I think we’ve really got something special here.
One of the standout traits of Suburban Legend is the number of cool nostalgic twists and nods, including the dial-up internet noise that kicks off opener “Coming Of Age.” It really helps capture the back-and-forth between the “adult” world and youthful feelings on the album – did you know you wanted to incorporate that kind of theme, or did it come about naturally?
It definitely started out naturally, the dial-up tone was actually one of the first callbacks we introduced to the record. But as things came together, we started to see the themes come to life and started leaning into it a bit.
Suburban Legend has so many incredible, punchy lyrics, with one of our favorites being “your prom dress conquest left you in the dust, and that old letterman’s been getting kind of snug” from “Hasta La Vista Baby.” Is there a certain line you’re especially proud of?
So glad you picked that line, ’cause it’s literally my favorite. That’s a pretty deep cut, too! That song is all about a has-been, peaked-in-high-school, tough guy. I think that line in particular really gives a lot of story info in only a few words that I really love.
The album also notably has a finalized version of “Who’s Laughing Now,” the song that really started it all for you after a demo took off on TikTok. What has it been like for you to see how much fans have flocked to the song and what it’s become?
It’s been a wild journey. It’s the hit every artist dreams of, and we’re so thankful it happened to us. That song has become the story of the band, too, which is really cool. And singing it with the audience every night on tour is a literal dream come true. I love it so much.
You recently tweeted about the Terry Town theme song from the Zelda games going “unreasonably hard” – if you could pick any song from Suburban Legend to be on a video game soundtrack, which would you choose and what kind of game would you want it to be in?
Oh man, I gotta watch what I tweet haha! If you haven’t heard it, the Terry Town theme song BANGS. I can’t get it out of my head. The obvious choice is “Little Bit Lonely,” ’cause of the 8-bit intro and literal video game music video. But personally, I owe a lot of my current music taste to games like Tony Hawk 2, Burnout 2, 1080 Avalanche. I think the song “Suburban Legend” would be a PERFECT fit for, like, a skateboarding game or something like that.
Your career took off during COVID, which must have been such a unique experience! If you could go back and tell your past selves what was coming before you posted the “Who’s Laughing Now” demo that started it all, what would you say? Would you give yourself any advice?
Honestly, I think if anything different happened, it wouldn’t have happened. That was a literal lottery ticket, 1 in a million opportunity. I guess if it was destined to happen, I probably would have prepared a bit more in advance haha! Those first few weeks were absolute chaos and I was totally unprepared haha!
Austin, you were also a member of the band Coyote Kid before forming Durry with Taryn. Is your approach to creating music within Durry different than your approach to creating music within Coyote Kid?
Coyote Kid had a lot more cooks in the kitchen. A lot more differing ideas and opinions clogging up the process. Durry has a much more concise vision I think, while still having each other to filter and edit our ideas. Coyote Kid was also always about these big story records, so the lyrical content was always very limited to the story, whereas Durry is just totally open to do whatever we want, and that’s really freeing.
Taryn, before Durry really took off, you were planning on working in therapy and almost moved to Arizona to pursue that. How did you know that you wanted to make music into your career and pursue this project?
Ya know before things picked up, I didn’t really have much of a career direction, and honestly Arizona was kinda my shot at finding something new. I think at the start of this project, it was definitely just something that I was interested in and inspired by, but obviously wasn’t expecting it to become something so much bigger! Austin and I eventually found something that was really working and it just felt right to stick around for. There’s honestly still so much I’m learning as I go, but I think it’s really cool to have kind of stumbled into a passion in the most unexpected way! But I guess that’s kind of how it always goes haha.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with your music already, which of the songs on Suburban Legend would you recommend to them to get a feel for who you are as a duo?
Feels like a cop out, but “Who’s Laughing Now” is definitely the most encompassing of our music, I think. Everything else kind of branches out from that song. Second, I’d say “Losers Club” is a really important one. And then thirdly, I’d suggest the title track, “Suburban Legend,” ’cause it bangs so hard.
We at TREMG love getting to know new artists who haven’t gotten the success or attention they deserve. Who are some of your favorite underrated artists at the moment?
We’re going on tour with this incredible indie band called Mega Mango. I think they’re just so cool. Locally in MN, we have a ton of killer artists in the scene though, too. Nur-D is incredible and has this unbelievable group of musicians backing them up. Gully Boys is pretty much the undisputed champion of rock locally, they absolutely shred. And then I’ve really been digging Mike Kota, too. They’re doing some really creative stuff.
What can your fans look forward to in the rest of 2023?
We’re coming on TOUR! Like all over the place! It’s literally the dream tour. We can’t wait to meet everybody and jam out to these songs with all of you. It’s gonna be wild.
Is there anything else you’d like to mention or say to your fans that the questions didn’t touch on?
We’re just so thankful to be doing what we’re doing, and so grateful to have anybody listening to these songs we make. We just hope y’all love these songs!
By Madison Murray
Featured Image: Kay Dargen
