Photos: Frankie Cavone
The Sugar Hold has been one of the fastest growing rock bands to come out of the Capital Region. Hailing from Troy, NY the band has been playing together for roughly a year now and has played all over the area including festival stops at Wild in the Trees Music and Skate Festival and Bamf. We got to know the guys over the summer and realized how down to earth and different their music was. Not trying to be like anyone else plays reason into why this band has had early success. Not to also mention, having a great work ethic. Frontman Mikey Baish chatted with us to reflect on their strides this year. Read the full interview below!
Frankie Cavone: The Sugar Hold is celebrating one year, how have things changed over the first year of performing together?
Mikey Baish: We are just becoming much more cohesive as a unit. Our band’s name is out there now. People contact us to book gigs and it’s really a nice change from anything I’ve encountered with any bands I’ve been part of in the past. Every show we play we seem to add a few more fans. People are dancing. People know the lyrics to some of our songs. Honestly, if you had asked me what my dream would be for The Sugar Hold, one year after our first show, I would likely have very closely described what we have going on right now. It’s just awesome.
FC: You guys have strong ties and a dedicated fanbase, what is it like performing a hometown show in Troy versus venues outside of the area.
MB: Troy is definitely our main stomping ground. We have close ties to No Fun and Rare Form and while we don’t all live in Troy, it is essentially our band’s home base. We are definitely building something in Schenectady at Great Flats Brewing and have had great shows at Lark Hall and Art on Lark in Albany too. The Capital Region is good to us. We don’t necessarily strive to expand too far out from here, but we do enjoy getting out of town every now and again. We really love the Avalon Lounge, it can just be tough for us to draw a little further away from our home turf.
FC: What is some of thing biggest lessons learned throughout this first year?
MB: I guess the main thing is that being kind and having fun pays off. We are all very involved in the local scene and are enthusiastic about supporting other bands and artists in the area. That support has come back tenfold. Having fun is basically our mission and letting loose and just letting it rip seems to have an impact on our audiences as well. There are a TON of really talented local acts, but nobody has more fun than The Sugar Hold.
FC: What were some highlights from this year?
MB: Man there are a ton of really fun moments. It all starts with recording DOPE, our live special, from the Jive Hive Live. That’s where we first collaborated with Hold on Honeys on Cheeseburger and was instrumental in our development as a band. The next would probably be playing Art on Lark. That was in June and we got to share the stage with Architrave, Lemon of Choice, JB! aka Dirty Moses, and Laveda. It was just a beautiful day and an awesome time. This was also the first time we met the unforgettable Frankie Cavone. Bacchanalia/Wild in the Trees was a crazy weekend for us as well. We played two festivals that weekend and Matt & John each played at least two other sets. Matt may have been in the double digits. No Fun’s One Year Anniversary was also a real treat to play. So many awesome local acts. We had never done a cover before so doing two that night was pretty different and exciting.
FC: The Jive Hive seems to be a home away from home for you guys, what has the hive done to support the band through this initial phase?
MB: This kind of connects to the last answer. Filming DOPE contributed in a huge way to our evolution as a band. It was a real turning point. Our first show after filming was at El Dorado in Troy and you could just feel that we were starting to figure out what makes us special. Who knows when we would have recorded anything real if we hadn’t had that opportunity. It’s also really cool to be part of these Hive because we are able to get our friends in there as well. It’s a huge asset for our scene, allowing any band to get a solid recording and video, all for free. It’s a true gem.
FC: Who are some acts you guys enjoyed sharing the stage with?
MB: I swear they don’t make me, but I will always say dblgoer and BIG Maybe (Matt & John’s other projects) are my top two. Other than those two we always enjoy playing with Hold on Honeys and The Greetings. The Honeys are like our sisters and The Greetings are like our little brothers. Other bands we LOVE are Lemon of Choice (or anything with Joe Taurone), Galene, Boss Crowley, Shortwave Radioband (my actual sister-in law’s band), Kendra McKinley, Sunday Maybe, Architrave/Haley Moley, Ferriday, Electric Turtle. Too many to name really. OH! HAUNTED CAT are AWESOME! Nickopotamus are also severely underrated.
FC: Steez or Stale, thousand island/russian on a cheeseburger?
MB: I’m gonna lean toward stale, with the caveat that if it comes from Nighthawks, Nautghers, or Wizard Burger we’re in.
FC: What does the Sugar Hold have in store for 2023?
MB: We are starting off by taking a bit of a break from playing shows this winter to focus on recording our tunes. We have access to a house nearby that we are able to convert into a studio for the winter as the owners are snow birds. We plan to be there pretty much every weekend in January and hope to be done and ready to release a record by 4/20 as a sort of follow up to DOPE. Dan and his wife are having a baby in February and John will be working on a recording with dblgoer in March (hopefully) so you may see some of our friends filling in from time to time. Right now we already have Joe Taurone (Lemon of Choice/Laveda/tons more), Andrew Golden (BIG Maybe, Adequate Phil), and Rob Fleming (Rhoseway) set to fill in on some dates. We will default to the classic lineup whenever possible, but it’s nice to have talented friends who can fill in the gaps so seamlessly. We’re just excited to get new music out and are hopeful to return to some of the bigger events we played this year. There are a few local bands that are on my wishlist to play with, but The Jagaloons and The Abyssmals are at the top. There’s interest all around, we just haven’t been able to coordinate that. Hopefully the three bands can get together and throw a real rager this summer! The Brule County Bad Boys and Flavour are up there too.