There's a new pop duo coming to town called TeamMate made up of Dani Buncher and Scott Simons. Their new EP is called The Sequel and is composed of tracks describing their unique relationship. After dating a full decade Dani came out to Scott as a lesbian. The two are now teammates in the music business and traveling around the country on tour.
This tour brings them to Schubas opening for the hot singer Skylar Grey. We talked to them on the phone before they arrived in Chicago.
Windy City Times: Hi to you both. Where in the world are you?
Scott Simons: We are in route from New York to Boston, somewhere in New Haven.
WCT: You are currently out on tour right now?
Scott Simons: Yes, this is our third day. We left on a Wednesday and this will be our third show tonight.
WCT: That's exciting!
Dani Buncher: We are very excited.
WCT: How long have you known each other?
Scott Simons: Thirteen years at this point.
WCT: Where did you grow up?
Scott Simons: I grew up in West Virginia just south of Morgantown, which is where we wound up going to school.
Dani Buncher: I grew up an hour north of there in Pittsburg. We went to West Virginia University.
Scott Simons: We were both in marching band there but I was done with school when she was an incoming freshman. There was not a huge Jewish student population there so everyone kept introducing us to each other.
Dani Buncher: That was a new thing for me because I grew up in a neighborhood called Squirrel Hill in Pittsburg and every one is Jewish. There wasn't a huge population other Jewish students at school at the time so I was novelty.
Scott Simons: We kept meeting at every party and would pretend we hadn't met before.
Dani Buncher: I don't want you think we are any cooler than we are because all of these parties were marching band parties. I never went to another part besides those!
WCT: So a long way from being rockstars at that point.
Dani Buncher: Yeah right.
Scott Simons: It is hard to be a rockstar when you are walking around with a saxophone!
Dani Buncher: I played the drums.
WCT: So you learned some about instruments playing in the school band.
Scott Simons: I picked up piano growing up but the band was more of a social thing.
Dani Buncher: I took drum lessons when I was really little. I had been playing for a while before marching band. That is the evolution of my playing.
WCT: Were your parents thrilled that you were dating because of both being Jewish?
Dani Buncher: My grandmother was the biggest fan because Scott was a nice Jewish boy and he had a ponytail. My grandmother loves guys with ponytails, which I didn't know about. Maybe the ponytail was the first indication that I liked women!
Scott Simons: Yeah, maybe. [Laughs]
WCT: Dani, tell our readers about your coming out process.
Dani Buncher: Scott and broke up after ten years but I guess that started out a little bit before.
Scott Simons: We had dated for years but five of it was long distance when she was in New York and I was in West Virginia in another band. We finally moved in together after nine years of dating.
Dani Buncher: There were tensions we were experiencing and I didn't know where it was coming from on my end. When it was long distance it was easy to sweep feelings under the rug. I moved back to Pittsburg at the end of our relationship and signed a lease. It was the first time in years that we were together as a couple. It got hard and became real. We were having a lot of trouble and I was trying to pinpoint what it was for me. I didn't really have much time to process it. I just blurted it out one night that I think I am gay. There was a lot of crying involved and we just had an open conversation. Scott was very supportive. We had to figure out what it meant individually and also as a couple. Once Scott was great about it then I could come out in other parts of my life. I got to explore what it meant and got more comfortable.
Scott Simons: I feel very close to the coming out process because it was the end of our relationship but also the beginning of the next phase. We were a hundred percent honest with each other before we told anyone. It was sometimes years before we told people what was really going on. There was no malicious intent so we took the time to figure out what it was and what that meant for us. We stayed together a year to sort it out. It took another to come out and tell everyone.
WCT: Writing songs for the new album must be cathartic for you.
Scott Simons: It is the best form of therapy. You can say things in songs that you might not be able to say in conversation. When your brain is in songwriting mode it blurts out things. It does really help. With "Sequel" the first song that we wrote for the project I remember sending Dani a demo of it. It has lyrics about her telling me she likes girl and I say I do too. She said she liked it but also it can help people.
Even until the moment we clicked that we had a new single we were sure if we could really do it.
Dani Buncher: That song has been a tool even my mother has used to fill in the situation in conversation with our family members.
WCT: Why did you pick a Madonna song to cover?
Dani Buncher: I am obsessed with Madonna and huge fan. I have been in other bands and always wanted to cover Madonna. No one has let me. We were just listening to a lot of Madonna songs and trying to decide which one to sing.
Scott Simons: I think it was between "Burning Up" and "Causing a Commotion."
Dani Buncher: "Commotion" fit the vibe of the band. A lot of people don't recognize it as a cover, which is kind of fun.
WCT: Are you performing "Drive" by The Cars when you are in concert this time?
Scott Simons: I don't know. We haven't really worked up a full version of it. If we did any Cars songs I would be happy. I love them.
WCT: I heard some '80s influence in your music.
Scott Simons: I am obsessed with that time period.
Dani Buncher: We both are.
Scott Simons: We don't have guitar in our band so we have a lot of fun with synths.
WCT: Your "Love Is Love" song was written after DOMA ended?
Scott Simons: Yes, we are both personally interested in the equality movement and gay rights. We were anxiously waiting for that ruling to come down and that song kind of happened. The words came out of waiting for that moment and poured it into a song. The first draft may have been more bitter wondering why people didn't see it our way but became more about celebrating the direction of the overall movement.
Check out TeamMate live at Schubas Tavern, 3159 N. Southport Ave., on July 21.
Visit www.schubas.com for ticket information. Celebrate with TeamMate music at www.teammateband.com .