Forged in isolation, Couch is ready for the big stage on ‘Big Talk’

It’s wild to think that even 40 years ago, a band like Couch might never have had a chance. High school and college friends separated by distance — and eventually by a global lockdown — the seven members of the pop, jazz and rock group would have struggled just to stay in touch, let alone write and record music together.

But with video chat and file sharing, Couch thrived, even without sharing a stage for their first three years as a band. Since finally performing together in person, they’ve toured with Lake Street Dive and released their debut album, Big Talk.

Today, the entire Boston-based band has crammed into our studio. Vocalist Tema Siegel, guitarist Zach Blankstein, drummer Jared Gozinsky, bassist Will Griffin, keyboardist Danny Silverston, trumpeter Jeffrey Pinsker-Smith and saxophonist Eric Tarlin are all here.

We’ll hear the band’s origin story and learn more about their hands-on, DIY approach, from self-managing to self-releasing their music.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.