Meet MENU | Alternative Rock Band (but like, with a certain v i b e)

We had the good fortune of connecting with MENU and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi MENU, why did you pursue a creative career?
Our intrigue in music started early on for the both of us, with polarizing experiences – but somehow, it brought us together; we knew we had to pursue it.

For Mick, music first seemed important to him as a child, listening to his parents play music videos throughout the house. His grandfather was in an a cappella group, and he grew up listening to stories about his performances around St. Louis. Music was home to him; he grew up in a family that positively promoted it.

For Steve, music was the only thing he had. As a toddler, his mom would often leave him alone for long periods of time. He was sad, scared, and remembers a specific moment alone when he had a song stuck in his head. He sang that song to himself for comfort, and realized that while music was an expression of feeling, it was also an escape from reality.

Mick found music through others, and Steve found music in himself. And then we both found each other.

We bonded in school over our common interest in music; Mick needed an outlier to the mundane and found the most joy in music – focusing away from sports to write and perform because that made him feel good. Steve looked to music for connections – he valued everyone he interacted with through music – fans, friends, other bands – were important to him and gave him something to work towards. He loved it. We both became friends, and shortly after, MENU was born.

We played shows throughout Atlanta until going our separate ways for college – Mick went to Chicago for sound design, working closer with sounds and compositions that only inspired him to delve deeper into music, while Steve graduated from Berklee and found himself stranded in Nashville midst-pandemic, downtrodden with a yearning to go back to his roots and find his home in music.

After reuniting in Atlanta, we knew it was time to restart MENU – coming back with a better understanding of ourselves, our vision, and purpose, we realized that our music is so much greater than ourselves; it serves as a way to give back and to inspire. We pursue music because we believe in it; music saved us, and as it continues to do so, we just want to be a part of it – and hope it does the same for you.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We make music because we have to. We both felt a strong pull to this from the very beginning, and we see the effect that it has on people. No matter where we were at with our lives, the band kept coming to the forefront; it wasn’t easy, and we still battle doubt and insecurity with every stroke, but we are definitely getting better at recognizing these things and dismissing them as they appear. We’ve learned that we sometimes have to take a step back in order to take a step forward – not in the literal sense of starting from ground zero, but in the constructive sense of letting art breathe – letting it come alive on its own before we jump in. Our art is unique in the sense that it has no borders; creating can be a different experience each time – the important thing is just letting it happen. Patience with ourselves, and each other, has kept us successful.

While patience has proved to be the key to pushing us forward, it’s also our drive, our whole reason for doing this. Through our music, we want to give people the permission to say that it’s okay to not know what you want, to not know where you’re going, to not know what’s next. You have 45 different paths in front of you – it’s anxiety inducing and mentally debilitating, but we want our music to remind you that at our age, it’s amazing to have the world in front of you. Regardless, we hope to encourage you to keep pushing forward.

MENU is an opportunity for us to put these feelings out there and invite others to do the same. We’re always searching in an endless pursuit of the unknown, taking inspiration from sounds and feelings that we love and sticking them together to see what happens. And if we like what we see and hear, we give it to the people who want it. This band is an endless pursuit – a pursuit of trying to find happiness and spread it to everyone who’s willing to listen.

We find the most happiness in this band; we’re proud of everything we’ve done so far and even more excited about where we’re going. After releasing some singles and our debut EP last year, we dropped a single, HOLLOW, this past month alongside a music video, and even got a chance to be featured on 99x. We’re launching a crowdfunding campaign in the next few months to help out with our debut album, which we’re thrilled to share with everyone. MENU has grown and evolved over the years, and every day it teaches us something about ourselves and our experiences; our music has grown with us to match that. We hope you like what we’ve been cooking up!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
“Hailing straight from the city that we call the A,” we are Atlanta born and bred. There are too many great parts of Atlanta, it’s hard to pin them all down.

Mick would first want to show off Ponce City Market, a picture-perfect warehouse turned hipster shopping mall, for some delicious grub. It’s a sick place to walk around with tons of great food, so it’s the perfect first stop. Next he’d recommend checking out Little 5 Points – a wonderland of art and culture enthusiasts. After that, he’d want to go down Peachtree just to get a feel of the heart of Atlanta, falling in love with its architecture and foliage. He’d end up at Olympic park for the tourist sights, like the Georgia Aquarium and Coke-A-Cola Museum. The next day, he’d definitely drag you to an Atlanta United game; growing up supporting the soccer team, he believes that nothing unites the city more than United. And what a better way to see them than in the Mercedes Benz Stadium?! Finally, he’d take them to Tucker, where he spent his childhood and Gwinnett county where he grew up – both have hidden gems of their own, and bleed with an overwhelming sense of what it mean to be an Atlantean.

Steve’s first stop would be at Battle and Brew, a video game bar in Sandy Springs. He absolutely loves the atmosphere of this place; the outside looks like any other shopping mall, but you walk in and it feels like you’ve been transported to a completely different spot. They serve game-inspired drinks that taste great, and have PLENTY of games on various consoles to play with friends while you’re there. He agrees with Mick in also wanting to highlight Little 5 Points. Little 5 has always had a special place in his heart. The shops, art, and food all come together to form a culture that can’t be matched by any other “artsy” district that he’s been to. And finally, he’d recommend going to see a show at The Masquerade. All three stages put on amazing shows; each stage is impressive. Ever since the move to Underground, he’s been blown away by the sound quality, the stages, and most importantly the community that surrounds this legendary venue. With that being said, he’ll always carry with him the memories he’s made at their old location.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Taylor Hawkins & the rest of the Foo Fighters for enduring it all.

Website: https://menuatlga.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canigetamenudamn/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MENUatl

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MenuAtlantaGa

Image Credits
Haley Mewborn