by emma schoors
photo by zachary olewnicki
“Belief in this band is everything,” Quarters of Change says, mid-way through their triumphant Deluxe US headlining tour. “We talk about our dreams in the present, as if they’re happening now. Maybe they are. We’ve hypnotized ourselves, in a way.”
Fans gather in clusters along the edge of The Roxy’s dimly lit interior, while others cozy up against its front rows, all in anticipation of NYC-based Quarters of Change’s sold-out return to Los Angeles. The show comes as the band — Ben Roter on vocals, Ben Acker and Jasper Harris on guitar, and Attila Anrather on drums — ride the exhilarating wave of debut studio album Into The Rift, which features breakout singles “Jaded” and “Chloe,” as well as an onslaught of upbeat fan-favorites, such as “T Love” and “Dead.” Enthralling riffs and alt-rock appeal has pushed them past the 100k follower mark on TikTok, and their monthly streaming numbers have enjoyed a steep climb. The support shown by fans online all but halts in-person; that much is clear as I watch the guys ahead of me in line hash out who’s going to borrow Harris’ cream-colored Stratocaster for the “Kiwi” solo.
The onstage dynamics between Acker and Harris mirror that of Page and Plant, Perry and Whitford, or Clapton and Allman, in that they represent two distinct styles colliding in a massive act of faith. Harris looks over at his guitar counterpart often, wordlessly spouting off-the-cuff riff ideas as they happen in the in-between moments of “Ms. Dramatic” (whose studio version “had an arrangement that changed tons before arriving at the final,”) and “Dead.” “Jaded” finds Anrather at his most stalwart, while Roter commands the crowd under cover of sunglasses, warning: “I got a bulletproof jacket that I wear around, just to make sure there’s no love arrows arriving at my door.” This forewarned wall falls by the time “Chloe” rings through the intimate venue, reigning as one of the best-received tracks of the night.
What cannot be emphasized enough about Quarters of Change is Roter’s magnetism and natural pull as a lead singer. As the set nears its end, he’s covered in sweat, backlit by a warm white spotlight, delivering “Sofia” with nothing but a red electric guitar backing him. Having that stripped-down moment with the crowd re-energizes things, and “Rift,” their debut album’s title track and the final song of the night, is welcomed with resounding applause. Watching Quarters of Change feels like watching a well-seasoned band return for a rare intimate show after years of stadium tours. Without prior knowledge of the group, you’d assume they’d played Madison Square Garden a few times already. That’s how in the pocket they are, so early on.
“It feels like ‘Blue Copper,’ ‘Jaded,’ and ‘Chloe’ have reached their fullest form on this tour. People are singing the loudest to those. ‘T Love’ obviously is such a special one too,” the band says, “and has been since the first time we played it live.” The track’s beloved chorus soars live with the help of Acker and Harris’ backing vocals, and Roter eagerly asks the crowd to help him out once the second chorus arrives. They do, as a choir of “Light me up, I just can’t stick around” fills the room like blinding sunlight. When I ask the band how things are going on tour so far, that affection seems to have stuck. “Tour life has been treating us phenomenally,” they say. “The sunset is shining through the van window, and we’re feeling lots of love and energy.” Maybe it’s the crowd’s palpable adoration that’s warming the band, or the sense of purpose found in pursuing their arena-sized ambitions. Either way, touring looks good on them.
As my eyes wander to the back of the stage, Anrather’s Blondie T-shirt comes into focus. Blondie are fellow New Yorkers, so it bears out something he said the first time I interviewed them. “The Strokes and classic New York bands are all really influential to us musically,” the drummer says, “and just the fact that they came out in New York and became so big is really, really, really cool.” (In a British heavy-metal twist of fate, Anrather cites Motörhead as one of his favorite bands.) There isn’t a set formula for evolving from those influences to an expansive original sound. “We try to diversify the writing process,” the band says. “Oftentimes a song will start with a guitar part from Ben Acker or Jasper, but they can also start with a groove from Attila or a melody from Ben [Roter]. They can also start from simply listening to a song all together and being like, ‘We’ve gotta make something like that.’” There is one non-negotiable: “Our best work comes when the four of us are in a room together.”
“Everyone in the band is very critical and active in the writing process,” the band says. “There is disagreement all the time, but we see that as an advantage. No one here is emotionally weak, and it doesn't become static when one person doesn’t like another’s idea. We’re all respectful.” They put their working compatibility to the test late last year, and what resulted is a healthy bulk of brand new material. “We took a two-week writing retreat to Woodstock, NY in December. We were shipped up in a van (city kids can't drive), and put in this beautiful house to ultimately write eight new tracks.” Their most recent single, “To Let Go,” marked the end of the Into The Rift era releases, and they’ve begun unveiling new material at live shows across the US. Because touring has become such a centerpiece of the band, I break the string of serious questions to ask what each member’s go-to gas station purchases are on the road: “Attila is getting a beef jerky stick, no doubt. Ben Roter has Cheetos or Cheez-Its. Jasper probably bought some funny sunglasses or a state-specific necklace. Ben Acker is drinking water and eating almonds.”
On my drive home from The Roxy, Jackson Browne’s “The Load Out / Stay” makes an appearance on the radio. I’ve always taken songs as signs from the universe, funneled to me as divine confirmation I’m where I need to be, or as lyrical commentary on something I’ve experienced. “We just finished four back-to-back Northeast dates, and are now back in the car on the way to Chicago,” the band says in our most recent interview with them, as Browne sings: “We’ve got to drive all night and do the show in Chicago.” The lyrics are haunting in their accuracy, penned nearly 50 years ago yet forever in-tune with the ageless act of touring. “When that morning sun comes beating down, you’re gonna wake up in your town, but we’ll be scheduled to appear a thousand miles away from here,” Browne sings. As the song transitions to Browne pleading for just one more song, I’m reminded of one of Acker’s final comments of the night, mid-encore: “We’re not done yet.”
That timeless, all-consuming compulsion to play is in Quarters of Change’s blood. It’s in every one of Ben Acker’s clever guitar licks, and each of Attila Anrather’s well-spaced yet emotionally charged drum fills. It's Ben Roter dancing around in a fan’s pink cowboy hat during “T Love,” and Jasper Harris leaning into the audience as if his guitar solos are solely powering him. Passion is an endlessly renewable source for this band, proven by their individual abilities as players, as well as their joint mystique. They’ll be far away from Los Angeles by the time you read this in the interest of providing thousands more fans across the US with the irreplicable magic of live music, which is all the more reason to catch them the next time they play a show near you.
It’s a breath of fresh air to speak to a band with such intense faith in their imminent success. They know they’re headed for arenas. I wanted to know, more than any question about the past, what they envisioned Quarters of Change to look like at its peak. What struck me most about their answer? It’s in the present tense. “We hear music that makes the world feel more than they did yesterday. We see stronger bonds between the four of us. We see ourselves working with our heroes,” they say, citing Inhaler, Last Dinosaurs, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Strokes as bands they’d like to tour with. “We see ourselves waking up everyday excited to do what we love.”