An Amazing Rush of Energy with Bike Routes

Bike Routes is the solo endeavor of David Lawrence Osterhout. While the South Jersey singer/songwriter conjures the spirit of the iconic troubadours of indie rock, classic emo, and post-modern pop-punk, he distinctively carves a singularly unique identity all his own on his new EP Rush Of Energy, available now via Blue Grape Music.  Bike Routes has toured with the likes of Hawthorne Heights, and it was just announced that the band would be on the road with Mat Kerekes of Citizen at the start of the New Year.  Prior to the release of Rush Of Energy, Highwire Daze caught up with David Lawrence Osterhout to find out more about the amazing Bike Routes.  Read on…

We’re here with David from Bike Routes. First of all, just boring question, where are you based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
I’m based out of South Jersey, so I’m like 15 minutes over the bridge from Philly, so I’m a big part of the Philly music scene too. So, it’s great. We do a lot of local shows in South Jersey at like, record stores, coffee shops, and then it’s pretty easy to hop on over to Philly as well for some local shows.

Let’s talk about the new EP, Rush of Energy. Any overall story or concept behind that title, Rush of Energy?
So it’s the name of the first song I wrote for the EP, and I feel it perfectly encapsulates the entire story, I guess, and energy and vibe of the EP. It’s a new sound for Bike Routes and it’s more energetic, more in your face, and I feel like the song Rush of Energy too, just perfectly encapsulates these six songs as like a story.

You Want It You Got It is the first single, give me a little background on that song and the inspiration behind the lyric.
So it was funny enough, that song’s about, or at least the first verse is about my childhood car that we actually had to scrap – and my dad actually thought, he asked me about the lyrics a few days ago. And he was like, “Is this about a breakup?” And I was like, “No, it’s actually about the automobile and when we had to scrap it.” And it’s like that push and pull of life, I guess, of there’s things you got to do, you want it, you got it. Sometimes in a good way you want it, you’re going to go get it. And then in a bad way, I guess sometimes there’s things you got to do, like maybe it is a breakup that you know is coming and you have to do it, you want it, you got it. So, it’s just the push and pull, I guess, of doing the things that you set out to do and doing the things that you think you have to do.

I like that, “Is it about a breakup?” “No, it’s about a car.”
Exactly, yeah.

Another one of my favorite songs on the EP is World Apart. Tell me about that one in the inspiration behind it.
So that one is also, I think, one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever had the chance to work on and write. And it’s funny because that song was actually the last song we wrote, and it almost didn’t make it because we were on a time crunch and that one was not finished until literally like the night before I left to come back to New Jersey. I recorded it in California. So, it was one of those things where it was like we had to get it all done in that timeframe of me being there and that was the last song where we’re like, if we’re not able to get it done, we’re going to have to let it simmer and see if we can work it into the next release. So, I stayed up actually the whole night before the final session, and I wrote all the lyrics and all the melodies and whatnot, and I went to the next day, and we knocked it out. And it truly was just a song about that time crunch, I guess, and also that existential dread of the everyday life and the mundane – and why am I doing this, why are we here, but also that hope where it’s like, “Hey, our time on this earth, we can do whatever we want. Let’s put it to good use.”

Killing Cattle in the Valley, tell me about that.
That song as a concept actually has gone around in my brain for like three or four years now – and it’s gone through many different versions and melodies and lyrics and everything. And that was the original name for the EP actually. That was something that I rolled around in my head for a while. But that one is more of a like – I love to read and a few of my favorite authors are like Iris Murdoch and Cormac McCarthy. And my dad was always like, “You should write a song around like a Cormac McCarthy type novel.” And that was what came out of it, I guess, in my brain and storytelling.

Is your dad a musician by any chance?
No, he is not, actually. It’s funny, no one in my family is, so it just came to me, I guess.

Who produced Rush of Energy and what was it like working with them?
It was my friend Zach Tuch out in California, and he worked on my previous record with me as well. And truly it’s like a match made in heaven for me. He is one of my best friends and all the places that I struggle, he excels in – and in all the places that he might struggle I might excel in. So, it’s like we go hand in hand and truly it’s like, in the least cliché way, we finish each other’s sentences where it’s like, I don’t even have to say what I think we should do next. He’s like, “This is what we should do next,” and I’m like, “That’s exactly what I was going to say.” So it really is a dream come true to work with him.

And then how did you wind up on Blue Grape Music?
That came about after we recorded these six songs, we tried shopping them out to whoever would listen.  And Dave Wrath from Blue Grape actually heard them.  He had a meeting with my producer Zach actually, and Zach was like, “Hey, you should check out these six songs I just worked on.” And literally like the next day, Dave Wrath hopped on a call with me and then the next week he was like, “Let’s meet in person.” And it all just came together very fluently and naturally. And again, it was like another match made in heaven with the love and energy and support and excitement around all of it.

Dave Wrath has such a history in music working with Roadrunner Records…
Yeah. It was definitely like out-of-body experience that I still haven’t processed yet, to be able to work with him and everyone else at Blue Grape. It’s been awesome.

What could one expect from a live Bike Routes show?
Definitely high energy. A big part of Bike Routes for me is the show.  We always try and play as many shows as possible and tour as much as possible, so high energy, but also just like a great community. I think, especially growing up in the South Jersey music scene, that’s one thing that this scene has taught me is how important connections are – and friendship and being one with the crowd, and getting to know every single person that took the time to come watch your set.

Opening for Hawthorne Heights, what has that experience been like?
That was also just truly in the full sense of the term, like a dream come true and something that I still haven’t processed – a band that I grew up listening to and going to shows to see them. Getting that opportunity was absolutely insane and it was truly the time of my life. It was 25 shows in 21 days and we had no off days, but they took absolute great care of us and by the end of it we were best friends. And it’s so cool. I went and saw them a few weeks ago when they rolled through Philly, and we just hung out again and it was just great. They’re like some of our best friends now.

What was the best, maybe not so best part about doing a tour that intense?
The best part was definitely getting to meet a bunch of new people that might not have ever heard of Bike Routes if not for that tour. And then I guess the worst part, but also not the worst was the fact that it was like 25 shows in 21 days with no off days. It was grueling, going from show to show, no off days, you had to get to the next place by the next day. And some of the drives were pretty grueling, but that was also part of the fun.

Have you ever played out here in the Los Angeles or Orange County area or is that something that might be planned for the future?
We haven’t yet, but that’s where I record actually, so I’ve been out there a few times.  But next January and February we have a tour actually that isn’t announced yet, but we hit Orange County and all up and down California’s coast. So, I’m excited for that.

Are you currently involved with any other bands or projects outside of Bike Routes? And if so, tell us about it.
Before Bike Routes, I was in a band called Heather Grey and we’re also just a South Jersey Philly based band. But a lot of the members in Heather Grey are now the backing band for Bike Routes, so I feel like Bike Routes might take precedence for now, but we’re, whenever we get asked to play shows as Heather Grey, we’re always open to do that as well.

You have an EP about to come out. What’s up next after Rush of Energy is released?
After it’s released, I think I really want to focus on this release and push it as much as we can. And we have a few tours lined up next year, early 2025. And then we have another one in the spring of 2025. So, we’re really going to be pushing this EP.  But then I’m also going back to California actually, to record next month or to start, not record, but start working on maybe a future release. So, we’re excited for that as well, just keep working, keep grinding, do as much as we can…

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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