Why you should share Locations: the ‘genre-bending alt-rock duo’ standing for human rights
Sydney Tate
1. They make damn good music.
I listened to Locations for the first time about two years ago.
I was setting up my drums for band practice when I heard a guitarist shredding in a distorted tone, a drummer wailing with intricate cymbal work, and two powerful voices in the space next to ours. It made me think of The Black Keys and Rage Against the Machine
Not long after, my band connected with Locations online and I met the Brooklyn-based duo myself, guitarist Niko Rummell and drummer Tom Whidden.
Rummell and Whidden have been jamming since they met in high school, but Locations was born only 6 years ago.
Cut to Thanksgiving Day 2017. Whidden was craving musical connection when he remembered that Rummell had just moved to New York City.’”
“I called him up, and I was like, ‘hey, I'm tired of not being in a band. You wanna have band practice on Monday?’” Whidden told Through The Monitor. “And he was like, ‘hell yeah, let's do it.’”
Locations has been practicing every week ever since, with influences from Rage Against the Machine to Tool and Portugal. The Man. Their songs are about “what upsets us, and what requires change,” Whidden told TTM.
2. Locations is a band with heart.
The heart behind Locations comes from conversations about political issues like climate change, universal healthcare, and workers rights, Whidden told TTM.
“And if you look at what the through line is for all of those things, it’s greed,” he said.
The band’s website has links to four ways you can make a difference, and I think their music will inspire you to do so.
Locations’ recently-released EP “Stop the Money” feels like a solidarity soundtrack with calls for actions like tax the rich — referring to individuals making $10 million or more each year — and the constant longing for “Better Days” an epic slow song on the record.
3. A night with Locations is a wholesome rager
I’ve shared a bill with Locations a handful of times, including on their Stop The Money tour earlier this year. The band played shows from New York to Cleveland and participated in collective actions from climate rallies to picket lines.
Sydney Tate
“We really made that moment about corporate greed and the labor movement,” Whidden said of the tour. “You've got to get out in the streets. You've got to be disruptive. You've got to stay continuously organized with the people who are doing the work. And they really need support.”
Jeanette D Moses
Locations sets always remind me to stand up for myself and others as Whidden shouts his feelings about greed, corruption, and what we can all do about it.
At our most recent show on the Stop the Money Tour, the roar of Locations reminded me of picketing outside of my office building while on an open-ended strike with Insider Union. For nearly two weeks, I drummed out there with my colleagues and a dwindling sense of security.
On Day One, Tom Whidden came out to join us.
It warmed my heart, because I get the feeling that he’d hold the line for anyone. And that’s what Locations is all about.