Written by Claudia Aguilera
Santa Cruz band First Day Back released their debut album Forward on June 1, 2025, earning support from listeners drawn to their distinct sound, which nods to the 90s emo bands that shape their influences. With raw, guttural female vocals that weave between singing and screaming, layered over unique guitar work, skilled bass, violin, and harmonica, the record moves seamlessly from quiet introspection to cathartic intensity—offering a dynamic collection of songs that highlight both strength and soul.
THE SHOW
On Saturday, August 9th, the final show for the Punxsutawney and Faint joint California tour took place in a Santa Cruz backyard, not far from the beach. Attendees were greeted with a unique animal drawing on their wrists, granting them the freedom to come and go as they pleased. Limited by the house’s size, the crowd had already filled the space by the time the sun was setting and the final band, First Day Back, got set up. Friends and fans perched on the edges of the stage (a skateboard ramp), the roofs of nearby buildings, and wherever else they could find a spot, the air buzzing with excited energy.
The set opened just as their album does— four steady beats before erupting into a cascade of instruments and the heartfelt lyrics of Sure, Ok. Between songs, Maggie (vocals) turned to the crowd with gratitude, repeating “I can’t believe it,” at the audience singing along. The audience engaged in a healthy dose of dancing, clapping, and cheering. This was the band’s last performance with guitarist Zion, and they took a moment to appreciate his contribution. When the set ended, the crowd refused to let them leave without one last song. At Zion’s request, they played an unreleased early track, Tickle My Fancy. During the final song, one fan crowd-surfed, and at the instrumental breakdown, Maggie joined the crowd, tambourine raised high, before returning to her spot on stage.
By the time the band made their way behind the merch table for our interview, the crowd had thinned, friends and fellow bands saying their goodbyes. The backyard had quieted, though the echoes of laughter, cheers, and instruments lingered, a subtle reminder of the night’s energy.
THE INTERVIEW
First Day Back is Spencer (drums), Maggie (lead vocals, violin, harmonica), Nathan (guitar), Zion (guitar), and Luke (bass).
The Beginning
Claudia: How did you all meet and start playing music together?
Maggie: It’s my favorite story to tell! It pretty much just started when I was in Oakland one night. I didn’t really know Spencer that well, but he was like my neighbor freshman year. I didn’t have a place to stay in Oakland, so I asked to crash on his couch. He said yes. There were instruments splayed all over the living room. I had never really jammed before, but we ended up jamming.
We had one of those moments like “Woah. This kinda sounds… good!”.
There was just the two of us–I was playing the bass and singing. He was playing guitar. He [Spencer] had already been in two other bands. I was like, “Ok, you have experience. Let’s make flyers and put them around campus.”. And that’s how we found Zion. Then, I heard about the bass player of this jazz group on campus…
Claudia: Bonesio?
Maggie: Yeah, Bonesio!
Claudia: Shoutout!
Luke: Shoutout Bonesio!
Maggie: I heard [Luke] was into Title Fight, Cap’n Jazz stuff, so I nervously went up to him after one of the Bonesio sets and I just asked if he wanted to jam.
It was over the span of a year. It was really hard to get everyone together all the time, especially living on campus.
One day, I was walking around and I saw a flyer that was like, super drenched. It was wrapped around the pole.
Spencer: Ancient flyer.
Maggie: It was raining, and I was having a hard time reading it. It read like, “Guitar player… looking for a band… Influences: Smashing Pumpkins, Modest Mouse, Title Fight.” I was like, “Okayyy!” I texted Nathan, and he almost didn’t respond to me. But then we all just jammed, and that was it. That was a year and a half ago.
Claudia: What’s the story behind the name?
Maggie: We’re all super into this band, Braid. Specifically the song First Day Back, literally catapulted my love for this kind of music.
Claudia: What’s your first memory of making music all together as a full band?
Spencer: One of the first times we actually jammed together, fully, we decided to play a Title Fight song. We were all just kinda like “Ahhh, f*** it.” Its kind of awkward if you’re trying to write a song at the same time as jamming with new people. With a cover, everything is already there. You can just play and figure out people’s chops. For me, I feel like that was the first time.
Claudia: Which Title Fight song?
Maggie: Crescent-Shaped Depression. It’s the only cover that we’ve ever done.
Songwriting & Process
Claudia: Maggie, I know you write most of the lyrics. What does it look like when you bring them into a full band jam?
Maggie: When it comes to writing, I do lyrics. When it comes to instruments, we all do it. The lyrical process, with the album, was a lot of improvisation. We’d kind of just get in the room. I would kinda just say random sh** and voice memo it. If it sounded good I’d be like, “Alright, let’s put it in!” But also, I get little moments of inspiration here and there and I’ll take out my Notes app.
With lyrics, its kind of spontaneous.
Claudia: You’ve mentioned that the lyrics of Twelve Mile Train Tracks were written as a journey, and Nathan said the guitar was meant to sound that way too. Can you elaborate?
Nathan: I guess I like long songs.
I like when it’s not just repetitive, when it feels a little bit linear… like a journey.
That’s what I like about long songs, so I thought, “Oh! We should do that!” I think [Twelve Mile Train Tracks] was the very first song that we wrote in full– completely done, like, “Ok this is finished.”
Claudia: Is there any other songs that have a specific theme or feeling to them?
Luke: I think Lines kind of has that feeling. It’s very low lows and high highs. Kinda has that feeling of an escapade.
Maggie: I think for me personally, Us. I feel its a very vulnerable song and towards the very end, it kind of all comes to a head and just screaming.
Nathan: When I write stuff on guitar I don’t have anything specific in mind, I just pick it up. But then once I finish a song and look back, I feel subconsciously I wrote a song that reflects a certain mood I was feeling at the time.
Claudia: You feel you understand what a song is about afterwards?
Nathan: Yeah, its definitely a way I express myself. I feel Upstairs (212) is a pretty somber song, probably because I was sad.
Claudia: Is the 212 a specific reference to anything?
Maggie: The specific numerical reference is to our upstairs neighbors who was actually 124, but we thought it was 212.
The song was reworked. It used to have lyrics that had to do with our upstairs neighbors (that we love) but we ended up cutting the vocal part and just made it instrumental.
Claudia: How do you know when a song is finished?
Maggie: We’re kind of just like, “Yup! That’s it!”
Zion: Well, we were writing songs up until the moment we recorded. So it kind of had to do with pressure. But yeah, you just kind of know.
Nathan: But also, Twelve Mile Train Tracks took a while, I feel like we kept adding stuff. We added the pauses at the end. We listened back to our voice memos a couple days ago and the original didn’t have the intro.
Maggie: True! Moving Out too, with the beginning.
Spencer: I feel like it goes in waves a bit.
You think you’re done and you sit back and sleep on it, or whatever, and think, “Maybe this isn’t as good,” or “This is still good.” It’s kind of always getting reworked.
Nathan: I feel I will pull something from other music and realize, “Oh, we need to add that to this song” and it’ll elevate it.
Claudia: You’ve mentioned that early tracks like Sure, Ok evolved a lot throughout the writing process. Are there any other songs that you feel sounded a certain way in the beginning and were different at the end?
Spencer: We mentioned 212. It had a loud, fast part at the end with singing that we just cut off.
Maggie: With Gone On, Spencer added a new guitar part right before we recorded it.
Claudia: I’m kinda sad you didn’t play that one tonight, but it’s okay.
Maggie: I know, we should play it. People were kinda asking for it. [To band] When we go on tour we should play the full album…
Spencer: To me, it’s interesting to hear people want to hear specific songs like Gone On because I wrote that song pretty early on in us being a band. I guess our exact sound and inspiration wasn’t super dialed in yet. I was way more of an early shoegaze fan before an emo fan. I feel that song is kind of shoegaze-y. I wouldn’t really say it’s that aligned with the rest of the album. But it’s funny to hear people say they want to hear it because I’m like “Bro, this sh** does not go with the rest of the album at all.”
Claudia: You were kind of figuring out your sound from beginning to end?
Spencer: Yeah, but I’m really grateful for that, honestly.
It’s a full composition of what led up to that album.
We really didn’t discard that much stuff from the album. We could’ve cut Gone On and Paint for something else, but we didn’t.
[Maggie and Nathan start laughing]
Claudia: You’re laughing..
Nathan: Yeah it’s because Paint is like, not that good of a song.
Maggie & Luke: The bass!
Nathan: The bass? Insane. Shoutout bass.
Spencer: Shoutout “Luke bass”. He’s in my phone that way.
Maggie: Same! And “Nathan music”.
Claudia: You use harmonica and violin in some of your songs. Is there any other “random” instruments you would consider bringing in?
Maggie: Saxophone and trumpet.
Luke: Didn’t we think a long time about doing synth?
Maggie: I think at one point…
Zion: Sax!
Spencer: Me and Nathan were talking about, in one of the new songs, adding bongos or some sh**.
Maggie: Or acoustic guitar!
Claudia: How did you know you wanted the violin and harmonica for some of the songs?
Maggie: I’ve been playing violin for a really long time, since the 4th grade. Shoutout my public school music program and my orchestra director, [they] literally catapulted and guided me throughout so much. I’ve always been really thankful to have that skill [playing violin].
When I graduated high school, I was really tired of classical music. I was really happy when I started playing music again because I felt that it was an opportunity to repurpose the violin. [The band] were all down. I bought a new pickup for my acoustic violin and just started playing. With the harmonica, I got a set for my solo project. I thought, “Why not plug it into one of the songs?”
Claudia: What did everyone else think when Maggie brought the harmonica and violin in?
Nathan: Initially, I…
Luke: I thought it was sick.
Nathan: …didn’t want the violin. To be honest.
Maggie: What?!
Nathan: That was at first, when we were first talking.
I was like, “Bro I want to sound like Title Fight.”
But I’m glad we have it now.
The Santa Cruz Scene
Claudia: We’re all sort of from Santa Cruz. How would you describe the local music scene and how do you feel you fit into it?
Luke: It’s a small scene, its pretty easy to infiltrate, and everyone’s very friendly and supportive.
Spencer: And a lot of the venues will let you play often.
[Everyone]: Subrosa!
Nathan: It’s nice because it’s so eclectic. You go to a show and you can see…
Maggie: Mixed bills…
Nathan: Yeah, like classic rock and then shoegaze and then jazz, all on the same bill.
Maggie: In terms of how we fit in though, I feel like we were just another band on a mixed bill. I feel the emo “term” didn’t really come until we started playing outside of Santa Cruz. Which is what makes up our influences, so it was cool to get that for the first time.
Claudia: Do you have any favorite show memories or weird memories?
Nathan: The 4/20 show.
Luke: What?
Maggie: Oh my god.
Luke: That was a weird experience.
[Luke, Maggie, and Nathan all agree]
Maggie: We played on 4/20 a couple years ago at 11 in the morning and we were destroyed because we played a show the night before.
Spencer: The one the night before was our first show.
Maggie: Oh true! Our second show ever was the 4/20 show and it was boiling hot. I was wearing a sweater.
Nathan: And we wore stupid hats.
Spencer: And it was 100 degrees out. No one was there except for like…
Zion: A guy in a chicken suit.
Maggie: Personally, my favorite show and memory is the album release show we did at our house. We smashed cake in everyone’s faces.
Claudia: What kind of cake?
Maggie: Costco!
Nathan: That had First Day Back written on it.
Influences
Claudia: Are there any songs that already exist that you wish you had written?
Maggie: Dude, Tinfoil! Tinfoil!
Luke: A lot of Jejune.
Maggie: Or First Day Back by Braid.
Zion: Precious by Cap’n Jazz
Luke: Basil’s Kite [by Cap’n Jazz]
Spencer: Braid.. Just the whole Frame & Canvas album. I wish I wrote that.
Claudia: Did you see Cap’n Jazz is going back on tour?
[Everyone]: Yeah! We’re going to see them! We all got tickets.
Claudia: Any band past or present you would want to open for?
Nathan: The Beatles
Luke: Weezer!
Maggie: Rainer Maria.
Zion: I’d say Cap’n Jazz, personally.
Spencer: Or Alex G.
Luke: Title Fight!
[Everyone agrees with Title Fight]
Claudia: A lot of good names being thrown out.
Spencer & Nathan: Neil Perry!
Claudia: Are there any bands that you consider almost like “cousin” bands where you’re familiar with them, maybe want to shout them out?
Spencer: Febuary.
Maggie: Yeah Febuary and Ritornello Form and Stella I feel like are our friends. And Punxsutawney and Faint, of course!
Spencer: Racecourse.
[Everyone]: Racecourse!
Claudia: Bonesio?
Luke: Yeah, we’re like second cousins.
Closing
Claudia: Last question, is there something you wish people would ask about the music or yourselves as artists?
Nathan: I just like when people ask about the writing process of a specific song. I’m always curious to know how a song came about because it’s different for everyone, like how you start a song. What inspired it? I feel that’s what I would like to talk about. I also like talking about music equipment, even though I don’t have much stuff. I do enjoy talking about it.
Luke: As far as Zion leaving, I just want to put this on the record, he made our sound. He wrote so many parts that were integral, his tone, and everything.
Just needs to be said that Zion is the goat.
[Everyone agrees]: Big shoutout to Zion!
Maggie: You will be dearly missed.
Zion: I do want to know everyone’s favorite song on the album.
Spencer: I have multiple…
Luke: It’s like choosing a favorite child!
Spencer: I have three…
Claudia: You can name all three!
Spencer: Mine are:
- Sure, Ok.
- Lines.
- Wait, Do You Hear That?
Maggie: I think my favorite is Sure, Ok
Nathan: Honestly? It’s probably Lines or Moving Out. Moving Out is just like.. I don’t know. I f*** with that song. [Everyone laughs]
Zion: I think there’s something about the recording of Paint that is a lot better than when we play it live, so I like the recording of that a lot. And my other one would be Wait, Do You Hear That?
Luke: I’d say Lines and Moving Out are definitely the most fun to play live. And Wait, Do You Hear That? is one of my favorites on the album.
Claudia: A lot of Wait, Do You Hear That?
Nathan: That song is kinda mid, in my opinion.
Spencer: Dude.
Maggie: That’s crazy.
Spencer: That’s the first time you’ve ever said that
Nathan: It’s ok.. It kind of boring-
Maggie: What?!
Spencer: You were hyped on that song!
Nathan: Yeah, I was. Then we play it and its like the same thing over and over again.
Spencer: No it’s not bro.
Luke: It’s still a jam.
Maggie: It’s a jam, yeah.
Spencer: It’s a jam, but that’s why it’s f***ing epic. We did it the day of. Day before?
Maggie: Yeah, day of. While we were recording, we wrote that song.
Spencer: That’s some Beatles sh** bro.
Nathan: Call me John Lennon.
Thank you so much to the band for their time! You can listen to First Day Back‘s debut album Forward on Apple Music, Spotify, and Bandcamp.