Interview takes place on May 20, 2023 at White Oak Music Hall Upstairs in Houston, TX
“It’s a long story. Back when I was a young boy…”
Okay, perhaps the origin story of Houston rock band, The Working Hours, does not date back that far. Rather, the band began about two years ago when lead vocalist, Luke McAdam, met lead guitarist, Maxwell Burgess, at an open mic. “The night I met Luke, he went on stage, and he played ‘4 Am,’” Max recalls. “It’s the song that kind of brought us together actually,” Luke says.
Left to right: Cameron Phan (bass), Luke McAdam (lead vocalist), Jeff Marcum (percussion), Maxwell Burgess (lead guitar)
Now, two years later, the full band, consisting of Luke, Max, Jeff Marcum (drums), and Cameron Phan (bass), is gearing up to perform their most recent release, “4 Am,” at White Oak Music Hall. This is the band’s first single since the release of their EP, Hello, My Darling, which debuted the band’s signature sound: classic rock meets feel-good pop.
“This is a particular song I wrote years ago,” Luke says of their recent single. “It's finally out in the open, it’s become a song because of these guys, and it was a long time in the making.”
As we stand on the balcony at White Oak, the boys reflect on their songwriting process thus far. “We’re all songwriters–all four of us–which I think is quite unique,” Luke says. “We have a really good problem in that we have four people writing and producing music for the band, so we have so much to work with.”
Jeff compares their process to a funnel: “It starts with an individual idea, and then everyone kinda gets their greedy little musical paws on it, and out comes a song.”
Their process is evolving, though, now that the band has a consistent fourth member and they are able to write together. Bassist Cameron Phan joined the group around December, and what has his experience been like so far? “Terrible,” he jokes. “No, it’s been great. They’re fantastic musicians, so I feel like I joined the best band in Houston.”
Describing the Houston music scene, Cameron adds that “a lot of times Houston is looked at as sort of a travel spot rather than a local hub of musicians.” Regardless, the band’s view of the local scene is one of admiration. “It’s well-hidden,” Luke says. “It’s there, and it’s vibrant; you just have to know where to look.”
Now looking at some recent changes the band has undergone, we can’t help but wonder, “is this a new era for The Working Hours?” According to Luke, “It is THE era for The Working Hours. We did a lot of changing in the first quarter of the year, and it just so happened to work perfectly–the addition of Cameron, new tracks laid down, new branding. It’s all kind of fallen into place.”
When asked about the prospects of a new album, Jeff gives us a peek into the band’s busy schedule. “This past week we were in the studio all week finishing up the mixing process for an upcoming project,” he hints. “We’re actually in a bit of a backlog right now,” Luke adds, “trying to catch up to ourselves. We’re sitting on more unreleased music than we have released.”
So the future is looking bright for The Working Hours: touring with bigger names, developing more of a social media platform, and catching up to the catalog are all a part of the plan, according to Max.
“Just stay tuned for ‘The Working Hours Era,’” says Luke. “We’re sitting on so much material–so if you like the music…hell, more is coming.”
For booking information, contact theworkinghoursband@gmail.com or @theworkinghoursband on Instagram.
Photos and Story by Shelby Mathews
*Originally published 5/25/2023 on Houston Music Classified's first website.
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