The Future

Happy Tuesday, vote-happy kids: Have you heard of our brand-new Make A Band Famous category? Allow us to explicate: We have chosen 10 up-and-coming, awesome bands with thriving fanbases to face off in the ultimate competition. Five will be chosen — by fan vote — to play the O Music Awards on June 19 (those will be announced on May 31) and one of those five will get a HUGE opportunity: a once-in-a-lifetime shot to play VMA weekend in August, as well as the distinction of becoming MTV’s Artist to Watch, VH1’s You Oughta Know, or CMT’s Listen Up highlighted band. Today, we’d like to introduce you to one of those 10 acts, The Future.

This indie pop quartet of brothers and friends calls Nashville, Tennessee, home – having come together from disparate parts of the country to form a band that creates highly danceable jams that resemble Franz Ferdinand and Spoon’s electro-tinged love child. With highly forward-looking band name in tow, this act could have a win in their, well, future.

Check out out Q&A with the entire band — see handy member guide below — and click vote here.

Adam – Lead singer, Songwriter
Jordan – Bass
John Michael Ford – Guitar

What is your earliest musical memory?

Holding a tiny acoustic guitar when I was four. In a picture from that Christmas I’m holding it upside down and backwards… Not much has changed. -JMF

Tell us a little bit about your songwriting process.

We jam a lot for a pop band. The stuff that moves us together in the room is what we chase. If it’s working then you can feel it. We’ll rewrite a song 100 times. Even after it’s been recorded it’s all still up for debate. – AC

Which of your songs do you think is the most representative of your music? Why? Tell us about it.

I’m gonna say ‘Don’t You Dare’ because it’s relentless and fun but a little dark. The message of it — that you love someone exactly how they are — is sweet and all, but then what if that person changes? Do you still love them? Where is the line between love and ownership? – AC

What’s the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

There is a clog routine to one of our songs. I cannot wait to see it, I fully expect to weep openly. – AC

What’s running through your head when you’re performing live?

Get in, cut loose. After a good show I will have no idea how the guys played. I am the last one who will critique us. I am somewhere else entirely. – AC

Which musicians inspire you and why?

Spoon, The National, Prince. Spoon because of how they’ve built from being dropped to where they are now and did it by just making great records. The National just hit on a sound and mood that they just own. Prince because Prince. -AC

What do you hope people do when they listen to your tunes?

Punch their best friend square in the mouth.

We want them to sing and dance. I do and it’s the most fun thing possible for me so more people should do it. So many bands play songs about dancing while they stand perfectly still. Not us, no way. – AC

Do you have signature style? If so, what is it?

Gosh, I don’t know that we own a genre at the moment. But I’d call it spazzy power pop. – AC

My style is to shift between subtle and obvious, shimmer and reverb to punchy hooks. In serving the song the texture of sound can be as integral as the notes I pick. -JMF

Kittens or puppies? Explain.

If I’m being diplomatic I would say both are adorable and each have their pros and cons. But if I’m being honest, cats are the worst. They make me sick, and if you’re a cat lady that’s a dealbreaker. – JC

Why should we vote for you?

Well, a vote for the future. Who’s against that? – AC - MTV O Music Awards

I wasn’t sure how to start this month’s “You Oughta Know” about Nashville quintet The Future. So I did what every red-blooded American with a smartphone would do—I went straight to Google. In the search bar, I formulated the simplest question I could conceive, “The Future is?”
Here were the first three results: “The future is wild. The future is unwritten. The future is now.” I sipped on my beer, zoomed in on my touch screen, and pondered for approximately the length of a Yazoo Gerst. Was this the work of some crazy binary algorithm, or some artificial intelligence matrix agent with awesome taste in music? I don’t know, but I hope for Zion’s sake (and ours), it was the latter.
“The future is wild.” Hit the nail on the head. Have you seen frontman Adam Culver perform? He’s a madman! His stage presence is a mixture of Dave Matthews’ riverdance flailing and Mick Jagger’s bizarre yet sexual jiving. Without a doubt, The Future puts on my favorite local live show. They accomplish what so many bands struggle with—balancing sonic talent and visual flair.
“The future is unwritten.” The band is currently releasing one single a month and giving their diehard fans a constant stream of new music. With every new moon comes a new tune, and with five amazing singles in the books, like “Slow Fast” and “Baby You’re Golden,” the unreleased hits are much awaited.
“The future is now.” Deep, brah—like Philosophy 101. The recognition of real talent can be a bit delayed these days with so many entertaining distractions. Whether you take my advice to check out their music immediately or wait until they’re a huge national act, it won’t change the fact that The Future is now. The quintet—brothers Adam and Jordan Culver, Eric Sadowsky, Bryan Feece, and their newest addition, John Michael Ford—are playing shows locally and nationwide, building a solid fan base, and releasing dancy, poppy, well-produced, heartfelt music. The Future is now, and it looks and sounds pretty awesome. - Native Magazine

Nashville’s pop music scene has certainly seen some exciting bands sprout up over the past few years, and The Future is certainly in the middle of that conversation. I first found The Future at an East Nashville Underground of yore, and I’m equally excited to see them at the upcoming Friday Night session on May 10th. More on that to come in the very near future, but, for now, let’s focus on this new music from The Future!

The Future!

The Future is releasing a song a month, and we apparently were snoozing at the wheel on the first couple of releases. Yeah, we might be just a hair behind the 8-ball on this one, I mean Lightning 100 did pick them as their local artist of the month after the release of their “Baby You’re Golden” back in February. Two more hyper popped tracks have been released since then. So, we will make this up to you with an introduction, and all three new tracks right after the jump.


The band of quirky North Dakotan brothers Adam & Jordan Culver gathered friends Eric Sadowsky and Bryan Fleece, who, upon arriving in Nashville, created an indie-pop sound that spans influences from from Prince to Spoon. While the pop sound is infectious upon the first listen, the first time you see them live will forever make you a fan. “The live shows are like an eruption to me,” says singer Adam Culver. “I don’t know what it feels like for the crowd, but for us it’s all spasm and catharsis. We don’t have any choice in the matter, we have to play these songs like our lives depend on it.”

The Future plans to release a single each month, which will be available in a limited physical run of 25 artistic handmade covers each. You can have a listen to the first three releases “Baby You’re Golden”, “The One You Want”, and “Slow Fast” below. If you haven’t already grabbed your weekend wristband to see them at East Nashville Underground, you should jump on those right here! Enjoy getting to know The Future! - No Country for New Nashville