Laundry Day say opening for Ed Sheeran “didn’t feel like it was in the realm of our possibility”
Laundry Day have spoken to NME about landing the opportunity to open for Ed Sheeran, understanding the TikTok algorithm, receiving praise from the likes of Drake and Jack Harlow and their sold-out homecoming gigs.
Comprised of singers Jude Ciulla-Lipkin and Sawyer Nunes, along with bassist Henry Pearl and guitarist Henry Weingartner, Laundry Day met back during their freshman year of high school in Manhattan. Since then, they have released five albums – the most recent being 2023’s ‘Younger Than I Was Before’ – and have gone on to open for the likes of Neon Trees, The 1975 and Clairo.
The first half of 2024 has seen them achieve viral success on TikTok with videos of the band covering trending songs. The 1975’s Matty Healy reposted a video their rendition of ‘I’m In Love With You’ on his Instagram Stories and most recently, The Kid Laroi reposted their amusing cover of one of his tracks.
Drake also who co-singed them by posting their song ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ and telling them that he’s been watching their videos for a long time. Their clips have led them to massive opportunities such as opening for Teezo Touchdown during his UK and European tour earlier this year.
On Easter Sunday, Laundry Day played their first headlining gig in a while at London’s Sebright Arms – a show that sold out in under an hour and had hundreds of people on the waitlist.
“That was the first moment where it was something in real life where people were buying tickets,” said Ciulla-LipkinIt was technically the first of our own shows we played since a lot of stuff has happened.”
He continued: “We were like ‘This is real. This isn’t like a joke. This isn’t just people online’.”
Now, the New York City quartet are set to open for Ed Sheeran at the ‘X’ 10th anniversary show in Brooklyn tonight (Wednesday May 22) and have sold out a two-night run at Bowery Ballroom later this week. We talked them about their huge year so far and what’s to come.
NME: Hi Laundry Day. You guys are opening for Ed Sheeran during his 10th-anniversary celebration for ‘X’. How does that feel?
Pearl: “It’s always been our dream for artists to come through New York and be like, ‘Oh, when I’m in New York Laundry Day should open for us’. It’s a dream come true.”
Are you guys ready to take on the Barclays Center?
Ciulla-Lipkin: “We’re just going to do our thing. Any time any of us think about it, we’re just mind-blown by the whole thing. When we announced it, it was the coolest feeling to post that poster and just shock everyone. It was the best moment.”
Nunes: “We’re ready. There are always nerves. We’ve developed such a trust between the four of us from playing together for so long. It’s cool that everything around us will change but the four of us are still the same playing the same thing. As long as I’m near enough to see them and interact with them, it’ll feel like we’re just back in the rehearsal room.”
Sawyer – you recently shared a video of you covering ‘The A Team’ from years ago. How does it feel to now have that full circle moment?
Nunes: “I love [Ed Sheeran]. I thought he was so cool. He was everything I wanted to be. His nerdy and genuine approach to [being a singer-songwriter] was what made me feel like I could do the same thing as him.
“He’s someone I’ve always known about and if we were to make a list of people we dream of opening for, he just wouldn’t be on it in the sense that it feels so out of reach. So when something like [opening for him] hits you and lines up perfectly, it can’t not feel like a sort of universal, weird moment.”
Ciulla-Lipkin: “I agree; opening for Ed didn’t feel like it was in the realm of our possibility. So when we heard that we were, we were like, ‘Is this real?’ and I guess it is. I won’t believe it until we’re on the stage. Actually, I won’t believe it until we’re shaking his hand.”
@daundrylay @the1975
Earlier this year, your hilarious cover of The 1975’s ‘Im In Love With You’ was reposted by Matty Healy himself on his Instagram stories. What was that like?
Ciulla-Lipkin: “We’re just constantly begging for people’s attention. So that was a direct cry at all The 1975 fans and we know that he is always online.”
Weingartner: “He had been binging a lot of TikTok content. If I’m being completely honest, when we were filming it, we were like, ‘We’re gonna get onto his stories’.”
Nunes: “There’s this pre-meditative, like, ‘We’ve got to plan out every piece of content’ kind of thing in the music industry and it almost feels like we’re cheating. We’re just having fun. We’re literally on the street like, ‘Let’s just sing the song. Go right now first take,’ and we just post it and continue on with our day. Sometimes it goes great, sometimes it doesn’t at all and sometimes we have a plan for it.”
Drake also reposted you guys as well…
Ciulla-Lipkin: “The same thing happened with him where once he found out about us then we knew that if we got his attention again, we could get the story repost which we did. He’s the same way. He’s online, like, he’s just a dude.”
Ciulla-Lipkin: “It’s insane. It’s happened a few times now, like fucking Jack Harlow recently hit us up. I feel like now we just need Taylor Swift and we’re set. She’s the final Infinity Stone.”
Weingartner: “I want the incoming father. JB [Justin Bieber]”
Nunes: “I think the most important thing is the tighter we are as a group, then the more we can influence outside of it. I think our camaraderie is what’s makes people enjoy us.”
Pearl: “When I think about the band and all the attention we’ve gotten recently, I think it’s amazing. It just makes me say to myself ‘Alright, what’s next? Music?’. We got to put music out and, and speak to the people directly now that they’re paying attention because we do joke around, but also we have a lot to say.”
Weingartner: “It also makes me feel way more comfortable with myself knowing that Drake just scrolls constantly because I scroll constantly. It humanises him in a nice way.”
You guys are known as this band who just make videos on TikTok but your music also stands out. You guys recently released your single ‘Why Is Everyone A DJ?’…
Ciulla-Lipkin: “It was just a matter of needing to have more eyes on us. The real work for us is getting people’s attention. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t. In the past, we’ve tried to just put out a song and just let it be and let it be great, but that’s just not how it works.”
Nunes: “Sometimes there’s an air of pretentiousness around the idea of, ‘Oh, the music will speak for itself and people will just find it because I’m so serious about it’. In reality, if you can be funny and make an impression on someone, they’re going to remember you much more. I think because we are not trying to take ourselves too seriously and are just having fun, that translates in the music.”
Ciulla-Lipkin: “I mean, we’re opening for Ed Sheeran. So I think enough people know that we’re [a band].”
You guys have grown since the last time NME spoke with you back in 2019. It feels as if you have all gotten comfortable with yourselves.
Ciulla-Lipkin: “It’s not easy. I feel like we had to learn that you have to keep being your number one fan, which I know is kind of a cliche, but we would say that and not do it. Then, when we got more comfortable, people started to react and then good things came our way. But it starts with you. You gotta keep advocating for yourself.”
Both of your hometown gigs at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom are sold out. Are you guys ready for it?
Ciulla-Lipkin: “Yeah, I mean, the Ed Sheeran thing is obviously insane. But two nights in front of our people like, playing our music, everyone’s singing along, It’s just gonna be fucking crazy.”
Nunes: “Teezo said something along the lines of, ‘Everyone has a different day one’ and I think that makes it even more fun, interesting and diverse.
“Being able to have these two shows in New York and have a place where people can all congregate, where you’ll have the ‘Tumpet Boy’ fans, fans who have been to all of out New York shows or those who heard ‘Why Is Everyone a DJ?’ a couple of weeks ago, there’s so much allure that the people who are into it can spread amongst themselves.”
Ciulla-Lipkin: “It’s gonna be so fun. It’s just gonna be electric.”
Laundry Day are set to serve as opening support for Ed Sheeran at his ‘X’ 10th anniversary show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Wednesday May 22. They are also playing at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on May 24 and 25. Visit here to purchase tickets.
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Anagricel Duran
NME
