Rising Stars: Meet Tea Leaf of Northland Kansas City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tea Leaf

Hi Tea Leaf, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Most of us met in high school and began playing music together in Kansas City around 2018. For a few years, Hayden Poling (guitar/vocals), Jordon Walker (guitar/vocals) and Lucas Cuni-Mertz (bass) wrote and played music together at each other’s houses. Ryan Decker (keys), living in Arkansas for college, started joining these jam sessions in 2021 when in town for holidays.

We didn’t officially become the band we are today for another couple years; we were never in a big rush to do all that. In 2023 though, the four of us finished and released our first song, Rising Sun, as Tea Leaf. Soon after, Brenden Shy (drums) and Nick Foster (saxophone) joined the band. I’m glad the band expanded to the six-piece it is today; I think each member has really helped transform and improve our sound. -Lucas Cuni-Mertz

After Rising Sun, we recorded and released two more singles, Kamui and First Impressions. We’ve played a few shows in KC and are currently focused on finishing up our debut album, which we plan to release later this summer.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As a true indie band, we do everything ourselves. From writing, recording and mixing our songs at home to designing album art and selling merch, we have full control over what we create. This is great for us, as it allows us flexibility and full control over the result, but we also have to deal with the learning curves and limitations of home studios. We’re also unique in that not all six of us currently live in KC. I (Ryan) live in Northwest Arkansas, so we’ve had to get good at collaborating virtually when I can’t record in person. At the end of the day though, we love playing music together, and getting to do that is worth any struggles we face. -Ryan Decker

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I wouldn’t say we focus too hard on trying to stand out from others. That being said, I think the wide-ranging influences and music tastes of everyone in the band help contribute to a sound that’s pretty unique. For example, our sax player is really into jazz, our drummer plays a lot of punk and metal, our lead singer loves a lot of 60s and 70s music and classic rock, and I personally enjoy a lot of modern indie stuff. I think all these influences present themselves in our music in their own ways and result in songs that don’t perfectly fit into any single style or genre. I’d describe our sound as pretty eclectic, especially on this first album, and I think that’s a perfect representation of our band. -Lucas Cuni-Mertz

I’m most proud of the fact we do everything ourselves. Every song on the album is written, recorded, and produced by us, even if it means learning as we go. For example, I mixed and mastered this first album, something I’d never done before. It’s been fun trying something new, and I think we take even greater satisfaction and pride in our music knowing it’s done entirely by us. -Ryan Decker

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tealeaf.webflow.io
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tealeafband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TeaLeafTheBand
• Other: https://linktr.ee/tealeafband