By DJ Gabby Mack – Host of Fish Food
Shallow Alcove
Fresh off of their in-studio performance at WKDU presented by Fish Food, the indie folk darlings from Shallow Alcove joined us for a conversation about sleepovers, nostalgia, and various tour tales in promotion for their upcoming EP Doggy Paddle out May 21st. Currently on their “Slumber Party Tour,” the band has been embracing comfort on stage, performing in pajamas and encouraging that same sleepover intimacy among fans.
WKDU (Gabby): What’s up? How are you guys feeling? Get comfy, get close to the mic. We’re all here to hang out. That was such an amazing set, those harmonies were insane. Do you guys want to go around and introduce yourselves real quick?
Grace: My name is Grace, I sing, and I actually live in Philadelphia.
Dan: My name is Dan, I play banjo and guitar, and I spend a lot of time here at Grace’s house.
Peter: What’s up, my name is Peter, I play guitar. I live in Jamaica, Queens. Let’s go Mets. And I spend a lot of time in Philadelphia as well.
Grace: Everybody kissing up to Philadelphia.
Jack: What’s up, I’m Jack. I play bass and guitar and keys in Shallow Alcove.
(Noah, their drummer, was not present but spiritually involved, especially when Pittsburgh came up.)
WKDU: You’re on tour right now, the Slumber Party Tour. I love that theme, by the way. So cozy. Grace, did you come up with it?
Grace: Yeah, it was between slumber party and tea party. And we thought, “Okay, would we rather bring pillows across the country or glass?” It’s gotta be pillows. We’ve been enjoying it, it’s been cozy. We don’t have to put on shoes or real clothes to go on stage.
Dan: I feel like it’s led to a much more casual vibe on stage. It’s sort of been a concert and a tell-all. We just say whatever comes to our mind. It’s been the most unique tour we’ve done thus far.
While based in different cities, Shallow Alcove shares a special love for Philadelphia. Peter clocked a nine-mile walk to the Rocky Steps, Dan caught sunset at Carbon Copy, and Grace swears by the $7 banh mi at Fu-Wah Mini Mart in West Philly.
When asked about their favorite stops so far, many cities made the list. However, while speaking about tour stories, the band recounted a surreal moment in Indiana when a fire broke out next to their hotel.
WKDU: How’s tour been so far? Any favorite stops?
Dan: Boston was a really fun place to kick it off. Chicago is always so much fun. Lake Orion, which is a suburb outside of Detroit, we really like.
Grace: It’s hard to choose.
Jack: Noah was particularly excited about Pittsburgh. It’s his favorite city in the world.
WKDU: I mean, second to Philly, but yeah.
Grace: Not even close.
WKDU: So…I saw there was a fire in Indiana?
Grace: Yeah, there was a fire…
Jack: We were all crammed in one hotel room, the five of us, and we were woken up by pounding at the door and they were like, “Please leave. There’s a fire.”
Grace: They were like, “Don’t grab anything!”
Jack: [Laughs] Yeah, so we rushed out and we ran outside and there was a huge trailer completely engulfed. It caught fire to the building next to us.
Peter: It was like ten feet from our van as well.
Grace: We were hoping that it wasn’t our van just spontaneously combusting.
Dan: But we got a late checkout, which was cool.
Grace: They were like, you’re not gonna be mad about the fire? And we’re like, you’re not gonna be mad about us illegally cramming five people in here?
Dan: It cancels out.
Naturally, the conversation turned to actual childhood sleepovers. It’s this nostalgic, handmade aesthetic that sets Shallow Alcove apart. Fans have even shown up to shows dressed as their childhood selves, which Grace called “the sweetest thing ever.”
WKDU: Do you guys have any weird slumber party stories from growing up? Because I feel like everybody always does.
Dan: I was at my friend’s birthday, I was probably like 8 or 9. There was one couch for ten kids. So the parents said, “We can’t make you fight for it… We’ll do a challenge: everyone eats a bunch of Fireball [candy].” It started out fun and lighthearted, and then everyone’s mouths were beet red and kids were crying. I don’t even remember who got the couch.
Peter: I thought you meant the drink!
Grace: Everybody takes a bunch of Fireball shots.
WKDU: [Laughs] Imagine eight-year-olds doing cinnamon shooters.
Dan: But yeah, all hell broke loose. God bless those parents for trying.
Jack: I remember sleeping over at my friend’s house in third or fourth grade. Shout out Steven Bao. We did typical stuff: prank calls, knee hockey. Then I got woken up by Mrs. Bao. My mom had to pick me up early because our dog ate a groundhog.
WKDU: A whole groundhog??
Jack: I guess they just needed boy power at the house. Bailey was fine.
Grace: Shout out Bailey.
WKDU: Was the groundhog?
Peter: Yeah… I have a story but I don’t know if I should say it.
Grace: Best to err on the side of caution.
Peter: Okay, one’s okay. I was at a friend’s house– we weren’t even that close. We started watching a movie we weren’t supposed to. Then he pulled out a BB gun and started following me around. I was like, “Okay, whatever,” until he started shooting it. I ran like four miles home.
WKDU: You RAN home??
Peter: Yeah. And I saw him wandering the neighborhood with the BB gun.
Grace: He was hunting you!
Dan: That’s like a SAW movie.
Peter: I live to tell the tale.
WKDU: Grace, please tell me you have something wholesome.
Grace: I was just doing wholesome stuff. My friends and I were really into making Jell-O for some reason. We would slide down the staircase in sleeping bags. I remember one sleepover that changed my brain chemistry. We were just laughing so much it felt like we were high. I genuinely felt like I could float off the earth. Those were the days.
WKDU: The difference between boy vs. girl sleepovers has never been clearer.
Grace: Hunted, dog ate a groundhog, hot cinnamon balls…
Dan: A bunch of kids screaming.
Grace: And I was making Jell-O.
At this point, Noah and Seven from WKDU joined us in the studio to deliver a gift: a custom limerick, part of Seven’s beloved WKDU in-studio tradition.
Noah & Seven:
There once was a Shallow Alcove,
In which I found a treasure trove,
Of sweet summer sound,
With banjo abound,
A tapestry of harmony they wove.
Grace: That was great.
Dan: We’ll have to add that one to the set.
WKDU: The world needs more limericks.
Grace: More limericks!
Beyond the music, Shallow Alcove has cultivated a community through monthly craft nights on Discord. These sessions are exactly what they sound like: fans gather virtually to work on art projects. Grace explained, “We realized so many of our fans are crafters, and it’s become a really lovely space.”
WKDU: Let’s talk about your Discord craft nights. I’ve never seen that before!
Grace: It started because I was already making our song art, posters, and merch by hand. Turns out, our fans are also mostly crafters. So, once a month, we all hop on Discord, work on our projects, and do “rose, bud, and thorn,” where you share something good, something bad, and something you’re looking forward to.
WKDU: That’s really sweet.
Grace: Last time we did it, it developed into a little open mic. A few people played their original music and we shared one of our unreleased songs and crafted. It’s wonderful.
WKDU: If you could pick a movie that captures the band’s vibe, what would it be?
Dan: Polar Express. The pajamas, singing all the time.
Grace: Polar Express is really capturing the wardrobe, I would say.
Jack: I think in terms of relating to our tour hijinks, I would say Home Alone.
Peter: I would say Frog and Toad. They’re my fashion inspiration.
Grace: A couple of people have come up to the merch table and compared our aesthetics and merch to Fancy Nancy. I love her.
Dan: People also think of Max and Ruby. Specifically the cake.
Peter: We were saying that we all had different fashion inspirations coming in today.
Grace: Yeah, I was an art teacher. Peter was a painter. Jack was a dad going to Costco. And then Dan was a DJ.
Dan: DJ and exotic dancer, they said for me.
WKDU: Wow! What a friend group. That sounds like a joke… An art teacher, a DJ, a painter, and a dad from Costco walk into an interview.
Peter: What’s gonna happen?
Their latest single, “Pampa, TX,” and upcoming EP, Doggy Paddle (out May 21st), blend diaristic songwriting with character-driven storytelling. Grace wrote “Pampa, TX” after visiting the real-life Texas town and imagining the world of someone meeting up with a mysterious fling in a motel. A departure from her usual confessional writing, it came from advice her therapist gave.
WKDU: “Pampa, TX” is amazing. Can you talk about what inspired that song?
Grace: I usually write very diary-style, but I was telling my therapist songwriting was giving me anxiety. She said, “Why don’t you write something that’s not about you?” So I imagined this character in a motel in Pampa, Texas, maybe meeting up with someone. You know, hookup vibes. It is something so far from my life, but it was fun to reach into a different bag and play a character for this one.
The band’s collaborative process is evolving, too. “Boy Shallow Alcove” often starts with instrumentals, while “Girl Shallow Alcove” (Grace) brings in the lyrics. Together, they create what Grace calls their “five-person music baby.”
Grace: Being in a band is like having a superpower. You get the power of five instead of one. When I write by myself, it’s like making a clone of myself. But writing as a group feels like making a music baby with your best friends. And that’s way cooler than a clone.
Shallow Alcove, WKDU Live In-Studio 2025
The Doggy Paddle EP drops May 21, and the band hinted at more tour dates coming later this year. Until then, you can keep up with them on Instagram @shallowalcove and stream their music wherever you listen!
Final words from Dan? “Be the change you wanna see.”
Be sure to also check out the recorded Shallow Alcove LIVE in-studio on WKDU Philadelphia’s Youtube channel here. Until next time, commit some radio warfare.