Dropping Plates

Dropping Plates

Family Dinner
​self-released; 2021

3.8 out of 5

By Isaac Roblett

Dropping Plates is a four-piece band hailing from Boone, North Carolina, consisting of Jake Fain (vocals/guitar), Ben Burrows (vocals/guitars), Aaron Huntley (bass) and Forrest Britt (drums). An ambitious band that merges together indie rock, funk, groove, jam, and jazz genres, think The Grateful Dead meets Hiatus Kaiyote whilst listening to Parliament. Family Dinner is their debut album and was entirely recorded in Ben Burrows parent's bedroom in Winston Salem, NC; how music has changed!!
The album kicks off with the song "Sonic Identity" a short instrumental track to give you an insight into the heavy rhythmic groove and improvised feel of the band.

This is followed by the song "Padlock" driven by Huntley's melodic bass work and the stunning guitar solo to close it; all the components come together beautifully, from instrumentation to harmonies. Any minute change in the chord, tempo or tone is transitioned effortlessly like a group of people that have been playing together for a thousand years with stunning precision to melodic phrases and rhythm.

And this is where lies Dropping Plates biggest strength, their almost telepathic ability to play off each other, the effortlessly in sync nature of each member, which results in four impressive musicians bringing their outstanding musicality together to create a dynamic, tight musical experience. And like any great band, they use space, just important as an instrument, to give them a distinctive groove sound. The music sounds like a sacred place that you feel honored to be part of.

"Wishy Washy,” "Spun" and "Minding" are full of exciting riffs, licks and feels to showcase their musicianship, which empowers the rhythmic and melodic structure of the songs. It also highlights the band's remarkable talent of merging genres from indie, jazz improvisation and funk guitars; the smooth manner in which they fuse such distinctive characteristics from ranging genres is exceptional to say the least.
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Overall, Family Dinner is an impressive debut record of four undeniably talented musicians. I enjoy the live feel of the recording but think with better resources and experience to record their sound, this ambitious group can produce even more expansive music. I can't wait to hear their future efforts!! - Divide and Conquer Music

For one Boone band, social media is more than keeping up with the latest TikTok trend. It’s a tool for reaching an audience during a time when live performances are nearly nonexistent.

Due to COVID limiting the opportunity for live performances, Local band Dropping Plates turned to platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok to share their music, with one TikTok reaching over 60,000 views.

App State students Jake Fain, Ben Burrows, Aaron Huntley and Forrest Britt started the band Dropping Plates last year after childhood friends and guitarists Fain and Burrows posted an ad on Facebook, looking for a drummer and bass player for their band. When roommates Huntley and Britt saw the ad, they got in contact and have been playing with them ever since.

They describe themselves as a jam band with a mix of genres from groove to jazz and psychedelic rock.

“My favorite thing about the band is we all have similar music tastes, but none of us listen to the same stuff,” Fain said. “So, we end up with all of these different things attributing to our sound.”

Their variety of inspiration and distinct sound is one reason behind their band name.

“This one time, this guy asked me accusingly why our name was stupid, and I was like, ‘well, think about it, man. When you hear a plate drop, you know that sound immediately,’” Britt said.

Last year they played in several locations such as Noble Kava and Black Cat, but they didn’t have the chance to do many shows before the pandemic hit, and they had to cancel their upcoming performances.

Wanting to continue working together on their music, they decided to use this free time to record their album, “Family Dinner.” But, because they had nowhere to play the songs, they turned to social media to gain an audience.

They began filming and uploading music videos to YouTube with help from Burrow’s childhood friend, Britton Sear. Sear currently lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a videographer, photographer, graphics designer and actor. Sear feels that music videos are a great way to spread their music, especially now.

“I think now more than ever it’s more important because there’s no live shows,” Sear said. “These music videos are how they get their image out there, get their name out there, get their music out there.”

Sear also helps them promote content on Instagram, including clips from their songs and music videos, graphics and advertisements for their t-shirts, which Sear also designed.

The band meets every Tuesday — including Sear, who joins them via FaceTime — to discuss what they are currently working on, whether that be new music, possible places to play or promotional ideas.

Fain said they sometimes plan out an Instagram posting schedule when they are releasing something new. For their single, “Wave”, they first posted an image of the single cover, followed by a video of them playing one of their older songs a couple days later.

Because the band hadn’t posted a video of them playing live in a while, it brought attention to their profile, meaning more people were aware of their upcoming single.

They continued this process over the next few weeks, posting pictures of the band and snippets of the song, so by the time the single came out, people were invested and ready to listen to it, Fain explained.

The work they put into their Instagram pays off. Fain said they gain around 20 new followers after every post, and since March of last year, they went from having roughly 200 followers to nearly 1,000, despite not doing a single show.

The band also uses TikTok to gain a following. They joined TikTok because it’s become such a large platform recently, but found that promotional and planned out content like they post on Instagram doesn’t work in that format.

Instead, they use TikTok to show more of their personalities, posting whatever they want based on what they find funny or entertaining. One TikTok referencing the Grateful Dead, one of their inspirations, got over 60,000 views.

“With TikTok and their Instagram, you kind of get this more intimate look into their style of comedy and who they are, what they do, and how they interact with each other,” Sear said. “I think that’s really important because you get your audience emotionally connected to you, and then they’ll want to listen to the next album, they’ll want to watch the next music video because they care.”

Although they have accomplished a lot online over this past year, the band members are ready to start performing live again.

“We’ve got plans, and we’re really excited to get out there and play,” said Huntley. That’s our biggest thing. We’re so ready to get out there and play again.”

Despite the emphasis on their media presence, their passion for music is the true driving force behind it all.

“We just want to be as genuine as possible, and we just want to connect with people in any way that we can because connection is really hard right now,” Fain said. “We really hope that that’s resonating with people and that people continue to enjoy our stuff because we really enjoy doing it.” - The Appalachian

BOONE — Guitarists Ben Burrows and Jake Fain attended high school together in Winston-Salem where they each began performing in their respective bands. It wasn’t until a few years later that they united with Bassist Aaron Huntley, of Raleigh and Forrest Britt, of Wilmington, in the mountains of Boone.

The first studio album by Boone-based band Dropping Plates “Family Dinner ” was released on Feb. 1. Singles from the album include the crowd favorite “Padlock” and the band’s latest single “Wave.” The new album also features a few previously unheard songs and will be accompanied by new music videos which can be found on the band’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/droppingplatesband.


Huntley describes the album as “the exploration of our own musical influences while really searching for a sound that we can call our own.” “Some songs are more serious lyrically and some are very musical but I really believe there is something on it for everyone,” said Fain.

By combining their years of music experience and tastes, the band transformed into an indie-groove jam band that has been quick to make its mark in Boone, becoming well known for their live performances and selling out local bars and restaurants.

This spring the band looks forward to more recording and getting back on stage as soon as possible.

“Once we get through these challenging times in the industry we cannot wait to tour and promote ‘Family Dinner’ as well as our next album. We had plans to branch out into Asheville, Charlotte, Winston and Raleigh, but we hope to really get back out there as soon as April or May,” said Burrows.

You can be on the lookout for Dropping Plates in Boone this spring as well as another album and a North Carolina tour on the horizon, as soon as this summer.

In the meantime, you can find their current work on Spotify and Apple Music. For only $5 you can purchase digital downloads of their latest work as well as a bonus track in the “Family Dinner” album pre-order on Bandcamp at droppingplates.bandcamp.com/.

For more information, promo requests, or to arrange an interview, contact Brett Surmons droppingplatesband@gmail.com or by phone at (336) 577-3561. You can also listen to Dropping Plates on Spotify and Apple Music. - Mountain Times

Not long after Dropping Plates, an emerging band based in Boone, started playing gigs in Boone and Raleigh in late 2019, COVID-19 hit.

“With COVID, obviously everything kind of shut down,” said band member Ben Burrows, who is from Winston-Salem. “We had about 16 gigs lined up before all that happened.”

Instead of feeling down about their situation, the four band members, all students at Appalachian State University, put their talents to good use.

“We decided to make the best of a bad situation,” Burrows said. “We decided to start writing songs and recorded a song over the summer.”

On Feb. 1, Dropping Plates, an indie-groove jam band, released its first album, “Family Dinner.”


This epic tale shows the members of dropping plates searching for the celestial prize....

Thank you to Britton Sear for filming and editing and Abigail Ingram-Edwards for the PADLOCK


Music video for our song Wave! Big special thank you to our very own Britton Sear for directing and producing. Also a special thanks to Carter (Curtis) Hodl we seriously couldn't have done it without him. We hope you enjoy :)

Singles from the seven-track album include “Sonic Identity,” “Padlock,” “Wishy Wash” and “Wave.”

Britton Sear, a native of Winston-Salem, made several videos for the group featuring songs from “Family Dinner” that are now on YouTube.

The members
Burrows, 22, plays guitar and keyboard and sings in Dropping Plates. He previously performed with the bands Carolina Crossing in Winston-Salem and Friendly Reminder in Raleigh.


The other three band members are guitarist and singer Jake Fain, 22, of Winston-Salem, bassist Aaron Huntley, 19, of Raleigh and drummer Forrest Britt, 20, of Wilmington.

Fain was the frontman for Your Mama’s Favorite Band in Winston-Salem. Huntley was a member of several bands in Raleigh — Phluphy, Snack Time and Qualian — and was in a band called Old Lacy last year in Boone with Britt.

Initially, Huntley and Britt would play “intricate baselines and cool drum parts,” which they called indie groove. Then Burrows and Fain, who were looking for a bass and a drummer, joined them.

“Ben and Jake are fantastic at harmonizing and melodies,” Huntley said. “They really put together the indie groove.”

Together, the four members combine their separate backgrounds in music to create this indie groove,” he said.

Why did the band members settle on the name “Dropping Plates”?

Huntley said they played together for a month without a name.

“We had thrown out maybe like 200 different names and we settled on Dropping Plates,” Huntley said. “The runner up was Dinosaur Party.”

Fain’s mother was one of the main reasons they chose Dropping Plates.



“I had texted a picture of the list to my mom because she was very curious about what the band names were,” Fain said. “She liked Dropping Plates because it sounded like Talking Heads.”

All members in the band have birthdays within about a week of each other in June — two of them have the same birthday.

They named one of the songs on their debut album “Highway Cake” because they bought Huntley a cake on his birthday, but Burrows and Britt forgot they had left it on top of the car they were riding in along a Winston-Salem highway.

“It fell out on the highway and we picked it up and took it back and everybody was none the wiser,” Burrows said. “Then we told them it was on the highway.”

Huntley said he just kept eating the cake.

“It was a little crunchy from sand on the highway,” he said.

The band and its music
Dropping Plates was becoming well known for its live performances before the pandemic.

The TApp Room is one of the venues where they have performed in Boone.

Joshua Keranovic, venue manager/talent buyer for The TApp Room called the group a “great up-and-coming band in the Boone music scene,” adding that they had a successful show about a year ago.



“They had the place practically at capacity, which is a huge feat for a first- time band.” Keranovic said. “We had another show on the books for April, but then the pandemic hit and we had to cancel everything unfortunately.”

He said he is eager to bring the Dropping Plates back to the bar.

The band members said they can’t wait to get back onstage — to tour and promote their new album.

“Family Dinner” is available on all streaming platforms.

“I really think that our debut album creates a lot of different music backgrounds, like genres that each musician in our band pulls from,” Britt said. “It really incorporates a lot of versatile songs ... You will definitely hear riffs and licks that originated from a specific musician in our band throughout the entire album.”

Burrows said everyone in the band has a unique style of playing.

“Everybody brought their own style and playing to the music, which I think was really cool, and everybody was very open to everything. I thought that was really awesome.” - Winston-Salem Journal

YOOOOO DROPPING MFKIN PLATES INTERVIEW!!! I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did recording it. Dropping the local Boone band of the years has been on a roll recently and for a very good reason . These bois r talented and to spit Boone flames every song they hop on. For more plate action follow them on instagram @droppingplatesband !!! FallrisK - FallrisK Podcast

Dropping Plates is one of the newest local bands on the scene in Boone, NC. I had the opportunity to have a delightful interview with them this week! Made up of bassist Aaron Huntley, drummer Forest Britt, lead singer/guitarist Jake Fain, and guitarist Ben Burrows, they bring a unique funk-rock sound to the table. Here’s what they have to say:

Q: Tell me about how Dropping Plates started.
Aaron: Me and Forest were roommates last year at App State. I was on Facebook, and I saw that Ben had posted this ad for a drummer and bass player to create a band. I’ve known Ben because I met him through a mutual friend, and we’d jammed in the past before. I recognized him and so I just hit him up and then we jammed. It was perfect.

Q: How would you describe the music you make?
Jake: A mix between Grateful Dead and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Aaron: I know that we like to vibe, we like to jam.

Forest: We like to jam a lot. There’s a lot of instrumental influence, especially guitar solos in all of our music. A lot of our music is from different fields. We’ll have a more rock-like niche feel that’s heavier, but then we’ll also have a lighter poppy feel. We also have songs that are slow and like, just chill. So it kind of depends, but I think ultimately each song does have our individual instrumental influences which ultimately make the band Dropping Plates.

Q: What’s the story behind the name “Dropping Plates?”
Jake: So basically we were all in a group chat and we were just throwing out names, like we probably had 150 names. I was going through and I picked my top three out or whatever and I sent them to my mom. She’s like a very good outside judge of those things to see, you know, what would draw other people’s attention the most. One of them was Dropping Plates and she picked that one.

Forest: And with the name Dropping Plates, when you hear the sound of a plate dropping and crashing you know what that sound is, right? We feel like that compares to our music. We’re hoping that when you hear our band you know it’s Dropping Plates.

Ben: We were also going to be Dino Trip at first, Dino Trip or Dinosaur Party. And then we were like…”No, Dropping Plates.”

Q: Tell me a little bit about your creative process. How do you guys make music? Where do you draw inspiration from?
Forest: Really, it’s different for every song. They write music on their instruments, and then bring it to the band. Then, when we come together after we work on the songs. Everyone kind of puts their own touch into that song. It just builds until it’s a complete piece. But there’s a lot of times when it’s already a complete thing, but we’re just adding our influences into it and our sounds. For the song “Spun”, I felt like Jake kind of had that song already finished for his guitar part. We all came together and Jake started playing the song, Aaron starts coming up with a baseline, and I’m listening to Aaron play his baseline and I’ll do my drum part. Then we’ll come up with melodic lines over Jake’s guitar part. Jake will just sing, and then we’ll be like, f*** yeah. Maybe we’ll tweak it a little bit for a few songs. There’s a song on our upcoming album called “Wave” and it used to be actually a really fast song that Ben wrote but then we decided to just pull it back and play it slow. Now it’s this really beautiful, slow piece that’s closing the album.

Ben: Yeah, I think all of us have different influences for music, which I think is really cool because then it adds to a melting pot of sorts. Aaron is a lot more into jazz and methodical playing and I’m a lot more feel and rustic type of deal. Jake is like the nice mixture of the two and more Grateful Dead oriented on that point as well. And then Forest, he’s just the feel master of it all. The idea that he has what he has just in his mind I think is very cool. We’re all able to bring our own identities to our music, which is so sick.

Q: Who are your biggest musical role models?
Ben: John Mayer and the Grateful Dead for me are my top two most influential artists.

Forest: For me Hiatus Kaiyote, and specifically the drummer. His drum stuff really influences what I’m doing.

Jake: I’d definitely say just a combination of Jerry Garcia and Trey Anastasio. So, Dead and Phish, just the combination of the two is my biggest inspiration for sure.

Aaron: I listen to a lot of jazz. This guy, Christian Scott, he just has this, like blaring music and it’s really cool. And Flea, obviously, from Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Q: What’s the most useless talent you have?
Forest: I do parkour. Throughout middle school I was really into it and throughout high school I taught parkour classes at a gym. I would say it taught me a lot about working with kids working on yourself physically, but like, ultimately, I can do a backflip. I don’t know how useful that is.

Ben: I work for a conservation group. That’s pretty useful though. I have a really fancy tool that helps me measure water quality and dissolved oxygen and all this stuff. So I basically just put it in the water and I take the data. I can also do a really mean Scooby-Doo impression.

Jake: Oh yeah, we’re also really good at Catan.

Aaron: Super Smash Brothers too, we’re also really good at that. I know a lot of random stuff about animals too. I can play bass and drums at the same time. I use my feet on the drums and I use my hands on the bass.

Jake: I know a dumb amount of random Grateful Dead and Phish facts that I can just impose upon people.

Ben: It’s the most useless skill ever. He’ll just say some s*** that’ll blow your mind and you’re just like, why do you even know that?

Q: Have you guys played any live shows?
Jake: We’ve played four actual shows and then we played a bunch of times for an open mic.

Ben: Our favorite gig was a State though. I actually went to State my first two years. I was in a band, they’re called Friendly Reminder, they’re pretty sick. Check them out. My friends asked me if we wanted to come down and play at some philanthropy thing for their fraternity. We got to do it and it was really, really, really sick. We just played really well. It was a big crowd, but that wasn’t even what made it great. We all felt just felt connected and it was really cool. Which is why we’re sad. We had 15 shows lined up for the last month and a half before COVID, like one to three a week.

Jake: Ultimately, I’d say that we’re like gearing towards trying to become a live band. We still want to do studio stuff, because I actually really enjoyed that more than I thought I would.

Ben: We want to play. This is what we want to do with our lives. We’ll go to any means necessary to do that and get a really cool following. The goal would be to have a cult following that’s super religious to us. I’d like to see the same 50 people at our shows every time.

Q: What are you working on right now? What does the future look like for the band?
Aaron: We got a single coming out soon. We also just dropped our second music video today, “Padlock.”

Forest: And then our album, which has these singles we’ve dropped like “Spun,’ “Padlock,” and this next single, they’re all going to be a part of an album, which I think we’re gonna drop in February. We’re actually also in the process of recording another album too that’ll be released in the summer.

Q: Anything else you want to world to know about Dropping Plates?
Ben: Follow us on Facebook. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Check out our Spotify. And just come hang. Whenever all the social distancing stuff is over, we’re happy to hang out. We want to meet people and do cool things with music. We already have a community. We’re talking to a lot of other bands right now about playing shows together, and these are bands that are way better than us. It’s cool to recognize that people see our music as a promising thing and that they like our sound. It’s cool to finally realize that all of our hard work is being noticed.

Below is a link to their new music video to “Padlock,” along with their Spotify, Instagram, and Youtube channel. Check ’em out! - WKNC 88.1

The other three band members are guitarist and singer Jake Fain (22) from Winston-Salem, bassist Aaron Huntley (19) from Raleigh and drummer Forrest Britt (20) from Wilmington.

Fain was the front man of your mother’s favorite band in Winston-Salem. Huntley has been a member of several bands in Raleigh – Phluphy, Snack Time, and Qualian – and was in a band called Old Lacy in Boone with Britt last year.

In the beginning, Huntley and Britt played “complicated baselines and cool drum parts,” which they called indie groove. Then Burrows and Fain joined them looking for a bass and a drummer.

“Ben and Jake are fantastic at harmonization and melodies,” said Huntley. “They really put the indie groove together.”

Together the four members combine their different musical backgrounds to create this indie groove, ”he said.

Why did the band members choose the name “Dropping Plates”?

Huntley said they played without a name for a month.

“We’d thrown out maybe 200 different names and decided on dropping plates,” said Huntley. “Runner-up was Dinosaur Party.”

Fain’s mom was one of the main reasons they chose dropping plates. - North Carolina Chronicle