The future looks bright for Minneapolis band Porch Light
January 30, 2025
The year 2024 was good to Minneapolis indie rock band Porch Light. They entered this year with more than 250,000 followers on TikTok, 150,000 on Instagram, a sold-out 7th St. Entry show under their belt, and a spot in Friday’s Best New Bands of 2024 showcase at First Avenue. Oh, and they’ve been together for less than a year and have never released any music.
Wondering how in the world it was possible to build a following this way? I was. So, channeling my inner investigative journalist, I met up with the five members on a blistering cold morning at Caffetto coffee shop in south Minneapolis and began to take some notes. Along the way, we had a lovely conversation about the band’s journey so far and the trust they’ve built with each other.
Porch Light guitarist Kyle Siemon recruited each of his three bandmates with a question along the lines of “Hey, you play *input instrument here*, right?” It worked on drummer Isaiah Trimbo during a high school cross country bus ride, and later on guitarist Zac Fogarty. Siemon approached the band’s lead singer, Jackie Uhas, after hearing her perform Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” at Como Tap’s karaoke night.
“He’s the reason we’re here,” Uhas says of Siemon. “He is.” To fill out the lineup, Uhas asked friend Henry Hughes, who had always wanted to play bass in a band.
This past summer, they started practicing on the porch of Fogarty’s house in Dinkytown, which also sparked their band’s name. For the most part, his roommates have been cool with practices moving indoors to the house’s basement. “It’s literally the only indoor space that any of us had access to that we could play music in without bothering people,” says Fogarty.
From there, things have gradually gotten more serious. Hughes playfully recalls having to ditch and risk losing his job at a summer camp to make it to the first Porch Light photo shoot.
“That's when we all were like, ‘OK, we're all in it. We all want to do something here’,” he says.
Porch Light’s social media numbers and Best New Bands slot may make them look like an overnight success, but most members have been cutting their teeth in the Twin Cities music scene for some time now.
Fogarty, Siemon, and Trimbo were all members of The Dalmatian Club, another Best New Band of 2024 performer. (Fogarty and Siemon remain in both bands.) Hughes plays guitar in the band Ivers, who have performed everywhere from the late Chop Shop in Como to First Avenue’s main room.
As covers of Paramore and The Cranberries posted online show, the members knew they wanted this project to embrace the sounds of alt-rock music from the ’90s and early 2000s. When they had practiced enough to feel ready to perform, they decided to take matters into their own hands and throw a show on Fogarty’s porch in September. Fogarty recalls playing alongside The Dalmatian Club with countless friends in attendance. “Everyone was packed on the deck so tight,” he says. “People were on the roof, on the stairs, people in the parking lot. It was crazy.”
From there, the band reached out to First Avenue talent buyer Dylan Hilliker, who Hughes already knew, and pitched playing a 7th Street Entry show. “We asked him, ‘Is there any way you can get us a spot?’” says Fogarty. “‘We’ll put the bill together, we’ll have a headliner, we’ll open.’”
Long story short: They couldn’t find a headliner. Instead of opening for someone else, they headlined the show, and managed to sell out the room. Callback, Squirm, and Emily Rhea were also on the bill for the performance on Nov. 23, 2024.
Just two days before, the band flew out to play a show in New York. The opportunity came from Porch Light’s manager, Lou Nocito, who also manages Long Island band Arcy Drive and Nashville-based singer-songwriter Bo Staloch. Arcy Drive needed an opener for their show at Mulcahy’s in the Long Island city of Wantagh. Nocito pitched the idea two weeks before Porch Light’s 7th Street show.
“We looked at each other like, ‘We’re doing this’,” says Siemon. The pressure was on, from getting last-minute airline tickets to negotiating with the Sun Country front desk clerk so they could carry their guitars onto the plane.
“I spent hours on the phone with Sun Country trying to figure out how the hell to get tickets,” Trimbo says laughingly. “But we did it.”
As a new band with no material to call their own, Porch Light started honing their sound by playing covers when they practiced. In addition to playing, Siemon would set up his phone and record their jam sessions. Then he posted them to Instagram and TikTok. That’s it.
This initial approach remains the same even with the followers they’ve amassed on social media: record the band playing, get the videos out there. So far, the band contends that the number of people who watch is irrelevant. Right now, the only thing that matters is that they continue to do it consistently.
Even with Porch Light’s impressive view counts on different social media platforms, the band puts more trust in themselves, their sound, and their process. As those numbers rose, the content remained the same. No “extra fluff” as Uhas puts it. They don’t bat an eye when I mention the potential TikTok ban, which felt relevant in mid-January. As Fogarty points out, at the end of the day they’re a live band. That’s where they want to thrive.
Porch Light’s circle of trust includes Nocito, their manager, who was already one of their biggest supporters back when they had about 400 followers on Instagram and one moderately successful TikTok video. The band puts a lot of value on the personal and close-knit nature of Nocito’s management style.
Since that initial photo shoot, photographer Aaron Ray (@grainmann) has helped create and document a unified aesthetic for Porch Light. Using the imperfections of film, Ray captures the band embracing the imperfections in their live music sound. Seen as the band’s sixth member, Ray has extensively documented early moments in the band’s career.
During our chat, Porch Light can’t say enough great things about producer Caleb Wright, from his calming demeanor to his sage advice. Wright saw their vision in wanting to keep their sound raw, which led to live tracking on just about everything they recorded at Flowers Studio in Minneapolis. The band had four days with Wright heading into the new year, and they had the pressure of coming out with a product that showcases what they’re made of. So naturally, Wright suggested lots of time for lunch, dinner, and hanging. He wanted the process to feel authentic, so that also meant the band couldn’t spend too much time on any given song.
“He’d keep us moving,” says Fogarty. “He’s like, ‘You got to trust yourself, trust what you’ve written’.” Although it was a bit unnerving for the band, they followed Wright’s advice. On the last day of recording, they spent hours hanging, eating “horrible Chinese food” as Uhas recalls, and listening to what they made.
Although Porch Light don’t divulge any release dates or plans past “Fall Back,” it’s clear they can’t wait to share more music soon.
Porch Light’s members trust each other, and value what each of them brings to the table. Uhas, who is new to songwriting, has put her trust in her bandmates to find space and light for her vulnerable lyrics on past relationships. “They just can take whatever I give them and turn it into something amazing,” she says. “And I don't know how they do it, but they do it.”
Porch Light are working hard, but it’s clear they’ve had fun along the way, too: whether it’s getting minimal sleep so they could play the show in New York or fully embracing their dungeon of a practice space.
The band has accomplished a lot before releasing a song. That all changes with their highly anticipated song “Fall Back” dropping Friday, Jan. 31. As a song that holds a special place in each band member's heart, it was clear this would be their first release. They’ll also be taking on the main room for Best New Bands of 2024 that same day.
Obviously there’s no perfect way to start a band, and it isn't always simple. A few things I learned from Porch Light are great ways to start. Ask questions. Appreciate the people around you. Trust in yourself. Trust in others. Have fun. Work hard. Post into the ether. Be as consistent as you can. Roll with the punches. Follow your love for music.
Or as Uhas puts it: “Find a group of people who identify with you in that way, and love music, and you can play in a s****y basement just like us.”
First Avenue's Best New Bands of 2024. Featuring Bizhiki, Christy Costello, The Dalmation Club, Kiernan, Mati, Porch Light, Room3. Hosted by Jill Riley (The Current), Joey Peterson (Radio K), Krista Wax (KFAI), and Sean McPherson (Jazz88). 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 31. Tickets.
