Them Coulee Boys play songs from 'No Fun in the Chrysalis' at The Current
by Mike Pengra
June 30, 2025
Them Coulee Boys are a five-piece Americana outfit from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, who have enjoyed a steady rise since their informal founding at a summer camp in 2011. Their latest album, No Fun in the Chrysalis, released on February 28 of this year. It’s the fifth fulll-length for the band, and the follow-up to their 2021 release Namesake, produced by Grammy-winner and fellow Wisconsinite Brian Joseph. For No Fun in the Chrysalis, Them Coulee Boys reunited with Joseph as producer.
Them Coulee Boys visited The Current studio to record a session for Radio Heartland. After playing songs from No Fun in the Chrysalis, the band spoke with host and producer Mike Pengra about the making of the album, and about what they’re looking forward to yet this year.
Watch and listen to the performances above. Below, find video of the complete interview, along with an interview transcript beneath that.
Interview Transcript
Mike Pengra: It's Radio Heartland. My name is Mike Pengra. I am in the studio with Them Coulee Boys — for the second time now?
Soren Staff: Yeah.
Mike Pengra: Nice to see you guys.
Soren Staff: Yeah, thanks for having us.
Mike Pengra: The new album, No Fun in the Chrysalis.
Soren Staff: Yes.
Mike Pengra: This is album number five for you guys already?
Beau Janke: Yeah.
Mike Pengra: How did that happen?
Soren Staff: A lot of hard work, I think.
Beau Janke: Hard work and sacrifice and sweat.
Soren Staff: Yeah.
Beau Janke: And hair.
Soren Staff: Yeah, I think we lost hair over the course of it.
Beau Janke: Yeah.
Mike Pengra: And the title of the album, No Fun in the Chrysalis, would, to me that means — the chrysalis, of course, is like the cocoon you're in, and you're kind of still in your shell, you're trying to break out. Does that mean you've broken out now, or things have changed since the last album, or what?
Soren Staff: I mean, we hope so. I mean, like for me, like the chrysalis is definitely that, like, big moment of change. And like, I was feeling that. These guys were feeling that within the last few years, so that kind of is where this record came from. But yeah, as far as a band, like, we've been a band now for going on 13 years, and we started as a string band, and now we're, like, this rock and roll, Americana band. So we definitely feel like there has been some kind of change, for sure.
Mike Pengra: Is that the main thing is, your style has morphed over the years to more of a rock sound or what?
Beau Janke: Yeah. But also, like, we have families now, and like things have changed, like within our personal lives and our lives that affect our, you know, the people that follow us, or things like that, and the way that we move around now is a little bit different, and we're just, like, older and more mature, and I think more that's the change, that is thematic on the album. But he's right, we have changed completely from when we started, which is not hard to come to grips with the way that, like, families changing; that's hard to come to grips with, sometimes, especially as a working unit, the way we are. And that's the "no fun in the chrysalis" is when you accept the change and move into the change and become something on the other side.
Mike Pengra: Yeah. You guys started as a duo, just you two. Camp counselors, right?
Soren Staff: Yeah.
Beau Janke: Yes.
Soren Staff: We would, whenever the kids who leave at the end of the week, we would just find ourselves in a cabin. Beau had a banjo, I had a guitar. And I was obsessed with, like, the Avett Brothers at that time and — I mean, I still am. And then, yeah, invited Jens over there, my little brother, to come work at the camp the next year. And yeah, we kind of just had to, I mean, we were trying to entertain 12-, 13-year-olds that didn't want to be there. And it's really fun to like, see how that's translated into our space now. You know, we weren't good at what we did back then, so we had to make up for it with like, energy.
Beau Janke: An obnoxious energy.
Soren Staff: Yeah, obnoxious energy!
Beau Janke: And fun. Yeah.
Jens Staff: I learned to play mandolin onstage. You know, there was no time to, like, practice outside of it. And when I got to camp, Soren handed me this and said, "Learn this." And I did, but I was learning it onstage, so while we were playing to these kids, I'm like, messing up the whole time, and just getting better every moment.
Mike Pengra: You worked with — you worked with Brian Joseph on this record, your second album with Brian. How did that go? Is that fun? Yeah, what's he like to work with?
Beau Janke: He's a — he can be a goofball. He can be very serious. He can take you seriously. Don't worry, he's a great person to work with. But also he's like a — he's more than a cheerleader. We've had other people who have just been cheerleaders for us, and in the past, where they were just saying, "Good job. That's about it." You know, that's it. But he challenges, he challenged us to be — I don't want to say better, just loosen up. That's about it. And he challenged us to loosen up. That's what I took away from it. I can't speak for everybody. Fun as always.
Soren Staff: I will say, like, Brian is the most laid back, intense individual you ever met. It's like he's the aura, kind of, he's projecting this, like, serenity, and the space that you work in is very calm and controlled, but it's also just very intense. So it's kind of like, I realized that I was, like, way more focused on what I was doing there, despite feeling really relaxed. And that's a cool, like, space that he creates. And definitely this is our second time we worked with him.
Mike Pengra: Yeah.
Soren Staff: So like, coming this time around, you know, the nervousness of, like, "Oh my gosh, this guy's, like, want a Grammy." Like, we don't really know him now. Now we're like, friends.
Beau Janke: It's gone!
Soren Staff: You know? it's like, there's comfort.
Beau Janke: He's just our buddy. And we're gonna mess with him.
Soren Staff: Yeah.
Beau Janke: And that's it.
Soren Staff: And I think coming into the sessions, too, it was like I was writing songs. The first time around, I was like, "OK, I gotta fit what Brian does." And then this time around, I was like, "Maybe Brian can fit what we do. That'd be cool," you know? And he did. So it was really cool to come in with a different mentality there.
Mike Pengra: Yeah. I read in another interview with you, Soren, that you said, in spite of how close you are to the rest of the guys in the band, it's hard to bring a song to the band and to kind of expose your soul and your heart.
Soren Staff: Yeah. I mean, a part of it is like, I'm very hard on — I have such high standards for myself. So when I finally show it these guys, I want it to be like, the best it could be. You know, I mean, as anybody who has lived with me can attest or, like, I write a lot of dumb songs that never get seen. And like, I really try to bring the best to these guys, because I know that, like, they have the capability to make it into something incredible. So I just want to hold up my end of the deal. You know?
Mike Pengra: It's gotta be hard bringing a song in front of your buddies.
Soren Staff: We've gotten used to it for sure. You know, I mean, like ... I think the trepidation that was once there is, you know, a little less than it was, just because, I don't know, I trust that they're gonna see it for what it is and, like, make the most out of it.
Mike Pengra: Yeah.
Soren Staff: You know. I mean, once we all realized that, like, the whole goal was we just all wanted to make the best song we could, like, it made it a lot easier to, like, "OK, I'm gonna show them this, and they'll work with it, and have it bloom."
Beau Janke: But we try to be gentle, too, because it's got to be hard when you bring a song to somebody, and you say, "Here's this song that I've been working on for a really long time..."
Mike Pengra: Here's my soul.
Beau Janke: Here's my soul — here you go! Please, you know, screw it up now and make it better, or whatever; take it apart and and nitpick it so that you can make it into something better and add your own piece to it. And Soren has to sit back and say, like, he might have to say, like, "I don't like that, but we gotta roll with it, because these four people like that," and that's got to be really hard, because that's something that you've been working on for many, many months or years, or however long it took. And so we try to be gentle with that, too, and make sure that we are keeping his best intentions in mind, because we do say, like, "You're the songwriter; make sure that you have a little more input. That's OK."
Mike Pengra: Yeah.
Beau Janke: Yeah, make sure you're telling the truth.
Soren Staff: But that's the beauty of a band.
Beau Janke: Yeah. Give and take.
Soren Staff: Yeah, yeah. Like, we, I don't know, if it was just what I wanted, it would be one thing.
Mike Pengra: Right.
Soren Staff: But, you know, like, I have this baby, and now I have these other guys that can help raise it into, like, what it actually should be. And I definitely am thankful for that, because I don't think I would have been capable of making the songs that we've made over the course of the last decade just by myself. No way.
Mike Pengra: It's democratic.
Soren Staff: Yeah.
Mike Pengra: And you get a lot of support from these guys.
Soren Staff: Yeah, for sure.
Mike Pengra: Wow. I was on your website, and there's a video for one of the songs you played today, "Up Close," which almost made me tear up. It was the, just the way that — I'll try to explain it — two pairs of legs walking, and then they obviously meet, a man and a woman, and then all of a sudden, they lift up into the air.
Soren Staff: I get chills at that part, too.
Mike Pengra: That's beautiful! It's just gorgeous. Wow!
Soren Staff: Yeah, our friends Sarah and Erik Elstran from Eau Claire, if — I believe you play The Nunnery on The Current or any of your stations. I mean, like, that's Sarah and her partner, and they made that video for us, and I came to them with an idea and kind of storyboarded some stuff, and then they just made it magic. And we're very proud of them for making it that way.
Mike Pengra: I'm in the studio with Them Coulee Boys, and their latest album, No Fun in the Chrysalis is just out. Actually, it came out in February. And what's next for you guys? What's the next step?
Jens Staff: Well, we're hosting our own festival this year for the first time.
Mike Pengra: And that's when and where?
Jens Staff: September 11 and 12th.
Soren Staff: I think it's 12th and 13th.
Jens Staff: Let's re-say that.
Mike Pengra: OK.
Soren Staff: Yeah!
Jens Staff: September 12 and 13th up in Bayfield, Wisconsin.
Mike Pengra: Yeah!
Jens Staff: Yeah.
Soren Staff: We're hosting Lake Effect Music Fest in Lake Superior—
Jens Staff: Sorry. My phone opened up.
Soren Staff: Oh, cool. Are you checking your Instagram?
Jens Staff: No it was slipping out, and I didn't it want to fall and then it opened up somehow.
Soren Staff: Yeah, it's in Bayfield, Wisconsin, at Lake ship — oh my god, now I have to say it.
Jens Staff: Lake Effect.
Soren Staff: It's Lake Effect Music Fest up at Big Top Chautauqua in Bayfield, Wisconsin. So a lot of incredible bands, a lot of local friends, as far as, like, the Midwest music scene. We're very proud of just how many, like, awesome people that we love and know personally are coming. And it's going to be a big family reunion.
Mike Pengra: Well, congratulations on this album. It's a really good one. You guys did a great job on it.
Soren Staff: Thank you.
Jens Staff: Thank you.
Beau Janke: Thanks.
Mike Pengra: That's it!
Beau Janke: Ask Neil about his breakup.
Songs Performed
00:00:00 Change, etc.
00:03:18 I Am Not Sad
00:07:30 Up Close
All songs from Them Coulee Boys’ 2025 album, No Fun in the Chrysalis, available on Some Fun Records.
Musicians
Soren Staff - vocals, acoustic guitar
Beau Janke - vocals, guitar, banjo
Jens Staff - mandolin, vocals
Neil Krause - bass, vocals
Stas Hable - drums
Credits
Guests – Them Coulee Boys
Host/Producer – Mike Pengra
Video – Eric Xu Romani
Audio – Cameron Wiley
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor
External Links
Them Coulee Boys – official site
Lake Effect Music Fest – official site