BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Formed in a church with an incredibly Western New York name, Meat Raffle is a four piece alternative rock band that rides the boundary between prog rock and emo music.
The band, a four-piece consisting of singer and guitarist Evan Anstey, singer and bassist Ian DeHaas, drummer Nick Badeau, and Luke Allport-Cohoon on keys and backing vocals. Each member also has a “meat name,” a persona inspired by the band’s name. Anstey goes by “Cap’n Brisket,” DeHaas goes by “Sir Loin,” Badeau goes by “Meatball,” and Allport-Cohoon goes by “Hamburger.”
DeHaas spoke about how the band started jamming together, ultimately deciding to track their songs.
“We eventually started deciding, ‘Some of these jams are really cool,’ and we wanted to turn them into real songs.” he said. “We wanted to turn them
DeHaas said the pandemic solidified the group as a band, one thing that was steady in each bandmate’s routine at that time.
How the band got its name: “I’m not native to Buffalo — I grew up in the Southern Tier — and when I moved to Buffalo, I moved to Cheektowaga, found an apartment, and there’s all these old Catholic and Polish churches out there that are like, ‘Meat Raffle Friday,'” DeHaas said. “Some older people I knew explained it to me and I was like, ‘That’s wild and insane and the most Western New York thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I think I just one day said, ‘That’d be a dumb name; let’s do that.”
Anstey said the band had another name in mind which he preferred — Only Saturn is Left. Allport-Cohoon expressed his relief at the fact that that name was not chosen, saying it would be harder to make music that sounded like it lived up to that name, with such an emo tone.
What artists inspire Meat Raffle: Aaron Copeland, Ben Folds, Microwave, Death Cab for Cutie, The Novel Ideas
Their favorite venues/shows to play: Mister Goodbar, Rock the Shore Festival, Nietzsche’s
Their dream concert lineups:
Ian DeHaas and Nick Badeau
- Radiohead
- Foo Fighters
- Meat Raffle
Evan Anstey
- Meat Raffle
- Muse
- Radiohead
Luke Allport-Cohoon
- Radiohead
- Queens of the Stone Age
- Meat Raffle
For more information about Meat Raffle and their music, visit the following links:
Thumbnail image: Dorian Mode Photography / Courtesy: Meat Raffle
Music Monday is a weekly series created and produced by Adam Duke to showcase artists from Western New York and their work. To be considered for a feature, email Adam at adam.duke@wivb.com.
Adam Duke is a digital producer who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of his work here.
