The second day of Spring Fair thankfully afforded unclouded, sunny skies, putting an end to Friday’s persistent mist. Widespread enjoyment and leisure characterized the hundreds of beach-goers playing Frisbee, socializing and sipping drinks on their blankets.
The beach’s musical lineup was consistently impressive throughout the afternoon, but something changed when five o’clock rolled around.
Suddenly all focus turned to the stage as a unique voice grabbed the attention of the crowd. The petite, blonde singer donning red cowgirl boots and a banjo was none other than Maggie Rogers of Del Water Gap.
Every audience member can attest to the captivating chemistry and talent between Rogers and her guitar-playing partner, Holden Jaffe.
However, unbeknownst to fans is the charming history of the lead singers and the serendipitous series of events that led to the formation of Del Water Gap.
Growing up, Jaffe and Rogers attended brother and sister, summer sleep-away camps in Maine. The two were sailing rivals, competing every Sunday from the ages of 11 to 15. Not yet introduced, the duo knew one another only by the other’s sailboat.
As time passed, Jaffe and Rogers attended different programs at Berklee College of Music during different years.
In 2011, they both applied and were accepted to Berklee, where they coincidentally met at the Spring 2012 accepted students day for the first time.
After saying goodbye and returning to their separate lives, Rogers and Jaffe unknowingly chose the same day for the release of their solo albums. Jaffe named his Del Water Gap, dedicated to a Delaware National Park — a state Maggie previously lived in.
Fast-forward to fall of 2012, and Rogers and Jaffe found themselves classmates at New York University’s renowned Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. By chance, they were two of only thirty students in the program.
The pieces of fate finally came together when Jaffe asked Rogers, “Will you be Angus and Julia Stone with me?” a mere five months ago.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Rogers addressed the details of Del Water Gap and what makes them work so well.
“We fell into working together very easily,” Rogers said of their beginnings.
Although Jaffe approached Rogers and they adopted his former band name, Rogers explained that they needed to be on an equal playing field to work together.
“I didn’t want to sing backup for him. The only way it would ever happen was if we could be a creative partnership, and that’s what we’ve become.”
The pair blends perfectly because of their extreme drive, among other factors.
“We both are very determined, organized people. The fundamental thing that brings us together is our passion. We trust each other and our priorities are exactly the same. We’re strongly emotionally connected, as most musicians are,” Rogers said.
On the topic of writing songs, Maggie said that since coming together, their writing styles have changed. “We’ve learned to instinctively leave space for each other, so I’ll write a verse or a chorus, give him the song, and he’ll finish it.”
Six of these songs, including “A Clear Mind, A Better Time” and “Lying on the Floor,” are featured on their EP (available on iTunes). The tracks cover a range of genres from folk and indie to rustic-acoustic.
“I think the great thing about our EP is that despite the wide variety of genres, it’s clearly made by the same pair of hands. It’s like a sculptor making different pieces. The EP has so many genres but it’s coherent, like a person. It has a leg and it has a lung and a heart and they all work differently but together to create this holistic being.”
Del Water Gap is heavily influenced by the likes of Youth Lagoon, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Real Estate and Feist — groups that the band members respect and look to for inspiration.
“The artists we admire most are those who create a world to transport listeners to. You can physically hold their songs in your hand, and you can see its shape and its form and its weight. It has depth.” They want to achieve an identity separate from their idols, however.
“We want to create something that is very distinctly Del Water Gap,” Rogers said.
Rogers and Jaffe are certainly talented enough to survive solo, but they prefer the products of their teamwork. “We could do this by ourselves — without each other — and we did in high school. But together makes things so much better.”
That being said, the pair does not always choose to remain attached, satisfying their separate creative needs with other outlets like Rogers’ Disco soundtrack and Jaffe’s rapping. “Holden and I, as individuals, will always feel the need for side projects because we enjoy different creative realms. But the amount of loyalty I have for this band is crazy. I have a very strange gut instinct.”
As a result of this loyalty, Rogers and Jaffe plan to always remain partners in the music world.
“What’s so great about all of this is that we are two very different creative minds who come together to hopefully create something bigger than ourselves,” Rogers said.
Rogers confessed to strongly admiring her cohort. “I can’t speak highly enough of him,” Rogers said. But when asked about a romance behind the lovely lyrics and on-stage chemistry, she said,“It’s all part of the Del Water mystery.”
Rogers and Jaffe have been working together for five months and touring for only two, but the infantile group looks promising. Del Water Gap currently plays gigs primarily around New York City. Next fall, they plan to take advantage of a larger college scene. Their local following is growing and, based on increasingly popular releases, will continue to do so. In the words of Rogers herself, “Stay tuned.”
