Moving Write Along

It’s been around four years since brothers Jayme and Andy Ralph founded their quiet coffeehouse band Writer, and little has changed with the group’s acoustic emo sound. “We play indie rock, with a little Southern guitar picking,” says Jayme. “At the Drive-In’s album In Casino Out is one of my favorite records in the past ten years.”

Their reach has extended well beyond San Diego, thanks in part to constant self-booked touring, especially on the road to and from Austin’s annual South by Southwest music festival. “We’ve become real road warriors,” says Jayme, whose well-traveled Honda Element (with attached trailer) was one of several vehicles the band has practically lived in.

Jayme says he’s so road-centered that “I buy boxes of a hundred Cup o Noodles at a time, and I’ve learned to live for weeks at a time on coffee, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tomato soup. Most nights, I sleep on top of my comforter, so when I wake up, my bed is already made and I’m ready to roll.”

When he is in San Diego, Jayme can usually be found hanging out at one of two places. “The Casbah, to see my favorite touring bands, and the Whistle Stop in South Park, to see our friends play.”

However, he seems to prefer life on the road, as being a touring rock musician is preferable to, well, most any other job he’s held. “I was a preschool- and elementary-school janitor for two years. God bless rock and roll.”