Villagerrr Reflects on a Co-Headline Tour with Dari Bay

“IT’S EASY TO SAY YES WHEN YOU ALREADY LOVE THE PEOPLE AND THE MUSIC…”

Written and Photographed by River Epperson

In August, contributor River Epperson covered the Villagerrr x Dari Bay co-headline tour when they came through Chicago at Gman Tavern. After the tour concluded, Epperson sat down with Mark Scott [guitar/vocals/lyrics] and Zayn Dweik [drums/vocals] of Villagerrr to reflect on the tour.

SOUND STAGE: Thank you so much for sitting down with me today! I hope the rest of your co-headline tour went smoothly. 

VILLAGERRR: Thanks for reaching out! We were excited to hear from you. 

SOUND STAGE: If you had to describe your sound in five words, what would they be?

VILLAGERRR: Like lullabies in a storm. I’ve been waiting for this question for years. (counting on fingers) No further questions, Your Honor…

SOUND STAGE: Do you make a habit of answering questions in five words?

VILLAGERRR: I think I’m gonna start. Brevity is the soul of wit… I think that’s six words. We’ll work on that. 

SOUND STAGE: Is that a Shakespeare quote? 

VILLAGERRR: It’s some old-timey grandpa shit, for sure. Every old person in your life has said that to you at least three times. 

SOUND STAGE: How long have you been playing as Villagerrr?

VILLAGERRR: Four years as a band publicly, maybe closer to five. We had a different name before, then it was Villager with one R, and it’s been Villagerrr with three R's for two or three years now.

SOUND STAGE: You had some Villagerrr demos out in ‘21 or ‘22, right? 

VILLAGERRR: I put those out before playing shows. They were a bunch of songs from two or three years prior. I put those up just to have something out there before playing shows.

SOUND STAGE: When did you first cross paths with Dari Bay? 

VILLAGERRR: About the same year, 2022. We didn't realize it at the time, but it was their first tour where they went out and played shows in other cities and other states. They were coming through Columbus; I remember being really impressed with how Dari Bay sounded. It was a joint tour with Robber Robber. Zack and Nina are in both bands; it was awesome. We were really blown away. It was one of the first times we played with someone and realized, ‘Oh, you can be a band no one knows and still be really good.’ A lot of the time it feels like you need to make a name for yourself in order to be good. I remember watching them play and thinking I needed to practice more. 

SOUND STAGE: How did you come up with the idea of a co-headline tour? 

VILLAGERRR: I think we were initially trying to tour with Robber Robber, which didn’t work out. Zack and Nina were still available, so we decided to tour with them. We have a lot of history, and we get along really well, so it was an easy choice. Sometimes you agree to tour with bands you’ve never met, and it can be awkward. Touring with them felt like a no-brainer, and it paid off. It also worked out that we had record releases within a couple months of each other; the timing just made sense. We started in Burlington, their home base, and got to play their album release show, and we snaked our way down to Columbus, our home. It’s easy to say yes when you already love the music and the people. 

SOUND STAGE: Was that on purpose, opening and closing with hometown shows? 

VILLAGERRR: Sort of. Every time we’ve played in Vermont, we’ve played with them, and every time they’ve played in Columbus, we’ve been on the bill together… It was definitely convenient, but with touring… a schedule like that only works if venues have availability at the right times, so luck was a part of it. We basically had one big day of travel and then a bunch of shorter drives on the way home, and they did the reverse, which worked out nicely. The next leg of the tour starts in Indiana and then goes to St. Louis, so it’s not always as convenient. 

SOUND STAGE: Did it make the experience different, touring with friends vs. strangers? 

VILLAGERRR: It’s like night and day. It’s the difference between going on a road trip and living with your friends, or living with strangers. It felt more casual, in a good way. It was a pretty DIY tour; we didn’t have to communicate with someone else’s tour manager, and there was no pressure to be professional at all times, so we never felt self-conscious at all. 

SOUND STAGE: Villagerrr started as a solo songwriting project and eventually grew into a larger ensemble. Has the songwriting process changed as the project evolves? 

VILLAGERRR: Villagerrr doesn’t exactly have a set membership, and we’re trying to get comfortable playing as whoever is available at the time. Touring takes a lot of time and energy, and there are a lot of logistical challenges that come with touring with a large ensemble, which is why the membership can fluctuate. I don’t think the songwriting process has really changed too much. I [Mark] write all the songs, and then bring them to the band to be arranged for live performances. Zayn [drums/vocals] has definitely helped me arrange some of the more challenging songs. We’re trying to get more comfortable changing the song based on the musicians we have available. 

Our live shows sometimes don’t sound like the recording, which might disappoint some people. I [Mark] play most instruments on the recording, but obviously can’t do that in a live setting, and it wouldn’t sound good. I guess I’m trying to say the larger ensemble allows us a certain amount of flexibility, which leads to variations in our live shows, but also allows us to continue to play if we’re short a member. Which means I can perform alone, or with five to six people, and the songs can still be played. 

Mark is the heart and soul of Villagerrr’s songs, and they start as just Mark in a room with a guitar. However they’re dressed up, that’s just extra. I [Zayn] think previous live iterations of Villagerrr have sometimes covered up Mark’s skills as a musician. The three-piece we landed on for tour, I think it showcases his guitar playing, so it’s cool to have him step out there and show off.

SOUND STAGE: You released your recent record Carousel through Winspear, who’s also published your last couple of records. Did having label support affect the touring experience?

VILLAGERRR: Label support is sometimes hard to tangibly grasp when you’re on the road, but more people have been showing up to our shows, and we’ve had some extra support and things like that. Right now we don’t have management, and I [Mark] think I like it this way. I think I prefer not to report to too many people. It’s easier to focus on the task at hand, which is getting to the venue and playing the music. Not that management prevents you from doing that… but you have more control, and you get to call the shots. 

Things can feel more exciting, and a little scarier, when you’re on your own. If something goes wrong, there’s no one to back you up, but you also get the reward of pulling the tour off yourself. Label support is nice because they can front a lot of the costs for touring; we were able to place a bigger order for merchandise and vinyl than we would have otherwise, but you end up paying all that back in the end. Winspear also has an awesome roster of artists, so it’s cool to actually be able to like the people you’re associated with.
SOUND STAGE: Did any unexpected challenges come up on the road?

VILLAGERRR: For once, no. Things ran so smoothly. No big obstacles, but Dari Bay had some stomach bugs, not to put them on blast… We felt good about the music we played, and it was so awesome being on the road with our friends, who cares about whatever else happened? If something else went wrong, we had so much fun we forgot about it. 

SOUND STAGE: What lessons are you taking away from the tour?

VILLAGERRR: River, unfortunately we’ve never learned anything. Jokes aside, we’ve learned to have low expectations– expect the worst and hope for the best. If you have these big ideas about how your tour is going to go, it’s easy to get in your head about ticket sales and audience numbers. If you expect every show to be a dud, it feels great when people show up and are excited about your music. Lowering your expectations allows you to appreciate what’s going on around you. 

SOUND STAGE: Was there a city or show that stood out as your favorite? 

VILLAGERRR: When we played Kingston, New York, we played this venue called Tubby’s… a really cool venue in a cool town. They had a free place to stay nearby, and both bands slept in a big room hostel-style; it was so awesome. We played with a great artist named Story Littleton, and it was a well-attended show. It felt like people were excited about what we were putting down. 

SOUND STAGE: Last but not least, what’s next for Villagerrr? 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a pre-recorded interview from August 2026. Villagerrr has already completed their leg supporting Friko’s North American Tour. 

VILLAGERRR: The world is our oyster. We have a lot of dates going through the end of the year supporting Friko across North America and another European leg. I think the main focus is getting to shows and putting in the work to feel good about what we’re delivering. A big goal for Europe is to figure out how to tour there in a way that is financially sustainable. Our last stint in the UK definitely informed how we’re planning for the fall. 

We’ve also been demoing some new things out. There are a couple of new songs; there’s not another record or anything yet, but we’ll probably spend some time working through those. I [Mark] have never had an official recording space. I don’t know if these will be recorded in a studio, but I know I want to walk into my first studio recording with more than just my guitar voice memos. 

SOUND STAGE: That’s awesome to hear. Thank you so much for sitting down with Sound Stage today. It was great to learn more about the co-headline tour and the evolution of the project. Best of luck with Friko and in Europe!

VILLAGERRR: Thanks for reaching out with insightful questions! We’re excited to get back on the road this fall. 

Villagerrr recently concluded their run across North America supporting Friko’s “Something Worth Waiting For Tour.” In October, Villagerrr will hop across the pond for a headline tour across the UK and EU, and there may be some new music on the way.

You can read the companion interview with co-headiner Dari Bay HERE!