Meet Paul De Leon, Anthony Maas, Nathan Martine-Tetzloff, Arturo Medina, and Lee Goudie of Halfdog in Southwest Suburbs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul De Leon, Anthony Maas, Nathan Martine-Tetzloff, Arturo Medina and Lee Goudie from the band Halfdog.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Paul, Anthony, and Nathan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Paul: Well, technically the three of us (Nathan, Tony, and Paul) were jamming together all the way back in 2012 which was just initially for a simple two-song set for Paul’s parent’s 25 year anniversary. However, it wasn’t until 2016 we agreed to officially come together as a band under the name Halfdog. We all began writing songs and then in 2017, we jumped headfirst into the vibrant local Chicago live music scene. From there, we linked up with some talented producers and we steadily worked towards professionally recording and releasing our music. Last Summer of 2018, we were able to release our first three songs “Old Habits”, “Sandwiches”, and “Raining So Hard” on all digital music platforms. A lot has happened since then; our three man group has grown to five with the new well placed additions of Arturo Medina on drums and Lee Goudie on bass. We are now coming to the end of 2019 and through this winter we’re starting our writing phase. So come next spring 2020 expect a new chunk of music from us and be on the look out for our show announcements!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Paul: Halfdog has undoubtedly come a long way. As a band, we’ve had to deal with what we call the three P’s. Procrastination, Perfection, and being Pessimistic. We had to learn to not be critical with each other’s mistakes, to be patient and help each other get through any challenges. This was especially important when we first hit the live music scene. (Procrastination) It took us a whole year from when we became an official band in 2016 to take on our first live performance; which was going to be at the Elbo Room open mic night in Chicago. (The joint is now planning on closing their business, but catch their last remaining shows while you can!!) It was an uncomfortably warm night in May 2017 and we rolled in with a ton of gear and found out that the open mic stage was as long as four construction pallets put in a square shape. Imagine three nervous dudes with a keyboard and two guitars on that tiny space. We were given enough time to play three songs and that included us getting our equipment set and sound checked. So, of course, that added even more anxiety on us so as soon as we heard the beat, we skipped all our checks and just immediately started playing. On the first song, we played it turned out my guitar was super loud and unbelievably out of tune, my microphone volume was super low, sweat was getting in my eyes, just a whole bunch of things were happening and it just seemed like I had no control. (Perfection) We practiced and put in a lot of hours for this performance because we wanted it to be special and start our journey on sound footing. These factors really made me feel bummed out just because I thought we weren’t quite 100% awesome that night. (Pessimistic) Then because of my mistakes, I feared the worse you know? Way back in 2013 Cage the Elephant, one of my favorite bands, played at the basement stage of Elbo Room (which is a lot bigger than four construction pallets). I wanted to one day play there and share the same stage with some of my most idolized bands and perform where they performed, but after our performance, that goal felt more and more unlikely. However, fast forward to last July of 2018. Because of all our hard work and putting ourselves out there in the music scene, we found ourselves on the fabled basement stage rocking with our friends, fans, and other awesome talented bands and then several months later in 2019 we were asked to even play as headliners. With all of that in perspective, I would say it is always super-super-super important to know that with any aspirations, if you just put in the time and the determination, things will just kind of just fall into place. Then after dealing with all those struggles, you’ll be recommended by one of your peers to fill out an online questionnaire for Voyager Magazine and then be forced to reflect and reminisce of all the hard times and then you’ll say, “Wow, it’s great to not have to deal with those problems anymore”!

We’d love to hear more about your band.
Halfdog is the music of electronic indie rockers Paul De Leon, Nathan Martine-Tetzloff, and Anthony Maas originally and in the fall of 2018, as mentioned earlier, we now have added Arturo Medina on drums and Lee Goudie on bass.With many songwriters in the band, we take great pride in knowing each song we write is different from the last. We’re the kind of a band that will stay until the last act, until the last the song, and most likely chat it up with everyone until last call. While playing in the Chicago music scene, we’ve noticed that people really enjoy our song “Sandwiches”. Our other musical releases have also received a strong supportive response and some even being chosen to be added to some popular Spotify playlists!

– Debut single “Old Habits”.

-“Raining So Hard” was Halfdog’s first song played over FM radio and was featured during DEMO 312 on 101 WKQX (Chicago’s Alternative Rock Station). Our other song 4 Year Old Vampire as well as Old Habits was also later accepted into their programming!

– “Sandwiches” – has over 11,000 streams on Spotify!

– “Daylight” – song was produced by the talented dudes at Sound Summit in Naperville. It was also played on Demo 312 and even crazier, it was even played on the North Central College radio in Naperville, Illinois.

What were you like growing up?
Paul: I am the third oldest and the least talented of my four siblings. I was born with cleft pallet which is essentially a facial or oral malformation, but thankfully that was fixed at birth. But wait there’s more! I was also born with 90% hearing loss in my right ear which is still something I deal with today and because of my handicap, I tended to be a very quiet and very weird kid growing up and never really liked being in the spotlight. I didn’t start coming out of my shell until I began to realizing my interest in writing music. The thought never occurred to me until I started playing Guitar Hero 1 when I was 13 years old. On that fateful day when I held that plastic guitar and was able to hit the blue notes for the first time, I knew I wanted to rock. Naturally, as a teenage boy, my first song I wrote was for a girl. The song sucked..but man did I have fun writing it! If I had to narrow down my interests it would include: ping pong, disk golfing, re-watching the extended trilogy of Lord of the Rings, and playing video games: RPGs, MOBAs, MMORPGs. Suffice to say I don’t sleep enough.

Anthony: It was a fun upbringing! I am the youngest of 3 brothers, all of whom were diagnosed with ADHD or “having a personality” as I like to call it. I was homeschooled but loved hanging with the neighborhood kids more than anything. Football, video games, rollerblading, basketball, swimming, you name it – if it was fun, we did it! Drawing, coloring, and legos were my primary creative outlets early on, but those were replaced by skateboarding and the electric guitar by the time I turned 14. I had some friends who started playing guitar and bass around that time, and right away I knew it was something I wanted to get into. I haven’t put the guitar down for more than a few weeks ever since!
Nathan: Ever since I was a kid, I loved music. I’d play Beatles and Beach Boys records on my dads stereo in the living room for hours on end. We also had a very nice Roland keyboard that I would play, mostly things I had heard, but I wrote my first song as early as 7. Ironically my mom always wanted me to take piano lessons, but I never obliged, something I’ve regretted as an adult. After a few years of losing touch with music, I got back into it when I discovered several key artists that spoke to me in high school, and I wrote my first lyrics at 14.Soon after that my dad bought Garage Band for the family computer, which allowed me easily create music with just the Roland keyboard. After two years songwriting and producing, I had an album of 8 tracks. I used my own photographs and Photoshop to make the pamphlet for the jewel case with cover art and a tracklist. I handed them out to all my friends and family. While I got great feedback, I still ended up letting music go by the wayside soon after. That is until I started playing with Tony and Paul, and thanks to these guys I’ve never been happier about where I am musically.

Lee: Growing up my house was never quiet. Whether it was blasting the radio, watching Woodstock live or laughing at my dad’s air drumming. I received my first bass for Christmas in 1997 & I’ve been hooked ever since. I quickly started my first band knowing music would forever be a passion of mine. Fast forward to high school when I met Arturo, he’s been my drummer in every band since. Together we’ve recorded a bunch of songs & played lots of shows. One of my highlights was performing at the House of Blues… twice! During one those shows my band at the time opened for Anthony’s, which is how our paths crossed. Outside of music I maintain 2 saltwater aquariums, one is 250 gallons & the other is 60 gallons. I also enjoy playing video games, snowboarding & spending time with my wife and 2 dogs.

Arturo: Growing up during middle school I never really knew what I liked as far as music went. All that I pretty much listened too was hip hop, R&B and Michael Jackson. Then I started to develop a taste for alternative/hard rock but because of the group of friends I regularly hung out with I couldn’t really say what I was listening to. They would call other kids “wannabe white boys” and I didn’t want to deal with that. After a while I started hanging out with a different crowd that was into alternative/hard rock. That’s when I decided that I didn’t care what other people thought about me. One day I was at school as a “No Limit Soldier” and the next day I walked into middle school with super baggy Jnco jeans and a Slipknot t-shirt that i actually still have. I started playing guitar then bass but I felt like I needed more. The first time I saw David Silveria of Korn play drums live, that is when I decided to be a drummer. Started writing music with my buddy Lee Goudie and now we have been playing music together for 16+ years. We’ve been in multiple bands and now we are a part of Halfdog. My hobbies outside of playing drums started with playing pool, Call of Duty on X-Box, ultimate frisbee, foosball, being a gym rat and now I started going to school for Audio Engineering & Music Production.

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