Dominy is a five-piece Americana rock band with a penchant for twangy lyrics that drip with cynicism and honest humor. If you ever get the chance to sit down with them, even for five minutes, you’re going to take away three things: a deep understanding of the intricacies of sandwiches, an Instagram follow from one of their cats, and confusion over whether or not anything they said was even remotely serious. They’re one of the most hilarious and personable bands that we’ve dated yet, which is one of the biggest reasons why we chose them. Consisting of frontman John Dominy, guitarist Michael Youngkin, bassist Alex Dominy, vocalist Turquoise Cobb, and drummer Zak Iannitelli, it’s so evident that there’s a close and extremely unique bond between them. This interview was a blast, and we lost count of both red flags and soup-subsets argued for (you’ll get it).

When you order a drink, what’s your impressive order, and what’s your guilty-pleasure favorite?

Turquoise: “I’d order a Negroni. I’m a Negroni person and that’s usually what I’d order anyways if I was getting a mixed drink.”

John: “I’d order a Tecate, both for myself and to impress my date.” [tbh I’d probably be impressed and then order something expensive]

Zak: “I probably wouldn’t be at a bar anyways because I don’t drink.”

Alex: “I’d order a coffee like a goddamn adult. Coffee. Eight o’clock at night. It’s what adults do.” [I know someone who does this, and it’s both a flex and an unfortunate sign of aging]

Whose cat would win a fight?

Turquoise: “I have a cat, Komori. We have a cat - [Zak had to elbow her to be included] Yes. Technically - she’ll fuck up anyone. She actually ran one of my cats out of the living space because she felt like she could be the only one. So she’ll immediately go for throats. I feel like she sharpens a claw just for special occasions. She's a scrapper.”

John: “I have two cats that I’ve claimed as my own. They'd both fuck up any other cats because they're both fucking units and make Komori look like a fucking toothpick. Dave. Dave. [CLICK THAT LINK] That cat is just fierce. Not very coordinated, but real thick. It’s the Maine Coon, we think. Thank you.” [you’re welcome?]

Alex: “The other cat John owns is Tigger. She’s like an old street fighter. She's missing a tooth, missing some claws - like she’s already fucked. I’ve never seen her unsettled by anything - she’s stone cold.”

Michael: “We don’t have a cat, but we have a cat blanket at home. It's just a blanket with pictures. My girlfriend named them all, I don’t know. She talks with them.”

If we were to rob you right now, would it be worth it?

Turquoise: “I think it would be worth it to rob me, but - why try?” [that made me consider taking this question out of the rotation. We get called out for it at least once every time]

John: “You just have to ask yourself how far you're willing to go for $35.” [I don’t think there could possibly be a price]

Zak: “No.” [I have to disclaim that he was extremely confident in his answer]

Michael: “I may be cash-poor, but I have some quality tube amp guitars.”

Alex: “I have some old gift cards in my wallet. They might be valid. They might not be… not worth it I guess.” [ :/ ]

What’s something really cringey and awkward that you’ve done to impress someone you like?

Michael: “In sixth grade, I memorized all the lyrics to “Mambo No. 5” because a girl I had a crush on was into that song. I thought that was the way to her heart. [a collective “WAS IT?” followed] NOPE!” [can safely say this would not work on me either, and my name thankfully isn’t in that song]

John: “I started a band.” [yawn. next. we’ve heard this one before.]

Alex: “I don’t know if I have anything… [Michael immediately cut in and said “you went antiquing.”] I’ve gone antiquing a lot. I wouldn't say it’s to impress someone, more-so to maintain a long term thing.”

What would your last meal on death row be?

John: “Ramen.” [he didn’t clarify, like, Nissin or authentic. But he seems like an instant kind of guy]

Michael: “Probably something Italian. Like homemade lasagna.”

Alex: “I’d eat chips. Like the loudest, loudest chips. And I’d just stare at everyone as I ate them.”

Turquoise: “It would either be just a simple bowl of pasta and then someone with a really good forearm just forever grating cheese, and I’ll never say stop. The room will be filled with fucking cheese before I say “stop.” And then I ask for pepper. Or it'll just be a really large - like party platter - of potato skins. Yeah, I'm about it. Potatoes.” [Ted Bundy did relatively the same thing, just not the same way]

Emily: “I asked someone this question last week and they said they’d ask for a body. Because...why not.” [blank stares. Blank stares!]

Do you think everything can be categorized as either a soup, salad, sandwich, or individual ingredient? [settle in]

John: “I'm a sandwich theory liberal, which means that I think if you get two pieces of bread on either side of the planet, it's categorically defined as a sandwich. I don't believe in establishing these boundaries. So, yes, you're right. Everything is either a soup or a sandwich. A salad is a soup. Of course, a soup inside of a sandwich is still a sandwich - it's about the parameters. A sandwich has defined boundaries. Soup doesn’t. You take any part of a soup - you still have soup. It's like a house isn't a house if you take a random sample of it. Correct? You need four walls for a house. Same with the sandwich. But a soup is like the ocean. You take a little bit of the ocean, you still have the ocean.” [I was winded after this. I had no counter. I feared for anyone who had a counter-argument]

Alex: “You can’t categorize everything.”

Bre: “Yes you can!”

Alex: “But you’ve got stews, you’ve got chowders, you’ve got chilis…”

Michael: “It’s like the “all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares” argument. Those are all forms of soup - chili is a subset, chowder is a subset of soup. The soup-sandwich dichotomy exists. You know what I like? Those places where you can get half a sandwich and a small soup…”

John: “Mac and cheese is a dry soup.” [no need to reread, it says what you think it says]

Michael: “WHAT?”

John: [absolutely bulldozing] “A steak is a sandwich. There’s the outside and the inside. There’s the charred outside and the juicy inside.” [he needs to work on his phrasing. I won’t forget dry soup for as long as I live. Is he the primary lyricist here?]

Bre: “There’s also the loophole category for individual ingredients.”

Michael: “I think a key factor is if you can eat it without any utensils. Because you eat sandwiches with your hands. Pizza is a sandwich because you eat it with your hands. If you need utensils - it’s not a sandwich.”

John: [trying desperately to interject] “Are you a liberal or a conservative? Because conservatives are stricter - and it’s fine - but I’m a liberal so I think the oceans are soups. And I think that the earth is a sandwich because there's molten stuff in the inside and the outside is crispy.” [if you’re still reading, I am so, so thankful]

Michael: “This is why you write the songs.”

Emily: “I think - oh my god - I think we can cut it here.”

Can you name your own red flags? Or red flags you look out for in other people?

Alex: “I'm sorry if I'm gonna offend somebody, but anybody who is extremely into Disney World or very, very into Disney movies - I mean, you’re obviously allowed to like Disney movies. But if you are obsessed with anything Disney, that’s my red flag. Where am I? My own red flag - I am a very violent sleeper. I give bruises and I kick wildly. And I swear I'm asleep.”

Michael: “My personal red flag I guess would be that I'm in a band. That’s my answer. Sorry, guys. Red flag for other people…?”

Zak: “Turquoise, I need help. What do I do that annoys you?”

Turquoise: “You interrupt me when I sp -”

Zak: “I interrupt people when they speak. And my red flag for other people is when they interrupt me when I speak.” [I think he might have winked here]

John: “My red flag is my skin suit. My red flag for other people is their skin suit. If they only have like, one or two, I’m turned off.” [n o t e d]

Turquoise: “I just go on benders of talking too much. Like I'll think of one thing and like split into 80 different things. Sone people can't tolerate that. And then a pet peeve for others is definitely when I’m interrupted while speaking.”

Michael: “My red flag for other people is if they like bands like, those artists that are like “Hey, Ho!””

John: “The Lumineers????”

Michael: “The Lumineers. I hate those guys.”

Describe your favorite meme?

Zak: “Anything that has to do with Smudge Lord. The little yelling cat, the little guy who’s eating his salad. He has a whole profile on Instagram, Smudge Lord.”

Michael: “My favorite meme artist right now is Juul Sexual. The creepy guy smoking is a good one.”

Alex: “The Bernie Sanders, “I am once again…” is great. “I am once again asking for financial support,” said the boyfriend back from his band’s tour.”

Turquoise: “My favorite meme format is the “This Is Fine” dog sitting in a room while everything's on fire. It’s relevant.” ‘

John: “My favorite is the one where it says “your cat can have a little salami as a treat.” Your band should be okay with a little PBR as payment - as a treat. I’m current.” [he’s current, as a treat]

So. Where does Dominy stand on the sub-grinder argument? What about open-faced sandwiches? Should we do a follow-up? Should we get Arjun from Trap Rabbit, (see link for previous, relevant date) known sandwich enthusiast, in on this too? Do they all have absolutely incredible meme picks and cats that are worth dying for? Of course. 9/10, would date again. The only, only, reason they didn’t score a perfect 10 is because John used the words “skin suit” twice.

You can catch them in Philly on March 20th for Slomo Sapiens’ record release show at Johnny Brenda’s with Grace Vonderkuhn and Ali Awan. In the meantime, think of them every time you eat a salad.

The Date Where Dominy Can Disagree on the Sandwich Theory, As a Treat