For this trio of Ohio University alumni, this statement could not be more true.
Clubhouse is comprised of guitarist, Ari Blumer, drummer, Zak Blumer, and lead vocals, Max Reichert. While two of the three members of the band legitimately share DNA, all three said that all of them are brothers through and through.
“We met him so early in our lives that he’s (Riechert) just like another brother,” Zak Blumer said. “It doesn’t really feel like we’re just friends… it doesn’t fall into the same category. We’re with each other through everything and will be.”
All originally from Pataskala, Ohio, the band said they actually met at a wrestling camp in third grade and began playing together when they were in middle school.
This bond continued through college when all three attended OU together and graduated in 2018. While in Athens, Clubhouse continued to book local gigs, their favorite place to play is one of the most “classically Athens” places.
“We played at a couple of spots in Athens, but our favorite spot was by far The Union,” Ari Blumer said. “I don’t think we played anywhere else after they opened (back) up. It was just such a fun venue, and they treated us so well.”
The concepts of brotherhood and nostalgia have always been at the forefront of Clubhouse’s mission, even translating over to their name. The band said they chose the name based on the experience they had growing up together, more specifically where many of their fondest memories took place: their very own clubhouse.
“We just kind of always hung out in there in high school and we would draw on the walls and play video games and get into trouble and stuff,” Zak Blumer said. “When we were coming up with names, and ‘Clubhouse’ just sounded like it sort of captured that feeling perfectly.”
Despite coming up with the name years ago, Reichert said he still feels like the name is an accurate representation of the band’s approach to music and even to life.
“Yes, we became close friends through making music together, but we’ve always just been really good friends, and I think that ‘Clubhouse’ just represents a place where you can just be with your friends and hang out and not take life too seriously,” Reichert said.
Right now, Clubhouse is based in Los Angeles, California, which is more than 2,600 miles away from their hometown. The band said it was this notion and the feelings of homesickness that led to them creating their new song, “Ohio".
“We moved out to LA a few years ago now, and all of us growing up together in Ohio was super formative for us,” Reichert said. “We still love home, still miss home a lot, and we felt this kind of homesickness creep in a little bit more in the last year or two. I think we just kind of felt compelled to write a love letter to home.”
The music video of the song features Reichert in the back of a pickup truck cruising down the roads of rural Ohio.
The band said that they flew back to Ohio to shoot the video, more specifically it was filmed in Chagrin Falls, a village in eastern Cuyahoga County. Additionally, the crew for the video was made entirely of Ohioans.
“We just wanted to romanticize Ohio,” Reichert said.
The journey for Clubhouse to move out to Los Angeles and continue creating new music has not been easy for the band, having navigated many different roadblocks along the way.
Reichert was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his femur three months after he graduated from OU. He underwent a year of chemotherapy, and the bottom half of his femur was removed and replaced with metal.
After that, Reichert said he bounced around for a couple of months until the cancer came back in his lungs in 2020. He had multiple lung surgeries after that, and then the cancer came back in his leg again at the end of last year. Reichert said he has been undergoing different treatments and clinical trials ever since then.
“I’m on my way out right now, which is cool,” he said. “I just did radiation on the last remaining little tumor that I had in my right lung, and I’m getting that removed in a few weeks, and when that happens, then I’ll be in remission.”
Reichert is optimistic that this five-year-long battle is almost at its end.
Throughout the entire time, he said both of the Blumers have stood by his side.
“I’ve known them forever,” Reichert said. “Going through high school together, college, post-grad, my cancer, we have just been through it all together. I have a tighter bond with these two guys than almost anyone.”
Music served as an established sense of normalcy for the trio, with them coming together in Reichert’s hospital room to hang out and discuss beats or record vocal ideas.
“It was like that was the thing that was the piece of normal that we were holding on to,” Ari Blumer said. “I think the music allowed us to support each other throughout everything.”
Ari Blumer recalled when Reichert had one of his lung surgeries, and the day after he was with the band and recording vocals.
Reichert said that his journey with cancer has taught him a lot, especially about what is important to him.
“When you get that close to the idea of dying, it paints life so clearly,” he said. “What’s important like being with friends, being with family, connecting with one another and doing what you love. That becomes so clear.”
From the other perspective of Zak Blumer witnessing his friend go through that, he said that it shifted his perspective as well.
“It just kind of makes you realize how precious life is, and, on that note, to enjoy every moment, or take in every moment even if it’s not a joyful one,” he said.
Regarding the future, Clubhouse has no plans of slowing down any time soon.
“I know for me, (one of our goals) is to put together our first full-length album,” Ari Blumer said. “I’m excited for the point where that feels right for our career.”
Zak Blumer said his main focus for the band is to continue doing what they’re doing, saying he’s proud of the band for sticking around for so long despite challenges.
“For us, it’s all gas, no break right now,” he said. “If there’s anything to leave anybody off with, it’s just to expect a hell of a lot more from us.”