Set It Off About To Rock Detroit On Thanksgiving Eve

Set It Off plays a Thanksgiving Eve show at Saint Andrew's Hall. But first, they talked with me. Singer Cody Carson, guitarist/bassist Zach DeWall, and drummer Maxx Danziger told me about the band, great wings on the road, and more.

Cody was excited to come to Detroit for the great crowds we always supply them with, but for another reason as well. "We're so pumped about it because they also have the best wings in the United States across the street." That's a fact! He went on about Sweetwater Tavern, "It's insane. Like, you wouldn't expect it. It's a small, little place. I love it."

If you don't know who Set It Off is, they're a band from Florida that's carving its own path. They became independent a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. Cody told me, "In 2023, we decided we weren't going to sign to a label, and we started doing this on our own. And we honestly we didn't know we were going to do an album. We just started writing music, and just with the intent of bringing it back to how it all started, just having fun, no expectations, no trying to become some big monster or anything. It was just, let's just go back to what we were initially, which was just writing songs for ourselves. And the first song we wrote was Punching Bag. And we were like, okay, we might have something here, actually. So with our independent team, we found our radio guy, Bob, and we're like, hey, go see if people like this. And people did!"

He went on to tell me that the band has thrived. "And it's the first time we've ever been on the radio. Even when we were signed to two other labels before this, we never had radio success at all. So we're like, wow, this is crazy.
And then, like other stations started paying attention, and the rock community started opening, welcoming us with open arms, Danny Wimmer. And it just all started to take off in this way that we have, it's exceeded every single expectation. And so I just kept writing and kept writing and kept writing. And then we realized, you know, we, instead of just dropping singles, we do kind of have an album here. This all makes sense. It's cohesive. And so we put it all together, and we decided because of how everything's kind of laying out and how much fun we're having and how much we just feel like it's the most authentic us we've ever been."

As the boys wind down their 2025 schedule, they have some big gigs lined up for 2026, Europe. I asked them about playing over there, "Oh, dude. At first, it was just cold. No, but, uh, it was this thing that's been building and building and building for the, like for over the years. Like the first time we ever went over there, uh, we were supporting, and the most recent support tour we did over there was, uh, supporting I Prevail in Germany. And that changed everything for us in a big way. I feel like we really garnered a lot of their fans into our realm as well. But they're some of the craziest crowds ever, to be honest. Like I compared Detroit, uh, and, and the Boston mentality. Cause you guys have like this grittiness to, to the city."

As far as the Detroit band, they get along just fine with the Set It Off boys. "I, we love those guys. They've always been the sweetest to us since day one. Actually, last time I played Download Fest, um, Eric came over and we were just like, just having some whiskey and chatting. And, um, they're just the homies, dude. They've always been really sweet to us."