Lake Street Dive, courtesy.

Akie Bermiss says Good Together, the new album by Lake Street Dive, is all about joyful rebellion against the heaviness of the world right now. The band knew it wanted to focus on keeping the music fun, according to the keyboardist and vocalist.

“It’s a complicated time to be alive right now in the world,” he says.

The band rolled the dice—literally—on a new approach to writing. First, the entire band stayed at drummer Mike Calabrese’s house and wrote together rather than separately as usual. To help with creativity and give the proceedings an element of chance, the band set parameters:

“Bridget [Kearney, bassist] had a D&D 20-sided die that we rolled, to get the key and the tempo and the time signature, and then we used that to create songs, some of which actually did make the record,” Bermiss says.

Bermiss says this switch-up resulted in the songs sounding like more of a blend of all the band members’ different styles than on previous albums.

Good Together finds Lake Street Dive again working with producer Mike Elizondo, who also produced 2021’s Obviously and who Bermiss says always brings out the best in the band. The producer respects the band’s concept while giving it “a cool polish” that’s harder to get with five people trying to agree on something.

Singer Rachael Price often likes to embarrass Bermiss on stage by telling audiences that she was a fan of his before he joined the band in 2017, at first as a touring musician. Bermiss, who still maintains a solo career, says there was a definite mutual admiration society. Bermiss brought a sound influenced by Motown, R&B and soul to Lake Street Dive, influenced by the like of Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight.

“I always wanted to be a Pip. And I think that’s still true!” he says.

He says that Lake Street Dive has managed to survive and thrive, despite the sometimes bleak landscape of the music industry. He says the band is less about having a bright, shiny package, and more about providing a memorable experience for listeners, especially on stage.

“I give a lot of credit to Rachael, who’s just an incredible communicator as a lead singer, and I think really creates a bond and connection with the fans at shows,” Bermiss says.

Bermiss says every time the band returns to a city it’s played before, the crowd seems to get a little bigger. The growth has been steady and organic, with listeners finding the band via satellite radio, social media or even good-old word of mouth.

“We really do want the shows to be amazing, and we try to give as much energy as humanly possible on stage,” he says. “We want people to come be transported from their lives and have these ecstatic moments.”

The band’s goal is to “serve the idea of the community in that moment,” he adds. On the flip side of the coin, when Lake Street Dive isn’t on stage, the band is pretty low-key on the road.

“Our idea of having a blowout party after a show is ordering pizzas for everyone and watching ‘Stranger Things’ on the bus,” he says, laughing.

Most of the members are in bed before midnight when they’re on the road, but they often find activities to do together during the day, like bowling or indoor climbing, when they have time. Besides a shared musicality, what helps Lake Street Dive work is that they have personalities that jibe together outside of the studio and off the stage, he says.

Lake Street Dive is touring all summer and well into the fall in the U.S. and Canada, including a show at the Greek in Berkeley on July 28.

“We’re all so excited about this music that’s coming out, but we’re also thinking about what music might be coming next as well,” Bermiss says. “We don’t all live in the same place. So when we’re on the road, we’re all together and we have our instruments. And that’s when ideas strike. There’s always something on the horizon. It’s cool to be in a band where even when we’re putting something out, we’re also thinking about what’s next.”

Follow Rachel Alm on Twitter at @thouzenfold, on Instagram at @thousandfold, and on Bluesky at @thousandfold.bsky.social.