The legacy of Virgins Family Band lives on in Dad & Dad

At some point or another, everyone on campus has noticed the “Virgins” stickers.

The identity behind the stickers is an alternative rock band called Virgins Family Band. And although they are no longer together, their legacy lives on through not just the stickers, but also through its band members.

Virgins disbanded after no ill-will, just life, said ex-band member and UNC graduate Saman Khoujinian. The band just narrowed from six to four members, and they recorded music under a new name, "Dad & Dad," which focuses more on audio production.  

They released a few songs under the new name last year, but haven’t been very active as of late. 

“Outside of those recordings and some shows that we did and some little tour — some little East Coast tours — we haven’t really been playing much lately,” Khoujinian said. “Mostly because I’ve gotten deeper into the audio world.”

The band was popular and played around the Chapel Hill area throughout 2012 and 2013. 

“We were still very much local,” Khoujinian said. “We put out a record. We sold out a bunch of shows that we played locally, which was really fun, and it was cool getting that kind of support.”

Khoujinian owns Sleepy Cat Studios in Carrboro, so recently he’s been working on production of his and other artists’ music. He’s turned more toward what he calls, “the sonic nature of writing” as opposed to the “compositional nature of writing." 

“Our expectations of our music has gotten a lot more sonically demanding,” he said. “It takes a lot longer to fall into an idea that we believe in because it sounds amazing, as opposed to something that we can just throw together compositionally because it’s got a verse and a chorus.”

This has put a halt on band activity, but Khoujinian isn’t worried. He and fellow ex-band member Gabe Anderson remain close. 

“We’re still best friends. We see each other all the time,” he said. “We might be making some proper music and recording together soon, but we’re seeing where the wind takes us right now.”

Anderson said going with the flow is part of their philosophy.

“We’re trying to not get stuck in the passive band state, where we just force ourselves into the room and force ourselves to make music and just do it because that’s what we’ve always done,” he said. “We’re trying to make music with more agency.”

After the Dad & Dad project, he’s been working on solo music, which he feels can help bands grow musically.

“It felt like time, for me, to figure out my voice and him to figure out his, and we’re just now talking about trying to play more together and explore that overlap,” Anderson said.

Like Khoujinian, Anderson has gotten more into audio production-influenced music. He said Virgins was less technical and more about the appeal.

“It was more about melody and the song and about the feel and the energy — just pushing energy through the instruments, as opposed to paying attention to the sound itself," he said.

He and Khoujinian spent some time experimenting with sound.

“We locked ourselves in with recording gear, and we did tests,” Anderson said. “We found sounds we liked and leading the songwriting from the sound, so using production and engineering as an instrument.”

Another former Virgins member and UNC graduate, Phil Hamilton, pursued graduate school across the country at University of Washington in Seattle. But instead of music, he pursued material science and engineering. Life may have taken him along a different route, but he still remains passionate about music. 

“Because of the lack of free time, I focus more toward open mics, karaoke and random jams — things that are throughout the city,” Hamilton said. “I still get to go to a lot of shows, which is really what I enjoy.”

He looks back on his time at UNC and with The Virgins with nostalgia.

“It was a lot of fun to kind of get in to that music scene — to go out into Carrboro and play with all the people out there,” Hamilton said. “I felt the community there was really cooperative and helpful, and everybody was interested in everyone else and willing to help out.”

He contrasted this feeling to city life in Seattle, and how that scene can be hard to find.

“It might just be too big of a pond,” he said, “But there, everybody kind of knew each other, and cared about each other.”

arts@dailytarheel.com