Emerging from Brooklyn, The Thing are plugged into New York City’s rock ’n’ roll mainframe – towering riffs, louche vocals, rhythms that make you move, and hooks that stick. Having started the band in high school, Zane Acord, Michael Carter and Jack Bradley have been making music together since their teens, recording demos before eventually relocating to Brooklyn. When drummer Lucas Ebeling joined in 2023, that long-running chemistry hardened into something with serious momentum.

Across three brilliantly named full-length records – Here’s The Thing (2023), The Thing Is (2024) and The Thing (2025) – they’ve developed a sound that reaches backwards while wired to the present. There’s the fuzzy immediacy of 60s garage and Nuggets-era psych, the muscle of 90s alt-rock and the freewheeling maximalism of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Thee Oh Sees. Not content to sizzle in their influences, they drag them through the streets of modern New York, crank the amps and let it cook.

That restless, anything-goes attitude is what makes them feel so distinctly of their city. Especially live, when that sense of freedom is clearest. In the heat of the venue, songs stretch, snap, bend and warp, before pinging back into groove. It’s loud, loose and unpredictable — all the good stuff. For this article, photographer Georgia Mitropoulos travelled with the band to their gig at Beachland Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio, shooting an exclusive backstage photo diary.

On releasing an album a year and staying prolific…
“While writing the first album, we had some songs that we were already playing live ended up on the second. So that backlog of songs made finishing the second album pretty easy. We started seriously touring right around the recording of that album, so we all didn’t have jobs. This made it pretty easy to make the third album right in between tours since we were already together and inspired. We’ve always felt like a band should capitalise on whatever initial momentum they have, so hopefully we can keep it going.”

On where they’re heading…
“It’s hard to say where we see our sound is heading next. We all agree that since our last albums were all written and tracked pretty much at the same time, it might be nice to take some more time writing them together this time. So with more time, maybe we will add in some more elements aside from two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. We’ve recently put a piano in the studio so we’ve been playing that. Lucas especially. A viola and a synth have also been added to the studio.”

On playing at the Irving Plaza – their largest headline show to date…
“Irving Plaza was awesome. It felt like a huge milestone and was really fun to get all of our hometown friends and fans together at one show after so much touring. We are always grateful to play such high-energy shows. Thank you to our hometown folks for that. Shoutout to TVOD and Nine Perfect Lives, they really added to the show as well.”

On playing live and their secrets to a great gig…
“Our set has become tighter over the years, which feels good, and we’ve also created moments in the set to dip down dynamically. So it has a little deeper range of volume and feel than in the past, which is nice. We’re still trying to figure out the secrets to a good show… That might be something we learn forever. Some nights, there won’t be many people there, but the show rocks. Some nights there are lots of people, but it sucks. Some nights the sound is bad, but it rules. A good show is a bit like a fish, hard to grasp. But usually they are rocking.

On dream venues to play and countries to tour…
“To be honest, I feel like the venues we play now are some of the most special you can find, but places like Webster Hall in New York would be meaningful since we all used to go to shows there. Alaska would be cool since we have played pretty much every state but there and Florida. Going to Japan is also a goal – The Beatles did it, so we could all do it.”

On other New York bands to watch…
“Check out Native Sun, Victoryland, and Nine Perfect Lives. All awesome NY bands.”

Advice for having a great time…
“The Thing’s advice for a great time is checking your phone constantly so you don’t miss a thing.”