B-Side Guys

Max Indiveri wrote about the kind of relationship you know is breaking but you’re still in because you’re scared to start over. “Together in Agony” lives precisely in that tension between comfort and self-respect, documenting the quiet moments before a breakup where attachment and self-respect pull in opposite directions. The Kansas City band—featuring singer-keyboardist Max Cooper (fresh from a four-chair turn on The Voice as part of Team Michael Bublé), Indiveri on guitar and co-vocals, bassist Quinn Cosgrove, and drummer Miles Patterson—builds from quiet reflection to cathartic climax, mirroring that internal tug-of-war.

Recorded in the band’s 10×10 bedroom studio, the track demonstrates self-production that lets the lyric breathe rather than rushing toward resolution. The Whips understand how to sit in uncomfortable feelings without forcing catharsis prematurely. The stripped-down approach serves material about staying in situations you know are wrong simply because the alternative—being alone, starting fresh—feels worse.

If you know The Whips from the internet, this might surprise you. They built their initial audience through TikTok and Instagram clips—call-and-response solo battles and left-turn funk covers that exploded virally. One clip meant for friends hit a million views; another reached five million. What started as posts between college classes became a full community, raising the risk of being dismissed as “the TikTok band.” They leaned into authenticity instead—community, curiosity, joy of playing without pretense. Those same fans now show up in person, singing along and hanging after shows like reunions with old friends.

The group’s story traces back to a Kansas City school bus where Cosgrove and Patterson decided to start a band. Indiveri joined with songwriter’s ear and sharp melodic sensibility; an Instagram search led to Cooper, whose Voice run has given extra spotlight without shifting the band’s center of gravity. Through it all, The Whips have remained four friends figuring life out in real time and writing songs that capture the process.

“Together in Agony” marks the start of a new chapter, previewing material The Whips will release with Wichita’s independent label Midtopia early next year as part of the Buy Before You Stream initiative giving fans physical connection before streaming. For a band that built their audience online but forged real bonds on the road—in packed clubs from Chicago to Nashville—it’s proof that community, musicianship, and vulnerability can coexist.