Photo by Andrew Diaz
First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for answering these questions! Our pleasure! Thank you for asking us! I know you guys were in several different bands before Goodbye Honolulu came into fruition. Is the music being played in those bands different from what you are playing now? Our songs are similar to what we use to write in high school, but now we’re writing a lot more together. We also spend a lot more time refining and revising lyrics and parts, whereas when we were younger, it was more about just going with your first instinct. Has there been growth and change in your sound since then? The recordings from when we were younger were more low-fi and self-produced, and since then we’ve been fortunate to be able to go into the studio with really talented producers and engineers, and take our time crafting the songs. How did creating Fried Records start? What made you want to create it? When we were in high school, we were really into Burger Records and the California garage rock scene. We always wanted to create a similar scene happen in Toronto. It started as just putting out our music, and each guy’s solo music on Bandcamp. It had this amazing transformation from that to becoming this incredible community. We had over 10 bands that we would just promote on social media and Bandcamp, and we would hold all ages shows with all our bands. The all ages scene was a big part of it – Since we were too young in high school to see a lot of our favorite bands live, the idea was for any show we put on, we’d make it all ages and make sure all our friends could come out. What was the writing and recording process like for U Got It? What was your inspiration behind it? When I was writing “U Got It” I was trying to emulate late night grimy city nights, walking home after a night out, feeling the evening metropolitan hustle. It started with the drum machine track, overlaid with a sorta surf guitar, which built the sound/vibe. So I did a little demo and then brought into the band and we all worked on it and recorded it in studio at Marquee Sound. After the recording process we did a lot of cool production things with it, but decided in the mix to pair it down and make it more like the demo which had that trashy punky sound we wanted. Do you think where you are from has an effect on the type of music you play? I think the whole Fried Records scene and being friends with so many talented and driven people definitely has an effect on us. They push us to want to be better songwriters, performers, and musicians. Toronto is definitely a great city to write songs in, and like we said with “U Got It,” the city vibe definitely makes it into our craft. What were your favorite songs to write and record on No Honey and More Honey? We’re really proud of “Typical,” “Mother To A Brother,” and “Where You Wanna Go”. For “Typical” we won some studio time through Converse Rubber Tracks, and got to record at Noble Street Studios in Toronto. It’s this huge open room, and we set up for all four of us to play it in a room together. What’s been your all time favorite song you have written and recorded so far? Again, we’re all really stoked on “Typical”. That song came together in a really natural way, with Fox bringing in the main idea, and the rest of us adding in our own individual flares and moments to it. Plus getting to record it under such great circumstances was a blast. While recording do you have any bands or artists you listen to for inspiration? Yes! Before recording the new album we made, we compiled a huge list of artists and songs that inspired the sounds we were chasing in our heads. Some of the music we were really inspired by for the album included The Rolling Stones, Broncho, Neil Young, The Velvet Underground, Jack White, The Band, Deerhunter, and T.Rex. You guys recently announced some shows, where would you like to tour in the new future? We definitely want to keep touring the States, and do more of the west coast. In Canada, we want to go all the provinces we’ve never been before, which is a lot of ‘em. We’re working on getting to Europe in 2020! What would your dream festival line up be? Broncho, Hinds, SWMRS, The Rolling Stones, The Black Lips, and us. What is the hardest obstacle you had to overcome while writing and recording? The biggest obstacle is when you write something alone and can’t finish it. We’re lucky in this band that we’re able to get together, bounce ideas off of each other, and write in a really collaborative way. In terms of recording, the biggest obstacle is just money to afford it. The Canadian government has a number of grants you can apply for to earn funding for your recording project, but it’s extremely competitive. Has the DIY scene in Toronto influenced you or your music in any way? When we were playing shows in high school, all the music our friends were making and recording on their own was really influential to us. We always loved recording in our basements, or playing and going to house shows. The DIY mindset is a very cool thing for us to carry forward, and we want to bring it to a larger scale. Where do you see yourselves going from here? What can we expect from you next year? We have a new record completely finished, produced by Ben Cook and Tony Price, engineered by Braden Sauder, recorded at Marquee Sound in Toronto. We’re super excited about it, and we feel it’s a great progression from our previous material. We used lots of new sounds besides guitars and drums. We want to keep touring the States, Canada, and absolutely make our way to Europe. 2020 is gonna be a big year!
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