You may have seen self-proclaimed “emo friendly, punk curious” band senses on tour recently with Charlotte Sands, Boys Like Girls, or Leah Kate. And you may have left yearning for more. If you haven’t been lucky enough to see senses live, we have the immense pleasure of introducing you. Taking inspiration from so many genres, any fan of music is guaranteed to find something to enjoy in senses’s collection. After signing to Hopeless Records, they have a lot of exciting things coming up. Starting with the release of their single ‘every little thing’ which is pure punk perfection, they let us in on some of their plans. And you know us, we would never leave you in the dark. Read on!
Welcome to the Honey Pop! Can you give our readers a quick elevator pitch for your music?
We are an emo friendly, punk curious, pop rock band from Los Angeles California. We make high energy, moody, belt in your car music.
Late last year, you were featured on Idobi Radio’s “100 Rising Artists To Listen To In 2024.” Who have you been listening to recently?
Our list is extremely eclectic haha. We’ve been listening to Chappell Roan, Sleeptoken, MUNA, Doechii, Bad Omens, Sabrina Carpenter, Stand Atlantic, the whole range of genres!
Congratulations on signing to Hopeless Records! How do you think your new song ‘every little thing’ celebrates this next chapter in your career?
Thank you! This song is so fun for us. It’s one of those songs that didn’t take much time at all to write because we were just so on the same page about it. It was really us just feeling so confident in our writing process and the message of it, that we think it really shows in the attitude of the song. We’re coming out of the gate swinging!
What went into the decision for ‘every little thing’ to be your label debut?
It was definitely a collective decision. To be honest we have quite a lot of demos right now that we really love because we essentially spent the whole summer writing, but there was something about the energy of this one that just felt right to put out at the start of fall and to really launch this new partnership. It felt like we were letting something go and moving into a new chapter.
‘Every little thing’ is about dealing with a toxic relationship, and you mentioned that the aggressive feeling was meant to reflect your frustration. So which came first, the lyrics or the melody?
I usually don’t get to say this because generally it’s one or the other, but this one was pretty simultaneous. We were in the studio and just kind of talking about how frustrating it can be dealing with a martyr mentality and we all had dealt with it at some point or another. So when we decided on that overall theme the music and lyrics really went hand in hand after that.
It’s so interesting that you two met on Craigslist. What was the process of fitting together as a band for the first time?
Well we met up at a rehearsal studio in North Hollywood, and I had just released this solo EP I used as a guide for what I was looking for in a band. So when we met we just kind of tried to play those together for the first time. I sent them to Nick so he was familiar with them and we started learning those first to just see if we fit with each other. But really it just worked from the start and there was never any hesitation on whether or not it was a good fit. It just was!
You’ve talked a lot about identity and expression. How has your music allowed you to find or express your identity?
Oh it’s everything. Our music really is the way that we express ourselves in its most natural form as it comes to us. We just know how to let it all go and escape into it. It truly has made me just more confident in who I am and what our message is because we put our whole lives into it. We express ourselves a lot through just being goofy and not taking ourselves too seriously, so when we get to do that in a live setting
and just hang out with the crowd it solidifies that identity for us even more.
Recently, you’ve gained attention with your punk cover of Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ Why this song?
Well who doesn’t absolutely love Chappel Roan?! We had thought about releasing a cover for a while, we always incorporate one in our live shows to really get the crowd into it. So when we discussed actually
releasing something that would live in the world on the various platforms, we wanted it to be a song that really captivated both of us, but also by an artist that we truly believe in and believe in their message.
We love your take on the song, and we love that we’re in a time where artists can experiment with genres. We never thought that we’d hear Chappell Roan at Emo Nite, but we’re happy we are! Has that freedom to play with genres influenced your songwriting?
Oh definitely. We have said a lot especially in these last few months writing that we don’t want to be tied down to one specific genre. That’s kind of why we call ourselves “emo friendly punk curious pop rock.” It’s
like we’re dipping our toes into each little area to see what we can come up with. We’re both influenced by all kinds of music, but a lot of pop as well.
What was it like putting your own spin on ‘Good Luck, Babe?’
It was really fun. We wanted it to be just different enough, while keeping all of the essence it already had. I mean the song is such a huge hit that we just didn’t want to mess it up haha. It was fun to see what it could
sound like in a more punk/rock genre.
We feel like more of your personality came out in your music videos, which feature original storylines and characters. Where do you get ideas for videos?
Videos can sometimes be our achilles heal. I really respect and envy those artist that have such a specific vision for the visual side of things. Sometimes it will come to me and I will be really passionate about a specific idea, otherwise we collaborate and work with the directors to come up with something outside the box.
Can we look forward to more music videos in the future?
Yes! Videos are honestly just so expensive, but as soon as we can make it happen we will! We love making music videos.
There’s so much energy in all of your songs, and it’s matched in your live performances. Are there any pre-show rituals involved in keeping up your electric energy every night?
Yes we listen to a lot of insane scream music or straight up pop. We generally have a whole little dance party to get out some of the ramped up energy, and then after that we just lay it all out on the stage!
While you’ve been touring, you’ve acquired some dedicated fans and had the chance to connect with them. Have you had any favorite interactions with fans?
On the last tour one of our fans printed out a bunch of signs for our newest single at the time. It was our last show of the night too so when we got to that certain part of the song she had handed out like 50 of these printed out signs and they all held them up. That was a really cool thing for someone to take the time to make these.
You’ve been on so many incredible tours in a short amount of time, and you leave every show with more fans. What has it been like gaining so much attention so quickly?
We are just riding the wave. It feels really amazing to feel like we can finally really connect with people, and that they connect with our music. That’s the best part of it all. If we can reach one more person in the room that resonates with us, then we feel fulfilled.
Thanks for chatting with us! One last question: You’re about to set off on another tour with Bailey Spinn. Do you have anything new planned for this tour that you can tease?
Thank you so much! Welllllll we actually have a few new songs on the set list this time around. We are reaching that point where we have so many songs that we really have to curate our set list now to fit all of the ones we want to show off in. There may just be an unreleased song on the setlist this time around too.
The words “unreleased song” will never not excite us, as if we weren’t excited enough! We hope you’ll celebrate this new phase of senses music with us in the comments! Let us know your favorite senses song or what you’re hoping to hear from them next. We’re always available to chat about senses (or all things pop culture) at @thehoneypop on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SENSES:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE
