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Remembering Ozzy Osbourne One Year Following His Death

Posted on by joshwurz

“Ozzy Osbourne” by Ted Van Pelt is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Today, July 22, tragically marks one year since we lost arguably the greatest figure heavy metal will ever see, the “Prince of Darkness,” Ozzy Osbourne.

If there is one artist who best epitomized Hit Parader, it is Osbourne, who appeared on over a dozen covers from the start of his solo career in the ‘80s to the end of the original Hit Parader run in 2008.

Just like the magazine, Osbourne was loud, brash, irreverent, hilarious, edgy, and unapologetically himself. We remember the “Prince of Darkness” today with an interview he did with Hit Parader 19 years ago.

Hit Parader Archive

Ozzy Osbourne: The Godfather Returns

July 2007 – By Andy Secher

Hit Parader: Does it surprise you that six years have passed since you released your last solo album?

Ozzy Osbourne: It is a little hard to believe that so much time has passed. But it’s not like I’ve been sitting on my ass all that time doing nothing. I toured behind that album for a long time, and then the Sabbath stuff came along, and that kept me very busy. Then we had the TV show in the middle of it all, and there’s always been Ozzfest. So it’s been a busy time, but it’s nice to finally have this album done. This is the first album in my life that I’ve recorded while being completely clean and sober. I’m very proud of that, especially when I consider how satisfied I am with the results.

HP: It traditionally takes you a long time in the studio to complete a solo disc. Why?

OO: It’s hard work! (laughs) If you don’t include the first few albums with Sabbath, which we usually did in a day or two, I’ve never been the fastest worker in the studio, and thankfully at this point in my life I don’t have to be. But I do work at it as hard as I can. I know some fans think that I’m just relaxing around the pool, but what they don’t know is that I’m actually out back, in my new studio, working on music. It did take a long time to finish this album, over a year of on-and-off work, but the key thing is that this music is exactly what I wanted it to be.

HP: You mentioned your new home studio, how did that work out for this album?

OO: It was wonderful! The only “negative” was that Sharon could drop by unannounced at any time to see if we were all focused on what we were supposed to be doing. That really kept us on our toes! But it really worked out better than I could have imagined. Any time I had a bit of inspiration, I could just run out to the studio and work on it. I did a lot of the recording of this album with Kevin Churko, who used to work with (legendary producer) Mutt Lange, and he was so important in getting the songs together and making them sound right. We have a full-size mixing board out there, and it’s outfitted with the latest ProTools gear so my studio is totally state-of-the-art. Kevin knows exactly how to work with all that stuff… I don’t have a clue about it.

HP: The album has already gotten an incredible response. How satisfying has that been for you?

OO: You know, despite all the good things that have happened to me over the years thanks to rock and roll, I’m still a very insecure person a lot of the time. When I finish an album I go back and forth from thinking it’s the best thing I’ve ever done to thinking it’s a total piece of rubbish. Having fans respond to it the way they have means more to me than they’ll ever know. It’s the proof that I’m still doing this at this stage of my life.

HP: Let’s talk about some of the songs on the album. Is there one particular track that stands out for you?

OO: Maybe it would be Lay Your World On Me. Some people think it’s about my relationship with Sharon, and her battle with cancer a few years ago, but that’s not totally true. While it may have been originally inspired by Sharon, I think it’s a message that many people can relate to. Then I imagine the song that has drawn the most attention is Countdown’s Begin, which takes a look at the war in Iraq. I’ve never been very political in my music, and I don’t see a reason to start now. But just as the events of 9/11 impacted me greatly, watching what’s gone on during this war and seeing first-hand how it has affected the lives of so many soldiers and their families is something that I felt I wanted to address in my own way.

HP: The title Black Rain seems to have a rather ominous tone. Was that the intent?

OO: That seems to be a theme running through a lot of the songs, from Black Rain to Silver to The Almighty Dollar to Countdown’s Begin, which take a look at the world around us. It’s not a very pretty picture, is it? I’m not trying to preach to anyone… just make them aware of what I see happening. Actually, Black Rain was inspired by footage I’ve seen of the original nuclear tests back in the 1940s. They’d blow up a bomb, and a few hours later it would rain and it would be black with fallout and everything else. People who didn’t know better back then would just stand out in the open and let it fall down on them.

HP: Your recording and touring band now consists of Zakk Wylde on guitar, Mike Bordin on drums and Blasko on bass. How does this unit compare to some of your previous solo units?

OO: I don’t particularly like to compare bands I’ve had as a solo performer because they’ve all been wonderful in their own way. But this one is excellent. I mean working with Zakk is always a pleasure, he’s there for me whenever I need him. He truly is my right arm. And I think that he’s done some of his best playing on this album. Zakk and I just have to be careful in the studio because we can just sit around telling old war stories and never get enough work done. And we know that Sharon will walk in right in the middle of that.

HP: How much of the new album do you figure you’ll put in your live set once you hit the road?

OO: That’s hard to say at this point. I mean there is so much material to cover… so many albums. What I might do this time is shy away a bit from the Black Sabbath material. Sharon has suggested that I don’t play any of the Sabbath songs this time, but I don’t know if that will work. The fans still want to hear “War Pigs.” I may just wait until that band tours again to play those songs, but I’m not sure at the moment. I have more than enough material from my solo albums to make a great set. I imagine we’ll bring in a number of the new songs, but it’s too early to know exactly how many.

HP: You bring up the name of Black Sabbath. Earlier in the year, a statement came out from your camp indicating that you wanted to record and tour with Sabbath during 2007. Is that possible?

OO: I imagine anything is possible. But with this album coming out in early summer, then with me scheduled to tour for months after that, I don’t see much time for that to happen. I hope Sabbath will come back together at some point, and I look forward to that happening, but I just can’t see it happening this year.

HP: How did you feel about Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler reteaming with Ronnie James Dio as Heaven and Hell?

OO: Even when Sharon and I first heard about that, and it did catch us a bit by surprise, we wished everyone involved the best of luck. It’s not really fair to expect Tony and Geezer to sit around waiting for me. They knew that I was heavily involved in getting this solo album completed, and that Sabbath wasn’t going to be my priority for a while. So they did what they felt they needed to do. Good for them!

HP: But you and Sharon made a big deal out of making sure that everyone knew that Heaven and Hell had nothing to do with Black Sabbath.

OO: Well, I would like to have people think that Sabbath is Tony, Geezer, Bill (Ward) and myself. We’ve worked hard over the last few years to reestablish that idea. I know that fans enjoy the music they made with Ronnie and that’s fine. But it really doesn’t have anything directly to do with Black Sabbath as it stands today. I think calling it Heaven and Hell was a very clever idea on their part.

HP: When would you imagine that you might consider doing something with Sabbath, and might that finally mean recording a new album?

OO: For some reason I feel more pressure doing an album with Sabbath than on my own. There would be so many expectations surrounding that… especially since we haven’t really done a full album together in something like 27 years. I would like to think that we’ll eventually do that album, and that it will live up to the Sabbath legacy, but of course, that remains to be seen.

HP: Let’s change subjects. What made you and Sharon decide to make Ozzfest a free festival this year?

OO: It was all Sharon’s idea, and I think it’s brilliant. Ticket prices have gone through the roof for most rock and roll concerts. We think it’s time that we gave something back to the fans, and this is the best way we could think of doing it. Not only will they get to experience a great day of music, but a lot of young bands will be exposed to the audience they need in order to grow. So it’s a situation that works for everyone involved.

HP: You only played 10 shows at last summer’s Ozzfest. Do you plan on performing at all of them this year?

OO: That is the plan… At least it’s Sharon’s plan! (laughs) She keeps adding new dates in Europe and America, and she just says, “You’ll play them!” I guess I will! Actually, I’m looking forward to it. I’m feeling really good these days, so I’m up for it. We’ve got a very exciting bill, with bands like Lamb of God and Lordi, so I’m excited about getting back on the main stage this year after headlining the second stage last year.

HP: One last question. How do you view the current state of the heavy metal form?

OO: You know, each year at Ozzfest I have the chance to see and hear a lot of new bands. Some of them I may have heard before, and a lot of them that I haven’t. I must say that I’m almost always impressed by the degree of originality and inspiration that they bring to their music. It makes me feel proud to know that I may have served as an influence on so many great, young musicians.

Baby Rose Turns Yearning Into an Art Form and Impending Superstardom 

Posted on by joshwurz

I remember in the ’80s seeing U2 and The Police share stages on the Amnesty International tour. A couple of years after U2 had their first commercial success with “New Year’s Day,” one could sense U2 was poised for superstardom, and it felt like a passing of the torch. A year later, U2 released The Joshua Tree and became the biggest band in the world.

Three years ago, I was fortunate to interview a really promising new British artist by the name of Olivia Dean, who, of course, won a Grammy for Best New Artist and is now headlining arenas. Dean now gets to carry on this long-standing tradition and pass the torch to the next great R&B superstar, Baby Rose, who is opening for Dean on her current arena run. 

I absolutely promise you that you will see Rose at the Grammys next year, guaranteed. Her Yearnalism album is one of those records so true, so honest, and so vulnerable, it seeps slowly into your blood and lives there. The album completely solidifies the fact Rose will be a major force on the scene for decades to come. We spoke about what yearning means to her.  

Hit Parader: I love the name of the album, Yearnalism, because yearn is such a strong poetic word. What was the first thing you remember really yearning over?

Cred. Louisa Meng

Baby Rose: That’s a great, great question. As a child, when I first started making music, and I met the piano for the first time, I do remember those first poems and songs being something that was a lot heavier. And so I think the first thing that I’ve ever yearned for was just a sense of being understood. Yeah, just trying to be understood and yearning and longing to understand the world a little bit better.

HP: So, that started at a young age, and as a musician, that’s probably still why you make music today.

Rose: Absolutely, I would say so. Just being a sponge in my environment, taking in a lot of things and not really knowing what to do with all of that. Finding a place in music, it’s always been a safe space for me. But maybe more so than me trying to be understood, it was just me trying to understand what was going on around me. Because I would be writing songs from my mom’s perspective of things, just taking in different dramas that were happening and trying to put those emotions into a single song or poem.

HP: Do you remember getting these musical messages from the universe when you were young?

Rose: I don’t remember a lot from childhood, but there are certain core memories. And they still define me in a lot of ways today. I think that I started receiving those strong urges or pushes towards ultimately what my purpose was like five or six years old. And I’ll say my dad and my mom had a lot to do with it, as well as my great-aunt, who was a figure in the household. Because my dad was such a music head. And he would do this thing while we were on the way to school. Where he was like, “I want you to pick out every instrument that’s in the song.” And he would be playing some old school Shalamar or SOS Band and things like that. I’ll be naming each instrument, and he’s like, “Oh, there’s more or whatever.” He would always put in my head, “I don’t want you to just sing; I want you to create the music. I want you to produce.” Before I even knew exactly what that was, and then my mom had producers in the house making beats and things like that. For an artist, these are little glimpses and flashes of memories, and then having an artist that she managed back in the day, it was a hip-hop artist. Then my great-aunt would always hum hymns around the house, and her biggest pride in life was just being in the choir at this massive church in New York. She was from the Deep South, so moving to New York and getting away was a huge deal. So, all of those things, I think, created this core around me. These are just very impactful things. 

HP: Isn’t the point of writing and making music to learn things that you don’t know? 

Cred. Louisa Meng

Rose: Oh, absolutely, it is. I suck at journaling. I have so many unfinished journals because I think it’s important to study yourself and to question yourself. And to ask yourself, “Where are some of these ideas coming from that I believe so strongly in?” I want to question everything that I have a very strong belief in because I think the strongest person is the one that’s the most flexible and the one that’s the most empathetic and understanding. We’re in that day and age where I think people are trying to make it black and white, and we’re realizing in real time how detrimental that is. It’s much better to just be open to the fact that you don’t know anything. You don’t know everything, at least.

HP: So, what did you learn about yourself making this record?

Rose: Man, I learned so much, like little details. I learned how important it is for me, even when I don’t feel good, when I feel sad or whatever, to put something nice on and get out of the house. It makes me feel a lot better when I’m out and I’ve got something a little cute on. Because I would dress up and go to the studio, which was so cool. I was looking at mood board pictures of what Aretha Franklin would show up to in the studio. And it was always like, “Damn, you got that shit on; turtlenecks and the mod fashions and things like that.” I was just putting things on and just embodying the environment and looking like I wanted the music to feel almost. And I learned that. I learned so much about my process, everything that I’ve learned along the way, even from Slow Burn, shout out to Bad Bad Not Good, like the importance of cohesion, because I like a record that you could put on and you don’t stop. You don’t have to skip to your favorite song. It just feels like you’re in a world.

With Slow Burn, we created that in a week; it was a time capsule, and it was easy to have that cohesion throughout with this. I’m pulling records from different producers and different times and everything and so me as an executive producer I had to go to each of the producers and be like, “Listen, with your blessing, I need to take this song into my court and finish it.” and having their blessing and their grace and creating a wrecking crew, like how they did back in the day with the Muscle Shoals sound of some of the producers, Ryan James Carr on drums, Biako on bass and Joe Harrison on ancillary keys, guitar, lap still, flute. He could play everything. And being able to finish those records and run those things through tape and create this journey. They have unique elements, but the foundation of bass and drums, really the heartbeat of it, is done in one place. So, I learned a lot about that cheat code and just the beauty of community in real time. Having those folks all come together from different places and then we would eat dinner together. I would order food to the studio even after the project was done. Everybody became friends after the fact. I just feel like that is so important. It’s so key because we’re not in school anymore. So, we don’t get the privilege of seeing people every day, or if you’re not in a nine-to-five or whatever, you don’t get the opportunity to just see the same cast of characters every day. We have to make a choice. And the cost of community is inconvenience, especially after COVID. I feel like it did a number on people, the whole protect your peace movement and isolation and vibes. But we thrive when we’re together. 

Cred. Louisa Meng

HP: What does it mean to you to go on this tour with Olivia Dean? 

Rose: I’m about to go on the greatest tour of all time with this music. And her audience is yearners. They love songs. But she’s really one of those classic singer/songwriters. And I’m like, “Damn, I get to go on the bill with your ass, this is crazy.” Yeah, I think right now what pushes me is the desire to expand and just go and stretch. Even when I think I’m all stretched out, I go a little bit more. In the big spaces and even after the show, because we are about to do some little pop-ups and shit like Yearners Anonymous that are very intimate. So, making sure that it’s huge and then also insulated, so I can create domino effects. What I hope to do is see this experience and you recreate it. These tiny rooms are where big things happen, big movements happen. And so just give that encouragement by leading by example on the small and the big scale. 

Catch Baby Rose on Tour this Summer here.

Get the latest music news, exclusive interviews, and editorials in this month’s issue of Hit Parader Magazine.

Exploring Hilary Duff’s ‘Metamorphosis’ Into The Undisputed Icon of 2026

Posted on by joshwurz

If you were between the ages of seven and ten years old in 2003, you had one true god, and her name was Hilary Duff. Your bible? Her post Lizzie McGuire debut album, Metamorphosis. Anyone whose chosen diva was this particular blondie who happened to be anywhere near Southern California was likely one of the 17,500 fans packed into L. A.’s Forum on July 9, 2026, night two of her two-night sold-out triumph in her adopted home. 

Songs off Metamorphosis were so different from what we hear on the airwaves in 2026. Those records aren’t about being the baddest in the game or even really about boys. Her songs were about blossoming into a young woman and not knowing what any of that shit means, leaving yesterday behind, and doing “a crazy dance.” 

Duff’s impact with the 2001 hit TV show Lizzie McGuire was a game changer. Those days, a lot of the television shows centered around young girls were about their secret magical talents of wizardry, psychic abilities, or fighting crime after school. But Duff wasn’t playing the popular girl, nor was she the big scary nerd weirdo. She wasn’t “It Girl” status. She also wasn’t “MOTHER”. Lizzie was your friend. That’s what made her special. She was someone who sat at lunch with you, lent you a jacket to tie around your waist on a rainy day, and studied with you for an exam you were both going to bomb. For a generation of girls who fought for their lives through the age of low-rise jeans and heroin chic, Lizzie was a very comfortable and cool place to be. Returning to that era once again, 20 actual years later, felt like finally coming up for air, even just for the night. 

Cred. Michael Drummond – @michaeldrummnd

Back in 2005, my best friend Lisa’s lovely mother took the two of us to a Hilary Duff concert at the Dodge (now Payne) Arena in our hometown of Hidalgo County, TX. Bestie & I were sporting our new tour t-shirts while her mom wore earplugs. I still remember needing to stand on the chair to be able to see the very top of Duff’s head while she danced around the stage in the same arena my brother had hockey practice. 

But now, it’s 2026. Lisa & I are all grown up, living in L.A., fresh off work, hopping in an Uber, one White Claw deep, to see the “Mature” singer perform again, this time at The Forum. We were both a little choked up talking about how special it is to see her again and all the dreams Hilary inspired us to chase. Back at that ’05 concert, we were a part of the swarm of nine-year-olds that used to dominate her demographic. But on this Thursday night, the only handful of little ones we saw were the children of people who grew up with Duff just like we did, which tugged on our girlhood-coated heartstrings pretty hard. 

The Forum was dripping in Duff everywhere you looked – from just plain sparkles to ultra niche homages to Lizzie lore. Her stage had this modern popstar approach to a 70s disco/psychedelic aesthetic in the key of neon pink that really fits her latest work.

Cred. Michael Drummond – @michaeldrummnd

Her show opened with a badass overture of her song “Wake Up,” which is also what she opened with back in ’05, so I was instantly covered in girlypop goosebumps. The first thing I noticed was how tight her band is and how strong the musical direction is overall. They hit every mark when it came to the recognizable hooks and track elements that made everyone scream in the name of nostalgia. It was honestly stunning to hear thousands of people collectively remember the iconic and hittable note changes in the final choruses of the hits. They also brought this very cool indie rock approach to the transitions that updated the big ones and meshed in the latest project beautifully. 

In her newest album, Luck…or Something, Duff gives her OG fans this intimate eye-level look inside her inner monologue that navigates arguably complex and introspective ideas. 

The singer tells these sexually confessional tales you’d expect from maybe a friend in confidence, much less a grown woman who’s lived most of her life in the limelight. The whole album feels like reading-intensive therapy notes covered in glitter glue that, for some reason, we’re lucky enough to read.

She still manages to meet us in the middle like she used to with songs like “Mature,” which roasts an ex who’s still dating way too young, and other cuts like “Holiday Party,” which examines the female experience of wondering whether the guy you’re seeing is screwing around at a work party—and then feeling guilty for even thinking it.

Lyrics like “at the dive bar giving you head” and “touching myself by the front door” miraculously fit between her squeaky-clean pop catalog throughout this 21-song set list. Mostly I’d say because the sonic choices made on her new project gracefully complement her previous album’s aesthetics. 

It felt like the crowd got to celebrate the actual Metamorphosis of those early records about innocence, first loves, and adventure into the exciting, brutally honest, and deeply candid stories she’s now so confidently performing in shiny tops and blue jeans. It was honestly healing to finally hear about all the places that butterfly we once knew flew to, where she chose to land, and everything she discovered along the way. 

I’m not really a nostalgia seeker myself, but Hilary Duff is a different story. By the second song, I had already cried off all the colorful gems Lisa helped me stick on the corners of my eyes before we left. I was emotional because the show felt like catching up with an old friend that you haven’t seen since the third grade, and you didn’t realize how much you needed to. 

Cred. Michael Drummond – @michaeldrummnd

The moment that did push me over the edge was after she sang “So Yesterday”. Hilary went fully nonverbal for like two minutes, gazing out into the screaming abyss of a sold-out crowd with THE most authentically humble expression I’ve ever witnessed a live performer wear on their face. She was so clearly moving through different shades of gratitude to the point where I felt like I could hear the thoughts she was having. “After all this time? In the age where the algorithm that runs our lives buries even the greatest alive? In a city where something ‘cooler’ is happening every single second of the day? All these people are here tonight to see me and sing along? On a Thursday?” Yes, and we missed you, girl. I think we need you now more than ever.

By the end of the show, a lyric I didn’t understand a week ago from a song she played third to last off the new record suddenly made sense. “How did I get here, was it luck or something?” 

See Hilary Duff Live Here

Get the latest music news, exclusive interviews, and editorials in this month’s issue of Hit Parader Magazine.

Can I Ride: SIDEPIECE on New Music, Their Own Compilation Album, and What’s Next

Posted on by joshwurz

Over the last few years, SIDEPIECE has become impossible to ignore in EDM, leaving a lasting mark on the genre while turning small-club sets into full-production spectacles and becoming a can’t-miss act at some of the world’s biggest festivals. The DJ and production duo of Dylan Ragland and Ricky Mears keep pushing out music they love, always finding new ways to make their world, and the world their music fills, just a bit louder and a bit more fun. If co-productions with Diplo and Disco Lines, along with official house remixes for the likes of Lil Wayne and Bobby Shmurda, do not already make the case, these guys mean business, and they are not slowing down anytime soon. Hit Parader caught up with them to talk about the busy yet exciting year ahead, the moments that keep them grounded, what led to their new single “Can I Ride,” out today, and what their Lip Service Compilation album, released on their own label, means to them. Their love for the craft is infectious, and this interview makes it clear: SIDEPIECE is here to stay, grateful to be here, and ready to have a good time. 

Hit Parader: Just to start off, tell me about your favorite moment from live shows, track releases, or anything else this year!

Dylan Ragland: We created something called the Disco Lips. For anyone who doesn’t know, our logo has always been lips; that’s kind of our theme, so we built these 10-foot-wide, giant lips. It was a whole process. They were super expensive, super detailed, and completely worth it. When we finally saw them finished, they were amazing, hand-pieced mirrors and everything. The first show we used them, seeing the crowd’s reaction when we lit them up for the first time was pretty epic. We always have big shows, but for me, that felt like our whole team coming together to create something special, and now it’s something people talk about.

Ricky Mears: Yeah, one that stands out, we played Brooklyn Storehouse, and it felt like the perfect venue for the lips.

Photo Cred. SIDEPIECE

DR: Yeah.

RM: But Orlando and a few other places looked incredible too.

HP: And that was your biggest show to date, right? Or the biggest headline?

RM: The biggest headline we’ve ever done as SIDEPIECE, yeah.

HP: That’s insane. And you brought out Bobby Shmurda?

DR: Yeah, perfect timing, his hometown.

HP: That’s awesome. We’ve been asking every artist we’ve interviewed today the same question: what’s one song or album that has changed your life, for better or worse?

RM: Mine’s probably not dance music. It’s hard because they’re so different, but I’ll give two. Deja Entendu by Brand New, kind of post-hardcore rock. That record is just ingrained in my head; I love it. And honestly, I love Slipknot. Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) is another one, I can basically recite both of those albums front to back. I just get obsessed with them.

DR: This is tough for me. I’d say The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine, mostly because of the time in my life when it came out. You form a lot of core music memories when you’re young, and I was already a big Rage fan. I’d also say Untouchables by Korn. That one stands out because I had to sneak into a record store to get it, I was underage, and the parental advisory sticker actually mattered then. So it’s not just the album, but the memory around it.

HP: Out of curiosity, what’s a recent moment, within the past year or so, that reminded you why you do this?

RM: We were just talking about this. We played a show in South Korea, a small, sweaty club with maybe 500 or 600 people, and they were going crazy the whole time. Singing along, fully engaged, not a bunch of phones out. When we walked offstage, we were like, “That’s what house music is about.” It wasn’t a huge festival, it was just a packed club in a place where we don’t even speak the language, and they were completely with us.

DR: Yeah, music is a universal language, especially dance music. For me, it’s when people come up and say things like, “This song changed my life,” or “I met my wife at your show,” or “Your music helped me through something.” That’s always wild, because we all have those experiences with music, but to realize you’re part of someone else’s story in a positive way is powerful. Even when we think of our music as just fun, simple dance tracks, you never know how it’s connecting with someone.

Photo Cred. SIDEPIECE

HP: That’s fair. You’ve got a huge summer coming up, Europe, festivals, all over. Best market you’ve played, most surprising market, and where you’re most excited to go this summer?

DR: Aside from Bonnaroo? [laughs]

RM: Bonnaroos sick! A surprising one, we played Pensacola, Florida, near Panama City. You wouldn’t expect it, but it was one of the rowdiest crowds we’ve ever had. For two hours, people were going absolutely crazy.

DR: Yeah, consistently we’ve had some of our biggest crowds in LA, Denver, and the Pacific Northwest. This year we had one of our biggest shows in Chicago, and obviously Brooklyn. It’s hard to pick just one place.

HP: I caught a moment in the Brooklyn set where you sampled a 95 South track, that was really cool.

RM: Good catch!

HP: I’d love for you to tell me about that track, and your process for finding unique or niche samples.

Photo Cred. SIDEPIECE

DR: You’re the king of segues; that’s actually our next release, and we’ve been opening our set with it. I was digging through 95 South’s catalog on YouTube. Some of their bigger tracks have been over-sampled, so I went deep, listening to every album, every song, just looking for a line. I was on a plane when I heard the one we used and thought, “That’s it.” It had this female vocal hook, which actually isn’t even the main group, it’s a feature.

RM: Yeah, when we reached out, they didn’t even fully remember it. They were like, “We’ve got the contracts, you’re good.” When Dylan made the first version, we all immediately felt like, “This is SIDEPIECE.” It didn’t feel like a remix; it felt like something we had to properly sample and release.

DR: A cool full-circle moment is that we got members of 95 South to record lines for the intro, so they’re actually featured on the track.

HP: So it’s not just a sample, it’s a collaboration.

DR: Exactly.

HP: That is so cool. And I heard that the Lip Service compilation album is dropping this summer, congrats! How do you choose artists for that, and what’s it like being on the other side of the industry supporting new talent?

RM: Lip Service came from the same mindset as digging for samples. Even before we had a label, we were finding tracks on SoundCloud and playing them in our sets. As SIDEPIECE grew, we realized we could build something around that, finding artists who are excited to send us music and get it out there. We’ve discovered a lot of talented people who genuinely care about what they’re making.

DR: For us, it’s two things: we have to love the song and want to play it, but the artist also has to believe in it and push it. It’s not just about social media; it’s about caring enough to want people to hear your music. If you love your track, you’ll naturally want to share it.

RM: We’re going to post your song because we believe in it; we want you to do the same.

DR: It’s also meaningful for us because we benefited from people taking a chance on us early on. We wouldn’t be here without that, so it feels good to be able to do the same for others.

RM: And the compilation is going to be great.

DR: Yeah, the music is awesome. First of many.

HP: That’s amazing. I’m stoked for you all.

DR: Appreciate you having us.

RM: Thanks, man, it means a lot.

Photo Cred. SIDEPIECE

Listen to “Can I Ride” by SIDEPIECE feat. 95 South, out now.

Sweet Pill: From Philly Basements to Union Transfer

Posted on by joshwurz

Sweet Pill is one of those bands whose songs and shows still carry the intensity and passion of the basement shows they came up in, even as their world, fanbase, and venues grow larger. Formed in Philadelphia’s strong DIY orbit, the emo/math-rock five-piece built their careers the traditional way: cutting their teeth in smaller rooms, relying on word of mouth, and crafting songs and messages that carry weight and travel much farther than the spaces where they were written and played. On their sophomore LP, Still There’s A Glow, band members Zayna Youssef (vocals), Jayce Williams (guitar), Sean McCall (guitar/vocals), Ryan Cullen (bass/vocals), and Chris Kearney (drums/vocals) channeled that raw collaborative energy into a bigger frame while keeping the scene in which they grew up in sight. Hit Parader sat down with all five band members to talk about the tour, the new record, and how, despite life’s struggles, there’s still a glow. 

Hit Parader: With [Sweet Pill] being such a huge part of the Philly/Rowan DIY scene for so long, you’ve played some pretty quintessential rooms to the scene like Ukie Club, Underground Arts, and The [First Unitarian] Church. I’d love for you to tell me a little bit more about your first headline set at Union Transfer and what that meant to you guys personally after coming through the scene.

Ryan Cullen: For Union Transfer, for me, it was such a special experience. That was the first venue where I was going to real shows and seeing bands play. I think the first band that I actually saw at Union Transfer was La Dispute, actually, and then they were the first big band to take us out on tour. So that was a really cool full-circle moment, to be able to go and play in the room where I had seen La Dispute play, and then also having the experience of touring with them was incredibly special. That was really cool, to be able to be on stage. That’s one of my favorite venues to see a band, and it’s now one of my favorite venues to play.

Cred. Mitchell Wojcik

HP: And then with 4333 [Collective] being such a big aspect of the scene in Philly, how important has it been for the band to stay connected with that grassroots aspect of the community? What would one thing be that you would want to preserve from the scene in Sweet Pill as y’all continue to grow?

Jayce Williams: I think that we come from the world of DIY, and we’re still in it in our own ways. I book shows with 4333, and we all have other different tie-ins. We play in other bands. We’re involved in other parts of the scene. I think that because we have the perspective of being a world-touring band now, and we play all these rooms like Union Transfer, and we’re at the next level above DIY, it’s really important to not forget where you come from in that sense.

We don’t take this shit for granted. There are a million bands trying to do the same thing, and we’re so grateful that we even have the opportunity to take that next step. This is our passion, and we actually get to do it. It’s become our job. Sometimes it feels like a job, but most of the time I’m holding onto that feeling from the DIY world. I want to tie it into Zayna’s message about the last song on the record – how you’re letting go of your childhood – but this is something that I don’t want to let go of. This is what got me here, just setting up a show in a basement. That’s literally how we started. 

HP: On another note, your sophomore record, Still There’s A Glow, came out on March 13th! One thing I really love about the record is the emotional honesty and transparency while also tackling difficult themes. When writing these songs, how did you approach the heavier emotions in a way that was still healthy toward yourself?

Zayna Youssef: I think, at least for me, a lot of emo music is self-deprecating [laughs]. That’s an outlet for sure, a way to get those words out of you. But for me, a lot of my favorite music always has hopefulness to it. I think that’s something I’d rather promote, I think we all would rather promote. There are a lot of people who look up to Sweet Pill, and specifically, a lot of people who look up to me, just being a woman, or being an Arab woman, and being in emo. I think having hopefulness is important to keep the flame going.

It’s ironic, I say that because many of the album’s themes center around fire and burning, flames, smoke, extinguishing things like that ‘Still, there’s a glow’, there’s a notion that no matter how heavy it is, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I think, in general, it’s hard for me not to be honest when I write. Some people can write differently; for me, this outlet is the most honest I can be.

Cred. Mitchell Wojcik

HP: With the theming of fire being pretty cohesive throughout the record, was that something that was initially planned when you wrote the first half of the record, or did it find its way in as you kept writing more of [the record]?

ZY: From my perspective, the way that I think Sweet Pill successfully writes music is that we start with the music first. We hear what we’re working with, and I can hear the emotion through the sounds that the guys are playing. Personally, I have been starting an angry journey, discovering this emotion of anger in its full force. I wrote somewhere in my notes app, “Next album is gonna have themes of fire, anger.” It’s deep in my notes app, but I did write that down.

And then we started writing, and “No Control” was the first song written, and it didn’t really have anything to do with fire [laughs], but musically it has this drive, this burn to it, and that’s kind of where it kicked off. It was a little premeditated, but also, I thought, “Am I putting myself in a box? I need to think outside of it a bit.”

JW: I have one thing to add to that. In our writing process for this record, we took a trip up to the Poconos to rent a cabin to write some music, and we wrote this song that’s actually going to be the third single coming out, called “Slow Burn.” It’s way different than our other two singles. It’s pretty fast-paced, and I remember when we were writing it, we called it a ripper. Then someone said, “A burner.”

ZY: ‘Slow Burn’ was the first word I wrote in that song. 

JW: You probably said that immediately, yeah. 

ZY: When we were demoing it, I heard the “I’m in a slow burn,” that’s the first part I wrote, and then the rest of the song followed. That’s also the third song we had written for the album. It went in sequential order: “No Control,” “Glow,” “Slow Burn.” That one, that was the first word. So it was very early on where this fire theme was developing, and then the rest of the song and album, I tried to fill in the gaps. 

HP: And then, this was also the first release that was written fully by the band at the same time. How did that writing process affect the end outcome compared to Where the Heart Is or the Starchild EP?

Cred. Mitchell Wojcik

JW: We wrote Starchild as a group, but that’s not a full record, so we don’t really count it. Where the Heart Is, some of the songs were written [individually], but they all came together as a group. But Still There’s a Glow is from the start, all of us wearing our chef hats, and we all put in input.

ZY: Starchild was an EP, and we kind of had Starchild written, and then the rest was, “Oh, we, what do we do with it? Is that a single?” So we pieced it together that way. Still There’s a Glow was, we’re looking at a blank page, and we’re like, “Okay, we need to create an album.” And that was the first time we ever did that, because Where the Heart Is was just jams that we had had under our belts, and introducing it to each member. Members had switched and changed until we finally established Sweet Pill, then we made Where the Heart Is. And so this is very different, and I think that it puts a lot of pressure on us. 

Chris Kearney: Yeah, we actually had a lot of music written, and really wanted to narrow it down and fine-tune it to be the 13 songs. We probably had close to 30-ish ideas, and we just really wanted to come together and trim the fat and just make it as good as it could possibly be.

Sean McCall: As for our process for that, though, we went up and rented a cabin to come up with ideas from scratch two different times. And the rest of it is, it’s generally all five of us in a room with our instruments, waiting until somebody hears something that someone else is doing and being, “Oh, that’s really cool. Let’s build on that.” And then Zayna, your writing for the lyrics is a different process than that. But as far as for the music, it’s all five of us trying to structure it, and then Zayna thinking, “Oh, if I was going to write over this, we should cut this part in half. We should change this part to be twice as long.” Or, you know, Zayna has got all kinds of cool musical input on the actual structure of the song that way, too, which is super helpful for us.

JW: The way I describe it is, you know, when a painter paints a painting, it’s one person on one canvas, but writing a song collaboratively, the way we do, is five people painting on one canvas, and so you bump elbows, you have your own agenda, and you have your own style. And I think we work really well under that kind of pressure. And we do bump elbows, and we can argue the hell out of a part that we want to keep. But I think, from the beginning of this interview, we mentioned how Ryan mentioned how, you know, we are an emo band, but we all have these different influences, and we really sit outside of that box, too, and that’s really prevalent, because we all have input in the songwriting. Zayna doesn’t play an actual instrument. Her voice is an instrument, but she is just as involved in the songwriting as anyone else. And you know, it used to be just guitar boys, Sean and I would come up with an idea, and then we’d present it, and it would just be one riff, and then our song would come around it. But Ryan, one of our favorite songs on the album, the last song, “Letting Go,” started because Ryan plays something on the bass, and Chris has just as much input on melody, even though he’s playing an instrument that is not melodic, but he plays it melodically. I don’t know how to describe it. 

Cred. Mitchell Wojcik

SM: I like what you’re saying, Jace. Before I was even in Sweet Pill, watching all of these individuals, Ryan, Zayna, Chris, Jayce, separately or together, do their own things. They are all capable of doing something else completely, and doing awesome at it, but Sweet Pill works because there’s five of us who are kind of able to do that and, like you’re saying, Jayce, usually when you have that with other bands, I’ve seen it or heard it as, this part of the record sounds different because that person wrote this, and then another person wrote this half of the record, and it sounds like two different things. And I think we accomplish not doing that together, because it’s so collaborative, it doesn’t feel like two different records, but it definitely feels like you’re pulling a lot of influences into one place and kind of getting Sweet Pill, you know.

JW: I mean, and there’s no shade on this, but look at Modern Baseball. You have Jake songs, and you have Bren songs, right? 

SM: And that works for them.

JW: Absolutely. They’re both, you know, great in their own ways. We just have Sweet Pill songs.

SM: Yeah, it’s a little different.

HP: That’s awesome. And Zayna, you were quoted as saying that ‘the process of the record came from a lot of trial and error, until the album shaped itself’. What aspect, song, lyric, anything of the album, are you most proud of that spawned from that specific cycle of trial and error that otherwise would not have been in the record?

ZY: Well, I will say the first time we went to the Poconos, we birthed “No Control” and “Slow Burn.” And then the second time we birthed “Glow.” And then we kind of birthed the rest of it in our practice space, and I birthed my end of it in the studio.

SM: I was just gonna say “Smoke Screen” was one that we forget about, that was kind of going in between yes and no. It almost didn’t even make the record. And now here we are.

Cred. Mitchell Wojcik

ZY: Yeah, that’s a good example. That’s gonna be our fourth single, and that’s, the song is called “Smoke Screen.” And basically, the guys had one of the jams, and I was trying to write to it, and I was having a really, I was very blocked, writer’s block, whatever. I couldn’t figure out what to say. And, I mean, I knew what to say, but I didn’t know the best way to say it. But it kind of sat dormant for a while, and then, months later, in the studio, I just tried again after writing different songs, and it helped me figure out how to write this one that was sitting for a while. But yeah, there’s a lot of lyrics. A lot of lyrics came last minute, and a lot of lyrics came in the moment. A lot of lyrics were thought out for months.

JW: I want to just add to that a little bit, too, like what Chris said earlier, we had 30 songs written, and what I was mentioning before, how when we’re writing together with that metaphor, we do bump elbows. And I think it took Zayna saying to us, “Hey, I have this writer’s block on this stuff we’re working on,” which I think some of us were kind of, “What? This stuff rocks.” And then I’m so happy she said that, because then we wrote 12 more songs, which almost all of them made it on the record. And I think without that emphasis to kind of start from scratch again, we wouldn’t be where we’re at right now.

HP: With you guys scrapping almost an entire record, how did that feel in the moment, starting from scratch and just backburner a lot of material?

ZY: I think everybody has a different answer for that, because I felt good, but I think it was probably a little defeating for everyone. I mean, even after we restarted, I had to restart a million times myself, just lyrically. 

RC: I’ll say that it was really hard to move past some of the songs that we were working on, I thought that they were really cool. But the way that Sweet Pill writes music is, we will take a part of a song, and then we’ll get to the end of that part, and we’re like, “Okay, so what should come next?” And we start pulling from our catalog of different riffs and jams that we’ve made. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there are aspects of those songs that we scrapped that will make their way to new Sweet Pill songs in the future, after they maybe find a better home. So it’s still material that we have to play with. It’s good to have in our pocket for now.

JW: Yeah, going off of that, it is, in the moment, it was hard to start from scratch, but now in hindsight, I’m really grateful for it, because we do have that arsenal of stuff to pull from when we want to write again. And we had practice yesterday, and we have four ideas that we’re jamming on. [While] we’re rolling out our second album, we’re already working on the next thing, and there’s no stress involved. It’s just fun, and that’s how it should be. Writing this record was stressful for all of us individually, but we pushed it out, and I’m really proud of it.

Cred. Mitchell Wojcik

HP: Just to start to wrap up, this might be a little cliché, but if the audience could have one takeaway or central message after listening to the new record, what would you most want it to be?

CK: That shit rocks [laughs]. Sorry, you can give a real answer.

ZY: That’s a real answer [laughs]. I was gonna say, ‘still, there’s a glow’ [laughs]. I guess, if you want a real answer after that is that life keeps going, and you have a choice more than you think you do.

HP: And then just a fun one to wrap up. What are you most looking forward to in 2026 from all y’all?

ZY: I’m excited to tour. We did a lot of touring, obviously, these last few years, but this last year, we were doing a lot of outside of America, which was awesome, but I’m very excited to play Sweet Pill shows to our home turf, just to feel that familiarity again. So I think that’s what I’m excited for.

RC: I’m excited to play rock music with my friends around the world.

SM: I’m excited for this damn record to come out [laughs].

JW: GTA 6, fingers crossed.

CK: I’m excited to exist with my friends and play some cool shows and have a good time. 

ZY: I’m also excited to see some change happen, hopefully in this bleak, dark world.

SM: Fingers crossed. 

ZY: Still, there’s a glow, baby.

Buy tickets to Sweet Pill’s upcoming tour here.

Catch a 4333 Collective show here.

Read the article in print in Issue 4 of Hit Parader Magazine.

Hit Parader #4: Brent Faiyaz

Hit Parader #4: Brent Faiyaz

March 2026 — $12.99

In this issue of Hit Parader, Brent Faiyaz steps into the cover spotlight for a rare, unfiltered conversation about artistry, independence, and the cost of doing things your own way. At a time when most artists race against algorithms and deadlines, Brent moves on instinct —scrapping albums, disappearing to finish ideas on his own terms,…

Sons Of The East: From Stage to Studio

Posted on by joshwurz

Fresh off the touring cycle that saw the Australian indie-folk trio Sons Of The East play over 100 shows around the world, they found themselves writing more and more music on the road: between shows, behind the stage curtains, and mainly away from home, a fact that shows through clearly on their fantastic independently released album SONS. Even as they build on their folk roots with their newest full-length release, the group of Jack Rollins (Vocals, guitar), Nic Johnston (Vocals, keys), and Dan Wallage (Guitar, banjo) explore new sounds and styles they haven’t before on SONS, widening their sonic palette without losing what makes their sound theirs. Hit Parader sat down with Rollins to discuss more: how relentless touring, ever-changing influences, and independent autonomy shaped SONS, and how, at the end of the day, it will always come down to playing music they love with their friends for as many people as they can reach. 

Hit Parader: So, just with the new record and the making of SONS, much of the songwriting happened while touring. How did being constantly on the move shape the emotional tone of the music?

Jack Rollins: Good question. I guess I don’t know, it does get a little lonely on tour, if I can be completely transparent. So I guess there is a bit of yearning and longing in some of the themes in the music, but also I think we just kind of felt crazy pressure, knowing that we did 110 shows last year, and then as each show came to a finish, we were like, “Fuck, we’re getting closer to coming home and then having to finish this album.” We already had a few songs ready, but basically, we had to come home and literally only had like two or three months to finish the album. We were kind of just, like, anything that was coming up we were putting down, and we’re happy with anything, or whatever, really. But yeah, there is a sense, you can kind of sense this travel, definitely some kind of yearning and longing for connection in a lot of the songs.

Cred. Pat O’Hara

HP: And then what are a couple of places that you or others drew inspiration from that your fans wouldn’t expect? Maybe a book, a non-folk artist, or a movie, or something?

JR: Good question! Yeah, I don’t know, we get it everywhere. I don’t really listen to folk music. A lot of us don’t really listen to folk music. I listen to a lot of really crazy, different stuff compared to folk. I listen to a lot of hip hop and Afro beats, stuff that’s so far removed from folk music. I still love folk music, but a lot of times, if I’m driving in the car, I wouldn’t put that on, unless it’s a nice sunset drive or something like that. We listen to a lot of War on Drugs, J.J. Cale; you can definitely hear little bits of that seeping into the new record. We’re just trying to make the pool of inspiration a bit bigger and wider in terms of its range, so it keeps things interesting for us.

HP: I love that. My personal favorite off the new record is “10 Days,” which is a really pretty ballad/ interlude. Tell me a little bit about the imagery and the storyline behind the lyrics, and the lyric in specific, “They say bad luck comes in threes”.

JR: Nick had probably a 95 percent hand in writing that song. Speaking of longing, that one came whilst we were on the road last year. He’s got a partner that he’s been with for a long time, and she’s wonderful. I think in those lyrics, you can hear Nick really kind of almost calling out to her as we’re on the road, and you know, it’s right there in the title, “10 Days.” It’s all about him coming home soon and how that’s going to feel, because it is always a bit awkward coming home to your loved ones, because you haven’t seen them for, we’d been four months last year. So yeah, coming home is kind of a weird thing, you’re like, “Is it the same? Is it going to be different?” So yeah, I agree, it’s a beautiful song that Nick championed there.

HP: What song off the record took the longest to finish, and what song seemed to flow out the fastest?

JR: The song took the longest… There are a couple that took us a while. I’m trying to think. “It’s Alright” took a while; we mucked around with that for months. But then, on the opposite end, “Sweet Thing” and “Time Will Tell” were done in a day each, which is really cool. “Pour the Wine” took like a few weeks. I’m trying to think. I can’t really remember now, I think we kind of repressed it because it was so fucking stressful.

HP: I understand. Sometimes I’ve noticed an interesting thing between some people I’ve talked to. If they work on a song for months on end, it always ends up being like, “Hey, I just like the original song,” and you kind of revert back to the first demo.

JR: Yeah, definitely. There’s this guy, an Australian comedian who’s also a musician, Tim Minchin, who talks about how it’s like a painting. You never really know; you’ve got to know when to stop adding paint to the art because you can overcook it. Sometimes it’s just like, when do you get to the point where it’s done? Having deadlines is always good because you can just go, “Alright, it’s time to stop, because we need to deliver this thing.”

Cred. Pat O’Hara

HP: If a fan only had the ability to check out one song off the record, what would you show them? What’s the “opus” in your opinion?

JR: Oh…

HP: I know that’s like a favorite child situation, but, 

JR: Yeah, a little bit. I don’t know. I think because the record has heaps of different genres on it, it’s hard to pick. Can do a top three? 

HP: Please!

JR: My favorite three are probably “Recognize,” “It’s Alright,” and “Sweet Thing.” When we were going through the album, those are the three that I’d listen to the most when we’d just finished with them, and be like, “Hey, this is cool,” you know what I mean? So I think probably those three, for me, I would pass on to a fan. But as I said, those three,  “Recognize” is like a War on Drugs-type thing, “It’s Alright” is like JJ Cale, and then “Sweet Thing” is like a full ’50s, ’60s-type beat.

HP: I was reading online earlier today, someone on the War on Drugs Reddit page said, “’ Recognize’ reminds me of [The] War on Drugs and this song rips.”

JR: That’s sick. 

HP: “Now I’m checking out these guys as well.”

JR: Fuck yeah, that’s great.

HP: So, just with this record, it adds to a long tradition of self-releasing records, accomplished entirely without major label backing. What has been the most meaningful reward and unexpected challenge of steering your music independently, and in what ways has the autonomy shaped your vision?

JR: Man, you ask great questions. Well, I think because we’ve always been independent, we’ve always had to learn on the go. We’ve been our own marketing team, our own publicity, our own design studio; we literally do everything ourselves. Especially Dan and Nick, those guys are so hands-on. Dan does so much with social media, designing merch, and making marketing schedules. We’ve really had to knuckle down and learn. We started this thing just to be musicians and not have real jobs, but now the admin’s crazy. We’re literally running a business and having to learn all that has been really important and amazing as well.

I think being independent for us is all about control and owning our own stuff. Our manager always said to us from the start, “Just own the product,” and we’ve enjoyed being able to do that. Sometimes it’s taken us a long time to release stuff, so not having overlords breathing down our necks has been nice for us to do things at our own speed. It took us ten years to release our first album, so maybe it took too long, but we’re happy where we are, enjoying playing and writing music, so life’s good.

Cred. Glynn Parkinson

HP: And you could argue it’s a lot more authentic without as many hands in the pot, so to speak.

JR: Exactly, exactly. You don’t want to have too many cooks in the kitchen.

HP: Just tell me a little bit more about the rest of the year and anything else you want to add for the fans.

JR: Yeah, so we just did an Aussie tour. I just did a month in Europe, and we’re halfway through a month here in North America. Then we’ll probably come home and chill out for a bit, just do some surfing and get some sun in, it’s an Aussie summer when we get back. Then we got Christmas and stuff. Then we’re just going to do some writing and hang out, and we’ve got a few things back over in the States in May, and a few gigs around Australia early next year. Working towards that and just getting to some new music, I think. Now, not having any crazy deadlines will be nice to get in the studio with no pressure and see what we can cook up. We’re having fun touring and looking forward to getting back in the studio and having fun making music again.

HP: And that’s what it’s all about.

JR: Exactly.

Listen to SONS by Sons Of The East wherever you stream your music.

Read the article in print in Issue 4 of Hit Parader Magazine.

Hit Parader #4: Brent Faiyaz

Hit Parader #4: Brent Faiyaz

March 2026 — $12.99

In this issue of Hit Parader, Brent Faiyaz steps into the cover spotlight for a rare, unfiltered conversation about artistry, independence, and the cost of doing things your own way. At a time when most artists race against algorithms and deadlines, Brent moves on instinct —scrapping albums, disappearing to finish ideas on his own terms,…

New Constellations: Never Too Late To Believe Again

Posted on by joshwurz

It turned out to be the right time for Harlee Case and Josh Smith of New Constellations to believe again, a mindset that has pushed the Portland-based synthwave duo further than they once thought possible. Their debut full-length project, It Comes In Waves, which releases May 15th via Nettwerk Music Group, represents the culmination of years and years of experimentation and, in turn, evolution of Smith’s production combined with Case’s deeply personal yet cathartic lyricism. This moment can’t be overstated in their already successful careers: It Comes In Waves feels like the opening paragraph of a novel you already know you’ll love, a fitting comparison for a band that, while on their debut full-length release, is just getting started, and they aren’t anywhere close to slowing down.

Throughout the conversation with Case and Smith, themes of creative freedom and lyrical expression emerge as essential to the making of this record, but none shine brighter than the theme that it’s never too late to do what you love and that hope is always around the corner, waiting for you to believe again. New Constellations is the definition of that, this interview shows it, and shows that New Constellations believes in you, too. 

Hit Parader: Just to jump in, your debut record It Comes In Waves comes out May 15th. That’s super exciting, congrats!

Both: Thank you!

HP: With this project being your first full-length release, what creative choices were you able to explore more in depth compared to the singles and other releases in the past?

Josh Smith: Yeah, I think for me, what was big was, I produced all of our music, and for this album we worked in a studio with a close friend of ours. His name was Cam Spies, and it gave me an opportunity to be just a musician in the studio and not running the session necessarily. So I think we got to explore some more musical ideas, just in terms of having someone there to help facilitate some of the ideas. So for me, I’d be like, “Oh, I’m hearing this keyboard part.” But if it was just me and Harlee in our studio, like we normally do, I’d be like, “Ah, it’s so much work to get the keyboard out, plug it in,” that I’d be like, “I’m not even going to bother.” So this was really neat to just be like, “Oh, I’m hearing this keyboard part,” and then by the time I’m finished with that sentence, the keyboard was already plugged in and set up. And he’s like, “All right, go for it.” So I feel like we got to, I personally got to explore some cool musical ideas that were just a lot easier to explore because we had a third person there facilitating a lot of the sessions.

HP: There’s less of a barrier to entry, in a sense.

JS: Yeah. When you’re the one plugging in the cord and pressing play and pressing record and then playing it, it takes a lot out of you. So it was really cool to be able to just be like, “Yeah, let’s do that.” And the same thing with Harlee and I working together too is that he got to do that for both of us. And so we got to toss ideas off of each other and enter a flow state without having to worry about the more technical aspect of the session, and we got to just focus on being creative.

Harlee Case: I feel like because this collection of songs is written over five years, we’ve written hundreds and hundreds of songs and explored so many different genres and ways that we were feeling with no “this is going to be on an album” at all. So when it came down to actually making the album, we had so much to choose from and maybe chose stuff that we wouldn’t have written if we were sitting down and writing an album right now. So I think the time that we had to explore a lot of different genres was really helpful as well.

JS: Absolutely. 

HP: That’s awesome. And with bringing producers like Cameron [Spies], Tyler [Blake] and and Mighty Mike to, in your words, “sprinkle some sugar on the record,” were there any specific moments or songs where they added something to the track that you didn’t imagine previously, but now can’t really envision the song without after?

HC: I bet you we have the same answer, Josh.

JS: I mean, I know one of mine personally is the song “Believe Again” that Tyler worked on. He added these drums. And the first time we heard it, I remember the moment we listened to it for the first time, we were both like, “Whoa.” I wasn’t even sure if I liked it at first. But now every time I listen to it or replay it live, I do the little drum fill he did [air drums], and I can’t imagine that song without it. And I listen to the old demo now and was like, “What was I thinking?” Obviously, those drums he put in, they’re so good, but it’s not something I would have necessarily gone with. What’s cool about that is it unlocks that in our brains now. And so now it’s like, “Oh, I wouldn’t have chosen drums like that, but now that I see someone put those drums on our songs, I’m like, ‘Oh, now I get to do that now.’” Now I know how and where, so it sort of unlocks that opportunity for me too.

HC: And then Mike on “I Disappear” just took out sections so it just has these moments of silence that are so sick. When we’re playing it live, it’s a big theatrical moment now of these pauses, and I just love that part.

JS: It’s like we have that chopped up “wake up,” and so there are parts after the chorus where everything drops out and she’s like, “Wake up.” And it’s just cool that we’re like, “Dang, that two seconds of silence makes the whole song.” And it adds – it’s so weird that a moment of silence can add so much energy live too, but that’s become one of our favorite songs to play live because we can pause and really rock it for a second.

HC: Yeah, it was just wild. I never thought about it like that, that it’s this absence of energy that brings so much energy to the live set, which is so weird.

HP: Super cool. And you mentioned “Believe Again,” and it’s such a wonderful track, and the lyrical content is so pertinent, not just to musicians but a lot of creatives in today’s ecosystem. I’d love to know how your relationship with the song shifted as your life changed since first writing it, and how you want the message to be perceived by people going through some of the same things you were.

HC: That’s actually one of the last songs that were written on the album, and that song was specifically me writing it to myself about 10 years ago, having the bravery to try again. And I think that every time I personally listen to it, I get so much energy to keep trying again and to reinvent myself in new ways and to believe in myself more and just continuously want to push the message to people that you can take breaks. You can completely put down your craft if it’s not the right time for you, but it’s also completely okay to pick up and try again and that it’s never too late. That quote, “never too late to be what you could have been,” I love that so much. And Josh and I put out our first singles of our entire career, our whole lives, at 30 and 33 years old. There would have been a point in time where I thought I was too old to make it as a musician anymore because I should have been something by a younger age or whatever. And I love to get to be an example of that, that it’s not true at all. It’s all up to us when we want to do things, and it’s just never too late.

JS: I think a song like “Believe Again,” what’s cool too about growth and evolution is that it’s never done. So this song is talking about a growth and an achievement that has happened, but that doesn’t mean that we’re done growing and achieving too. So I think a song like “Believe Again” can speak to the ongoing driving and achieving and changing and growing, and not just, “Oh, I got there and I’m done.” It’s like, “Oh, I got there, and that proved to me how much further I’m capable of going.”

HP: Love that. And you also mentioned some of your first singles, and “Hot Blooded” is actually on the track list for the record. When you think of the track today, what parts of its personality or lyricism still resonate with who New Constellations is today after five years of dropping music?

HC: I have a pretty bad habit of nearly all of my songs, all of my things that I write, coming from this hopeful, yearning space. And I recently found footage of me when I was five years old, and I was writing songs like that. So I think that there’s something embedded in me deeply that will always have this desire and push and pull that’s within me. And so I don’t think this song will ever go out of style with just the way that I naturally feel about life. 

HP: And with the topics discussed on “Dandelion” and “I Disappear,” how do you approach vulnerability in lyricism in a way that’s healthy to you and cathartic?

HC: Yeah, I tend to freestyle, and I think that that in itself is a type of therapy because I am allowing everything to come forward. And sometimes there’s stuff in there that I don’t feel should be out in the world or that I want to be repeated a bunch of times, but the majority of the time I feel like it does. I feel like just being really honest with myself about how I’m feeling and allowing myself to just put it all out there is really healthy. And I think too that I really try to reflect on every song, that I’m like, “Am I putting too much blame in someone else’s court?” Because I always like to bring it back to, “I have a part in this. I have a part in the relationships that I’m in.” And so a lot of the editing process for me a lot of times will be, “How can I own my part of whatever I’m saying if it’s including someone else?”

JS: I think what’s great about a lot of this stuff is as personal as it can be, there’s a lot of it that’s universal too. And what we’ve discussed in the past is Harlee writes these super personal songs about super personal moments in her life, and then sometimes those moments pass and you’re like, “Well, I’m not going through that anymore. I’m not that person anymore.” But what is cool about it is that somebody is going through that at all times. And so when you write a song about a situation, even if that’s not a situation you’re struggling with anymore, you having written that song – or her having written that song – helped her process and go through that time. And now people can hear that song, and it can help them process that and go through that time as well. So I think we’re able to continue to sing these emotional, specific songs even once we’re past those moments because we know that it’s helping someone else, potentially, that is going through that at the time.

HP: Music is always a very personal medium of art, and it can always be interpreted in different ways;  I love that viewpoint on it. So just to wrap up, if after listening to the new record the listener had to come away with one takeaway or feeling from either the lyrics or the musicianship, what would you most hope that to be?

JS: Harlee and I talk about wanting to inspire people and inspire hope a lot, but we don’t necessarily want to tell people where to spend that hope. So my hope for our record would be that if someone listened to it, they would feel an inspiration or hope to then get to use however they feel like they need to use it in those moments. But I would just want someone to feel better or something afterwards, energized in some way. But I don’t want to tell them how they should be feeling. I just want them to be feeling something.

HC: Yeah. And I mean, being an artist is so special because I get to feel so understood in writing these songs and then get to hear how people felt understood. And so I hope that the lyrics and the music can help them to understand themselves more and be like, “Oh my gosh, that is straight out of my own brain. I couldn’t put the words to it, and that’s exactly how I feel.” And sometimes music has helped me so much in those ways to even move through challenging feelings. Sometimes putting a name to it is the first thing to being able to release it. And so yeah, I hope that people can understand themselves more and relate to themselves and us more and have faith for the future and hope for the future for themselves. The last song we wrote on the album, “Edge of the World”; I really hope that a lot of people really love that song because I feel like there’s something really powerful about seeing the world as your playground and being able to receive the goodness of: we’re having a really hard time, but there’s also a lot of beautiful things to come.

New Constellations’ debut album It Comes In Waves is out now.