“I think we’re massive attention whores! I love being validated by strangers. And I think the options are: go to Morrison’s car park at two in the morning, and hope someone you know, fancies me, or, start playing music.”
No, you did read that right, that is the drummer of HUNYBEES Louis Bailey stating the intentions of the band hilariously. I couldn’t decide if chatting to HUNYBEES was like an interview as first promised, or (and I mean this in the best possible way) chatting to two random blokes you meet in a Wetherspoons on a Friday and having the absolute best time.
If you don’t know then HUNYBEES consists of Charlie Preston (vocals) and Louis Bailey (drums) and the best way to describe them is as a comedy duo who have decided to pick up instruments and write indie-pop bangers. The journey of the band has been a long one, with the two members meeting at a children’s drama group of all places, and in later years becoming friends which led to the two jamming together, which led to local gigs and then over the past two years they have started to take it “a bit more seriously,” according to Charlie.
For all the jokes HUNYBEES are here to make a statement, starting with their new EP ‘Filth’ which is a collection of playful and carefree indie rock with humorous lyrics that are destined to capture people’s attention. Charlie describes the EP as “Campy” and not taking themselves too seriously, but there is something more beneath the surface of the songs.
“All of them have kind of a centre of truth and coming from like a heartfelt place. But for the most part, they’re shown with a big ol’ bit of irony wrapped around them like a little burrito”
and immediately Louis replies
“a burrito of irony, if you will.”
The guys have had BBC Introducing, Indie-Central, and Amazing Radio behind them which is leading the push for HUNYBEES to explode into the public consciousness. Looking back, however, it couldn’t have been a more different story. On the way up they have had to work just as hard as any other band, although with more comical consequences. A few years back involved the boys playing a festival stage to only three people, and on the same day playing at a primary school where Louis knew the music teacher.
With the release of the new EP and a show at The Grace in London on the 30th of July, I ask them to think back to their first gig. In a dingy pub, with 30 men, a meat raffle (where Charlie’s dad won some sausages) and the boys end up playing ‘When September Ends’ by Green Day, which Charlie described as “fucking awful.” The boys have come a long way from this though, and with more experience under their belt, an EP and a strong sense of direction, they’re on their way up.
“This is the first one where we’re like, right, this is what we’re doing, this is what we’re saying,”
says Louis. One thing is for sure, HUNYBEES are set to pollenate the scene with their infectious, humorous brand of indie rock.
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