Californian quartet Honeyboys return with their charming new single One Another, the second single to be lifted from their upcoming debut EP.

Blending feel-good vibes with swathes of lush synths, One Another is a hug in musical form as it envelopes around you with comforting textures. R&B-inspired melodies are inter-spelled with jazzy brass improvisations, creating a wonderfully unique and captivating sound that you won’t be able to resist.

Although the social restrictions of the last year has presented challenges for many of us, it certainly hasn’t hindered Honeyboys creatively. If anything, it’s the catalyst for how the band came to be as they started their journey through social media interactions and Zoom calls – guitarist Reese Gardner first joined a Facebook group as a freshman, hoping to find people who shared his musical passions and form a band. He came across drummer Matt Sato, before they got to know keyboardist Grady Gallagher through a jazz ensemble. Reese recalls, “it was an instant connection for us. I just remember posting up at Taco Bell and talking about how we wanted to start a band.” Reese then got to know frontman Ari Eisenberg through a music production club, and the four gelled and shared their musical ideas without any constraints placed by genres. Ari comments of this, “We try not to put ourselves in a box. Not every song will sound the same and not every song is made the same way. We want to put people in a happy state of mind. We want people to have a good time, you know?”

This optimism certainly peers through their collective identity and their latest track, and feeling charmed by it, we chatted with the band further about what we can expect from their upcoming debut EP.

What’s a motto you live by?

“Live by the honey. Die by the honey.”

If your sound had a colour, what colour would it be?

It would be white, because it is the sum of all other colors, and our music embodies a variety of sounds and styles.

If you could set One Another to a TV show or movie, what would it be the soundtrack for?

‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, because it sounds like a song he would sing at the parade instead of Twist and Shout.

The story of how you all met and came to be a band is rather entertaining – how would you summarise your background in one sentence?

Collectively, we are from different countries and states, but we all met at Cal Poly [California Polytechnic State University] in the most random situations (ie. Taco Bell, cocktail jazz) because of our love of music.

As you’re gearing up to release your debut EP, what’s the main impression you want to make on listeners and new fans?

As a band, we want to give everyone a chance to see all the new musical directions each member has been going in, so there’s a song on there for everyone.

Are there any behind-the-scenes stories of recording your EP that you can share with us?

In the spring of 2020, no one in the band had any strong recording experience with a DAW, but we were forced to learn to help keep releasing songs virtually with the band, like Grapevine. Now everyone is doing their own production and helping to contribute to the final product, and it’s inspiring to see everyone learn so much during quarantine.

What’s your fondest memory of creating the EP (besides having the finished product in your hands)?

Seeing one of the newest songs on our EP come together really fast at the last second, after the tracklist has been finalized. Playing old songs is always fun, but writing and the process of creating a new song is the most enjoyable thing for us.

Were there any surprises, whether pleasant or unpleasant, that you came across when recording the EP?

The biggest surprise was the amount of work it took to finish some songs that we thought would be easily done. We’ve come to learn that the hardest part of finishing songs is usually the final 10% of finishing touches that require the most subtlety.

And finally, slightly cliché, but what does music mean to you?

Music is emotion, and we feel that we’ve done a good job when our music gets the people to feel the way we intended to, whether it be happy, sad, or more contemplative.