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| Who could say no to those faces? |
[Ed. - This was a good format, so I’m keeping it for this post…and holding it as a thought.]
Who They’re For
Picking through the influences they name - e.g., The Killers, The Strokes, Young the Giant and Two Door Cinema (who…got me) - gives a fair impression. So, lots of angular sounds, generally up-tempo stuff, with a 2000s throw-back vibe. Maybe the easiest way to explain is to let their lead vocalist*/mainsongwriter/cellist, Calvin Langman talk about inspirations:
“One thing all these bands do in common is that they write awesome melodies that make you want to scream and dance your butt off.”
That’s right, he’s a cellist…classically-trained too.
A Little More
“It’s rock ‘n’ roll. That’s what we want to be called. That’s what I feel when I play bar chords on a cello. Nod your head, tap your feet.”
Langman met his original co-collaborator, Ross Monteith in high school and through a combination of Latin class and facebook. After talking about the guitar covers Monteith posted and finding they liked the same sounds - in someone else’s words “A shared affinity for crisp melodies and crunching guitar” - Langman passed on the bones of a couple songs he wrote to Monteith (think it was “Dirty Imbecile”) and they decided to start playing together. A four-song EP they titled Awfully Apeelin’ came out of that and they posted it to Spotify for family and friends and went off to college - separate ones, from the sound of it. It was a lark, basically…
…until Spotify got their hands on it and dropped it onto one suitable Discover Weekly playlist after another (mine included), pushing and pushing and pushing until “While You Fade Away” became a brand-new baby/the No. 5 of the 50th most-viral songs posted to the service (for 2018). Monteith dropped out of college one semester later, Langman after two - and The Happy Fits were born. The band’s drummer, Luke Davis, has perhaps the best origin story. The other two brought him in as a session drummer to complete their debut album, Concentrate (2018): “I didn’t even think anything of it. I was like, ‘70 bucks man, that sounds awesome!’ As a college kid, that’s like the gold mine.”
Who They’re For
Picking through the influences they name - e.g., The Killers, The Strokes, Young the Giant and Two Door Cinema (who…got me) - gives a fair impression. So, lots of angular sounds, generally up-tempo stuff, with a 2000s throw-back vibe. Maybe the easiest way to explain is to let their lead vocalist*/mainsongwriter/cellist, Calvin Langman talk about inspirations:
“One thing all these bands do in common is that they write awesome melodies that make you want to scream and dance your butt off.”
That’s right, he’s a cellist…classically-trained too.
A Little More
“It’s rock ‘n’ roll. That’s what we want to be called. That’s what I feel when I play bar chords on a cello. Nod your head, tap your feet.”
Langman met his original co-collaborator, Ross Monteith in high school and through a combination of Latin class and facebook. After talking about the guitar covers Monteith posted and finding they liked the same sounds - in someone else’s words “A shared affinity for crisp melodies and crunching guitar” - Langman passed on the bones of a couple songs he wrote to Monteith (think it was “Dirty Imbecile”) and they decided to start playing together. A four-song EP they titled Awfully Apeelin’ came out of that and they posted it to Spotify for family and friends and went off to college - separate ones, from the sound of it. It was a lark, basically…
…until Spotify got their hands on it and dropped it onto one suitable Discover Weekly playlist after another (mine included), pushing and pushing and pushing until “While You Fade Away” became a brand-new baby/the No. 5 of the 50th most-viral songs posted to the service (for 2018). Monteith dropped out of college one semester later, Langman after two - and The Happy Fits were born. The band’s drummer, Luke Davis, has perhaps the best origin story. The other two brought him in as a session drummer to complete their debut album, Concentrate (2018): “I didn’t even think anything of it. I was like, ‘70 bucks man, that sounds awesome!’ As a college kid, that’s like the gold mine.”
