In the span of just three years, lovelytheband has morphed from just an idea from vocalist Mitchy Collins’ head to a chart-topping indie rock band. After opening for bands like Dashboard Confessional, Incubus, Jack White and AWOLNATION, writing and recording their forthcoming record, Finding It Hard to Smile and gearing up for their own headlining tour, it’s safe to say the trio has had a lot going on.
After meeting in Los Angeles in 2016, Collins, guitarist Jordan Greenwald and drummer Sam Price came together and immediately began rehearsing and recording some of the tracks that Collins had already been writing. Shortly after that, they got signed to the RED record label and have been killing it ever since.
Since lovelytheband’s the three members all come from different backgrounds, their music taste does, too.
Greenwald says, “The fact that we all have different influences kind of makes it all come together as what lovelytheband sounds like.”
They definitely have a unique sound. Indie rock seems to be the most present label for them; but there are definitely hints of pop, rock and even a bit of soul throughout their music. The trio uses words like “cinematic,” “honest” and “emotional” to describe their music. In terms of artist influences, however, they all have been obsessed with the new Drake record, Scorpion. They love “everything, from Drake to Meatloaf,” Collins says. Price follows up with the fact that they all “listen to New Music Friday and just listen to everything that comes out, honestly.” With this variety of artists, it is not hard to see how their music can be so genre-fluid.
The group’s single, “Broken,” was a massive success.
It went to number one on the top alternative charts and quickly became a crowd favorite. On their reaction to the song getting charted, Collins says, “It was definitely surprising, especially with it being our first song out of the gate. We are really fortunate and I think it’s really beautiful that people are interacting and connecting with the song like they have.
It was a song I wrote when I was having a rough go of it. The lyrics kind of fell into telling myself, ‘It’s alright,’ and ‘You’re not your problems.’ That is what I always turn to music for, people saying things that I don’t know how to.”
The single is off of their full length debut album, Finding It Hard to Smile, which is set to be released August 3. It has been a long work in progress to say the least. “This album kind of took my whole life to make. We’ve been kind of slowly hacking away at it and piecing it all together,” Collins says. As far as influences for the record go, all of the guys point to life as they know it. “It’s basically about the trials and tribulations of being a human being,” Collins remarks.
The completion of this record is definitely a big milestone for the group. After years in the making, it is finally complete and they are more than ready to share the new music with their loyal fans. “We hope they love it,” says Price. The guys talk about the difference between releasing their EP, Everything I Could Never Say, that dropped last September and releasing this new album. “We used to talk about how the EP was like knocking on the door of lovelytheband and now the album is like inviting you in to have dinner with us,” says Greenwald.
Musically, the EP and album differentiate a bit too. Price says, “There is literally ten more songs on the record than the EP so it shows a lot of diversity, but it still all sounds like lovelytheband.”
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