Black Honey are the enigmatic bombshell that the British music audience thrives off. Their eclipsing of social media in their early stages grew hype in its own way and even nowadays, they rarely surface other than to deliver another collection of Americana-tinged, socially aware alt-rock. Early singles such as ‘Corinne’ and ‘Spinning Wheel’ allowed for the group to play up to the excitement that was beginning to form around them and now, a year on from those releases, they are set for a Japanese tour and a sellout UK tour this autumn. They have proved ipso facto that the industry does not need shrouding in press releases but more just a certain quality of music and an ability to create buzz about your band.
Desperately trying to dig a little further into the enigma that is Black Honey, I got in touch with them to find out more about their ethos as a group and where their dazzling future seems to be leading them.
How do you see your background in Brighton as being an influence in your music if it is at all?
Brighton is pretty inherent to our sound, though our music leans towards escapism we directly reference places and the people in our music.
How was it that Black Honey was formed? Is there a grand story to it as such or is it relatively straight-forward?
We met in a swimming race across Brighton Marina actually. I beat all three of them and thought I would see if their skills were of better use in a studio.
How do you feel the Headspin EP differs from your previously released singles?
Some of the songs on Headspin were written literally years before our first EP. So it was a case of curating the songs to fit our vision, we wanted the EP to have a romantic and nostalgic feel, like looking both forwards and backwards at love all at once. I guess it spoke to where I was at the time we made it.
You seem to have always been a band that like to shroud themselves in mystery and enigma – is there a reason behind this?
We never intended to shroud ourselves in mystery, at first we were pretty minimal online just because we wanted people to listen and judge us purely on our music and not by how many Facebook followers we had.
You once invited friends to text you about the band rather than actually releasing a standard press release, can you explain the motive behind this?
We have always done things our own way and we just thought, why do we need a press release? What if we just let people reach out on their terms? It seemed completely mad but it felt much more sincere, we connected with people on a more personal level which for me was really fulfilling.
How did you feel your show at The Great Escape in Brighton went?
We love every show but especially The Great Escape because we grew up going to it every year. We did two this time, one for Vevo and one for DIY at the end of the pier. There was a huge queue all the way down to the beach and we got told after that security had to stop letting people through the gates because it was so busy.
You tend to play upon a very Hollywood/American image within your single artwork – would you say there is an American influence behind you as group?
Americana and the iconography associated with film really inspires us. My favourite thing about music is that it gives you a sort of transformative experience, like you're starring in your own movie. Suddenly you see things in more emotional detail. So we kind of use this as a blueprint for the songs.
Does this Hollywood image link to a particular cinematic theme that you attempt to thread through your music?
I like Hollywood specifically because there’s something really messed up about the way we consume media, we use TV imagery as homage to this too.
What is it that you really aim to achieve within your music?
I want to make music that resonates with people, to make someone forget their worries or not feel alone for a few minutes. Being sincere is an important part of this, how is anyone going to identify with you if you don’t tell the truth?
How would you pin your sound to a genre from your perspective?
It’s like we cherry picked our favourite parts of all genres, eras and soundtracks then stuck them together with glitter glue.
There is a real sound of refinement in the music, each part being fantastically well put together. Is there a particular process that your songwriting goes through?
Thank you! Lyrics and chords kind of come first, then from that we work on the structure and let the feel of the song dictate its direction. We love layering tones, always experimenting, messing them up, contrasting them or completely flipping an idea on its head.
How does the rest of 2016 shape up for Black Honey – are there plans for an album release to coincide with your UK tour in October?
No, but we can tell you to expect new music and plenty of other surprises we have planned. The rest of 2016 has us playing a ton of festivals, (Bestival, Truck, Y Not) some shows in Japan, a trip to LA to do secret things and then the UK tour that is selling out already!
Facebook: facebook.com/BlackHoneyUK
Twitter: twitter.com/BLACKHONEYUK