An Interview with the Fast Growing Weezer-Inspired Alternative Band, Secret Someones!

While on their busy tour with Wolf Gang and Sir Sly, the alternative band, Secret Someones, took some time to answer a few questions for me.  The band consists of Bess Rogers, Hannah Winkler, Lelia Broussard and Zach Jones. They are inspired by bands like Weezer, Talking Heads, and apparently the entire Tom Petty catalog.

“We feel very much inspired by music that’s sometimes aggressive or quirky or even almost sloppy but that still has great songwriting at the heart of it,” explains Zach Jones.

They just released their debut EP on August 26th so be sure to check that out. Without further ado, here is my interview:

Can you guys remember the moment that you decided to start a band?

We had done a few house concert tours together where we would perform our solo tunes and all play as each other’s backing band and sing lots of harmonies with each other. We usually did these shows in the round, so it really ended up feeling like we were playing as a band instead of as individual artists. After the shows people consistently asked if we had a record together, and very shortly after the 2nd tour together, we decided to combine forces and do it!

How have you grown as a musicians since you started?

Definitely! We are all constantly stretching in various ways and challenging ourselves to be better musicians. When we first started the band we all picked up a lot of things that were new to us. Lelia hadn’t played bass before, and we were all learning parts that felt challenging, especially while singing so many harmonies. It’s only been a little over a year, but we all feel like we have grown so much as a band in that time and we continue to learn from each other every night we play!

How has being from Brooklyn influenced your music?

New York City has an incredible musical community. It’s super supportive and loving, and really does have some of the most impressive and brilliant musicians we’ve ever seen. Getting to make music with and see such incredible music on a daily basis in New York challenges us and inspires us to work hard and make the best music we can. We all feel lucky to have NYC our musical home base.

For anyone unfamiliar with your music, how would you describe your sound?

It’s loud, hard and rowdy, with songs that are melody driven with lots of 3 part harmonies. Think Weezer meets the Eagles.

What’s the story behind your band name?

The name comes from a Laura Viers’ song title. We’re all fans of her music. We had been looking for a name for awhile and couldn’t settle on one that we all liked or wasn’t already taken! One day Chris Kuffner (our producer) suggested Secret Someones and we all dug it, so we went with it.

What music are you all listening to now? Anything on the radio that you can’t get out of your head?

We’ve been listening a lot to the new Kimbra record (The Golden Echo), Blake Mills, Ryan Adams, Lucius, and a new The Bird and The Bee track.

Tell me about your single, “I Won’t Follow”. Where did the inspiration for it come from?

The song is about being with someone but still needing to maintain your own identity and independence, which can sometimes be difficult in a romantic relationship. It’s about being in love but still wanting to find and create your own path in life. The song started the way all our songs do– one person brought a short melodic/lyric idea to the table, and we all worked on it together from there.

How do you two typically capture the inspiration for your music?

The band is actually the four of us–Bess, Zach, Hannah, and Lelia. The three of us ladies write the tunes and we draw inspiration from our own personal lives and from other situations we observe around us.

Living or dead, who is a musician that you guys would love to work with?

It would be really cool to do something with Blake Mills or Kimbra!

Thus far, what’s a favorite memory or something quirky that’s taken place with the band (in-studio, onstage, or elsewhere)?

Playing SummerStage in Central Park was definitely a highlight for us. That night was pretty magical.

Any pre-performance rituals?

We do vocal warm ups and jump around to GET PUMPED. Right before we go on stage, we have a little huddle. I can’t tell you what we say though. Top secret.

You just began a tour… Any favorite venues and/or crowds yet?

The Fort Lauderdale crowd gave us a lot of love. Venue wise, we got to play a really beautiful club called The National in Richmond,VA.

How do you keep up the energy and momentum night after night on this tour?

The energy in live music always seems to come from being present and giving each show every ounce of your being. We’ve been playing most of these tunes since we started the band about a year ago, but there are always new things to discover or improve upon every time we play them. We’ve also added some new things to the set sonically for this tour, so there are plenty of things to keep us on our toes, engaged, and excited. Plus, we get to present our music to a whole new group of people every night! Hard not to get excited about that.

What’s it been like touring with Wolf Gang and Sir Sly? What about when you were touring with A Great Big World, Marc Broussard and Ingrid Michaelson?

Touring with Wolf Gang and Sir Sly has been a blast. They’re both incredibly tight bands with a killer show and that inspires us to give our best every night. AGBW and Ingrid are dear friends of ours in addition to being tremendous musicians, so those shows always felt like a big family get-together. And Marc Broussard and his crew were a pleasure to listen to and incredibly warm and inviting.

When you aren’t performing or writing new material, what do you two like to do for fun? How do you wind down?

We’re all fortunate to live in NYC where you can catch incredible, awe-inspiring music every night of the week, so that’s a favorite thing of ours to do together. We also love great food and Netflix!

Is there anything in particular that you’d like people to take away from listening to your newest EP?When can we expect your full length album release? What are some of the feelings you guys have about releasing it?

·We hope that people are excited by what we’re trying to bring to the table musically: a hard-hitting, song-driven rock band with interesting harmonies and arrangements. We’d also love to hear that we’re inspiring some young ladies (and dudes) to pick up instruments and express themselves. The album should be out in early 2015. We’re so excited to have this first batch of tunes out and so excited for you to hear the rest! We’re all really proud of the music we’re making together and thrilled to be working with the folks at Cherrytree/Interscope to put it out into the world.