Hunterdon County-based The Happy Fits, who toured Europe in support of their summer-released LP, Under the Shade of Green, and dropped some great videos in support of it, are set to release their LP in 2022. Makin Waves Band of the Year. Photo credit: Rayhill Ashraf
They toured Europe in support of their third and greatest LP, ‘Under the Shade of Green’, released in August by AWAL Records.continued to drop a barrage of fantastical and funny videos in support of it, garnering national press as a result. happy fit 2022 Makin Waves Band of the Year.
For 24 years as part of the annual Makin Waves Awards announced just before Christmas, the top honors have gone to New Jersey’s indie bands making the most waves. Happy Fits are great companions to Whirling Dervishes, Big Nurse, Nudeswirl, Well of Souls, Lowlight, Nalani & Sarina, The Outcrops, Dentist, Nefesh Mountain and more.
After touring endlessly for the past six years, they continue their tour across the East Coast this month, including a stop at Washington, DC’s Howard Theater on December 14th. Paradise Rock Club in Boston on December 16th. Dec. 17, Webster Hall, New York; Dec. 18, Theater of Living Arts, Philadelphia.
On behalf of bandmates Ross Monteith (guitar) and Luke Davis (drums), vocalist and cellist Calvin Langman chatted with me about more waves Happy Fitz will make. .
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Your latest album, Under the Shade of Green, was released later this summer on AWAL Recordings America, about a year after the label was sold from Kobalt Music Group to Sony Music Entertainment. Will that make The Happy Fits operate as a major label or still stand alone?
We are still independent and own the master!
What is Sony’s role in running The Happy Fits?
They own our independent label, AWAL, but Sony is not directly involved in the release of “Under the Shade of Green.”
Has AWAL helped your team grow The Happy Fits into an international movement? If not, what and who has it?
AWAL’s network has been really great for us. They gave us good marketing strategies, social media best practices to follow and, of course, more ambitious projects like his two recent music videos for “Little One” and “In The Lobby.” It gives us the funds to do it. One of the key things that helped us grow was AWAL’s connection with In2une, a music management and promotion company that helped us get our music on SiriusXM’s AltNation. The best thing about AWAL is that we can release music exactly the way we want it, without affecting our creative decisions.
What was your favorite part of touring England earlier this year?
Manchester was a great night for us. There’s not really air conditioning there, and noise pollution laws are pretty strict, so most smaller venues like the Night & Day we played in have their windows closed during all performances. It got hot and humid there after 300 kids danced for his hour. The windows fogged up around his third song, and by the end of the set it was dripping with condensation like it was raining indoors.
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Have you toured elsewhere in Europe? If so, what did you enjoy most about it? If not, when and how do you plan?
In the UK we played three shows in Glasgow, Manchester and London, followed by one in Berlin. Berlin was a great show and probably our favorite of our first European shows. People were great with us, even the promoters and sound guys we met on the day of the show. Such a thing has not even happened to us in America!
What was your favorite part about writing, recording and performing “Under the Shade of Green”?
I like the fact that there are a lot of lead cello parts on this album. It’s so much fun to be able to rip a chic cello solo or riff and jam out live. I think I got very creative in finding the right overdriven cello tone and was able to record some pretty unique cello parts.
What is your favorite video in the album and why?
I’m biased because I produced it, but it’s probably “In The Lobby.” The idea for a music video for “In the Lobby” has been around for quite some time, but even before the concept for the album was fully formed, I wanted to make a video showing how simple immoral government lobbying is. I thought.
You make really great and fun videos. Do you always work with the same production team? If so, who are they? What do you love most about working with them? If not, the various video producers you’ve worked with have expanded the band’s following how did it help
we change it a lot. For this album, I enlisted the help of my good friend girlfriend Chris Pasi and his Pivot Films to produce the videos for “Changes,” “Little One,” and “In the Lobby.” The music video for “Dance Alone” was produced by Far Fetched Productions and his second album “Get A Job” and “What Could Be Better”. It was his video. For “Around and Around” and “Do Your Worst” she worked with Joe Lee and Christian Strevy, who also produced her video for the “She Wants Me” music for LP2.
We know that each producer we work with has a different vibe, so we usually go with the one we feel will best bring our vision to life. was so good at building what fans called “Happy Fits Lore” that it’s a lot of fun for fans to engage with us as if they were the aloof and ignorant characters in the video.
How does ‘Under the Shade of Green’ compare to 2020’s ‘What Could Be Better’, 2018’s ‘Concentrate’ and 2016’s debut EP ‘Awfully Apeelin’?
Our first EP and first two LPs were really our growing diary. “Under the Shade of Green” was written about a pandemic in the midst of turbulent and traumatic times for the entire world. The song “Under the Shade of Green” is less about trying to tell a story from our lives than about processing the negativity in the world around us. In the same way, the album targets Generation Z, who feel an incredible amount of stress, responsibility and hope in tackling the climate change crisis head-on and building a more just and empathetic future.
The Happy Fits remains silly and fun, especially live and on video, but matures both musically and lyrically with each album, but “Under the Shade of Green” is by far the biggest. is a jump. Do you agree with that? If so, what contributes most to your maturity besides getting a little older and wiser?
I definitely agree with that. The album seeks to process the emotional and visceral damage of being born into a broken world without necessarily inserting a canonical statement of how we think the world should be. Our generation has great cognitive dissonance, and we see extreme weather and inequalities intensifying every year, but at the same time, we need to hustle within the system to have dinner at the table.
Are you still based in Hunterdon County? If so, what was the best thing about coming home after an extensive tour and why? If not, you Where are you based? Why did you move there?
Ross and Luke are still based in Hunterdon County, but I just moved across the border to Easton, Pennsylvania. The rent was affordable and I had a chic space to store all my band gear, fan art and studio gear. I think we all look forward to sleeping in our own beds when we get back from our tours and see our families.
Happy Fits have released records every other year for the past six years, and have toured frequently since then in support of each record. Between his last two albums and that tour, you didn’t seem to take a break at all. How did that affect your close relationships? Did those relationships continue to support your musical endeavors? Has that support helped the band stay active?
Luke has been with his current girlfriend for 7 years and I have been with her for 6 years. We were in a long distance relationship for 5 years before moving in together this year. They are our rocks indeed. They provide us with endless support, understanding and patience with our extraordinary schedules and work lives.
The annual Makin Waves Band of the Year Award honors an independent band from New Jersey. The band has produced some of the most influential singles and professionally produced videos, and toured the most extensively in support of an excellent new album that has garnered at least a little national coverage. How do you feel about winning the 2022 Makin Waves Band of the Year Award?
I am very honored! Can’t wait to hang this article in the fanart/kudos room at home!
What do you want to achieve that you haven’t yet achieved and why?
One day we hope to have our own music festival in New Jersey. We grew up on a farm in New Jersey, so we see great potential for great music festivals near or local to our hometown, with New Jersey’s beautiful expanses of land as our backdrop.
What do you have planned for the end of the year and the new year that you want your fans to know?
We’re playing Webster Hall in New York on December 17th and it’s going to be our biggest show yet. I am so excited to be in a room full of so many close friends and family who have supported us from the beginning. , I want to surprise them.
Anything I haven’t heard that you’d like to comment on?
Thank you for having us and for your amazing and endless coverage of the New Jersey music scene.
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Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. on facebook please contact bob makinwaves64@yahoo.com.