In our next Band Spotlight, we chat to Eva Hendricks of Charly Bliss about new music, and defining success as a band.
Hi guys, how are you today?
Hey!! We’re great! We’re driving from Berlin to Paris right now and enjoying some relaxing time in the van!
How do you look at the success of ‘Guppy’ now?
We all feel so proud and so thrilled with how Guppy was received. By the time it came out, we had already been a band for about six years. Things had always moved really slowly for us and it was really mind-blowing to see how quickly people caught onto the record.
What advice would you give to other young artists who are inspired by your work, on how to make an impact as you have done?
Fake it until you make it!!! I think when I first started playing music, I felt a lot of pressure to be really great and perfect at everything before we played a show or before I showed anyone the songs I was writing. It’s as easy as deciding you want to do it and then going for it! And the only way to get better is by diving in and trying and failing and trying again. I also think it’s important to remember that everything takes time. Once I’ve heard the final recorded version of a song that we’ve written, I sometimes forget that there was a long time when it wasn’t working, or didn’t sound cool, or needed work.
It’s important to be patient, both with your songs and with building a fan base. I have so many happy memories of playing shows that no one except our parents and roommates came to, and being totally floored by reaching really silly milestones, like hitting 100 fans on Facebook. It’s important to try to have fun and enjoy every different stage! It should be fun!!
How do you define success as a band?
We are really ambitious and competitive with ourselves. We’re always trying to improve our live show and when we’re writing, we go over everything again and again to make sure that it’s the best version possible. It takes a lot for us to feel proud and satisfied, so I feel like success is getting to a point where we feel that we’ve done our best and are on our way to doing something even more exciting.
What direct experiences led to the creation of ‘Hard To Believe’ – what inspired that track?
Sam came to practice one day with this insanely catchy riff, and we just ran it over and over again for weeks because it felt so fun to play. When we eventually decided to turn it into a full song, I looked back in my diary and found a line that was like “I wanna make out with everyone so that I don’t make out with you.” I had written it when I was in an interminable on again / off again relationship. I remembered being so sick of the same fights that we’d had over and over again and wanting so badly to cut the cord, but I couldn’t seem to get up the nerve to fully leave it behind. I wrote a lot about this relationship on our first album Guppy, but I feel like you can gain a lot from revisiting certain experiences with the benefit of perspective. When I wrote about it on our first album, I think I sounded really angry. Writing about it this time around, the lyrics sound more disappointed and sad than anything.
What would you say that the biggest challenges you face, as a “successful” band are now?
Paying our rent is still really hard! We try to put almost all of the money that we earn from shows and merch back into the band account so that we can grow our business, but that leaves us with very little money to pay ourselves out at the end of every month.
What’s keeping you motivated now, outside of music – think people, places and movies for example?
The people who love our band keep us motivated. So much for the writing process is really isolating and private, and it’s been really wonderful starting to play shows and get to see and talk to the people who care about our music. It’s really easy to doubt yourself, but it gives you so much perspective when right in front of your face are people who connect with and care about what you do. It’s also extremely exciting that we’re getting to see so much of the world because of this album. We’re in Europe for the first time right now, and later this summer we’ll go to Australia. It is absolutely mind-blowing that all of this is happening because we decided to form a band eight years ago. With everything that’s already happened, I can’t wait to see what happens next!
