Can you share the story of how Supahoney’s came together as a band?
“We met in Year 10 and would just go to the music rooms at lunchtime and learn Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and Radiohead stuff. At this sophomore stage, we were a 3-piece with Dylan singing and playing bass, Ben playing guitar and myself on Drums. After we graduated, we knew we needed to start doing gigs, so we got my brother Declan to join in on bass guitar and slowly started doing shows around Sydney. Our first gig was at one of the MCA Genext events out in Parramatta, mfs from the Sydney scene know what’s up.” – Ciaran
How do you manage the creative process within the band?
“Dylan and Ben do most of the song writing, regularly holding writing sessions at Dylan’s home studio in Peakhurst, 2210 represent. However, the two often write songs individually, and bring them into full band sessions to workshop and build upon. Declan puts forth the occasional fleshed out demo and I contribute ideas more than full demos; melodic runs played on piano or rhythmic ideas played spasmodically on whatever surface I can bang my remarkably well proportioned hands on. We all contribute to lyrics once most of the instrumentation and song structure has been laid out. Although, our best song writing is always when we get together and, I say this unabashedly without any reticence, Jam.” – Ciaran
Can you describe a typical Supahoney’s songwriting session?
“Typically, we start by looking through the copious amount of voice memo recordings we have of our jams on our phones. We agree on which one sounds the most interesting, and then we go from there. We figure out sections, melodies, drum beats, transitions and the like. Once we’re comfortable enough with the structure of the song, we road test it at a couple gigs. It’s not until some of the final stages of the song (instrumentally) do we look at what we want to say about it with our lyrics. I think it’s safe to say that we sometimes theme our lyrics off of whatever we named the song at the time, which is usually the first thing we unseriously do after we voice memo record it. Essentially, every one of our song titles is a joke title at first, but taken seriously by the end of the whole process.” – Dylan
How has your sound evolved since you first started?
“We’ve always come from a place of alt-rock. We love that sort of stuff. Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, even a bit of, dare I say, Coldplay. Our first couple singles had that influence for sure, but there was always a sprinkle of polyrhythmic pizazz, especially with our band’s title song “Supahoney”. We were never really happy with the sound of those first couple years though, which is why we went with a more focused approach on our first LP “Every Cell In Your Body”. A lot of effort was put into making that one appear as professional as possible, and we’ve gotten some compliments on the sound design on it so I think we achieved that goal. Going into this next LP coming later this year, I’d say there’s room for the new and old. We’ve got our signature alt-shoegaze rock down, but now it’s time to blend it with some earthy roots. I think Ben and Dylan are the cause of that, because its inception came out of their acoustic covid sessions. I think it’s an interesting mix, and it’s helping us experiment with even more ideas for the future.” – Declan
Are there any new genres or styles you are exploring in your recent work?
“I think we’re taking a stab at a lot of different ideas with our upcoming record. Some familiar sounds, but some new ground too. “I Wish” is a pretty valiant attempt at a ballad, it being a first foray into using a live string trio, courtesy of the renowned Jenny McCullagh, a seasoned string player familiar to most Sydneysiders from I Know Leopard. We also touch on a fusion of alt-country and math-rock on “Tumble”, nu-gaze on “Foreigner,” and an experimental hybrid of contemporary minimalism and electronica on “Flieger,” all tracks to come off our upcoming LP later this year.” – Ben
What’s the story behind your band name, Supahoney’s, and how do you feel it captures the essence of your music style?
“We had a couple of throwaway ideas to begin with, nothing serious though. It came to a point where if we were gonna start gigging, we needed a name. That pressure formed what would eventually become Supahoney, a name inspired by our musical idols: Soundgarden’s ‘Superunknown’ and Radiohead’s ‘Pablo Honey’. It was the start of something truly special for all of us.” – Dylan
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind “Wishing In A Fishbowl”?
“This one came from a couple places. It obviously started with Ben’s opening riff and we all built it up from there. We always try to keep it as original as possible, but you need to grab inspiration from something. I remember we we’re all jokingly obsessed with Coldplay’s “Atlas” at the time. We love the drum beat of that one, so we put it in our Post-Chorus. Each part of the song had a multitude of changes in measures and repetitions, with it being shortened or lengthened every few weeks or so. Some sections were completely cut. It was in the works for a while, but I think we’re very happy with the end product.” – Declan
Can you walk us through the songwriting process for “Wishing In A Fishbowl”? How did the lyrics and melody come together?
“The melody came pretty naturally with the style I was singing in at the time. I knew I had to give off a ‘woe is me’ sort of feeling to it, but that may just be the way I sing. The lyrics, honest to god, came to me when thinking about my dad’s living room fish tank. There’s obviously a deeper meaning to analyze in the words, which I’ll leave up to listener interpretation, but I find it funny with how it started. You can impress meaning on anything if you’re brave enough.” – Dylan
How do you see “Wishing In A Fishbowl” fitting into the broader narrative of Supahoney’s discography?
“I’d say “Wishing” is a comfortable expansion of what we’ve already released. There’s something for everyone. We have some pretty cool synth sounds at the start of the song, and we also got the amazing Maddy Briggs to help out with some of the backing vocals. All new ideas keen-eared fans wouldn’t be too attuned to. That being said, it’s said that Supahoney loves to indulge in weird time signatures, which we’ve placed right at the end of the track.” – Ben
Can you share a memorable moment from your journey so far?
“As performers, I think we all remember the performance we did for a Battle of the Bands for an Australia Day event 2018. We get on stage and Dylan yells out ‘Happy Invasion Day!’ to a crowd of about two or three thousand, mostly just families and regular people trying to enjoy their national holiday without the likes of a Dylan, who at the time was growing his hair out and only wearing Che Geuvara shirts at gigs, placing unsolicited nationalist guilt on them as they attempt to enjoy their chip on a stick whilst keeping and eye on little Lincoln and Larissa who were cart wheeling a little too close to the stage. It didn’t go down well. Unsympathetic bubbles floated silently through the air in front of the open air stage, we began our first song with no bass, Declan’s shit wasn’t working. To stall the situation a little, giving Dec time to sort it out, Dylan yells “Anyone else got ass-sweat right now? I know my Dad does, he’s right there!” Points at Harry, band Dad and #1 Supahoney stan. Someone yells “Get off the stage!”. The sound guy goes “What the fuck did you do mate?” to Declan as he finally gets it working, and we play our song and leave. Dylan put up a post of it the following week, which I promptly deleted. As audience members, I think some of those early gigs we went to fresh out of high school stuck with us, seeing bands like Egoism, Shady Nasty, Johnny Hunter and The Lazy Eyes, all of whom we would consider friends and contemporaries now.” – Ciaran
Where do you see Supahoney’s in the next five years?
“Easy. Still making and performing music. I think we all know each other well enough to say that having a jam, playing a gig, shooting a music video, getting on the tools in the studio, it’s all part of the fun, and there’s no giving that up. I’m very proud of our upcoming LP ‘Wishing In A Fishbowl’, the boys did very well. Yeah, we get on each other’s nerves (a lot), but that’s just part of it. We spend all this time together, we’re basically brothers, there’s no separating us and what we want to do. ” – Declan
