1. Dirty Imbecile 1:04 2. While You Fade Away 8:55 3. Achey Bones 15:35 Watch The Happy Fits live at Paste Studio NYC! More performance sessions and interviews here: www.pastemagazine.com/article...
(Applause) Calvin Langman & Ross Monteith: Thank you! Host: Thank you, guys. Langman & Monteith: (Thanks.) Luke Davis: (Best one we've ever had?) Host: So you guys are Jersey guys, you went to high school together. I think that's right? Band: Yeah. Host: So did this get started at that point or were you off at college? You went to separate colleges, right? Davis: Yeah we all went to different, and I'm a year older than them, so I was in college when they started playing together. I didn't even know what was going on. Langman: [Pointing at Davis] We didn't talk once in high school. Davis: Yeah. You also graduated with me too, so you're technically in my grade. He's just the smarty pants. Host: So you guys were playing together when you were at school and like this sort of got off the ground? It seemed like when I was reading about how the EP got started, it seemed like you guys were- you know, you recorded this thing, it was on Spotify, it kind of got this momentum almost by accident. Monteith & Langman: (Yeah.) Host: What were you guys envisioning for this when you guys got it together? Monteith: So we started towards the end of senior year. Calvin and I started writing our own music and the EP kind of shaped itself up. "Dirty Imbecile" was the first song that we kind of did together that started the idea of recording the EP. We pretty much just recorded the EP for our friends and we wanted to put it out in the summer right before we left as kind of like, "Ah, we're leaving. We'll leave you with this." And we all went our separate ways in college. And then the one track "While You Fade Away", we just started seeing the numbers rising on Spotify. And then we just started getting these random emails in and we were completely confused as to why that was happening. And then this guy-Tyler Miranda-he reached out to us and he was like, "Yeah, I accidentally found your Spotify-your band on Spotify." Langman: Because the cover-I actually made in on MS Paint. Host: Of the banana? Langman: Yeah, yeah. Davis: (True work of art.) Langman: The joke is that the banana's screaming 'cause it's like when you're peeling a banana, you're peeling its skin off, but I don't think many people got the joke. Davis: (You're digging yourself a deep hole.) Monteith: Right, but it caught his eye and then he listened to it and he really liked it so he had a friend working at Spotify and he called them up and he was just like, "Hey, what can you do with this?" And then he threw it on the Fresh Finds playlist on Spotify and then one thing lead to another and now we're [?] fulltime. Host: So when you guys were getting it together, was this the configuration? You were like, "We wanna start a band with guitar and cello and this is how it's gonna happen"? Or was it like, "Well I play guitar, you play cello, let's try to figure out songs that will work that way"? Langman: We started covering songs-just guitar and cello-and then I always wanted to write songs that had drums in them, like were really really loud and a lot like The Killers or The Strokes or something like that. So it kind of- We have an upcoming album; it kind of drifted away from the acoustic feel of the EP a bit 'cause we [Looks at Davis] had this guy join the band in December. Davis: I played on the EP but I didn't really. I just went in and did the drums and kind of left and was at school. Monteith: Yeah. That was like the first time we actually played with Luke was in the studio while we were recording the EP. Davis: 'Cause that was the cheapest drummer they could get. Monteith: [Laughs] And then our sound progressed from there with Luke being added to the band. Host: I'm sure you're much more expensive now. Monteith & Langman: [Laughs] Davis: Oh, yeah, yeah. In college I was like, "Seventy bucks? Nice. That's a great deal." Host: So you guys are gonna do a couple more for us-I think next one also from Awfuly Apeelin'. Tell me a little bit about this one. Langman: This song's called "While You Fade Away". Wrote it right after a breakup. And it's about heartbreak-what can I say?
