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Honey Motel Q&A

Seeing as their debut single was titled 'Weekends', it's perhaps appropriate that we start your weekend with Liverpool band Honey Motel! Just two singles into their journey, the band have already impressed with impressive indie guitarwork, soaring anthemic vocals and solid backbeats and rhythms. With some more singles to come and (hopefully) a headline gig at the Arts Club Loft in Liverpool on April 24th, 2021 promises to be a busy year for Honey Motel. The guys took some time out to answer a few questions.


Honey Motel are Matthew Walker (Vocals), Sam Meredith (Guitar), Jack Hughes (Bass) and Paul Robinson (Drums)


Singles 'Weekends' / 'Madeline' and 'Morning Affairs' are available on all the major digital sites.


Hi Guys, thank you for taking some time to answer a few questions. First off, for those readers who might not be familiar with Honey Motel, could you give a short history of the band? Hi mate! We're Honey Motel, a four piece indie rock band from Liverpool. Me (Walker the frontman) and Sam (Lead Guitarist and Keys) go back quite a while. We started out playing some covers about 4 years ago and just jamming out together. We then met a bassist and drummer and started (unsuccessfully) writing some music. After a while we split ways with our old bass player and drummer and met Pab and Jack (Our current bassist and drummer) and started to properly try to write some music. We created a band named LOLA and played some good gigs and had some decent music on streaming sites. After a while, back in about November 2019, we decided to rebrand ourselves with a new image, a new name and some new music. This has gone pretty well so far as we've started turning some heads! And who would you say were the main influences on Honey Motel? We're a whole mixing pot of influences, we can't really pinpoint one band or sound that defines us as a band. For example, I'm very indie orientated, I love British bands from the noughties and tens, for example Arctic Monkeys, Courteeners, Oasis and Catfish and the Bottlemen to name but a few. Sam loves anything and everything, from Taylor Swift, to Haim, to The 1975 to Marvin Gaye. The list can go on forever! Jack loves pop punk such as Green Day and Paramore and Pab loves rock and rap, such as Kings of Leon, Muse, Dave and Stormzy. I think what this does is create quite a unique sound, as we can draw on so many different ideas. Where did the name Honey Motel come from? Did you have any other names under consideration before settling on Honey Motel? There's no special reasoning behind the name to be honest with you! It came from months of brainstorming, hundreds of different names written on our notes app on our phone and countless hours spent on Band Name Generators trying to find something that we liked. One day we stumbled upon Money Hotel, and we liked it, then Pab switches the letters round and makes Honey Motel, and it's stuck with us ever since! You've managed to get two singles out in the last 2-3 months. Has Covid presented any particular challenges in getting the tracks written, recorded and released? I think Covid on the whole has benefited us in a way. We already had 5 singles recorded and ready to release before we went through the whole rebrand, and it allowed us to sit down and plan everything out to the T. When we were going to release, what promo we were going to do with the single and when we were going to post down to the hour. The only downside is that we can't get out there and gig, which is the whole reason why I started a band in the first place! What's the favourite track you've written so far? Is it one that you've released so far, or a different track that is perhaps in the live set or that you've yet to record? I think my favourite one we've recorded so far is Weekends. I think everything just fell into place so naturally when we were writing and recording it. You look back on tracks you've written and recorded and always want to change things. But when we practice playing it and when I listen back to it, I don't think I would change a single thing. It's also the first track we wrote that gave us our signature sound, Sam had just bought a new pedal and we used that to record the main riff and it fitted the track perfectly. What is the writing process within Honey Motel? Who comes up with the music? And as the singer, is Matt responsible for all the lyrics?

Sam the lead guitarist is our main song writer. He usually writes the material at home and writes the lyrics and chord structure. He then sends the track to Walker to try to get to grips with and put his spin on the tune melodically to suit his voice. The track is then brought into the rehearsal room for Jack and Pab to add their flavour, this is when the track really comes alive! You've recently signed up with Foundry Music? How did you come to be involved with them? It came about by us just reaching out for help. We had some idea of how to become more successful, but we needed more guidance. Teaming up with Foundry has given us so many more routes that we can go down, to help us become more successful. (It's who you know, not what you know at the end of the day!) and certainly more ideas for content and promo etc. We're really thankful for all the help that they've given so far. The general pandemic situation has prompted bands to try alternative ways of reaching their audience - livestreams, podcasts etc? Have you tried any of these and how did it feel doing these? Do you think bands will continue to carry on with these methods if we return to some sort of semblance of normality? And do you think the way bands reach out to their audience has changed forever now? We did a podcast with LetsMusicTogether and we had a really good time, it prompted me into the idea of starting a Honey Motel podcast because I enjoyed it that much! We're definitely up for doing a live stream of a gig, but we're not massive fans of charging our supporters to watch something from the comfort of their home on a laptop or TV, so we'd have to find a way to do it for free. I don't think the pandemic has changed the ways we reach out to our audience for good, people are itching to get back to live gigs, yes it has definitely helped bands think of new content ideas, and yes it will definitely carry over when we get back to normality again, but I think it will return to how it used to be one day. Do you feel there is a strong underground / indie scene in the Liverpool area at present? Any particular bands from Liverpool you'd recommend readers to check out? There are so many good bands from Merseyside, countless to name all of them. With such a strong background, Liverpool is the perfect breeding ground for new successful bands. Some of our favourites are The Night Cafe, Nocturnal Coast, Clean Cut Kid, STONE and Micheal Aldag. And coming from Liverpool, do you feel that bands from the city have to 'battle' against the spectre of a certain band who was playing 'The Cavern' 60 years ago? Or do you think enough time has lapsed now for that not to be an issue anymore for new bands from Liverpool? I think time has definitely been kind to us and changed how bands interact with each other, especially grassroots bands. I think we all want to see each other succeed because we know how much hard work goes into becoming successful. There is definitely some sort of monopoly when you start becoming more popular, and start to turn some heads in the industry, but we're out here to get more people to hear our music, and help others along the way.

Where can people reach you - social media etc - and buy your singles from? @honeymotelband on all social platforms! We don't have any physical releases available yet, but we're hoping to change that soon ;). And finally, what plans for Honey Motel in 2021? Our plans come down to what state the country is in. We're hoping to be able to play our headline and add in some tour dates here and there, but it all comes down to if it's safe to do so. But definitely look forward to more singles. Thank you so much for having us!



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