Forever Honey

Photo by, Kit Castagne

Meet Forever Honey

Everyone is always going on about diamonds and how they are forever. Well, diamonds don’t do much for sweetening your tea. Enter Forever honey the Brooklyn jangle-y dream-pop outfit that has been kicking my mornings into high gear. In our latest interview, we chat with the band about their beginnings, bagels, and their debut release!

HISTORY OF A FAMOUS INVENTION: A Mad-Lib by, Forever Honey

The first electric TYPEWRITER was invented in 1904 by a HAIRY young man named MR. ROGERS. He and his brother INA GARTEN ran a small DELIVERY BOY repair shop, and in their spare time, they studied PESTICIDES. When they started work on their invention, everyone said, "YEEHAW!! You'll never get it off the SOAP." But they built a PUNGENT, model out of old CHOPSTICKS and a used CHEESECLOTH.

The model worked fine, and in ten minutes it toasted 24 slices of POTATOES. It also used up two gallons of BON & VIV an hour, and the top converted into an ATLAS. They sold the patent to a RAVENOUS millionaire for 5 dollars and lived QUIETLY ever after.

Would You Rather

be transported permanently 500 years into the future or 500 years into the past? What would you do?

See, at first, I was going to say, “as a self-proclaimed pessimist and mental dooms-day prepper, I would rather be transported 500 years back, simply because I would have an *inkling* of what to expect.” But then I actually did the math and realized that would be 1520, which in and of itself would look and feel *totally* foreign. I mean, just riddled with Decimation, Disease, and Dragons (otherwise known as Guy Fieri’s new spin-off.) That all said, I’ll have to go with 500 years forward, with the hope and expectation that, by then, Elon Musk’s interplanetary colonies will have successfully built a progressive socialist utopia.

Some questions with Forever Honey

How did Forever Honey get its start?

Three of us (Olivia, Aida, and Steven) went to school together and were in different bands in State College, PA, and decided to start writing together after graduation with a couple of other musicians. We called this internet project (tysm Google Drive), Queue, and we sort of went through different iterations while living in different places (Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, etc.) with members coming in and out, and it wasn’t until we all moved to New York City and met Jack that we decided to finally start anew with Forever Honey.

Do you believe the NYC music scene fosters community or competition?

There’s certainly a lot going on here, lots of different pockets that are filled with incredibly talented and impressive people… but it’s never felt cut-throat or anything. Where we live now in South Slope we’ve actually met a ton of jazz, blues, and afrobeat musicians; and where Jack lives in Fort Greene we have buddies that make some amazing folk-leaning rock music. I think we’re still figuring out where we are in the grand scheme of things but aren’t trying to fit a particular mold. We’re always just wanting to make new friends with other bands and musicians, and just creative people in general. Some folks are more open to that than others, but for the most part, everyone’s been prettttty nice!

What are your thoughts on streaming platforms? Have they helped or hindered the industry?

I mean it’s hard to say definitively. Our first single “Chrisitan” was picked up by Spotify for their “Fresh Finds” playlist, and that’s for sure helped us reach a wider audience faster, which we’re really grateful for, but that sort of exposure still needs to be supplemented with touring, merch sales, etc. I think current circumstances with COVID-19 suggest that extensive touring isn’t sustainable or a secure source of income, so it seems especially prudent to figure out a way for musicians to earn money again from putting music out... Money aside, we also discuss quite frequently how the blaring analytics of streaming services (play counts, follower counts, etc.) really impact your mental health. There are loads of studies on how social media can trigger depressive and anxious episodes in people, and we think the structure of streaming sites really exacerbates that. What’s especially hindering for musicians, especially new musicians, is that streaming numbers and follower counts dictate the kinds of shows and opportunities you can get. It’s all a numbers game now, and that’s hard to grapple with at times. You don’t want numbers to define you and your artistry.

If the price was no option what would be the perfect bagel?

Aida: I grew up on the Upper West Side so it has to be sesame from Absolute Bagels a few blocks from my mom’s apartment, with cream cheese and nova from Zabar's and thinly sliced red onion and capers.

Steve is heading to Bagel Pub in Park Slope to grab an everything bagel...whole wheat (gotta watch that figure) with chicken cutlet, egg, cheese, and tomato.

Olivia: If price and gluten intolerance weren’t to be considered, I am a simple gal. I typically go down to Brownstone Bagels in Park Slope and get a toasted whole wheat bagel with scallion tofu cream cheese. NOW, if I really wanna take this to the next level, I’d travel to Soy Cafe in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia; and grab a vegan ham bagel sandwich. I used to live around the corner, and it was the highlight of my weekends.

Jack: (declines to comment at this time.)

What was the creative process behind your debut, Pre-Mortem High?

Pre-Mortem High basically started after we all moved to the city. Two of us (Olivia and Aida) went to Europe for a couple of weeks right before and then moved in with Aida’s mom on the Upper West Side for a couple of months before finding our own place in Brooklyn. In those first few months, we were aggressively demo-ing songs about all the changes we were going through, and once we started renting our rehearsal space in Gowanus we really began to flesh out the songs that would end up on the EP. Our producer for the record, Ben Rice, has his studio Degraw Sound just around the corner from our space, so he was able to sit in on a few rehearsals and give us pre-production notes, and by the time it was time do tracking and mixing, we were all on the same page and knew what we wanted to do.

What was the inspiration behind your video for “Christian”?

The song itself leans pretty heavily into the new wave that we really really love (ex. The Cure, Joe Jackson) and so it already felt like we’d need to explore a certain color palette and kitsch vibe. We talked to our director Bob Sweeney, who’s done incredible work with a lot of great Philly bands like our pals Queen of Jeans, and explored some ideas and references, and one that resonated was the dance scene in the movie Valley Girl (1983). Besides that, I think we individually were channeling some of our own 80’s idols like Siouxsie Sioux and Johnny Marr...Steven went more to the Mötley Crüe route.

Which one of you is the most organized? Most forgetful? Most hungry?

We’re all pretty organized (don’t get us started on task mgmt apps,) but Aida may be the most mentally organized one in the band. I don’t know if Steven is the most hungry but DEFINITELY has the largest appetite. One time in Philly, in a span of an hour, he downed an entire cheesesteak and one of those jumbo slices. Most forgetful is definitely Olivia. Her phone and computer are full of alerts and reminders for things like, “Catch up with mom,” “wash hair,” etc. Maybe it’s selective short term memory, but it’s quite impressive. Jack needs something - Jack is the most skilled at non-sequiturs. Maybe the best conversationalist in that regard? He never lets a conversation lose color - we’ve all had very intellectual conversations about which Pokemon we would date, and some very hard-hitting “hot or not” discussions, all thanks to Jack’s talents.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Umm well by the time this comes out I think our second single “Twenty-Five” will be available for everyone’s listening pleasure, so listen to that, please! Besides that, this is a really tough time for a bunch of our friends and folks in the service industry...please consider buying records and merch from your favorite bands and friends, and also buying gift cards from your favorite local establishments. That is all :)