Misfits Of Ugly Hollywood just dropped an EP that oozes a refreshing brand of garage rock swagger and style as guitars create hooks that sing along with the vocal choruses, percussion leads a heavy back bone and everything has a bright and vibrant pop overtone.
The Willowood Demos EP is alive and breathing with a major passion for what this band does. You can hear the heart and soul on these songs and it's difficult not to fall in love with them from track one.
It's like The Strokes meets Yeah Yeah Yeahs and brings in some 90's alternative sheen that all creates a formula for killer songs with killer attitude.
These songs are fun, danceable, and they have this sort of beachy vibe going on at times. Like a surf rock record would.
The EP is made up of youthful, energy driven bangers that come and go like whiplash.
There are plenty of fun production tricks and you really get this live performance feel from the record as a whole which is outstanding.
With such a bright release, we wanted to have a sit down with Misfits Of Ugly Hollywood and find out where this all comes from and what's next for the band.
Here's what happened.
RAG: Where did this EP Come from?
M.O.U.H: The demos first originated in the summer 2018 jamming and creating music for our friends. it started as a pastime, eventually grew to playing some house shows over the course of 2019, and finally to recording and releasing the songs over the course of the pandemic.
RAG: Who are your biggest actual musical influences?
M.O.U.H: During the time we were writing the demos, we drew a lot of inspiration from Surf Curse, Twin Peaks, Slow Pulp; honestly a lot of local Chicago artists fueled our creative process, which is what drew us to move here and continue writing and performing as a group.
RAG: How did this all start for you?
M.O.U.H: We all have had some sort of passion for music since long before we became a band, but over the course of 2018 we found ourselves becoming more and more inspired to pursue writing and performing for our friends. We all went through a lot of personal experiences that contributed to it all: some good things like seeing new places and growing our bond as a group, and some not so great like fading friendships and heartbreak. In a large sense, music became a therapeutic way for us to handle the heartbreaks we all faced at one point or another during that year.
RAG: What's next for the band?
M.O.U.H: We are currently in the middle of recording some singles that will be dropping this summer, and we have our first LP planned for a fall release. We have also been working on collaborating with some other amazing independent artists, and are hoping to continue our efforts in discovering more talent as we grow and creating within the Ugly Hollywood brand
RAG: What are you doing when not making music?
M.O.U.H: As a group, we’ve always enjoyed being outside, camping, cliff jumping, etc. As for our personal interests it ranges from photography and film to fashion and of course music. Ultimately music is a big part of our lives when we’re not working or in University.
RAG: Advice for up-and-coming artist?
M.O.U.H: Honestly we all agree that any and everyone that has a passion for music can NOT let any fears or anxieties get in the way of making music. We suggest staying true to yourselves and your friends while at the same time allowing yourself the room to grow and mature as a band and individuals.
RAG: Who are you listening to right now?
M.O.U.H: Twin peaks has always been a band favorite throughout the years, however we’ve been listening to a lot of different genres/artists like Dominic Fike, Matt Maeson, Mt. Joy, Billie Eilish, FlipTurn and other local Chicago artists like Dehd and Whitney.
RAG: Will we see any music videos from you soon?
M.O.U.H: As we’re currently in the works of finishing our summer single and fall album we are hoping to have a couple music videos out for the Misfits before the fall.
RAG: How do you write your songs?
M.O.U.H: We’d have to say it’s a good mixture of both figuring out lyrics through a poem or one of our notes on our phones and then writing music to that. And also writing a catchy rhythm or hook and developing lyrics along the way. It also normally depends on the song or the mood we’re in while writing.
RAG: What kind of things inspire you to write?
M.O.U.H: Collective heartbreak, nostalgia, and honestly just good memories that hit a little too close to home. Music has been a part of all of our lives since we were kids and if it wasn’t for the experiences we’ve gone through together we wouldn’t have been able to create the Demos or any of our future projects.
RAG: What would we like to say to the fans of the music?
M.O.U.H: Eat the rich. Join the cult. It’s a pretty ugly thing ;) @misfitsofuglyhollywood
