NYC’s Charly Bliss will be heading back to the UK in November for several dates including a return visit to Cardiff where the band play 10 Feet Tall on November 5.
The tour supports Charly Bliss (Eva Hendricks – lead vocals, guitar, Spencer Fox – vocals, guitar, Sam Hendricks – drums, Dan Shure – vocals, bass) second album, Young Enough, of which the title track is their latest single.
Andy Howells recently put questions to Eva about the band and their forthcoming show.
What inspired you to get into music and put a band together?
We all grew up loving and studying music and starting a band seemed like the most obvious extension of that! I didn’t grow up seeing many women fronting bands, so it seemed like a challenge which was extra appealing.
How did Charly Bliss come about?
When I was younger, I loved doing musical theater, but I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to pursue forever. Around the same time, Spencer came to me out of the blue and said he had a feeling I’d secretly been writing songs and not showing anyone. He was right, so we started meeting up every day after school to write and cover songs and he would teach me how to play guitar. The band grew naturally out of that over time!
Where did the band name come from?
Charly Bliss is the name of my ex-boyfriend’s best friend! We were struggling to come up with a name for the band. I was at a party at Charly Bliss’s house and I asked everyone what we should name our new band, and as a joke they were all like, “Name it Charly Bliss!!!!” It was initially meant to be temporary, but now we all love it.
Tell us a bit about your new release Young Enough?
Young Enough is our second record. It was really important for us to challenge ourselves on this release and dig deeper into our love of pop and catchy melodies. We had no interest in making the same record twice, and we wanted to explore different arrangements and instrumentation.
I think it’s a record that’s very honest about how difficult and painful growing up can feel, while still maintaining a strong sense of hope.
You played Cardiff on your last UK tour; how did you enjoy your visit to Wales?
We loved it!!! It’s so beautiful in Wales and we can’t wait to come back! Cardiff was the first show of that tour, and consequently the first show we’d ever played in the UK, so we had no idea what to expect. We were so blown away by how kind and energetic the crowd was! It was a very special show for us.
If there was a track that best defines the band now, what is it and why?
I think the song Capacity defines this moment for our band really well because it’s a very pop-oriented, catchy, and more synth-based song, that still manages to maintain a lot of personality. We want to continue on further and further in that direction!
Where can people find out more about the band?
@charlybliss on Instagram and on our website http://www.charlybliss.com