How did you guys come to be Honey Moon?
   Jack: A few years ago I met Zach at a party at Uni, and at the time I needed someone to play my music with. I think that’s when we started making music together. But I don’t think we would have thought we’d be doing it now. There were different members at the beginning, people coming and going, with the three of us at the core. The other live band members have been playing with us for a few years now. Glenn has his own band called Red Diesel, and Yasmine also plays in a few other projects.



Today you brought us some songs from your latest album, Same Old Paradise. Can you tell us a bit more about the selection you picked?
   Jack: We brought Amour Fou, Sweet Heart, Disappear, and Heart Won’t Wait. The last three are more like typical singles, whereas Amour Fou is more of an album deep cut. It’s a drum machine tune on the album.

Joey: I think it’s one of my favourite songs in the album. We took so long to write the Same Old Paradise, and I think by the time we got to writing Amour Fou we all did what we do best. We were so deep in the writing process, and it kind of came out naturally.

Jack: We wanted to play it here at Act Cool also because it was the only song from the album that we hadn’t played live yet. We kind of had to figure out how to arrange it for a live band, which was fun. Disappear is also special to me, it was a real turning point in terms of our sound taking a different direction. It got beaten out by other tracks and didn’t become a single, so it was great to give it some recognition. You have a couple of songs that are super popular on Spotify - do you agree with people’s taste? Are your most popular songs the ones you’re most satisfied with?

Jack: I definitely couldn’t disagree with someone for liking our songs. If people like it, I’m a fan of that. I Saw You in a Dream is my favourite song from that EP, so I’m glad people enjoy it.

Joey: Since it got popular on Spotify, we put it back in the live set as well. It’s great, because it’s like we’re seeing that song under a new light.


What’s the song you’ve written that is dearest to you?
   Joey: I like the instrumental bit at the end of the record - it came out of a big jam session and I think you can tell, and it reminds me of that moment.

Jack: She don’t wanna stay is a very personal song, and I’m happy with how everyone added some input to it, and how it came out in the end. I enjoyed writing it and I connected with that song, so I’m grateful to have worked with friends that helped me bring it alive.

Zach: Maybe Disappear. I like that it started as a very folky piece, and when we worked it a bit it became very groovy.



In terms of the lyrics, they sound pretty personal and emotional at points. Who takes the lead on writing the lyrics, and what’s your creative process around that?
   Jack: It’s been mostly me until this last album. We tried to be more open to collaboration, and I think it worked really well. Closing Time is probably the most collaborative song in the record in terms of lyrics, it talks about something we all cared about. And one thing that is good about collaboration is that while it’s normal to go back to old songs and think they’re shit, in my experience it happens a lot less when you’ve worked on it with other people. They stand the test of time a bit better, at least in terms of one’s own self criticism. I’m proud of the healthy creative relationship we’ve created. It’s kind of a miracle we finished this record, with lockdown and all.

Musically the record is pretty different to your previous work, how has your sound evolved through the years? Jack: We challenged ourselves to take a few different influences and tried not to make the same song again. We really didn’t want to end up being one of those bands who have a very specific style and end up making records that are somewhat interchangeable.

In the new album there are some big ballads, a drum machine song, an instrumental jam, and a dreamy pop Honey Moon song. We made an album trying to find different links between songs, rather than trying to make something that sounded like our previous work. I genuinely am proud of every part of the record and how it came to be.