Los Angeles natives Sam Price, Jordan Greenwald, and Mitchy Collins formed indie pop powerhouse lovelytheband in 2017. The three-piece dream team has attracted a massive audience from their earliest tracks, with fans resonating with the group's signature upbeat energy and unfiltered, emotive lyrics. Debut single "broken", a precursor to their 2018 album finding it hard to smile, accumulated more than 25 million streams globally within its first year and has only grown in popularity over time. The hit now has roughly 300 million streams on Spotify alone and was named the longest running #1 track on Alternative Radio in 2018.
lovelytheband has since produced a number of majorly popular songs, including a 2021 collaboration with Bryce Vine titled "Miss You a Little" and 2022's "sail away". The trio struck gold again with their latest single "make me wanna die", which they released on March 31, 2023 ahead of the highly anticipated upcoming if we're being honest album.
In addition to the LP, lovelytheband has announced a headline North America tour beginning June 6th in San Diego and ending June 28th in New York. Supporting artists Ava Maybee and Beach Weather will be joining them for the shows.
"make me wanna die" is an electrifying introduction to the band's forthcoming LP. Quintessentially lovelytheband, the single contrasts spirited instrumentals with somber lyrical themes about loving something even when it's bad for you. Reverb and distortion on feel-good guitar riffs, as well as energizing drum patterns, brings fans to their feet. A Unrestrained delivery of sarcastic lyrical content adds extra moxie to the upbeat tune. Background vocals complement the lead vocals and subtly enhance the arrangement. "make me wanna die" is sharp, decadent, and emotionally vulnerable. lovelytheband's distinctive sound and knack for hit-making make them an unstoppable force in the indie pop genre.
We spoke with lovelytheband about their influences, new music, upcoming headline tour, and more. Read the full interview and check out "make me wanna die" below.
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How did the band form?
Sam: It’s crazy that it was about seven years ago. Mitchy had a bunch of songs that he was writing when another project he was in was ending back in 2016. He met Jordan at a bar and they hit it off. Mitchy showed him some songs and they decided to form a band… They found me on Instagram and the rest was history.
How did you develop your sound as a group?
Jordan: I think that it just comes from the influences of all our backgrounds in music. It’s a melting pot of stuff. We want to take our pasts and try to go into things in a new way.
Who are some of your influences as a band?
Jordan: It’s a song-by-song basis of things we pull from, but we all have different artists we love individually. I pull from the 70s and 80s a lot; my ear lately has come from there. I grew up on a lot of the Eagles, Stones, INXS, The Who, The New Order, and other stuff like that. Mitchy grew up on a lot of old country, emo music, folk, and singer-songwriter stuff.
Sam: We all also share a lot of mutual favorites now. A lot of very different artists, from Bon Iver to Frank Ocean.
Describe your songwriting process:
Sam: Much like how our sounds are so different, but they all come together to make something cool, our songwriting process is also always different. It could be that Mitchy sat down with an acoustic one day and recorded something on his phone for us to all work on together, or it could be that Jordan, our producer, or I have a track idea. It’s a hodgepodge of ways to write but if we all connect to it, it turns out to be a lovelytheband song eventually.
Jordan: We’re all songwriters individually, so when we have song ideas that we like, we send them to each other for feedback. If the other guys think it’s cool, we cut the track. It could also just be us screwing around in a room together–it evolves as we evolve as people.
"It’s a hodgepodge of ways to write but if we all connect to it, it turns out to be a lovelytheband song eventually."
What inspired your band name?
Jordan: The lack of available instagram handles. We liked the word “lovely”, but the handle was taken and we just saw that “lovelytheband” was free. It sounded pretty cool, so we just went with it.
What has been the defining moment of each of your careers so far?
Jordan: It’s hard to choose one because your career is defined by everyday moments that build up to create the big ones. It’s different for all of us. For me, the defining moments are the ones that people don’t see. All three of us are in a van or a car with a radio rep going to small radio stations. We’re grinding it out, waking up at four in the morning doing all those things aside from the radio, festivals, and big headline tours–all the glamorous things. I think the reason we are able to have all those big moments is because of the unseen backgrounds of what we do every day.
Sam: It’s the peaks and the valleys–the highs and the lows. For me, it’s the whole journey: the entire career start to finish. It’s hard to pinpoint just one moment because we’ve been through so many lessons, hardships, and good times together.
"For me, the defining moments are the ones that people don’t see."
What is one thing about lovelytheband that might surprise people?
Jordan: I think people don’t expect that there is so much going on behind the scenes. It’s not just the music; it’s also us getting together to design the merch and being hands on with every little thing that happens, from the advertising to the colors of the fonts. We’re so meticulous in trying to make everything cohesive and people don’t always get to see that.
Sam: That’s changed a bit from the beginning of the band, too. We had tons of label support and people to help us do things like that, but we like to have a lot of that creative control, which comes with a lot of responsibility. It’s a lot of behind the scenes legwork by the three of us now… more than ever.
Tell us about your latest single, “make me wanna die”.
Jordan: The song was written a few years ago. It was us getting into the studio and it kind of stemmed from one central guitar riff. It reminds me of the riffs I’d hear in my childhood and is just very reminiscent of things I’ve heard in my past. Then, when Mitchy had the lyric, “I love the way you make me wanna die,” the juxtaposition of that chorus was just really special.
That’s something we love to do in this band: have an upbeat, happy thing with the juxtaposition of a word flip in the chorus. The song came together pretty quickly and we knew it was special because it sounded super upbeat and was really exciting to write. I don’t want to speak for Mitchy because he really champions those lyrics, but I think it comes from a place of looking at substances or different things that don’t necessarily bring the best outcomes to your life, but that you could still rely on them. Loving the way something hurts you is a very human thing. It’s hard to talk about sometimes, but he really makes it easier to digest through his lyrics.
"...it comes from a place of looking at substances or different things that don’t necessarily bring the best outcomes to your life, but that you could still rely on them. Loving the way something hurts you is a very human thing."
What’s next for lovelytheband? Share about your upcoming album, if we’re being honest.
Sam: We’re always working on new music and we’ve got our album if we’re being honest coming out on June 2nd. We’re going on tour June 6th through the 30th and we’re a really good live band so we’re excited for everyone to come see us.
Is there one overarching concept for the album or does each song have a different meaning? Sam: The whole album tells a story of growth. The culmination of the album is our growth over the last three years, and it comes across as one big personality.
Jordan: It came from growing pains in all of our lives and with each other. We’re really excited… The first time we heard it all the way through, we all looked at each other and said, “damn, this is sick.”
Where will your tour take you?
Jordan: It starts in San Diego on the 6th and we’re hitting around 16 major cities across the US.
Sam: We’re hitting places like New York and Summerfest in Milwaukee, which we’ve played a couple of times and love. We also have some really great supporting artists coming with us; Beach Weather and Ava Maybee are good friends of ours, so it’ll be a fun time.
Is there one date for which you’re most excited?
Sam: We’re super excited for LA. Hometown shows are always fun and we’re playing The Novo.
Jordan: I’m looking forward to Denver, too. They’re always a great crowd and we have a lot of fun.
Do you have any pre-show band traditions?
Sam: We do, but they’re definitely super secret and we can’t say anything. There’s a lot of witchcraft and magic stuff. You’ve heard of Harry Potter, right?... Sorry, I’ve said too much already.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?
Jordan: We’re just a couple of guys hanging out and making some music, so we hope you like it. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the lovelytheband universe, with the new album and tour coming up.
Who are three artists you’d like to see on Enharmonic Magazine next?
Jordan: Beach Weather, Ava Maybee, and Medium Build.