By Sapphire Bennett
On Wednesday, Oct. 19, indie rock band, Easy Honey, stopped in Omaha to perform a show at Benson’s Reverb Lounge. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Easy Honey are in the middle of their “Steady in Vertigo” fall tour.
The band first began when Selby Austin and Darby McGlone, just college students hanging out at a party, found “the best drummer on campus,” Charlie Holt, and decided it would be a fun idea to start playing and writing music together. Jamming together for fun eventually turned into developing an album of original songs complete with a recorded CD. This album, titled “Easy Honey,” was the group’s first published work and includes popular songs, Moncloa and All in. Later on, Webster Austin–Selby’s younger brother–had graduated and permanently took the role of Easy Honey’s bass player. As the younger brother, Webster had watched the band develop and perform from the very beginning.
Urgent to find a band name, “Easy Honey” emerged from an interest in contradictions and the sighting of a billboard honey ad.
Webster describes their first album as fun and lighthearted. “None of the songs on that first album are really tackling anything heavy other than just falling in love with different people,” Webster says.
While on the road, the guys intentionally set aside time to have fun. One of the band’s favorite ways to destress is to play the outdoor game, hacky sack.
“We like hacky sackin’,” Darby says. “Pullin’ out the hack at gas stations. All those times collectively make awesome memories of hysterical jumping around and flying.”
Aside from the numerous hacky sack sessions, the band says some of their favorite memories are performing in new places around the country.
“One of my favorite memories was playing at the Caverns with these guys. It wasn’t the most relaxed situation. We were opening for a bigger band down in Tennessee. The Caverns is a 1,200-cap venue in a cave,” Selby says.
Easy Honey hopes to continue touring the U.S. and is excited for the upcoming release of one of their new singles, Orbiter.
Currently, their most popular songs are Steady in Vertigo, Gotta Get Back, and their most recent release, Spells. The band agrees that their music could be considered “indie surf rock,” with influences from the Smashing Pumpkins, the Kinks and The Replacements.
“I feel like our music is music that’s in your car for any occasion that you’re getting in your car,” Selby says. “Whether it be to go to a party with your friends in a field, or if it’s to go make out with your partner, or if it’s you just got broken up with, I feel like our music could span and reach those occasions.”
For more information on Easy Honey, go to easyhoneymusic.com and follow @easyhoney on Instagram.
Follow writer Sapphire Bennett on Instagram @bennett_sapphire.
