Florida pop-rockers Hungover are releasing their forthcoming album When It Touches The Heart, Everything Resolves on 16 February via Smartpunk Records. Before the album drops, the band joined us to discuss their sound and influences in the latest of TGEFM’s Roll of the Dice interview series.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Congrats on the release of the “Reunion” single! Thanks to an unfortunately fickle roll of dice we only have three questions so I don’t want to waste any of them. I’m also going to do my best to maximize the questions by making them multi-part queries. I’m going to jump in with the most obvious, who is Hungover, how would you describe your sound, what should our readers know about you and of course, what’s next for Hungover?
Hungover is Marc Cortes, Gabe Santiago, and Sean Connors.
We like to call ourselves “Pop & Roll.” We blend the lines between rock, emo, pop, alternative, and even a little synth wave on the new record to create a sound that sits in the middle of everything we love. The only rule is that it has to be fun and feel right.
They should know that we love to play. There’s nothing like a Hungover gig.
Right now— we’re looking forward to putting out a new record in 2024 and bringing those songs to life on stage.
I think it’s safe to say that the world has seen some shit over the last few years. What impact has the political and cultural climate had on your music and the business side of things? What has given you the most hope and the most consternation both musically and personally in the last few years?
A lot of folks don’t know this, but the pandemic basically broke up our band for a while. We were in a weird spot before the world shut down and when things got real, we felt so removed from each other that communicating came to a standstill. We worked on ourselves to find our way back to what we love— each other and music.
Our friendship has been the driving force behind making this music happen. It’s easy to put your best foot forward when you’re walking side by side with people you love.
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should know about?
I could go on and on about bands that I feel are slept on— especially in the Florida music scene, but I’ll give y’all three of my favorites. Glazed, Miracle, and Feel Real are some FL folks who are in my regular rotation.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
