In case you're in the mood for some soft and chill music with deep lyrics, you came to the right place.
Strawberry Blonde is a band we recently discovered and fell in love with. So we decided to get to know them better and present them to you, guys.
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
The band originally met and formed back in 2015 at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. The foundational music education of Martine Mauro-Wade (drums/percussion), former bassist Sean Power, Carey Ozmun (vocals/trumpet/keys), Sam Barna (guitar), and Liam Connors (vocals/guitar) set the scene for the band’s beginnings. We would perform on-campus a lot at the Stood in the formative days.
2. How did you come up with the name of the band? How about the ep's name?
The band name actually stems from a debate I had back in high school with a friend. The primary disagreement being whether or not I had brown hair or strawberry blonde hair. We both decided it fell somewhere in the middle so we agreed to disagree. The name however stuck almost instantly and I brought it with me to college and finally got a chance to use it once the band started.
The EP name is a lyric from a non-album track we released this year called “Please (Somebody Hold Me)” written by bandmate Carey Ozmun. It took awhile for us to settle on a name, but we felt that although the phrase didn’t appear on the record, it encapsulated the themes and emotions present across the EP really well. The record started to deal with the mourning associated with significant loss and trauma, as well as the profundity of relationships we share with people and the phrase “Somebody Hold Me” conjured up that feeling for us perfectly.
- Liam (vocals, guitar)
3. What inspired you in creating the ep? Is there a back story?
Martine Mauro-Wade (drums, percussion) joined in 2019 and the band spent awhile rehearsing and writing ahead of the recording process for our forthcoming EP before the pandemic hit. In January 2020, Liam lost his dad and that had a significant impact on the writing for the EP.
Songs began as a way to cope and mourn the loss, and a lot of the themes on the record became more about life and death than ever before. Once we arrived in the studio in 2021, the goal was to finish 10 songs that we could wheedle down if necessary. It was rewarding to get back into writing and getting to know each other again through the process of recording music, especially since this EP was transitional for us both personally and musically.
We genuinely want to write authentically and let the music be whatever it wants to be in the moment. We actually started writing more music together again recently, so we’re really excited about it!
4. What are your favorite tracks on the album?
It’s difficult to pick which of our own songs we enjoy the most, but we’re really proud of how tracks like “Rearview” and “Water” turned out on this new EP. We also enjoy performing the song, “Always” live a lot because of the energy, it’s become our closing song for basically every set. We want to leave the audience with something impactful and the song seems to accomplish that live.
5. How did you start your musical journey?
Carey Ozmun (vocals, synth, trumpet), Martine Mauro-Wade (vocals, drums/percussion) were all Jazz Studies majors at SUNY Purchase, so all of that experience practicing, learning from other musicians, and playing nonstop for four years definitely helped shape them musically. Sam (guitar, synth) majored in Studio production, so he’s engineered and co-produced all of our releases thus far and spent a lot of time dedicated to perfecting our sound in the studio. Liam (lead vocals, guitar) actually majored in Theatre/Performance, but minored in Studio Composition and ultimately wanted to sing and write songs in a band from the beginning. He spent most of college focused on Strawberry Blonde and working on songwriting and practicing.
6. Are there any future projects or live performances you're excited about?
Right now we are in the processing of writing our first full-length record, so creatively that’s very exciting for us! There’s a bunch of recent demo recordings and songs currently circulating within the band. We’re beginning the process of learning them together and deciding on what tracks to prioritize for a new album.
Our bandmate Carey Ozmun is releasing a new EP of solo music soon so we’re very excited for them, the first single “Curiosity” is out 9/1.
We’re also aiming to perform more in 2024 and hopefully reach new destinations, maybe play some festivals? Hopefully we’ll be finally touring in the Midwest this Spring!
7. What advice would you give to your listeners/ aspiring artists?
Keep making work no matter what the odds are, especially if you believe in the art you’re making, just keep doing it! Don’t let other people detract from your dream, especially in the age of social media. We get stuck comparing ourselves to others often. Just let it motivate you if anything. You’re still on your own path, you will get to where you want to be if you try hard enough. Remember that tomorrow is another opportunity to make a move in the right direction.
You can check out Strawberry Blonde on their social media annd listen to their music on Spotify.
Until Next Time,
Chromind
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