HUNNY is in a new era. While starting out over a decade ago as a fully-fledged group, this is the first release where vocalist and guitarist Jason Yarger is all that remains.
Hailing from Newbury Park, California, HUNNY formed in 2014. The long-term lineup featured Jason alongside guitarist Jake Goldstein, bassist Kevin Grimmett, and drummer Joey Anderson. The group released a smattering of singles and EPs introducing their hook-laden, indie-bop-driven sound, before unleashing their shimmering debut ‘Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.’ in 2019, after original bassist Gregory Ho left. With the minor line-up change and sonic tweaks, in 2023 came their second album ‘New Planet Heaven’, after which things went on to change drastically.
The new figurehead of HUNNY is currently huddled in the back of a van in Ohio, or Illinois, he can’t remember; such is the life of a touring artist. He’s two days out from the release of his third album, and it’s only just come back into his mind that it’s happening. After a stressful start to tour, featuring a broken-down van and various other hiccups, this new era finds Jason embracing everything from fun to his weirdest and wildest sonic ideas. Being a lone wolf, in fact, suits him.
“I definitely do think that I work better when it’s 2 am, in my little bedroom studio,” Jason says of his newfound unleashed creativity. In his darkened corners he’s able to chase rabbits down their holes, akin to a synthpop Alice in Wonderland. He even recalls a previous label offering them up various songwriters around LA, and after giving it a go, he figured that HUNNY just doesn’t work like that. Even with his previous bandmates, while there was a creative fluidity to their partnership, it wasn’t smooth sailing. “It was different. We’d jam on stuff together, and that’s how we came up with a lot of nice songs that we have,” he explains, “but I definitely feel the most creative when it’s just me sitting by myself. I flow a lot better that way, and I can do anything.”
“I work better when it’s 2 am, in my little bedroom studio”
Of course, this means that a whole new heap of responsibility has fallen on his shoulders. “Besides the stress of doing all the other stuff… every single little decision is now mine, which was kind of the case before. But at the very least, I could be like, Guys, what do you think about this? And they’d be like, Yeah, cool. You made the right decision,” he chuckles. Going solo has made him realise just how much responsibility the band once shared. But with that comes the ultimate prize for an artist: “Besides the stress, I would say that this is so far the most fulfilling release.”
The release in question, ‘SPIRIT!’, is a very fitting step out into the world for Jason. The latter days of HUNNY found schedules conflicting, and an inability to get together meant the creativity was stifled, so Jason began the early stages of HUNNY’s third outing alone and found things running smoother than anticipated. When they eventually discussed Jason continuing on solo, he remembers thinking, “Okay, cool, perfect, this works out.” It’s what also gave him the freedom to explore new sonic avenues without having to run them through the rest of the band, it gave him the chance to find the fun in making music again. “I definitely liked being able to just [do] whatever stupid little thing pops into my brain,” he laughs. Which is where ‘SPIRIT!’ finds its, erm, spirit. It was all about embracing every whim and fancy that came to mind, some that had been cooking for a while, and others that sprang from the freedom.
“I definitely liked being able to just do whatever stupid little thing pops into my brain”
With the road ahead clear, he’s embraced every idea he’s concocted, and a few courtesy of ex-bandmate and current producer Kevin, but one of the most notable, and integral, pieces of ‘SPIRIT!’ is the cheerleader motif. While the word was already kicking around in his subconscious, soon the visuals and the sonic element of chants appeared in a good chunk of the tracks.
“I’ve wanted to just call an album ‘Spirit’ for, I think, five or six years now. I’ve had it in my Notes app: ‘Call an album ‘Spirit’, with a banner’, the album cover was in my head before the album was,” he says. Following this through with the chanting, including the very ones which open the album on ‘Title Track’, all of the happenstance clicked into place. “I’m just trying to have more fun and get back to… I don’t like the word whimsy or anything really, but that’s more of a British word. Maybe your readers will like me saying whimsy, actually!”
To give life to these ideas, he branched out to the HUNNY fanbase that has been built up over the last decade. Requesting vocals for the specific parts, he received an avalanche of responses which he had to wade through to separate the wheat (harmonious) from the chaff (shouting). “I was combing through everybody and was like, I love you, and I love the enthusiasm, but it sounds really bad,” he laughs. But the effect from the eventual whittled-down number is tangible, this new era of HUNNY is off to a rousing start. Which is good, because now at the helm, Jason isn’t quite sure where he’s off to next, but that’s the exciting part. Put simply, “I need that gone from everybody’s brains,” he says of any expectations levied at HUNNY. That’s Jason burning it all down and starting again, and ‘SPIRIT!’ is the lighter.
While HUNNY is going through this evolutionary period, it’s given Jason pause to consider just what it is that makes HUNNY, HUNNY. While noting that he has certain go-tos when writing, one in particular, that arpeggiated synth sound glowing around the melodious beams he writes, has become synonymous with HUNNY, and which he’s going to find hardest to let go. “I have to write a song without a fucking synthesiser doing an arpeggio on the fucking chorus,” he laughs. “But I don’t know if I can ever stop doing that. It sounds so good.”
“I have no idea what the hell is going to happen”
But the future finds Jason fired up. With ‘SPIRIT!’ under his belt, he’s raring to explore the depths of his musical creativity. “I make so much different-sounding music at home, I try a lot of different weird shit. There’s always been stuff that doesn’t necessarily fit the HUNNY mould, you know? I’m trying to get that mould the fuck out of here. I want to sound like anything.” He notes that he’s particularly keen on making jungle and drum and bass music for fun, so if there’s ever a chance of a HUNNY remix album, now’s the time. “Now I’m thinking it is just me behind the wheel here. If I feel like putting out a fucking jungle EP, maybe I just put out a jungle EP and people can be confused about that,” he defiantly beams.
For Jason, that unpredictability isn’t a threat; it’s the point. When all is said and done, and when ‘SPIRIT!’ bounds its way into the world, no matter what happens, he’s found a new lease on his creative life. It doesn’t make it less scary, but in less than 48 hours from our chat, he’ll know how he stands as a creative driving force. “Two sleeps from now, people could be like, ‘Holy shit, HUNNY really lost the plot on this one’, like ‘They should have kept the band together’,” he laughs, before embracing the chaos and artistic freedom it offers: “I have no idea what the hell is going to happen.”
HUNNY’s album ‘SPIRIT!’ is out now.
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