Interview with Homecoming
What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
A mix of parental influence and music as a whole. Blink 182 were a massive influence on so many aspects of my teenage and young adult years. If we weren’t doing music we’d probably be in the same place we are now, just instead of playing it we’d be watching it wishing we were playing it!!
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
Either exercising, track days, watching other local bands, spending time with family. Family time specifically has a very positive influence on our music and songs
How long has your band been around?
The band originally formed in 2017, but the Homecoming UK that you know and love pretty much started when Paul joined in 2022
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
We’re spread over the west midlands, with Birmingham as our main gig hub! Its definitely shaped some songs and song writing, especially our song “Untitled Political Song”, which is stylistically very different to the rest of our music, but it is and was representative of where we were at a certain time
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
Nice and simple…there was a Spider-Man Homecoming poster in the rehearsal room. Kinda fit really well
Tell me about your most memorable shows.
We’ve been really fortunate enough to have so so many memorable shows.
A real highlight would be our most recent show in Birmingham at Muthers, with our best friends in the scene “Chasing The Fall” and supported by “Failed to Ignite”
We had songs where there was collaboration and members from each others band on stage with each other
What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
Again, its another hard one (that’s what she said) to choose.
The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham will always remain a favorite to us. So many good fun and sweaty shows!
We’d love to play at the o2 Institute in Brum too…or the Utilia!
If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
OOOF. If we’re talking big bands I’d say
Blink 182
Homecoming
Chasing the Fall
Local bands, we get so much say on who its with!
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?
Practice, practice so much. Use any negative comments towards your art to fuel ideas
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
Don’t let the dude from Always loving Lisa near your guitar…he’ll throw a plug at it
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
Theres 2, and I can’t choose between them.
The first is FN2187, written about my (Michael) son. We end every set with it and we even have a super cool choreographed jump!
The second would be our current song we’re pushing, DKMS. Written about Michaels experience and feelings donating stem cells! We’ve just released a video for it and are donating every royalty payment tot the charity DKMS UK
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
Either Empty Notoriety or My D20 Just Rolls Eleven, though the most requested one is usually our rendition of “I Wan’na Be Like You” from the Jungle Book!
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
Inspiration comes from so many places. Some just random stories in my head, some from real life.
The songs are usually started solo, then bought to the band for the rest of the creative input
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
Again, song dependent. DKMS the message is to sign up and donate. Empty Notoriety is about the unfair system where people can get fame for literally sitting in a house
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
We have had disagreements in the past, though now we seem to all be on a similar level and mindset.
When we have had them, we talk
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
We’d like to really spotlight our video and song DKMS, as the more streams it gets, the more money we raise for chairty!
Other than that, our plans are business as usual! Gig, write, record, repeat!