By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Back in 2001, *NSYNC asked, “What’s the deal with this pop life and when is it gonna fade out?” shortly before boy bands became obsolete.
Fast forward to 2021 and the term “pop band” has taken on a new meaning, which you can find embedded in the melodious, bouncy new single “Like The Weather” from Hand Made House.
No strangers to streaming success, they’ve blazed through the scene since their debut EP ‘How It Ends And Where I’m Going” and subsequent singles “Through You” and “In Bloom.”
Hand Made House are lead vocalist Tucker Click , drummer Josh Nardine, guitarist/vocalist Maison Thomas-Eudy and guitarist/vocalist Amin Mortada.
The Music Bugle had the chance to speak with the band about “Like The Weather” and more.
Music Bugle – How did you guys decide the band name?
Tucker Click – I had written a song over the Summer, right when we had decided to officially become a band and one of the lyrics was, “If hand made house and heart makes home, you’ve got what it takes to build one of your very own.” We wanted part of our brand to be inclusion and a sense of community, so we decided the idea of building our own home would be a great band name!
Music Bugle – What directly inspired your new single “Like The Weather”?
Josh Nardine – Well, when the original demo was made, we weren’t thinking of anything in particular, but once we started working on it more in-depth, we wanted to work toward that punk rock and hip-hop genre blend. Doing something like this felt new and different than what we’ve done with any of our previous releases. We’re all influenced by rock, so that was the part that came easy.
Tucker Click – Lyrically, I think I was going through some weird phases of relationships where I couldn’t figure out what I wanted. I really cared about people, but I was struggling to stay consistent in the ways I showed it. I feel like I just kind of put it out on the line with this song.
Music Bugle – How have you been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Amin Mortada – We’ve lost a lot of personal and band income from not being able to work our own jobs, play shows and sell merch at shows. It also completely changed the way we write. We started writing remotely, which is something we’d never done before. Zoom writing sessions and workshopping songs became the new norm for us. When we started to do that, the sound of our music started to change too.
Music Bugle – What do you hope for from the rest of 2021?
Maison Thomas-Eudy – I hope that shows are able to start again. I’ve been wanting to play shows since everything shut down. I miss being on stage and connecting with fans. Other than that, I’m hoping we’re able to put out more and more music.
Music Bugle – What makes you the most proud about where you come from?
Amin Mortada – Being able to connect with people through our music. Where I’m from, Lebanon, music isn’t taken seriously as a career and artists aren’t given the same support as they are win the United States. I’m proud to be an example of someone who is able to follow their dream, in whatever small way we’re doing it.
Music Bugle – What’s something that you wish happened more in today’s music industry?
Tucker Click – Supporting other artists and building a community within these artists. Living in a new city, we’ve been trying to build out our community and supporting other growing artists. We also have been trying to get out and work with new people and find new creative direction.
Music Bugle – What was it like putting together your debut EP ‘How It Ends And Where I’m Going’?
Maison Thomas-Eudy – It honestly felt like a dream come true. Even looking back on it now, I’m still proud of what we were able to accomplish. It was such a fun experience to record music like this. That was my first time recording music for real. We went through all the steps – artwork, a producer, advertising, etc.. In terms of the process, a lot of it was written while we were still in school, so we had to figure out a lot of the steps of this project while we were doing it. Luckily, Josh had some experience releasing music before we did this project, which ended up helping out a lot.
Music Bugle – What do you attribute your streaming success to?
Tucker Click – I think with “In Bloom,” it’s a meaningful song about self-growth that you can also drive to. We’ve also got an incredibly strong and supportive fanbase that truly wants nothing but the best for us. I think they’re obviously the ones to credit for any major streaming numbers.
Music Bugle – What are three of your all-time favorite albums?
Tucker Click – Between Maison and I, ‘Come Around Sundown’ from Kings Of Leon, ‘Broken Machine’ from Nothing but Thieves and The 1975’s self-titled album. This question is so hard. We both agree we have a long list of favorite albums.
Music Bugle – What’s a quote that motivates you to keep doing what you do?
Maison Thomas-Eudy – We would all agree – “Dude, I service society by rocking. I’m out there on the front lines liberating people with my music. Rocking ain’t no walk in the park, lady,” by Dewey Finn from “School Of Rock.”
*Photo Credit – Sarah Midkiff*
