Photo Credit: UV Lucas

They went through some shake-ups but it’s safe to say Full Bush is once again full, and I was happy to talk to all four of them about being a member down at a certain point, snacks, and their new record, ‘Movie Night,’ which is out now.

Which, on top of the new album – Full Bush has a new custom tee out and if you pick up one of those, you’ll be helping out a few of the band’s favorite charities; Loveland Foundation, Morris Home, The Innocence Project. They noted, “We have played shows and given songs for charitable causes. It is something that we always are down to do and is part of what we want to do as a band. Working and giving back to our community.”

So keep on reading on, check out the album, and pick it and that sweet tee up!

Kendra: So let’s go back to last year, there was a moment when you went from 4 to 3 back to 4. What was that period like for everyone?

Ade: It was a time of uncertainty and we were experiencing a lot of things that we never thought we would experience. For me, it was watching a lot of focus being put on the death of Black folks and re-analyzing my space in a band with white folks. It helped us take time to ask the actual questions of what does family, friendship, and love look like

Cassie: A combined feeling of loss, self-doubt, fear, ambition, creativity, introspection, confusion, but also a lot of hope. It’s a reminder that you can plan for a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather (thank you Outkast) and that life is about how you respond to it.

Jay: That period, to me, reflected a lot of uncertainty that was felt all around us. We were just starting to understand what Covid-19 was and starting to hear words like “quarantine” and “global pandemic.” We were also informed by our singer that she was starting a family and as a first-time parent, was not sure what her life was going to look like with that change. At some point, I think we weren’t even sure if it was safe to physically be around one another based on all of the information and misinformation at the early stages of last year

Kate: It was a really important time for me…. had a life reset, and only contacted the band when the timing felt absolutely right when we just had to come together to employ our music in a great cause to help others.

KendraOnce the dust had settled and things were moving along as they once were, did you all immediately get to work on what would become ‘Movie Night?’

Ade: We had been working on the songs for many, many moons before we got to record it. I think once we were all together again as the original 4-piece, it was a different vibe of the way we approached creating music, even our older work. We learned what our music can do once we took our time to experiment with different layers and sounds. And I believe, gave us an idea of how we wanted to move forward in creating new work and performances.

Cassie: We were already performing 75% of the songs on ‘Movie Night’ before we put everything on an EP.

Jay: This EP has been in the works long before the band experienced any member updates. I specifically remember debuting “Movie Night” at a show we had downstairs at the Barbary and watching folks seem to really respond to the vibe changes within the song. It really made me feel like we were heading in the right direction and gave me a gut-check for the rest of the songs we wrote that became the full ‘Movie Night’ EP. It was really great getting to play these songs during our live shows to get that audience feedback and the evolution of these songs felt really communal

Kate: ‘Movie Night’ had been in the works for a while. I remember writing the song “Movie Night” in my basement for that brief moment in time before Jay’s parents built their above-garage music studio, and that was the summer before the pandemic. I reached out to the band in an out-of-the-blue text during the protests last summer. The intention initially was to get our yet unrecorded handful of songs onto an EP, “even just something quick and dirty” so that we could use the momentum of a recording to connect with non-profits and use our established clout to make some money for people in need.

I remember everyone was understandably a little surprised to hear from me and to see the urgency and conviction in my request and, gratefully, agreed that we all wanted to do something to help and to see that the songs we wrote and love so much get recorded and shared with the world. So when we got back together we hit the ground running with recordings at Jay’s. It only took a few run-throughs to get out the cobwebs, but we knew the songs so well we were ready to get down to it. Ultimately we did switch our recording from quick and dirty to laying it down with Dave Downham at Gradwell, and I’m glad that we did because they came out sounding so good, I’m still just tickled by the recordings.

Kendra: Growing up obsessed with going to the local video store, movie nights were always my favorite! With that, if you had to compare your single, “Movie Night” to a classic movie snack, and the album as a whole to a movie genre, which snack and genre would each be and why?

Cassie: I also loved my local video store!!! ‘Movie Night’ is like a bite of the perfect Raisinets to buttered popcorn ratio (or Butterfinger pieces if that’s your thing) because it’s the best of both worlds while watching your favorite romantic coming-of-age-in-your-30s sci-fi thriller.

Kate: Oh man…such a toughie I love it! I’ll tackle the genre first – I want to call it a revenge thriller. With “Spooky” and “Wild Heart,” both very different songs but they both address a strong female character. “Wild Heart” is about ultimately embracing all sides of yourself, and “Spooky” is about a vampire woman who doles out justice to men that have it coming to them.

“Sweet N’ Low” is the early side of the story, on the bargaining side of an abusive relationship, and the song “Movie Night” has moved on to straight anger and calling out the shitty behavior of ex-relationships. And finally “One Second” invites us to see that all of your demons are your teachers and your difference is your strength. I think the single, “Movie Night” as a snack is an Atomic Warhead. It starts out sweet, but then turns explosive!

Jay: 100% what Kate said

Ade: I never did movie nights and snack nights because my mom had me on lockdown and it was very strict so I’m going to go with what Kate said, haha.

Kendra: Sticking with “Movie Night,” that song gets insanely heavy in the best way possible. Did you all grow up in the punk scene or were some of you pop-punk, some emo, some even screamo?

Ade: Growing up I listened to a lot of rap, R&B, pop, go-go (drum and bass-heavy music native to D.C.), and alternative rock. When I got into my senior year of high school and college I started getting into emo (like the beginning of it when At The Drive-In was part of that), Thursday, System of A Down, A Perfect Circle, Blink 182, New Found Glory, Beck, a lot of alternative rock. A lot of my friends in college that I spent time with were in grindcore, hardcore, and metal which felt seamless. Also because the tiny town that I went to college had a lot of DIY spaces I dig artsy, experimental, noisy, music. I’m sort of all over the place and I think that comes through.

Cassie: I didn’t start listening to music as heavy as “Movie Night” until my 20s. I guess I fell more into the indie rock and pop-punk scene when it came to going to shows as a kid (the first time I experienced ringing in my ears was after seeing The Starting Line, Finch, Something Corporate on tour in 2002 at the Hollywood Palladium) but driving around with my mom and dad, which I did a lot of growing up in LA, the most consistent thing for me was 50s/60s/70s rock, pop, and soul.

Jay: The very first bands I was in as a pre-teen were all hardcore and screamo bands. I loved Norma Jean and the Dillinger Escape Plan and Underoath…and skinny SKINNY jeans. I was immediately influenced as a guitarist and writer by late 90s AFI (ya know, when they were still a sweet Cali punk band). I always loved the speed and passion of the early 2000s Rise Against. I also DEFINITELY fell into my hair straightener between 2003-2009 and absolutely had my moments with New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy, and Saves the Day. I went through plenty of phases within my musical taste and something my closest friends will all tell you: I still listen to the same music I grew up with. I’m heavily influenced by 90s alternative rock (will always miss y100 100.3FM, BABY) and those nostalgic punk and hardcore bands that ran the scene between 2000-2009

Kate: I am probably the only band member to not have any real punk/metal/screamo in my background. The hardest I got was honestly like Nirvana or Foo Fighters (which I know are not hard…but Dave Grohl does scream kinda frequently). Pop-punk and emo yes, lots of Yellowcard and Dashboard back in the day. But I lean more towards grunge/alternative/rock. Third Eye Blind was my favorite band when I was 13 if that tells you anything.

Kendra: You do have a show coming up in Philly on December 16th. Will this be one of your first back since the pandemic?

Full Bush: This will actually be our third show but it will be the biggest one we’ve had since shows have started back up.

Kendra: Time for a side note…With the holidays coming up, I’m asking everyone this month, if you could ask Santa, for one thing, this year what would it be?

Jay: The spontaneous combustion of capitalism…?

Cassie: Well now I feel like I can’t ask Santa for a Full Bush van because of Jay’s answer!!! A Full Van. Full Van.

Ade: Santa, please wipe out rent hahaha but like absolutely what Jay said

Kate: Santa, I want a Cintiq Pro 24. Thank you.

Kendra: Okay, back to the music – with 2021 almost being over, what can people be on the lookout from you as we head into the start of 2022?

Ade: We are working on a new full-length, touring, and are also working on covering the entirety of Toxicity by System of A Down.

Cassie: More shows, more new tunes, more art, more initiatives, more merch, more connection, more friends, more truth, more Full Bush.

Jay: Texture, depth, additional instruments, new covers, and the continuation of not being able to readily identify the genre that is Full Bush music

Kate: So December sees the release of the EP, and going into 2022 we have planned to dedicate the first few months of the year to writing new music. We won’t be up to much publicly right out of the gate, but by March expect to catch a show with all new tunes for your ear holes.