We interviewed pop-punk band Homebound to discuss their latest E.P., pop-punk resurgence and their supporting tour with Four Year Strong.

By Jane Howkins.

You have a new E.P. coming out in February called The Mould You Build Yourself Around. We’ve listened to it and we liked it a lot, what can you tell our readers about it?

Thanks very much! The E.P. name is based on the idea that choosing to be in a band and pursue music has shaped my morals, what I value in life, my personality, the decisions I make (whether serious or trivial) etc – literally everything and anything to do with who I am today. The songs specifically depict times where these things have come into act and have affected my life and relationships with others. I think this release sounds a lot bigger and mature than anything we have done previously, and darker too. It’s a lot closer to where we want to be musically as a band and I think this release will give us a strong platform to move forward on.

The first single released from the E.P. was Headspace. Why did you choose that song to be the lead single, and what can you tell us about it? We found out of the five songs on the E.P., it was the one that stuck most in our heads.

We felt Headspace best represented the E.P. as a whole, encompassing all the different themes within it. If you liked Headspace, then there would definitely be another song on TMYBYA for you.

You recently released another track from the E.P. as a single, called Sonder. What can you tell us about that and do you plan to release any more singles from the E.P.?

I came across a book written by an author who coined terms that aim to fill a hole in the English language, giving a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. One of those was Sonder which was described as “the realization that each random passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” This really resonated with me and helped me to see that we as individuals get so caught up in our own lives that we often forget there are others sharing the same experiences. Up until now, we hadn’t written a song like this so we were excited to get this one out and see what people thought and it’s gone down very well. This will be the last single before the E.P. is released on February 10th.

Do you have any plans for an album release in the near future? This is your third E.P., and we would love to hear a full length release from you.

We have begun writing for an album but there’s not an awful lot more that can be said. It’s in the very early stages of writing and we’ll be recording it sometime this year. We anticipate we’ll have an album out next year at some point.

You’re signed to Rude Records, an independent label that have quite a few well known pop-punk bands signed to them. How did that happen, and how does it feel to be signed to such a label?

We started talking to them last summer and things started moving pretty quickly from then on. For where we are as a band, we knew they would be a great fit for us moving forward with this E.P. Their enthusiasm and support has been awesome and they have been nothing but a pleasure to work with.

There’s been a pop-punk resurgence over the last year or so. Is that something that has interested you, and are there any bands from the movement that you particularly recommend our readers check out?

The U.K. music scene is generally in a golden age of sorts right now but there are some cool bands that deserve of your attention like Weatherstate, Wallflower, and Six Time Champion to name a few.

You’re supporting Four Year Strong on a few dates in October. How excited are you for that, and how did that come about?

We can’t wait, it feels like forever since we last toured. They’ll be the biggest shows we’ve played and this is the first chance for us to play tracks from The Mould You Build Yourself Around, so to say we’re excited is an understatement. To celebrate 10 years of an album is a huge milestone for any band, so for us to be a part of it is very humbling. With ourselves and FYS being under the same management, everyone involved was very keen for us to be part of this tour and we were kindly invited to play, which we duly accepted!

Were you fans of the band before being invited to tour with them?

Absolutely, we’ve grown up listening to the band so for now to be playing with them is very, very cool!

Who would you say you are most influenced by, and what have you been listening to recently?

We all have diverse music tastes which we try to reflect in the music we write, and that will be explored more in future records. This E.P. itself encompasses lots of different vibes; some not typically associated with pop-punk and others that certainly weren’t inspired by it. Recently, I’ve really been jamming to Microwave and the new Trophy Eyes record.

Do you have any plans for a headline tour of your own this year?

Nothing at the moment, I think the rest of the year will see us feature more in a supporting capacity as a bid to get our name out there more but you never know, we’ll see.

What can people expect from a Homebound show, and why do you think people should come and see you play live?

We take great pride in our performances and really set out to put on the best show we can. You can expect it to be fast, intense and obviously loud. We like to get the crowd involved where we can so singalongs are more than welcome.

Any last words for the fans?

Thanks to everyone who has checked out the singles we’ve released so far! We release The Mould You Build Yourself Around on February 10th.

Read our review of The Mould You Build Yourself Around here