It’s been quite the year for lovelytheband. The L.A.-based indie alt-rock trio consisting of Mitchie Collins (vocals, guitar), Jordan Greenwald (guitar, keys) and Sam Price (drums) formed in 2016 and has now been named Billboard’s Top New Rock Artist for 2018. They also sit at No. 8 on the year-end Top Rock Artists list.
Lovelytheband’s breakthrough single, “Broken,” also remains in the top 10 of the year-end Alternative Songs tally, though it now sits at No. 6 after peaking at No. 1 and spending 55 straight weeks on the list.
The band will be at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom later this week (December 18) performing with The Interrupters as part of 94.7-FM’s December to Remember.
Lovelytheband set aside some time at the 2018 Bumbershoot music festival in September to speak with the Emerald after its set. The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and style.
Emerald: First thing’s first. How did you guys all meet?
Mitchie Collins: Alcohol, Instagram and wings.
Sam Price: That about covers it.
MC: And “On The Rocks…”
Jordan Greenwald: …Which is a bar we go to.
E: Go ahead and describe your sound.
MC: Our sound is very cinematic-ish. Emotional.
SP: Big, big emphasis on emotional.
MC: Scenic. Ambience. Gardens of guitars.
SP: What about drums, Mitchell?
MC: Uh, drums honestly is the worst part about our sound. Our percussion element is very subpar.
[All laugh]
SP: That’s how we describe our music.
MC: Booming, triumphant beats.
JG: Too much triangle.
MC: Honestly, the triangle is the unsung hero of our album.
JG: Yeah, it is!
SP: I play that the most in one of our songs. That’s what I do the most.
E: What are your musical influences?
MC: Our influence is life, being a human.
E: On that note, during your set, you mentioned you wrote a song about Coachella.
MC: I did write a song about Coachella, on the way home from Coachella. And that was a very good weekend. But it’s also about Coachella as a mindset. It’s finding your euphoria, finding your good place and surrounding yourself with the people that bring you there.
E: Do you guys ever go to festivals to hang out and not to perform
MC: All the time.
JG: Especially Mitchie.
MC: Love, love festivals. We’ve been playing a lot, so the last festival I just went to was Coachella.
SP: But since then we’ve played Lolla.
MC: Lolla, Hot 100, Hangout Fest, Mo Pop. A lot.
E: Moving on, what would you say was a crucial moment for lovelytheband’s career?
MC: “Broken” reacting the way it has. It kind of changed everything.
E: “Broken” was the number one on alt radio for quite some time.
MC: Yeah, it was. And still is the longest running number one of 2018. We’re crossing our fingers as we get toward the end of the year.
JG: December’s coming for it!
MC: It’s exciting.
JG: It’s been amazing.
E: What was the first time you heard the song play on the radio?
MC: In Sam’s car, we heard it on KROQ in LA.
SP: But we knew it was coming. The first time we heard it organically without expecting it was in New York.
MC: It felt pretty wild. It sounded really cool on the radio.
SP: Even now, like several months later, we hear it in a restaurant…
MC: … and still pull out our phones and be like…
SP: … “Oh my god, where’s the speaker!?”
MC: But every time its like, “wow, this is crazy.”
E: This last question is a fun one. We’re here at Bumbershoot, which I just learned three days ago is another word for “umbrella.” A lot of Oregonians refuse to use umbrellas. If it’s pouring rain do you use an umbrella? Yes or no?
MC: I think if you’re at a festival, and it’s pouring, you just have to embrace it. Because it’s going to be disgusting no matter what. But if you’re just running out and in then hell yeah I’m using an umbrella. I don’t want to mess up my hair!
JG: I’m going to use an umbrella 98 percent of the time. Definitely. The other two percent if it’s just like the point of no return. And you fall in a puddle and you’re like, “well, this is fine.”
SP: Honestly, most times I reach for a jacket. I don’t even think I own an umbrella. But, I would gladly get under one if someone has one.
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