THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Goodbye Honolulu’s self-titled debut album blurs the lines between power-pop, country, hip hop, lo-fi, garage rock, psychedelia and more. To create the diverse collection of tracks, Goodbye Honolulu worked with seasoned producers Ben Cook (Fucked Up, No Warning, Young Guv) and Tony Price (US Girls, Slim Twig, Ice Cream, Michael Rault) who helped to lead the band down an entirely new path, creatively and sonically.
Goodbye Honolulu don’t have just one frontman; Goodbye Honolulu have four individual songwriters and three frontmen who each bring a different quality and sound to the band. Combining their passion for ’60s garage rock, ’80s new wave, punk and electronic music, the band have created a collection of songs that never stick to one sound.
During the album recording process, the band dealt with many weird happenings — no surprise as the record was recorded in an abandoned movie theatre turned recording studio in the east end of Toronto, where they lived and recorded for 11 days. A visit by the spirit of a woman and a dog during one of their overnight stays inspired both the album’s choice of cover art as well as many songs and lyrics on the record. The lyrics for recently released album track You and Me’certainly reflect the idea of being haunted.
Goodbye Honolulu met in high school (well, actually Max and Emmett met on Halloween in Grade 2, when they both turned up at school dressed as James Bond). During their teens they played in each other’s musical projects and even started their own label (that boasted a roster of 14 Toronto bands in its heyday). These formative years saw the Goodbye Honolulu members busy playing in bars, curating their own concerts and festivals, honing their live skills and self-releasing multiple albums a year on Bandcamp. The band cut their teeth playing rowdy and sweaty rooms across Canada and the U.S.A., touring with bands such as Hinds, Kate Nash, The Beaches, Luna Li and more.”
