5 Questions With: Booze Radly
The Philly emo band stop by to talk about their latest EP, Philly's smooth jazz stations, and taking a box set along as one of your Desert Island Discs.
Good morning!
Today we’re talking with Pete & Dylan from Philly-based Booze Radly
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Booze Radly is a Philly-based indie emo band. The bands are Alex Manescu (Guitar, Vocals, shaker), Dylan Molloy (Keys, Vocals, Guitar), Vince Dejesus (Guitar, Vocals, Mixing & Mastering, shaker), Youssef Moussa (Bass), and Pete Sovia (Drums, Saxophone).
Dylan and Alex first met as young kids, with Pete and Alex becoming friends in high school. Now in their 10th year together, the band has played dozens of shows, released several singles, and six records.
Their latest EP the fantastic Lose, Badly was released in March of this year. They have continued playing shows to support the new record, including several upcoming shows this month.
This song was an attempt at the time-honored tradition in emo of self-deprecation. I wanted something to drop kick the EP open that could also explore self-reflexively addressing rote clichés in emo music. I’m sure I’ll revisit the well of love lost for musical inspiration but I didn’t want to be above having a laugh at my own expense.
~Dylan Molloy on the inspiration behind the EP’s lead track, “White Guy Emo”
I recently got a chance to catch up with Pete & Dylan via email.
Our chat has been lightly edited for clarity/flow.
Can you color in a little bit of the band’s backstory? What made you get started? Each of you had been in bands prior. Were any of you playing together in previous bands?
Pete: I’ve known Alex since high school, and one time back then, he made me drum along to him playing “The Rock Show” by blink-182 in my parent’s basement, and now we’re here.
Dylan: I’ve known Alex since I was 7 or 8, and we were in a high school band together called The Manhattan Project. We lost Battle of the Bands to my other HS band, Gorp. Alex was studying abroad in England and wrote most of our Whitechapel Nights EP and then sent me demos asking if I wanted to do bass for them after already having recruited Vince (guitarist) and Pete to help fill out the full band versions of the songs.
What’s your take on the Philly scene? Who’s flying under the radar that we should know about?
Pete: Philadelphia’s music scene might be too big for me to have a quick take on without submitting a properly thought-out and organized dissertation. Some points of discussion from that essay would be:
“Too many bands, too little venues.”
“Porch Fest: Even more bands than you originally thought.”
“The jazz here is amazing until the musicians find out NYC is only an hour and a half away.”
“Curtis is better than Juilliard.”
“The orchestra needs to go back to white tie.”
Dylan: Philly’s music scene is huge; great shows are always going on. There are some great house venues like Luigi’s Mansion and Lucky Aide. The Tabernacle is a great place to go if you want acoustic shows. There are some sick spots like Philamoca and Ukie Club that 4333 Collective books bangers at, and then some of the bars in the city also throw great shows like Johnny Brenda’s, Century, Ortlieb’s, Grape Room, and so many more.
Some of the local bands that I’ve seen that I really enjoy are: Comprador, Best Bear, Johnny Football Hero, Tragesty, and Harmony Woods.
Who (if anyone) would you say influenced the record's sound?
Pete: I felt influenced and inspired by my own bandmates. We have all been friends and bandmates for so long that I feel a sort of immediate synergy or sixth sense to playing drums along to the songs.
Dylan: We incorporated a lil more skramz and surf rock influence on this EP than our past works. I’d say early Wavves was an influence for the song “Surf Jawn.” At the Drive-In is a big influence for me and our guitarist Vince, and I think “Admission of Infirmity” is the track that makes that pretty obvious. The outro on “Crash and Burn” was us trying to inject a little more of a classic rock vibe in the vein of Blue Oyster Cult.
It’s early, but how has the reception to the latest EP been?
Pete: Alex’s girlfriend told me the other day that she “actually kind of likes some of the songs.”
Dylan: It’s definitely gotten more attention than I anticipated. A bunch of independent press outlets and podcasts have been kind enough to cover it and help promote it. I was very excited when Lonely Ghost Records almost immediately agreed to put it out on tape for us. So many bands that we like have reached out with kind words and asked to play shows with us, including Danger Club, Afloat, Paper Geese, Scarlet Street, Glazed, Career Day, and so many more.
What’s next? Back to the studio? I could've sworn I saw mention of an upcoming LP. Out on the road? Any plans to head out of the NE at all?
Pete: I don’t think any of those things are planned or set in stone yet, but most are very likely/possible.
Dylan: We have about four fully demoed songs and are working on fleshing out a bunch of other half-written songs (probably 20 or so) and trying to cobble together an album. We’re hoping to be ready to start tracking LP2 by the end of the year. We have a handful of shows planned between now and August and then will be turning our focus to more writing and practice sessions of our new material so we can really get a head of steam towards finishing the next album. In the meantime, we have a cover EP Vince is in the process of mixing/mastering.
Booze Radly- Lose, Badly 2023
Click on the record to listen on your platform of choice.
You can connect with Booze Radly and check out their music in the following places:
Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram | Twitter | Lonely Ghost Records |
5 Questions:
1. Describe your musical taste in one sentence.
Pete: Booze Radly’s music style is blink-182 + whatever the last album Alex has listened to, which might just be more blink-182
Dylan: We all met when we were teenagers and enjoyed fast skate punk at that time, so that’s always a big influence, but we have been trying to expand our sound with each release, so hopefully, it’s always changing and becoming more unique over time.
2. What music played in your house(s) growing up?
Pete: There was not much music in my house growing up, but I distinctly remember my dad had a Meatloaf cassette, and the car radio was locked onto Smooth Jazz WJJZ 106.1 FM Philadelphia.
Dylan: A lot of classic rock, some Mo-town, some classical, some funk
3. What are you listening to these days?
Pete: I guess quite literally, the last five albums I listened to are:
Roswell Rudd – Inside Job
Dan Andriano In the Emergency Room – Party Adjacent
Marcello Melis - The New Village On The Left...
Lonnie Liston Smith - Live!
Frameworks - Loom
Dylan: I’ve been listening to a lot of Thursday, Lower Definition, Lupe Fiasco, Quelle Chris, and Igorrr recently. As far as DIY bands go, the new Kerosene Heights album, Drive Kid’s 2021 album Everything Awake, Johnny Football Hero’s 2021 EP Complacency, and the new singles by Trustfall (Entropy and Shed is Church) and Tether (Fractures) have been getting a lot of plays on my Apple Music.
4. What are your 5 Desert Island Discs?
Pete: I’m going to cheat and take my 14-disc Beatles in Mono vinyl box set since I’m taking that to the grave anyway. Otherwise, I hope my boat stops at a record store before sinking and leaving me stranded. I’d rather have music I’ve never heard before to dig into on the desert island than listen to the same old shit I’ve already heard 1,000 times.
Dylan:
Against Me!- Searching for a Former Clarity
Slingshot Dakota- Their Dreams Are Dead, but Ours Are the Golden Ghost
Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
Yes- Fragile
The Horrible Crowes - The Horrible Crowes
5. If you could collaborate with any artist/band, who would it be?
Pete: Speaking of The Beatles, we might as well get Ringo or Paul on a track before they die.
Dylan: I feel like my answer to this would change depending on my mood at any given time, but right now, I’d say Laura Jane Grace
Thanks to Pete & Dylan for stopping by, and thank you for being here,
Kevin—
I like Pete’s answer for his Deserted Island Discs! Great read, as always.