INTERVIEW: House Parties
Knock, knock: it’s House Parties at the door with an invitation you can’t refuse.
This Texas-based trio, Chaney Elaine (vocals), Spencer Trinidad (guitar), and Wesley K. Jones (drums), welcomes everyone with open arms and genuine Southern hospitality. Chaney expresses the group “wants people to have a safe space where they can be themselves, where they don’t have to put up a front to be accepted. They can be themselves and just let loose.”
Fresh off a high-energy tour with Can’t Swim and Belmont, House Parties shows no signs of slowing down. The band is gearing up to release their second EP and debut under their new label, Equal Vision Records. So mark your calendars for January 19, 2024, and RSVP by pre-saving SIDE EFFECTS on your favorite streaming platform! Join Noisescape here for the pre-party as we chat with Chaney about the band’s latest single, the stories behind the new record, and more.
Photo by Trey Karnes
What’s something interesting, like a fun fact, about yourself or the band that people might not know?
Oh, here's a random one. I’m 25 and still have a baby tooth in my mouth. I can't really see it, but it’s there and has no adult tooth under it. It could fall out anytime, but I take good care of it, so I don't think it will.
No way! That's a great fun fact. And welcome home from the band’s first US tour! How was it?
That was one of the best experiences of my entire life because I opened up for two talented bands I love; it was so surreal. And their sets go so hard live. I wanted to mosh the entire time we performed with them, but I knew I'd be upset if I got hurt badly and couldn’t perform. So, on the last night of the tour at Ace of Cups, Belmont did the song I knew was right before “Pushing Daises,” and I love that song. So I shoved my way into the pit – said ‘excuse me’ – and went so hard I could not catch my breath on my way back to the green room [laughs]. I tried for one of Can’t Swim’s songs, but there was a lot of aggression in that pit, so I just stood on the outskirts. But yeah, it was just so good. We definitely want to go on more tours and festivals next year.
Was there a performance or venue that stands out from the tour?
A great moment for us was in Dallas. I think because we had the biggest crowd out of all the bands that night – which I'm not trying to flex, but what can I say? That was a really special crowd for us. We also got to play two iconic rite-of-passage venues on this tour. Chain Reaction was really, really fun. I'd always wanted to perform there, and we played to so many people in that room – it was just so cool.
Are there any instances where being a female lead has presented you with challenges or unique opportunities?
I will say that I think, as a female frontwoman, people will pay attention to you a little bit more than an all-guy band. People are kind of like, “Oh, wait a minute. You’re not a guy. Let’s pay attention to you.” So there’s that.
Being the only girl on tour and walking in on that first day, I felt like I had to prove myself a little. Not that anybody made me feel that way; I just feel like I have to do that a lot when I go places. But everyone was so sweet, and it was all good vibes. There were a couple of times on tour when I felt like people made assumptions because I’m a woman. Oh my gosh – during our Tampa show, Belmont headlined, and usually, if they do an encore, they’ll do “Country Girl.” But we never know if they will because it depends on how the lead singer’s voice feels. I was standing outside at our merch booth and heard the first couple notes of “Country Girl,” so I ran through the crowd and went up on the side stage to watch. This older guy, which I'm not even sure if he worked there or not, looked at me, and I was like, ‘Oh, I'm sorry, I just really love this song.’ Then he asked me if I was supposed to be there! Like, yes, I’m supposed to be here – I just performed two sets ago! I had a couple of other weird encounters with guys on this tour. But I do love being a frontwoman, though. When I saw Paramore and Hayley for the first time, it really inspired me. I love strong women just out there doing their thing. And I wanted to be just like her, doing that same thing. So, hopefully, I can inspire other people who want to do it.
Your latest release, “Mid-Life Crisis,” is my favorite House Parties track! I love the breakdown; it’s incredible. What’s the story behind the single?
Oh, God… It started with me wanting to eat Whataburger [laughs]. And everything I was doing to go there to get food was just not working. I had a gift card and somehow dropped it in my car, and I could not find it for the life of me. I eventually found it, drove there, missed the turn-in, and had to go this giant route to get back. I finally get there, park, and get out of the car. I look inside and see people sitting in there who don’t like me, and I don’t like them – I’m a big believer in signs, and I finally understood I just wasn’t supposed to be there. So I got back in my car – without dinner – and drove back to my apartment. I sat in my car in the parking lot and just cried. I knew I had to write a song about this, and that song became “Mid-Life Crisis.”
What inspired you to take this song in a heavier direction than your previous releases?
When we went into the studio to write these four new songs with Derek [DiScanio, from State Champs], we didn't really know what we wanted to do sound-wise. And he felt like we should make the song a little heavier, so I said, ‘Oh, yeah, let's do it.’ And honestly, it's not my favorite off our new EP; it's my second favorite. But it’s definitely my favorite out of all the songs we've released. And performing that song on tour was really fun. It was the last song of our set, and right before we’d play it, we covered “Given Up” by Linkin Park. So you’ve got a crazy song that immediately goes into this next one – people would get so into it, and mosh, it was my favorite part.
I noticed the cover art for “Mid-Life Crisis” says SIDE EFFECTS. Will this be the same cover for the new EP? Can you tell us about the symbolism in the artwork and if it relates to the new record’s theme?
Yeah, our EP is called SIDE EFFECTS, and it comes out in January. I went on Pinterest a lot to get some inspo. I kept seeing pictures of these people swinging their heads back and forth, with different emotions on each face between the blurs from the camera’s exposure. I just thought it’d be perfect for the EP because it’s all about – what I call – the background emotions behind your primary ones, like happiness, sadness, and anger. While the songs on the EP seem like they’re just about that, they’re actually not. We have a sad-sounding song, but it’s really about being insecure. “Mid-Life Crisis” sounds angry, but it’s about how I felt like my entire world was falling apart, and I wanted to cry because I was fed up. Then you have “Get A Grip,” which is about negative emotions – like those voices telling you you’re a burden, not good enough, or dumb. That song is about recognizing the negative thoughts in your head but not listening to them. So, yeah, all those are like your background emotions, as I call them, and I wanted her to show those different emotions. We had the person who designed Spiritbox’s album, Eternal Blue, work on this EP artwork, which was really cool. So I love it. It’s just perfect.
You mentioned having a favorite song from the EP. Can you share more about it?
It's the sad one. It’s called “Waterworks” and won't be out until January. But we just performed this song for our friends and family in Austin and Dallas for the first time. A very limited number of people have heard the song, which is really cool. It's a ballad. It doesn't sound like our usual stuff, but it is so, so good because it's very emotional from start to finish and has such a slow buildup. I want to say like, “Welcome to the Black Parade.” Not as hard, but it's just… whoa… at the end. It’s about insecurities and just a feeling of, “What’s wrong with me?” That kind of stuff.
In what ways do you envision, or have you already seen, your music opening up conversations about mental health?
The mental health piece definitely shows on this new EP. I guess every song on it is about my mental health, besides “Braindead” – that's just a song about stupid people. But I've had a lot of people message either the band or me, saying things like, “This helps me get through so many tough times in my life.” There's this fan I love so much, Jenna, and I know our music has helped her a lot. I check in with her now and then, so there's a good example right there. It warms my heart to know that there are people that our music has helped because mental health is very important – I've learned firsthand. These past 2-3 years have been very low, so I try to express it all in music and ride it all out. People are struggling out there, so check in on your friends.
Do you have any other PSAs, closing thoughts, or jokes you’d like to add for the readers?
I don't have any jokes, but stream our music and buy some merch. I tell everybody this: if you’d like to support a small band, I feel like our band would be really good to support. So, if you like us, pre-save our album and buy stuff from our merch store. Any bit of money helps small bands out a lot.
PRE-SAVE SIDE EFFECTS HERE
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