Q&A: Sweet Pill Unleashes Emotional Firepower at Riot Fest
COMMUNITY-DRIVEN SOUND ROOTED IN HONESTY AND SHARED EXPERIENCE – Philadelphia’s Sweet Pill is a band that doesn't just play music – they live and breathe the pulse of their scene. This full immersion into their local emo, pop, and hardcore circles is reflected in their sound, which marries the vulnerability of emo with the raw edge of hardcore and the catchy pop hooks. On Saturday, September 21, fans attending Riot Fest experienced Sweet Pill’s set to be an emotional catharsis.
Led by vocalist Zayna Youssef, whose emotive vocals strike the perfect balance between fragility and fierceness, the band crafts songs that erupt with intensity. Their debut album, Where the Heart Is, was a powerful testament to this duality, blending piercing guitar riffs, thundering drums, and poignant lyrics that touch on themes of heartbreak, identity and self-realization.
The band's connection to their community informs their music – there’s a sense of honesty and shared experience that fuels their sound, making their performances feel deeply personal. Riot Fest, a festival known for showcasing alternative and punk acts that challenge the norm, feels like the perfect stage for a band that pushes the boundaries of emo’s core elements.
With Sweet Pill’s passionate performances and their dedication to their roots, their set at Riot Fest was a fan favorite for anyone who loves the blend of raw emotion and high-octane energy. Riot Fest felt like home for Sweet Pill, a space where their music – and the emotions behind it – can be felt, heard and shared with an audience ready to embrace every note.
Luna had an exclusive behind-the-scenes interview with Sweet Pill’s frontwoman, Zayna, where she reflected on the band's journey, their connection to the Philadelphia music scene and what Riot Fest means to them. She spoke candidly about the deeply personal nature of Sweet Pill's music, explaining how their tight-knit bond with the local community and DIY scene influences their sound and fuels their performances.
Photography Credit: Heriberto Gallegos
LUNA: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar yet, what kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
ZAYNA: Honestly, our music in itself, I think it's just for people who are anxious and stressed out, I swear, just to not feel so alone about it. That's what it was for me when I was younger and going to shows. It's like, here's a space with people who have like minded interests and I don't feel so alone in my everyday world when I come to these shows. I hope that our concerts and our shows are these fun spaces that you look forward to going to, and then while you're there, you forget about the outside world a little bit. That's kind of the point.
LUNA: You released your Starchild EP earlier this year. How do you feel you’ve matured as artists and storytellers with the release of this project?
ZAYNA: Thanks for asking that. We released Starchild and we made a music video that was 11 minutes long, and it's a conceptual video that goes with every song. The whole thing is a video. We had to really think about that. I think creatively, it's a cool concept. It's about a life cycle and different stages of life, that your life is so powerful, different things you'll be feeling like as a kid, or as a teenager, as an adult, or even as a senior. That was the point of that. Now we're thinking about the themes of our music, and more than just like, ‘hey, let's create a cool tune,’ yeah? I think that's the direction we're heading in now.
LUNA: Were there any specific breakthroughs or lessons you learned while creating Starchild that you plan on carrying over to your future releases and projects?
ZAYNA: I think we realized that we can't focus. We're a band that cannot focus because we get asked to do stuff all the time, and we say yes, yes, yes. And so even Starchild, they were like, ‘hey, like, do you guys want to release something?’ And we said okay. We made an EP and released it in no time. I think what we broke through and realized is that if we schedule time, like we made cabin trips and escaped everyday life, we really can sit down and enjoy what we're doing, because we released Where the Heart Is, and just did non stop touring for two years and we burnt out. We have to designate time for mental health and taking care of ourselves. With our band, we need to take care of ourselves and understand when we shouldn't be playing music and when we should. I think we made a schedule, stuck to it, and we feel good about what we're doing.
LUNA: How do you stay grounded during festival season and being on the road so frequently?
ZAYNA: It is hard. We just got a tour manager. We just did our first headline tour this year. We did it with the tour manager. Shout out to JD. JD will wake us up. He's the one who's just like, ‘you have this interview at this time,’ and he'll come and make sure everything is running smoothly. It's like that invisible hand that's pushing your back. It's great. If JD wasn't there, touring would be really hard. I love to do it, but you just don't know what it's like until you're doing it, and you never have privacy.
LUNA: What is your favorite song from the EP and why do you love it? Is there a certain lyric or message that stands out to you the most?
ZAYNA: I love the song “Chewed Up.” It’s my favorite Sweet Pill song we've ever written. It is the hardest song for me to perform live. It's just up there and it takes a lot. I think the lyrics that I really like, it's just about me not having a backbone. I think it's the most brutally honest I've been on any song. I think that's what it is. I like the lyrics, ‘Spit it out / Words chewed up in my mouth / Find them on the ground.’
Photography Credit: Heriberto Gallegos
LUNA: Starchild seems to mark the beginning of an exciting new era for you. What can listeners expect from this phase in your music journey? Are there any new sounds or themes you’re eager to explore?
ZAYNA: Hardcore music is more popular than it's ever been in a long time. I feel like our guitarist Jayce is so into the hardcore world, so that's been creeping into our music a little bit. We're still writing, but you can expect a lot more meaningful and introspective music, a lot of slower parts, or maybe quieter, stripped back vulnerability. It’s a balance because then there’s also this in-your-face, fast energy. It's still there. We're trying to make a variety.
LUNA: You’ve built a solid reputation for your live shows. How do you keep your performances fresh and engaging for both longtime fans and new listeners seeing you for the first time?
ZAYNA: I’m trying to figure it out all the time. We make it a point that every time we do a new thing or a new tour, we don't repeat set lists ever. It's the same songs. We didn't write anything new. We were going to play new songs today, but we had to cut it for time. We try not to repeat the setlist. I always try to challenge us. Everyone likes to write hard transitions or outros and intros. We try to have a new intro every time to challenge ourselves and keep it refreshing and new for our listeners.
LUNA: What is the atmosphere like at Riot Fest, both on stage and off? How does it compare to other shows you’ve played?
ZAYNA: Festivals in general are like summer camp. It's a different world when you're an artist playing, because you're hanging out back in the artist areas, and you are running into people that you've played shows with, people you've heard of, you're meeting for the first time, industry people. It's like a chill aspect to that part. Just sitting, lounging and chatting up, and then you go cross over into the festival part to watch the bands. It is like a whole other ball game, and it's the chaos of hundreds and hundreds of people and hot heat. Riot is so sweaty this year. And the bees. There's so many bees. Riot, you guys are great, but the bees, oh my god.
LUNA: Do you have any specific pre-show or post-show rituals or routines that help you prepare for a big performance like Riot Fest?
ZAYNA: The band likes to take Jaeger bombs before we play. At the end, we usually try to all individually hug each other and say good show. It's not easy to do. We can tell when someone's in their head about something too. We're all like, ‘hey, that wasn't as bad as you thought it was.’ And that's all it is. We all try to compliment each other.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Luna?
ZAYNA: We're working on a new album, and it's supposed to be coming out by next fall 2025. I know we're going to do a headline tour around that and everything, but in the meantime, between then and now, we're playing a secret show with Julien Baker at Thalia Hall here in Chicago. We played once with La Dispute. It is probably my favorite Chicago venue. The atmosphere is beautiful, and the folks that work there are so sweet too. Chicago is one of my favorite cities to play, by far. Everyone in all the venues we've played at are just the coolest. We're going to play that, and then we're going to hit up Australia, maybe the UK again in the spring. All tentative plans, but then we're going to write our album.
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