Q&A: The Happy Fits Reckon with Personal and Political Anxieties With ‘Under The Shade of Green’

Q&AMusic

Sep 15

☆ BY Britt Astrid Alphson ☆

IT FEELS LIKE SUMMER, IT SOUNDS LIKE A BRIGHT THING — The Happy Fits’ discography is singular in its ability to move you. Living under the surface of punchy electric cello riffs and exultingly danceable melodies, however, are lyrics equal parts poignant and serious. Calvin Langman, Ross Monteith, and Luke Davis, an indie-pop trio that met in Latin class back in 2012, create highly accessible music that acts as a Trojan horse for their beliefs on everything from inner loneliness and the gravity of climate change to feelings of existentialism. For The Happy Fits, perhaps the best way to face the serious issues is to commune in them; maybe the best way to get people to listen to you is to get them dancing first.

Under The Shade of Green, the band’s energetic third album, was written in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the myriad of events that unraveled in the wake of it. The collective hurt experienced during the Black Lives Matter movement and California wildfires mobilized the band to try their hand at a new vein of songwriting. Tracks such as “In The Lobby,” which imagines singer Langman as a corrupt environmentalist lobbyist, seek to both shed light on large structural inequalities and offer listeners a sonically glimmering refuge from the banalities of everyday life. Their songs serve as a call to action — out with the Kardashians and suited-up children, in with vulnerability and songs written for your future children.

A band highly tuned in to the the opinions of their fanbase, The Happy Fits cultivates a devoted following that bears similarity to indie-pop groups of the aughts. Do you remember picking apart The Strokes lyrics in a high school friend's car? That feverish, infectious kind of loyalty is found among this bands’ Gen Z listeners — they sew bracelets to commemorate each live show they’ve attended, they invent Happy Fits lore. And when the fans speak, the band listens. Their recent music video for “Dance Alone” features a party of their supporters dancing around a Beverly Hills mansion. They host weekly livestreams to catch up with the special kind of community they’ve created.

Read below to find out about their thoughts on the album, experience writing new music during a pandemic, and more.

LUNA: For your new album, Under The Shade of Green, what was the intention behind the album's title?

LANGMAN: I think just living through the pandemic and everything, I knew getting out of the pandemic was going to be a totally different environment. One of the things that I really fixated on was the impact of climate change and the impact that it's having now. When we were writing this album last year, it's when the wildfires were going on in California. So I had all these negative emotions towards what was going on in the world, and I wanted to channel that into some sort of positive song. And the song “In The Lobby” is what came of it. It's tongue-in-cheek; I wish I could be a lobbyist and just kind of serve my own self-interests rather than helping the world and helping the people. I feel like a lot of people can relate to feeling helpless about the whole thing. But I feel like having a song that is a little bit humorous about it all is empowering for us because, you know, there's not much we can do. But if we can point out that the people running this country in the world are ridiculous, then at least we'll regain some sanity from that.

LUNA: I was reading that you felt like the pandemic really informed your creative process in making this album. Do you feel like, if this pandemic hadn’t happened you would have created a different album?

LANGMAN: Yeah, I'd say the album is very heavily informed by just living through the pandemic. A part of me got an unhealthy amount of tunnel vision, just constantly being on my phone and reading the news and getting crappy updates from TikTok. Before we would write about coming-of-age stuff, like being anxious and dealing with your parents. But after living through the lens of a phone, just trying to connect with other people in the world, I definitely wanted to make something that related to more universal concepts.

LUNA: What do you feel like is the song most representative of this album or of the next chapter you guys are embarking on?

MONTEITH: I would say “Little One.” Yeah, but it's just encapsulating of the whole experience of growing up.

LANGMAN: I was kind of insecure to show the guys the demo of “Little One” at first because it's a song I wrote for my future children, just in case I wasn't able to tell them, myself, that they belong. That all their feelings and emotions are valid. And it's such a simple message, but it's something that is so lost today, especially with a lot of adults. There’s been such a rise of fascism and the belief of “the other.” But really, it's like we're all related and we're all on this planet together.

LUNA: Do you feel like over the years you go back to cities or do shows in different places and recognize fans that keep coming back?

LANGMAN: Yeah. I think the biggest example of that is this girl Anastasia, in Phoenix. Every time we play, she makes each one of us and our tour and crew a bracelet that says the date that she saw us. Ross has all his bracelets.

DAVIS: There's also a family in San Diego that we’ve seen [their kids] grow up as we've been playing, which is pretty crazy. Like, start high school and get out of high school. So it's definitely cool to see people grow as we grow. And a lot of people will be like, “Hey, last time I came here with my parents, but now I can drive. So I came here by myself.” And we're like, “Wow, that's awesome.”

LUNA: When I listen to your guys’ music, it reminded me of going to shows in Hollywood in high school with my friends. I feel like you're the type of band where kids would come with their friends and it'd be a communal kind of experience.

DAVIS: Yeah, it would be. I think back to our show that we did at the Troubadour in LA back in April. We played our entire discography at the time and the fans knew every word to every song. It’s heartwarming and affirming to see that.

MONTEITH: Speaking about the Troubadour, actually, we recorded a music video for our song “Dance Alone” the night before that show. We just wanted to do a fan-made music video. Cameo had a mansion that they weren't using for the weekend because Coachella was going on. So we got to use this mansion, film a video, and then have all these fans come out and be a part of the video. The lead dancer was our friend Lindsey, who we actually met through touring as well, who was a fan and now is, like, one of our close friends. The whole concept is Lindsey is cleaning up her house and suddenly time morphs and there’s a party. Those people [the fans in the party scene] all didn't know each other until the night before. But then, at the Troubadour show, they all grouped together in the audience and watched the whole show together. And seemed like they were all now friends, which is really awesome. And we hope to see them all the next time in LA.

LUNA: For the “Around and Around” music video, what was the idea behind that?

DAVIS: We worked with Jolie and Christian, who were the directors and producers of the “She Wants Me” music video. They were like, “What if [you guys] were pineapple salesmen on the road? But pineapples were abolished.” And the way they ended the music video, everyone was like, “Oh my God, cliffhanger. Can't wait for the next video.” We didn't plan on continuing that storyline really but the fans wanted us to. The “Around and Around” video was an extension of the Breaking Bad vibes of money laundering, working under the cartel, pineapples being abolished. It also finished off that storyline that we had created. And people have really taken to it. Apparently, there’s Happy Fits lore, which is pretty hilarious because it's been unintentional. But I guess we've just made so many music videos at this point, that [the fans] are starting to connect the dots on a lot of things. They also got to vote for the ending of the “Around and Around” video, which is pretty neat. Because they're the ones that make all these backstories and lore.

LUNA: That’s really cool. That ability to organically develop relationships with people that listen to your music.

DAVIS: We're very lucky with our fanbase. We just have the most grateful, sweetest people ever. And even the parents are super nice and happy to be there [at the concerts].

LUNA: Is there any main takeaway that you want listeners to come away with after listening through the entire album?

LANGMAN: I hope they feel understood. I know a lot of what's going on right now is very frustrating to watch. But I think as long as you feel like you're not alone, you'll feel a little less crazy.

LUNA: What are you guys looking forward to or excited for the rest of this year?

MONTEITH: I think that touring is going to be huge and really fun because we have been sitting on this album for like a year and a half, which is the longest we’ve ever sat on our music before. And quite honestly, it had been so long that it was hard to keep emotions really strong. When the album was finally released and we saw the fans’ reaction to it and people talking about it, that kind of rejuvenated our emotions [towards the album]. So now we get to perform this stuff that we've been working on for a long time. And the meanings all come back to us. And now other people are experiencing it, which is exciting. So I think the next step is going to play it live and get the real pure engagement and reaction. We are very excited for Europe because we've never been. It's sort of cool to get to explore places that otherwise you wouldn’t choose for your vacation destination, but you get to see all these incredible places that you never knew of. I'm really excited for Scotland because all my family live over there apart from my parents, my brother, and I. So that'll be their first time ever seeing us live and for us to ever get to perform in front of any other member of my family other than my parents and my brother. So that's exciting for me.

The Happy Fits' third studio album Under the Shade of Green is out now, and see The Happy Fits live on tour this fall with tickets on sale now.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫