SoCal pop punk group Five North have unleashed their sound to the world with their debut EP, Scumbag. The band, made up of best friends Tyler Posey, Kyle Murphy and Scott Eckel, are bringing their love of classic sounds and plenty of memorable experiences to this eight-song debut. Atlas chatted with the band via email about the stories behind the new EP, their partnership with powerhouse producer John Feldmann and what’s coming up for Five North in 2020 and beyond.
What inspired the shift from your last projects to Five North?
Largely, just feeling there were too many disagreements to keep previous projects going. Creating music is such a balance of knowing when to compromise and when to stick to your guns on what you hear is best for the song at the time.
What names come to mind when you’re thinking of your influences?
Blink-182 has always been massive influences for each member of Five North, a couple of them even inked their logos forever in their skin. Damn, that’s some commitment. Or insanity, who knows?
We’re fans of most that’s out there in the music world though. Wide range of genres we listen to. So it’s hard to find specific influences for our sound because honestly I haven’t heard much like it. In terms of how eclectic we get with the songs.
What inspires your creative process when writing music?
Lyrically we either write to experience, in hopes we connect to someone and we’re able to share a new perspective, or sit around the studio and think of funny ideas until something clicks and go off that. While still finding relatable lyrics to connect the audience. Musically, we tend to step out of the box, but not really on purpose. We just enter the studio not knowing what we’re going to write or what genre it’ll be in. That really frees us up to think outside the box.
Do you have any artists/bands that you’d love to collaborate with- in the studio or even your dream tour lineup?
Absolutely. Long time friends [in] State Champs would be incredible to collaborate with in studio or any capacity. Blink-182 would be a massive dream come true. Goldfinger, The Used, NOFX, etc, in the punk rock world. But we’d love to work with solo artists. We’re huge fans of rap, pop, rock, jazz, soul, funk. I think we’d be able to have fun with anyone in the studio and that’s all it takes to make something cool.
What’s the story behind this new EP- how did these particular songs come about?
Lots of self-realization and gaining empathy for others and the world itself. Those topics are sprinkled throughout the EP in subject matter that’s relatable. These songs were picked from a slew of songs we recorded. We laid down close to 20 songs I believe, and these ones seemed like a cool kicking off point while still having songs in our arsenal that we feel evolves our sound even more. Excited to put more out!
How did your partnership with John Feldmann start and how did that affect the way you made music for this EP?
Feldmann and Tyler met through a mutual friend and quickly became very close. Bonding through music taste, immature jokes, love of music and the approach to recording we got really close. The EP is a complete collaboration with John Feldmann and we consider him another member of the band. Love you, baby.
What are your plans coming up? Any potential touring or more music later in the year?
Tour talks in the works right now. We want to take over the world. Or bring the world with us? Or make it a better place or something. We want to do big things and be grateful for it. Maybe share new perspectives. We really want to have a different approach on all fronts. We’ve been feeling things are kind of stale in the creativity of the music world outside of the music. There’s so much you can do with this world than just music.
What do you hope your fans take away from your music?
Fun. Maybe some life lessons if you’re listening for it. Self love. Love in general. Saying fuck it every now and then and listening to your instincts. Pointing out the world might be a little fucked up and maybe has damaged our psyche a little and there’s things we can do to reverse it. Loving yourself goes a long way
Is there anything you’d definitely want people to know, or something you’d love to talk about that you may not get asked?
Lately, or our whole lives, but really lately we’ve been embracing being feminists! Really just been looking at the world from an outside perspective and seeing what’s wrong with it. Women are so special and admirable and we want to contribute to being a safe place for them and inspiring others to take this mindset on.
We really want to treat this band as something a little more than that. A big message we like to preach is to not take life so seriously. Or knowing when to, I guess. Coming from creative backgrounds in different fields, we want to incorporate our backgrounds (filmmaking, photography, graphic design etc.) into our music world and expand it in a way that sort of hasn’t before. We just want to do things different and I don’t think anyone has really thought too in depth about that before. Evolution is good! In all aspects of life.
Be sure to check out Five North’s Scumbag EP, out now!
Story by Olivia Khiel
Photos courtesy of Five North
