Photo by Jacqueline Harriet
To say the past two years for Eva Hendricks and her band Charly Bliss was busy would be an understatement.
Charly Bliss is a critically acclaimed indie band consisting of Hendricks, her brother Sam on drums, Spencer Fox on guitar and vocals and Dan Shure on bass.
Though the band has been together for almost a decade; they have known each other socially for most of their lives. Shure is a childhood friend of Fox, Shure dated Eva for a little and Fox and Eva met at a concert in their teens.
After playing a number of shows over the years and opening for the likes of Glass Animals, Sleater-Kinney and Tokyo Police Club to name a few, Charly Bliss released their first EP “Soft Serve” in 2014.
Charly Bliss shares some of the same youthful vigor as some of the most influential power pop acts of the 1990’s including most notably Weezer and The Breeders and it is an aesthetic they fully embrace.
Their live shows are full of energy and a genuine love of performing led by the perkiness of Hendrick’s vocals and stage presence.
Recording 2 debut albums
Most often than not, you only get one crack at a debut full length album. However, as Hendricks quickly found out, recording an album goes a little farther than just having some good songs written.
“I think we learned something that every band needs to learn and that being, just because you have ten songs, does not mean you have an album and you should go in and record,” Hendricks says. “As we played out and toured more, we figured out who we were as a band and what we wanted to communicate with our debut album.”
After much deliberation, the band found the record they had been working on a little less fun than they imagined and decided to delay the release and rerecord.
Much of the changes to the album center around finding a happy medium between being a loud rock band that could co-exist with sugary pop melodies, according to Fox.
“We were just excited the first time around that we had written enough songs to constitute an album but didn’t really know what to say,” Hendricks says. “I’m glad we weren’t afraid to go back in and do it again and our managers weren’t either.”
"Guppy" was released on April 21, 2017.
A Busy Year
Shortly after the release of “Guppy", Charly Bliss was set to headline Music Hall of Williamsberg in Brooklyn, a massively popular venue in the indie rock scene. That night the venue was sold out for their show.
“Looking out and seeing everyone singing along to songs like Black Hole blew my mind,” Hendricks says. “We played the venue not that long ago as an opener and thought, ‘wow, I can’t believe we’re playing here,’ and then a year or so later, we were headlining a sold-out show. I still look at photos from that night and think how did that happen.”
The growing popularity of the band has not only fueled their own tours but has opened up opportunities to share the bill with some of their biggest idols.
“I think we learned something that every band needs to learn and that being, just because you have ten songs, does not mean you have an album and you should go in and record,” Hendricks says.
Within a month, Charly Bliss opened up for Bleachers and the almighty emo punk pioneers, Jawbreaker who recently reunited in 2017.
“If you are wise as a musician who tours a lot, the best thing you can do is always watch the people you tour with and learn from them,” Hendricks says. “This year was incredible and we got to play with so many bands that I never thought would be possible.”
As the band has been writing and recording for their heavily anticipated 2019 release, Hendricks has found her writing habits evolving and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in her eyes.
“At this point, I feel like I have more stability in my life in multiple different ways, I feel like I have way more prospective and part of that I just growing up,” Hendricks says. “I think that has allowed me the opportunity to look at everything with a little more kindness instead of sarcasm which is sort of the over artsy mood lyrically in some ways on Guppy.”
Learning from the Best
Of all the groups that Charly Bliss has brought out on the road or has played in support of, none of them compared to their most recent tour in support of Death Cab for Cutie.
Black Hole- Charly Bliss
“We all grew up listening to Death Cab and they taught us so much from just listening to them, especially about songwriting. But to actually watch them perform every night last fall is indescribable,” Hendricks says. “There’s a lot to learn about songwriting and performing but also on things like how to craft a setlist.
She is thankful for the people they’ve met and lessons learned over the last year and knows its only going to help them grow stronger and more confidant as a group
“It really teaches you a lot when you go on tour and discover your favorite band is made up of really great people,” Hendricks says. “It inspires you to just as great and it really has a ripple effect and I am super appreciative.”
Hendricks remains eager for 2019 to take shape as Charly Bliss is set to release their sophomore album… Even if she still cannot share too much about all the excitement to come.
“I really can’t say much about the new album. All around we feel like we are all growing up as a band, and it is cool because we’ve all grown up personally together,” Hendricks says. “To get to continue this and see where it takes us is really exciting.”
Rocco Falleti is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at rfalleti@cityscenecolumbus.com.
