Homebound: U.K. Pop Punkers On The Rise

Homebound:  U.K. Pop Punkers On The Rise

Meet Homebound – a pop punk collective from The U.K. ready to break out and make their presence known worldwide.  Their More To Me Than Misery EP has just been released via Rude Records, and they are about to kick off a headlining tour throughout the U.K.  Back in May, Homebound performed a few local shows with the one and only Broadside.  Highwire Daze Online recently caught up with vocalist Charlie Boughton to find out more about the fast rising Homebound and their intriguing new EP.  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Homebound, and how long the band has been together.
I’m Charlie and I sing in Homebound. We first started writing music and playing shows in 2014.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
We’re from Surrey, for those who don’t know where that is, it’s in the south of the U.K., not that far from London! Our town’s music scene is non-existent as there really isn’t any other bands around. We relied heavily on social media to get our name out before we could really get a foothold in the scene and play shows elsewhere.

How did you wind up signing to Rude Records?
They had heard our new music at the time and were really into it. We wanted to have people on board who were passionate and enthusiastic about what we were trying to achieve and these guys had that in abundance. It’s been a really great experience working with them over the last couple of years and couldn’t have asked for a more capable set of people to look after our music.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the More To Me Than Misery EP title?
More to Me Than Misery draws on the many pitfalls when searching for happiness in love and life. Last year was possibly the best and worst of my life for the very same reasons and you begin to fear the very things that once made you who you are. Although the name of the record draws from quite a poignant lyric, I wanted the title of the record to be seen as a positive outcome to the hardships I experienced.

Select two songs from the More To Me Than Misery EP and what inspired the lyrics.
Change of Heart was one of the first songs written for More to Me Than Misery and is an integral part of the EP’s message. It deals with the emotional exhaustion felt when you invest so much of yourself into something and continually have to pick yourself back up. Needing to know when to step back can be difficult to come to terms with and this song epitomizes that struggle.

Yours Truly was the first song we wrote for MTMTM and really set the tone for the sound and message behind it. It describes the struggle of not knowing your own self, what it is you value in life and how that can lead you to spiral into a dark place. It’s important to do what makes you happy in life and learning to understand and accept what that really is.

Who produced More To Me Than Misery and what was it like working with them?
We spent just over a week working with Seb Barlow earlier this year and were really happy with how the songs came out in the end. We’ve worked together multiple times so we know how to work together and get the best out of the experience.
We knuckled down with writing towards the end of 2017 having toured our last EP a lot. We had quite a few songs to choose from but we all agreed on which ones we wanted to take into the studio. We demoed the songs extensively and really tried to get them to their best possible versions even before we had a producer listen to them – there was no room for complacency on our end.

What could one expect from a live Homebound show?
Lots of energy and real intensity. We leave it all out there on stage, putting everything into it every night.

If Homebound could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
There’s really too many to choose! I’ve been inspired by so many bands past and present, some of which we’d never fit on a bill with them, but if I had to pick one, I’d have to say blink-182 just because they really did define music for me when I was a kid.

Any chance of Homebound coming to the States to play some shows?
Honestly we’d love to, playing in the states for most U.K. bands is the dream so hopefully we can do as I know there are people out there who’d like us to.

The Queen Of England invites Homebound to play one song at a Royal Command Performance. What song would you play for the Queen and her guests and why?
If we’re talking from our own catalogue, the only conceivable choice would be Indelible purely down to its softer nature. I’m not sure Queen Lizzy would be appreciative of the gritty guitar tones and screams across our other songs.

What’s up next for Homebound?
We are soon to start our first UK headline tour; It’s a little nerve-racking but it does allow for a some creative freedom in being able to explore our setlist a little more with having a longer set to play more songs.

Any final words of wisdom?
Thank you for taking time to chat with us! Our new EP More to Me Than Misery is out now everywhere!

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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