UPDATE 7/14/15:
"We regret to announce that Young Rising Sons will not be able to take the stage at the Hawthorne Theatre in Portland on July 18 due to a death in the family," reports the band's publicist. "The show will go on with Hunter Hunted, Dreamers and local support. Young Rising Sons thanks their fans for their support and hopes to return to Portland soon."
Some bands spend what seems like an eternity in a box, only making it so far into the light of popularity before coming to a screeching halt—often only known by those dedicated fans who were with them from the beginning. And then there are the ones who seem to keep rising, their fan base expanding and their music getting even richer and more full of life to the point where you don’t know if they will ever stop. It’s only up from here. Young Rising Sons are the latter.
Since the release of their self-titled EP in 2014, Young Rising Sons seem to have risen quickly to fame. Their fan base grows wilder while their music becomes grittier, shimmering and more satisfying than ever—it seems as though Young Rising Sons may truly be the next big name in alternative pop music.
The band has been on tour for the greater part of the past year, coming off an opening gig for The 1975 last fall before going straight into their own co-headlining tour with fellow explosive pop superstar Ashley Frangipane, aka Halsey.
Now going into their second co-headlining tour with indie pop duo Hunter Hunted, Vortex had the chance to chat with lead singer Andy Tongren (amusingly listed on Wikipedia as Andy “Sex God” Tongren) about past and future tours, as well as some highly anticipated new music to be released this fall.
You guys just recently closed out the American Youth Tour with Halsey and Olivver. What was that experience like?
Andy Tongren: It was great. That tour was our first time getting out there and headlining. It was a very rewarding experience, and I feel it gave us some more exposure as a band as well. It was just a really cool experience.
What's your best memory from that tour?
I think it was the camaraderie between all the artists on that tour. We’ve done some writing with Ashley in the past, so knew her fairly well. And she knew Olivver as well. It was just really nice to be on the road with friends, you know? Everyone was having a good time, and it was never really serious. We all shared the common goal. We just had fun and enjoyed our time together.
You’re starting your upcoming tour with Hunter Hunted on July 13 in LA, stopping in Portland on July 18. How are you feeling about that?
We’re really, really excited about it. Our last run with Halsey was our first real headliner. I think we learned a little more on that tour and found what we wanted to do better and improve on. So we’re really excited now to give the best show we can. We’re ready to get out there and play some music, and of course really excited to see all our fans again.
What’s your favorite part about being on the road?
I think it’s really a give and take between the fans and the live show itself. We love to give back to the fans. If we can do our best every night, we have the opportunity to really make the fans happy. We’ve been on the road for the past year, so seeing our growth has been really rewarding. It’s cool to start from the bottom and just keep working our way up.
Let’s talk about new music. You just recently released your new single “Fucked Up” (watch the lyric video below). Can you talk a little about the story behind that track?
Yeah, it’s kinda been in the works for years now. We wrote it a couple years back and have been tweaking it ever since. We just put the finishing touches on it at the beginning of the year. We’re not really the kind of band that likes to write love songs, so this is kind of our modern take on that. Because not all relationships are perfect. They can be dirty, a little messy. We’re all a little broken. That’s what we were aiming for.
As far as your writing process, how’s that go? Do you tend to write more in the studio or on the road? Maybe a bit of both?
A little bit of both. It ebbs and flows. We try not to force writing. You never know where or when you’re gonna be inspired. A lot definitely happens on the road, but we like to focus more on giving the best live show we can. As far as process, between the four of us, we put our songs together. It’s very democratic. We bounce ideas between each other until something sticks.
Is the new single from an upcoming full-length?
Yeah, that’s still in the works. We might actually go with an EP instead. We have quite a number of songs written, but we might put out a couple of things here and there just as some feelers. We are planning to release the new music in September though. I think it’ll give the fans some perspective on who we are as a band and how we’ve grown personally as well.
Lastly, what are you guys listening to lately?
Dreamers, Hunter Hunted, CRUISR. We’ve been listening to a lot of our upcoming tour mates music. It’s good to get to know who you’ll be on the road with.
