Made up of four sisters (Colby, Shelby, Carthi and Faith Benson), Crimson Apple has built up quite a buzz over the past year, and with the release of their Somebody EP, 2019 is shaping up to be their year. Following their move from Hawaii to LA, the band signed with Amuse Group, have opened for artists like All Time Low, One Republic, and Switchfoot and spent the first part of 2019 on the High School Nation Tour while releasing singles from Somebody. Now, they’re celebrating the recent release of the EP and looking toward the future.
With an upcoming performance at Musikfest in Pennsylvania and more new music already on the way, Crimson Apple won’t be slowing down any time soon. Get to know a little bit more about the band, their latest EP and more now below.
Can you tell us a little bit about Crimson Apple for anyone who might not be familiar?
Shelby: We are a pop-alt, all-girl band of four sisters originally from Hawaii, now based in Los Angeles.
What first inspired you guys to get involved in music and start writing and performing together? Did you grow up in a musical household?
Faith: We wouldn’t necessarily say we grew up in a musical household, but we were very involved in the arts (musical theater, dance, etc.). We all found our passion for music at different times, but I think we’d all agree that it was our mom who really first inspired us. She recognized Colby’s vocal talent at a young age, and immediately got her voice lessons. From there, we all slowly fell into our different instruments. One day, we realized we made up a band and it just made sense for us to start performing together.
You guys just celebrated the release of your new EP, Somebody. Can you tell us a little bit about the EP? What inspired this collection of songs?
Carthi: The Somebody EP is a 6-song pop-alt collection of music we’ve written since our move from Hawaii to LA. We were really inspired by our shared experience of moving together to pursue our dreams, so the EP definitely reflects our emotions, struggles, hopes, and ambitions during this time.
Was there anything you wanted to accomplish with the EP?
Shelby: For this EP, we really wanted to grow our sound as a band. We wanted to create a big, cinematic set of songs that listeners would be able to connect with on an honest and emotional level.
For Somebody, you also worked with a handful of amazing producers. What do you feel they were able to bring to the table for this release? Did you learn anything working with them that you’ll take into future releases?
Carthi: When first starting this EP, we hadn’t had much experience in pop-production. Working with so many different producers really helped us to translate what we envisioned for the EP into the songs they are today. While working alongside these producers, we feel like we really learned a lot from them and were actually able to use what we learned to help co-produce the EP.
What was the most rewarding part of working on the EP?
Colby: The most rewarding part about working on the EP was being able to do it all together. It’s so unique getting to have this shared musical goal with your sisters and getting to literally make our dreams come true together.
What was the most challenging?
Colby: The most challenging part of working on this EP was trying to bridge our vision for the music into real tangible songs. We knew going into working on this EP that we wanted to have high production value, and that we wanted to go in more of a pop direction with the sound than we had previously done, so it was definitely challenging trying to navigate this new vision.
With Somebody out now, do you have any other big plans in the works? Any shows coming up?
Shelby: Up next, we’ll be heading over to Pennsylvania to perform at Musikfest. We’re also already working on music for our next release!
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Faith: Thank you so much for having us! We’d also like to thank anyone that took the time to read this interview. Also, if you’re new to Crimson Apple, please be sure to check us out on Instagram, Spotify, and all other social media!
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