BY BRE CURA
PHOTO BY RICHIE DAVIS
Dirty Honey is one of the coolest rock bands on the scene right now. Based out of Los Angeles, Dirty Honey has been creating rock ‘n’ roll music together for two years now, and recently just wrapped up playing across America with Alter Bridge and Skillet. Combining vintage vibes with a modern style, Dirty Honey stands out in the crowd with a refreshing and captivating sound. We got to chat with guitarist John Notto about some of his recent undertakings with the band, and their experience touring!
You guys just put an EP out earlier this year, what was that experience like?
John: “We did! Self-titled. It was a lot of hard work. We traveled to Australia to record it, which was like a paradise retreat, just because of what Australia is like. It was really great working with the producer, did it really quickly in twelve days. Albums have been made in less time I suppose, but we actually finished writing some of the songs in the studio. Some of the songs had never been performed live.”
Of all of the songs on the EP, did you guys expect “When I’m Gone” to be the one that took off the most?
John: “That was the one that we had finished ahead of time, so it was the logical choice. But no, I don’t think we all did necessarily. And then of course Rolling Sevens came together in the studio, and kind of bumped some other songs off.”
So you guys just put out a music video for “When I’m Gone” as well, what can you tell us about that?
John: “It was really cool! The style of the video is pretty much one camera shot. So it really was not too grueling in terms of filming. We shot it at a club that we have played a lot in Santa Monica, and it kind of mirrored how it was playing there. It was kind of wild, and there was kind of nobody there, haha. It was sort of paying homage to our beginning, with a little bit of fictionalism in there.”
What's it been like bringing an older rock sound into today's modern music scene?
John: “It’s been a surprise I think, for me personally. We’ve played in dive bars in LA, and Mark and I have played together before this band. Just cover bands and stuff, playing classic rock, and you still see people react to them. But then you kind of see this disconnect with popular music where no one is doing it (modern rock).The fact that we’re part of that wave, it's a dream come true.”
It was so refreshing to listen to you guys, and hear a newer but older sound, if that makes sense?
John: “Yeah! Thank you! I think that's how we want to be perceived too, not just a straight up throwback. We do feel what we’re doing, it’s not just an impression of other music.”
What have you found to be the most exciting part of touring?
John: “Well, the most exciting part has been the shows, the response to the shows and meeting all the fans at merch. There’s been some highlights too, we got to open for The Who which was great. Playing The Ryman with Slash was amazing. A lot of firsts like radio performances. And now the next exciting thing is going to be opening for Guns N’ Roses! That’s bucket list really.”
Can we expect any new songs from you guys to drop soon?
John: “We are going to go into the studio at some point next year for sure. We’re all itching to get out these new ideas. But right now all of our shows are opening spots, we really only have thirty minutes anywhere we play. We don’t really get a chance to workshop any new ideas live, yet. So anything new is still secret haha.”