Inland Empire-based indie trio, Future Problems set the turn of summer tone with a 90's nostalgia-laced new single "Honey".
Recently starting up in 2022, Future Problems taps into that 2000s Alt Rock frequency carved out by bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Weezer, and Cage The Elephant with ease. Catchy melodies and drum machines that stick in your head. Where sing-a-long hooks make life seem like your own personalized movie montage. Bubbling up their own spin of dream pop straight into the Inland Empire and beyond, Future Problems is ready to pour out onto the scene.
Their latest single, "Honey" is a step towards the shoegazey side of the 90s where bands like Slowdive and Mazzy Star shined. Cheery piano chords and driving guitars lead the listener on a cruise toward better days. A mood booster with a dreamy, almost melancholic undertone. With solid production and rich textures, these artists mesh well and have the right tools and skills to explore different soundscapes as their project progresses. Keep on the lookout and solve that missing piece of peace in life by tuning in to Future Problems.
We had the chance to catch up with Ana Leon of Future Problems to get the scoop about their latest single "Honey". Here's what she had to say...
Q: How did Future Problems form and start playing shows?
A: Future Problems formed in the Spring of ’22, but Victor and I had been getting together to play music way before that. We met back in 2019 and we would always jam as a way to hang out and pass the time. I think the turning point was when Victor bought a piano early in 2022. So I started writing some songs on guitar and taking them to him, and I think we wrote like 3 or 4 songs when we started hitting open mics in the IE. We spent a couple of months just writing more songs and taking them to open mics. Then from the open mics, other musicians would reach out and ask if we wanted to join bills and it was like a snowball effect from then on. We would meet musicians at gigs and end up playing on the same bill later on, and eventually, we met our drummer David from a show we played together!
Q: What's the local scene like out in IE, how's your experience been being part of that DIY community?
A: Tons of really unique musicians in every genre you can think of. We’ve had the honor of playing with some of the coolest people, and the talent we’ve seen at some of the open mics we’ve been to is unbelievable!
Some of my favorite acts have been the open jams we sometimes catch at open mics because it will just be random people picking up whatever instrument and casually playing the coolest thing you’ve ever heard.
We’re really proud of being from the IE and we’re immensely inspired by our fellow artists out here.
Q: What are some of your favorite venues or DIY spaces to play? Any highlight shows over the years? A: DBA256 in Pomona might be my favorite so far. There was a time earlier this year when we got invited to back-to-back DBA gigs and it started feeling like home. They have this projector pointed at the stage, so you can throw something up on the white wall behind you and it just makes you look ten times cooler when you’re playing. The first gig we played at DBA, we just played the movie Bring It On up there, it was awesome! And it just so happened that the first show we played there was a Bedroom Baby Records artist showcase, which is definitely a highlight for us. Bedroom Baby Records is an independent music studio based in Santa Monica, all of our music is recorded and produced by Louie Espitia of Bedroom Baby! He’s the mastermind behind the finished recordings of our songs, his magic touch is in all of our music.
Q: What's the process been like recording and preparing your newest release, “Honey"? A: For Honey, I wanted to write something that was a bit more upbeat and a bit more dynamic than our previous songs, so then came the idea of making a melancholic pre-chorus that explodes into a poppy chorus. When we took the song to Louie, we decided to really linger in that pre-chorus for the recording.
So the idea of adding synths, vocal melodies, having the drums drop out the second time around, and all the ear candy came into the studio. We also wanted to really zone in on the 90s pop rock vibey feel, so we elevated the intensity of the song for the outro by adding a crazy bass line and some more backing vocals. "Honey" was a turning point for our recording process because it made us really consider the arrangement of our songs as opposed to just recording a song as you play it live. What people hear in a recording versus what they experience in a live performance are two different things, and the making of Honey really opened us up to that concept. So even now when we play live you can expect a couple of surprises you wouldn’t necessarily hear in a recorded song. We recently hit the studio again to record a future release and we ended up making something that’s unlike any of our previous material.
Q: Any plans for the rest of the year? A: We have a show coming up on September 29th at Birdcage in San Bernardino which we’re super stoked about. We also have a live session we’ll be recording in September, another single coming out later in the year, and a music video to go along with it! We’ll have some more live performances in between those projects and we’ll be updating people all about those on our socials!
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