Here at The Honey POP, you know we love all things pop-punk! Even more, we truly love bands that have a great story to tell and respect for the legacy of the genre! And so, we introduce you to Promise Game. Promise Game, AKA PG, is one of the most genuine and fun bands we’ve come across, and that’s exactly why we were honored to chat with them for our latest exclusive interview!
On November 30th, the band released the anthem ‘Connecticut,’ a true story from one of their adventures on tour this summer. The story is full of mishaps and misadventures, and we love how this honesty comes across on the track.
As the band, though all seasoned musicians, got together during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s so fun to see a glimpse into their first summer being able to actually tour! It was a dream to chat with Promise Game about their beginnings as well as their future plans in this exclusive interview!
Promise Game Interview
Leading up to the release of ‘Connecticut,’ what was the energy like in the band? How do you expect fans to react to this one?
Our main focus for the past couple months has been making sure our second tour as a band was a success. Earlier this month, we went on a five-day run with our buds Cheer Up Dusty and 16 other bands across 5 states. The energy this Fall has been super high, full of excitement, with everyone ready to hit the road again, but this time featuring ‘Connecticut’ in our setlist each night. Knowing the track was going to be released just over two weeks after the tour, it was very important to us to see how people reacted to the new song. If the feedback we received those five nights – mostly from people unfamiliar with our band – is any indication on how everyone else will react to this song, there’s no doubt it will be our most successful release yet.
The euphoria that the last section of the song has, as you enter ‘Connecticut,’ is infectious. Did you find it difficult to encapsulate a feeling that strong, or did it come naturally?
All the feelings from this song are tried and true. ‘Connecticut’ is the shortened adaptation of a real-life touring nightmare, something we experienced back in May when traveling from New Jersey to Connecticut. The lyrics of this song are meant to help tell the story, but that energy at the end of the song you are referring to is a great example of how this song, in ways wrote itself. The flow of the song follows the story of that Saturday, with an ending that was nothing but euphoric – using those feelings to close out the song was the natural way to end this one.
Did you write ‘Connecticut’ immediately after your experience there, or was it a more reflective process post-tour?
This song was actually the first song of its kind for Promise Game. Adam (Guitar/Backing Vocals) generally writes the majority of lyrics for our songs, but this experience really hit Colin (Lead Vocals) the hardest. The entire drive back to NH from CT the next morning, he couldn’t stop thinking about how the day was almost a total disaster. Sitting in the back seat, the line “Connecticut, we almost got off on the wrong foot” popped into his head and went right into an iPhone note. About a month later, he started messing around with a guitar riff and writing out the lyrics. Mike (Lead Guitar) took that riff and created something we could all build around, Adam helped round out some lyrics to make the story hit like it should. The song’s foundation came together very quickly, but we didn’t want to rush the production of this song. We really hope people can hear that when they listen.
We genuinely love the story behind the track; it’s the perfect tale of serendipity! Are you all big believers in the idea that things will naturally fall into place?
That’s so awesome, we love to hear when a story behind on of our songs resonates with someone. That’s why we write music, to share stories with people who want to listen! And yes, one thing we’ve tried to maintain as a group over the last 3 years is to always stay positive – especially when there’s nothing you can do about something. Everything happens for a reason, and at the end of the day that’s what we experienced that day in Connecticut. One lyric that really hits on that point here is “moving on, time to let it go.” We could have focused a bunch of negative energy on everything that hit the fan that day – instead, we knew we had to get out there and have fun. Once we did that everything did fall into place, and we ended up having our favorite night of the tour.
When you all got together in 2020, in the midst of very difficult circumstances globally, did you ever imagine that you would get to tour as a band?
At the beginning, definitely not. When Promise Game started, we didn’t have a true name for months and we were basically just hanging out playing pop-punk covers of random, but well-known, 90’s songs. COVID definitely made it feel like we may never even play a show to be honest. We took pretty much all of 2020 to write our debut EP It Won’t Be Long Now…, which helped us come out swinging in 2021 when venue doors opened back up. After a couple shows and making a lot of connections with bands all over the country, we knew we had to get out and start playing outside of NH and MA.
Other than your time in Connecticut, what were some of the highlights from touring this year? What were the biggest things you learned about yourselves or each other?
We went on two tours this year – 11 days on the road, across 6 states not including the one we live in. It was amazing, we had so many memorable experiences that it would be impossible to pick just a few – the main highlight across the board it was our collective experience playing with so many amazing artists, who all welcomed us with open arms and made us feel like we were at home. Throughout those experiences, we learned that our group can really get through anything. We are friends who play in a band, and we know as long as we always keep that top of mind, we will achieve what we set out to do with this band – have fun and create music for people to enjoy.
You seem to have a really great bond with the bands you toured with this year, Driveways, Cheer Up Dusty, and Goalkeeper. Do you imagine that you’ll hit the road together again in the future?
For sure, those relationships have grown into great friendships. In fact, all three bands have been a huge help in gaining more exposure for our band over the last three years. Goalkeeper invited us to play our first show ever as a band at one their 2021 tour stops in Boston, MA. We met Driveways at our first hometown show in Manchester, NH. We talked for a while and next thing we knew we were planning a tour. The dudes in Cheer Up Dusty were a huge help to us when we first started out and at this point (after touring with them twice) have become brothers of ours. We’ve played multiple times with all of these bands and none of us live in the same state. It’s pretty cool, and a true honor to have shared the stage with the artists. We’ve already promised to play more shows with Cheer Up Dusty in ’23 so keep an eye out for that, and yea we’d love to get back on the road with Driveways and Goalkeeper at some point in the future!
Did you tell them about the song in advance, especially Driveways, who are pretty key to the story! If so, how did they react?
Funny you ask, we just sent them the track a couple hours ago. The guys in Cheer Up Dusty heard it plenty of times live on our last tour – the general consensus was it was their favorite PG song! We’ll be sure to let you know what the other guys think!
Promise Game started off, as so many great bands do, covering other artists’ songs and jamming together. What were some of your go-to tracks in those days?
Yup, we were all about covering 90’s/early 2000’s pop songs that really hadn’t been covered yet. Some of the go-to favorites were Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, Gin Blossoms’ ‘Follow You Down’ (a staple in our early live setlist, not retired just yet!), Backstreet Boys’ ‘Quit Playing Games (With My Heart),’ and the first single we ever released Sheryl Crow’s ‘If It Makes You Happy.’
And finally, we hope that ‘Connecticut’ brings a lot of people’s attention to Promise Game! What message would you like to give people who discover you through this track?
We hope people hear what Promise Game is truly all about in this track. We have gone through a lot as a band and feel ‘Connecticut’ is the most accurate representation of who we are as a band at this point in time. We hope everyone enjoys the song. Definitely stay tuned for more music coming in early ’23! And thanks again for your time and interest in learning more about Promise Game and our new music – we appreciate the support!
Thank you so much again to Promise Game for talking to us in this exclusive interview! And if you wanna listen to ‘Connecticut,’ you can do so right here!
What are your thoughts on ‘Connecticut?’ Did you enjoy our Promise Game interview? Let us know over on Twitter @TheHoneyPOP! Or, if that’s not your thing, you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram!
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