We at THP have been pretty huge fans of The Vamps and Cheat Codes for a while now, so you could imagine our excitement when Connor Ball, The Vamps’ bassist, and Sasa Macek, Cheat Codes’ drummer, teamed up to form The Lunar Year! When Sasa stumbled on Connor’s cover videos, he was immediately impressed (relatable) and reached out to Con, then they bonded over their shared love of music and eventually started making songs together. Their musical chemistry is unreal, with songs like ‘Medicine’ being the perfect blend of angsty, classic pop-punk ideas and poppy melodies that will instantly get trapped in your head.
And if that wasn’t enough to convince you that The Lunar Year is a group you need to watch, we know their new single, ‘Hey! Wait!,’ will! Connor and Sasa worked on this song with the Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, who helped write the lyrics, and superstar producer Matt Malpass, whose work you’ve heard on tracks like Lil Nas X’s ‘F9mily (You & ME)’ with Travis Barker. Matt has also produced past TLY faves like ‘Back For More’ and ‘Nothing,’ so this song is the culmination of so much artistic growth together.
We wrote the song in LA with Mark Hoppus which was a dream come true. Blink inspired me so much while I was growing up, and to be able to sit in a room and create something so personal with Mark was amazing. He’s one of the nicest and most talented guys I’ve ever met. With everything he’s been through in his life, I feel like he could relate in ways that other people that I’ve written with couldn’t. Bringing the song to life in the studio was a real special moment.
Connor Ball
‘Hey! Wait!’ is two minutes and thirty-eight seconds of pop-punk perfection, touching on that existential fear we all hold in the back of our minds – something that should be dread-inducing, but in a way, it’s comforting that The Lunar Year are dealing with the same anxieties and used them to fuel their music. “I’m always scared of being anxious, overcautious, and absurd,” Connor confesses over an energizing guitar riff that almost feels like a sigh of relief. Like a rallying, empowering announcement of “yes, we’re scared, but we’re pushing through and it’s gonna be okay somehow.”
Our preteen selves felt so comforted when a younger Connor opened up about the anxiety he’s faced while touring with The Vamps, now flash forward to 2023 and our young adult selves are just as comforted by ‘Hey! Wait!’ The Lunar Year’s music and lyrics have never failed to make us feel more understood or less alone in what we might be dealing with, which is part of why we love Connor and Sasa so much. ‘Hey! Wait!’ touches on their fear that their best days have already passed, but as far as music goes, those best days are right here.
‘Hey! Wait!’ reflects on my time being on tour over the last ten years. I wanted to create a song to remind myself to always be present in whatever I’m doing whether it be playing shows or with family and friends. I came to a point in my life – I think over lockdown – where I realized that some of the best times of my life had just passed me by in a heartbeat and I wish I’d taken a second to take it all in.
Connor Ball
Wait – before you go add ‘Hey! Wait!’ to all your playlists, we wanna hear from you! What do you think of The Lunar Year’s new single? Which lyrics are your favorite? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
Need more sweet music recs? We gotchu!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LUNAR YEAR:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
