NYC-based, indie-pop group Strawberry Blonde recently released ‘Always,’ a track exploring the conflicted nature of romantic relationships, from emotional highs to tempting toxicity.

Atmospheric synthesizers balance perfectly with a dancy chorus, evoking acts like The 1975. A swirling, melancholy guitar riff signals a comedown as the second verse begins, mirroring influence from midwest emo bands like American Football. An unexpected breakdown brings the end of the track, with heavier drums and guitar, yearning vocals, and even trumpets that show off Strawberry Blonde’s wide range.

Strawberry Blonde was formed in 2015 at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. The foundational music education of Martine Mauro-Wade (drums/percussion), Sean Power (bass), Carey Ozmun (vocals/trumpet/keys), Sam Barna (guitar), and Liam Connors (vocals/guitar) set the scene for the band’s genre-bending sound.

Strawberry Blonde released their debut EP ‘Better Still’ in 2016, followed by sophomore EP ‘Calling’ in 2019, let’s hear what’s next for the band.

Thinking back, what would we find in your teenage room? What are some essential records that reflect the music of Strawberry Blonde?

Liam Connors: My teenage room was filled with random posters of bands and movies, old DVDs and VHS tapes, poorly strung instruments, my first Crosley turntable with a small collection of records, all super disorganized.

Some records that have influenced Strawberry Blonde (in completely random order) include ‘It’s All Aquatic’ by Amateur Love, ‘Bon Iver’ by Bon Iver, ‘Grace’ by Jeff Buckley, ‘Disintegration’ by The Cure, ‘American Football’ by American Football, ‘In Rainbows’ by Radiohead, ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’ by Wilco, ‘I Want You’ by Marvin Gaye, ‘Hurry Up We’re Dreaming’ by M83, ‘Prince’ by Prince, ‘Rumours’ by Fleetwood Mac, ‘For You’ by Tatsuro Yamashita, ‘Choose Your Weapon’ by Hiatus Kaiyote, ‘Voodoo’ by D’Angelo, ‘Songs from the Big Chair’ by Tears for Fears, ‘Room on Fire’ by The Strokes, ‘What a Pleasure’ by Beach Fossils, ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ by Cocteau Twins, et cetera.

You just recently premiered a new track. Would you like to share some further words about ‘Always’? Is it part of an upcoming EP or album?

‘Always’ is a song that’s been kicking around since 2019. Liam wrote the original instrumental and lyrics but the song itself didn’t come together with the rest of the band until much later. We actually scrapped an entirely different version of the song before landing on the current arrangement. Lyrically, the song deals with tempting toxicity in an unhealthy relationship and relying on defense mechanisms. Sonically, it explores a more experimental pop approach for the band with the use of auto-tune and synthesizers. A studio demo was recorded first and then the final version was officially completed in 2021 at Two World’s Studios in Whitestone, Queens. The song was also mixed/mastered by Adam Cichocki at Timber Studios in New Jersey. ‘Always’ will appear on our forthcoming EP that we don’t have a release date for just yet.

How do you usually approach songwriting and on that end, did you have trouble during the pandemic?

The band writes new material together so we can try things a million different ways until the song hits its stride. The pandemic did make things difficult because we couldn’t be together to write for long stretches of time. Songs like ‘Always’ and a forthcoming track ‘Rearview’ we worked on early before the pandemic hit and had to resume once things were safe for us to continue. After that the band worked on another batch of new songs. These days we definitely want to write songs that feel natural so we won’t force anything if it isn’t working. Someone usually brings in a fragment or a fully fleshed out idea and the band works on it altogether, everyone collaborating on it really helps bring the song to fruition.

“This upcoming EP does feel very transitional for us”

Would you like to speak about the first two EP’s and what’s next we can expect from you?

Our two first EP’s definitely reflected the band we were at the time. The first EP, ‘Better Still’ is super raw and kinda sounds rough around the edges to us now but it was a lot of fun to make during our Sophomore year at SUNY Purchase. It’s also the only release of ours to date that we recorded as a four piece and was the last to feature our former trumpet player, Pat Dudasik.

The ‘Calling’ EP wouldn’t happen until a little over two years later and after the arrival of Sean Power (bass) and Carey Ozmun (vocals, trumpet, keys). The band recorded the EP throughout our Senior year at SUNY Purchase and workshopped the songs a lot during our tours around the Tri-State area and on-campus at The Stood, where we were able to play for our friends and fellow musicians. We actually graduated from college towards the end of recording ‘Calling’ which made finishing it difficult as we all went our separate ways for a period of time after school. The band kept busy during this time by playing shows and finishing up the remainder of the EP at various points. Liam travelled to upstate New York to help make the music video for ‘Calling’ with Ericka Paparella and Brandon Pettus, along with fellow actors from NYC and good friends from the Theatre/Performance program back at Purchase. The ‘Calling’ EP would also mark the last release with drummer and frequent collaborator, Alex Frondelli.

Martine Mauro-Wade (drums, percussion) later joined in 2019 and the band would spend a while rehearsing and writing ahead of the recording process for our forthcoming EP before the pandemic hit. Once we got back in the studio in 2021, the goal was to finish 10 songs that we could wheedle down if necessary. It was really fun to get back into writing and getting reacquainted with each other through the process of making music. This upcoming EP does feel very transitional for us, it has a lot of elements that are stylistically similar to our previous releases but also it’s very reflective of the more recent developments in our sound that we’d like to continue to pursue on future releases. We genuinely want to write authentically and let the music be whatever it wants to be. We actually started writing again recently, so we’re excited to continue to release more music!

Are you playing any shows?

Strawberry Blonde is currently preparing for a weekend run around the Tri-state area to promote our recent release with The Vaughns from NJ. We will be appearing in NYC at Berlin Under A on Friday, October 28th, as well as in Boonton, New Jersey at Redhouse on Saturday, October 29th, Philadelphia, PA at Khyber Pass Pub on Sunday, October 30th, and Massepequa, NY at Massapequa VFW Hall on Monday, October 31st. For further details and ticket information you can stay up to date by following us at @strawberryblondelovesyou!

What else occupies your life lately?

Relationships, family, doing our civil duties as citizens, other artistic pursuits, practicing/listening/making music all the time, watching both good and bad movies, reading books and graphic novels, listening to podcasts and vinyl, watching Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube way too much. Traveling a good amount, experiencing new things, meeting nice people, falling in love, exercising maybe lol.

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: AC DeMarco

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