Success to me would be that all the work and suffering (yes as fun as trying to make it in a band is, suffering is a huge part of it) that we put ourselves through reaps happiness and an amazing journey that we’ll never forget.

So stoked to have so many awesome bands included in the February Ear buds Cassette mixtape, and in advance of the mixtape being released/shipped, we wanted to show some extra love to the bands--and also give you a chance to get closer to the bands, and discover some new things about them. 

First up, we've got this killer interview with Asbury Park band latewaves. Check it out below! 

latewaves - how did you come up with the name/what does it mean?

ah, the name is always the craziest thing. you have to name the band before you get to see what you become. we’re from Asbury Park, NJ (a beach town) and we enjoy hanging on the beach late at night. after a few variations we came up with “latewaves” as an ode to our favorite activity in our hometown.

How did you guys get your start?

I (Mikey / guitar, vocals) found myself in a bit of a rut. I had a few songs/ideas I wanted to hash out, and my fiancé’s sister (Shawna / drums) and I always had a pact that we’d start a band if we found ourselves in the right situation. I was free and waiting tables, she had just finished college, so she moved down to wait tables too and write a record with me. We rented a storage unit turned rehearsal space a few miles down the road and wrote our first EP Partied Out. We recorded it with our good friend John Ferrara (Trophy Scars) at Portrait Studios in North Jersey. Since there are at least 80 guitar tracks on each song on the record we decided we’d at least need a bass player. So our good friend Howie in a similar situation joined us on stage. Happy to say although we hold the storage unit dear, we’re in a climate controlled building now and really psyched on the new stuff we’ve been writing.

Who writes the lyrics or is it a collaborative effort?

For Partied Out, I (Mikey) wrote the lyrics- it was about trying to find a light at the end of the tunnel. The fun thing is that nothing on the record says I’ve found it yet, and actually ends on a somber note. Now that we have a full band we all build and collaborate off each other on our new stuff.

Something your fans don't know about you ...

Let’s see, Shawna started out playing in metal bands and although we’re on a single kick pedal for latewaves- if we gave her a double she could rip some dirty breakdowns.

Howie - after the first night of practice we hung out on the porch all night and he had just worked a 12 hour day at two different jobs prior so I woke up a text from his girlfriend with a picture of him literally passed out at his kitchen table with his head in a plate of food and her caption was “what did you do.”

Me (Mikey) - in my last band I had a pizza delivered to me on stage... I forgot I ordered it before I went on and my friend Nick, from Night Riots, went the guy on stage to bring me the pizza and I signed the receipt on the back of some kid in the audience.

That's hilarious! Speaking of, what's the best show you played?

It’s hard to say. I’d say when we co-headlined with Can’t Swim at the wonderbar in Asbury and capped out the venues capacity on a Monday it was absolutely thrilling as it was in the early stages of us playing live. But just recently we played Arlene’s Grocery in NYC and got an amazing response from the crowd. This is huge to me because NYC crowds are renowned to be tough as nails to win over. It’s no offense to them; they live in a city where something amazingly exciting is literally happening all the time so to get a reaction from them was huge to me.

What did you grow up listening to?

My holy grails were the first three records my older cousin gave me in 96': Weezer’s blue album, Green Day’s dookie, and Rancid’s and out come the wolves. They turned me into a little asshole running around screaming punk rock and gave me such a fun childhood. I didn’t get into the Beatles. Led Zep, or the Stones til college because my parents were never into music so I found what I could from my peers. 

What does success look like to you?

This is a fun question because I have been making, or at least trying to take, positive steps in my life, and that is a huge existential question I ask myself every day. I am trying not to hold up my expectations of success and accomplishment to other people’s accomplishments. I think success is a road and not a destination. Success to me would be that all the work and suffering (yes as fun as trying to make it in a band is, suffering is a huge part of it) that we put ourselves through reaps happiness and an amazing journey that we’ll never forget.

Any advice for other bands trying to get their music out there?

Songs come first. Keep it about the music and nothing else. Everything else will follow.

Finally, if you could play anywhere in the world, where would you and why?

I wanna play overseas; UK, Spain, places where I need to buy special adapters to plug my amp into. Simply put; because how exciting would it be to fly and travel to a place you’ve never been to and know barely anything about and play your music?

Thanks to latewaves for the sick interview!

Pick up their debut ep "Partied Out" Via Panic State Records

Check them on tour (dates below):

2.23 Tuscumbia, AL @ The Shed
2.24 Nashville, TN @ Beehive
2.25 Erie, PA @ Basement Transmissions
2.27 Tonawanda, NY @ Stamps 
2.28 Manchester, NH @ Bungalows
3.01 Taunton, MA @ The Shop Underground
3.02 Brooklyn, NY @ Gold Sounds
3.03 Amityville, NY @ Revolution Music Hall
3.04 Scranton, PA @ Levels
3.05 Asbury Park, NJ @ Wonder Bar