FELICITY Guitarist Drew Rapier | The Latest With Maya

A conversation with Drew Rapier, guitarist for the band FELICITY.❤️ Follow FELICITY and stream their music!


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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

It's the latest of it.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

It's the latest of what's the gonna talk to what's she gonna what's gonna look. Hi Drew, welcome to the latest to admire. Drew Rapier is the guitarist for the band Felicity. I am so excited to be talking with you. I love your music.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Thanks so much for being a fan, and thanks for thanks for having me on.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Yeah. Um, yeah, so is there an artist or song that you consider to be the gold standard when it comes to songwriting and storytelling?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

That's a great question. Um, gold standard, I think that's I think it's tough because I think songwriting, like a lot of things, is kind of subjective. Like um, some people love our music, some people think we're trash, which is that's part of art. Is like you can see a painting in a museum and you could say, I don't get it. Why is that a five million dollar painting? And then there's some people who are to pay$10 million for that painting. It's just all kind of subjective, which is what's the magical thing. But for me personally, um, my favorite song is like a song that I really wish I could have written was probably Everlong by Foo Fighters. I think that's one of the greatest, greatest rock songs ever written. Um, just with how unique it is and how you can so many people can connect with it and um kind of just just really unique, uh odd songwriting style that that just somehow worked into be something so iconic, iconic and magical.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Um, so is there a song of yours that is your favorite?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

I wouldn't say like it's hard, it's like picking a favorite child. Um, I think that there's some as far as like songwriting goes that we were really proud of. Um, I really think we have a song called Highs and Lows from an album we put out called Dear Universe a few years ago that was just kind of uh more of a ballad and more of a, I guess kind of like a pop love song that is just nothing like we had ever done before. So we're really proud of ourselves that we're able to write a song like that that a lot of people do love. Um, those that have heard it, it doesn't get like a ton of plays on Spotify or anything, but it's because uh it's just kind of one of those deeper tracks. But it was a song that as far as songwriting-wise goes, that we were really, really proud of. Um, as far as some of the newer stuff, um, I really love uh the song uh emotrash we wrote because it was going in writing a song very intentionally, that we wanted to kind of have a fun, lighthearted song that played into lots of references of of bands and music that we grew up with that would kind of be very um intentionally polarizing to where some people posted it and shared it because they were making fun of it, and some people posted it and shared it because they were loving it. And we think that like anytime you can do that and have something be polarizing, it just helps the success over this uh the song because you know some people may love it, some people may hate it, but either way, people are talking about it. So we went in really intentionally into the songwriting process to execute that, and um, I think, and we did it, got like five million views the first day we released it just because of the like both love and hate side of it. So that was really cool. And then I'd say, like, out of the songs we have, um, you know, if we're going favorite, I'd say that we have a song called The Weather that's just really popular, that has really just pushed us to a new stratosphere as a band and as artists, to where we can post that song any day of the week and new people can discover it, and it has brought in a majority of our fans, um, which is really cool because as a band that's what you hope to have. You hope to have a song that can bring in new people day in and day out. Um, and so like that one just being us, and we're just striving to like can we top top that one? Can we make another one? Um it's just really a a tough a tough thing to do, and you never expect it when it happens. That wasn't a song we expected to be as big as it was or to be our biggest song. It's just kind of the market decides it, but I'd say that's probably uh my our favorite one.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Oh wow, yeah, I I love that song. I mean, I love all your songs.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Um you know, I think a lot of bands, there's a song like whatever band you want to say, like they have the one song that probably brings in 80% of their fan base, and then that 80% of the fan base listens to all the other songs, but still probably that one song, like Enter Sandman for Metallica. Probably most people discovered the band, or that was the first song they heard from the band, and then they go listen to to the rest of the music. But um, you know, it's it's uh that happens to be the one currently for us that that does does the best.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Yeah. Oh wow. Yeah. Um, so what do you find to be the biggest challenge with creating music in the age of social media?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

I think the hardest thing is um, I think well, just in general, sometimes we just be finding create finding creativity. I think it's something that you can't force. And a lot of times as artists, you're you're kind of forcing yourself onto like a schedule, a release schedule of like needing another song to put out. And anytime we've kind of been forced to be on a schedule, it can be tough to really make something magical. Where when you kind of just have no timeline or schedule and you're just creating for the sake of creating, it's much easier to get something that I think resonates and impact. So I'd say like the time crunch of just constantly the people's attention spans, kind of you always have to have something ready to go or something new. Um, some bands are releasing songs on a um monthly basis, some of them it's every other month. I know people who release, you know, maybe because they're independent solo artists, or maybe they make hip-hop or rap music, they can release a song a day. Um, so it's just kind of that like uh that that schedule of always trying to have something new to put out. Um it's tough. And then I think just also people's attention spans being shorter. So song lengths are getting shorter and less time to tell a story, and really having to write a section of a song that really can connect within 10 seconds to where someone's like, I want to listen to the rest of the song, which we do have that with a song like the weather. We know the 10 seconds we can post every day, and people are gonna resonate with it. So it's like, does your song have a 10 second second section that can pull that off? And you're all it's something like on top of the everything else you're trying to do when you're writing a song, is it's trying to work that in as well.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Oh wow, yeah. Um, so what are the songs that make you sing along whenever you hear them?

SPEAKER_00 7:01

For me, um I'd say like a lot of a lot of music. Um my sister grew up when I was growing up, my sister was always listening to the band Sublime. So a lot of Sublime music, I like can't help but sing along because it's been around me for so long or so since I was little, and it always reminds me of um hanging out with my sister while she's driving around her car and listening to her favorite music. So Sublime, especially the song like Santeria or 40 ounces of freedom. Um, and I always find myself singing along to Limp Biscuit just because I it was like obsessed when I was little, would just listen to Limp Biscuit all the time. So I know every single lyric to every single song, and so it can't help is like when you know all the words to songs and you really know it to like the back of your hand, it's so hard to not want to sing it every single time.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I love um like those songs that maybe you haven't heard for a while, but when you hear them, like you just immediately remember all the words. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

When I was a kid, like I don't know, I won't remember someone's name I just met, but there's a part of my brain of a hard drive of just like every Limp Biscuit song, like burned into memory, no matter how many years it goes by. If I put if it comes on, I'll know that it front to back. It's like it's like uh saying the code word to the winter soldier, and he just changes your personality. You hear it, you just you just access a different part of your brain that you didn't know was there.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Yeah, definitely. I love that. Yeah, um, so if you had a warning label, what would yours say?

SPEAKER_00 8:44

For the band, you think? For the band?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Um uh for the band or for you.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Um I'd say uh may, may, especially in many ways, the band and me, I'd say uh like may cause hearing loss. We tend to be very loud. If you ever come see us play a show, it's very loud. We always get that. I don't know if it's a compliment, but that feedback that we're we're loudly proud or we proud ourselves at this point. We want to be the loudest band of the night. Uh, and then also I tend to talk very loud, probably because of hearing loss from being in this band for so many years. But um, but yeah, like uh may cause hearing loss. We'll go with that.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Um, what is uh the biggest obstacle, either personal or professional, that you've overcome?

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Um I'd say when it comes to the band, we're kind of in this this way where I think it's been kind of a blessing where we've kind of always found ourselves back to doing things ourselves. Um right now we're DIY independent, and you know, a lot of times uh these flyers we designed and uh these stickers we designed, and you know, this giant alien behind me, we we physically made that and we uh do post all of our own content and come up with all of our own ideas. We just filmed and shot our own music video and we're in the process of editing that. Um, and it's really just because whenever we've had whether it be uh either like it's either been that like there hasn't been interest from maybe record labels or managers or agents or whatever it is. So we just say, hey, we're gonna do this anyway, we're gonna go do it ourselves. Um, and we force ourselves to either learn how to do it or just go attack it and then say, wow, that was a very big failure. However, now we know how to do it better the next time. And we've learned over the years how to do every like role there could be in a band between us, like we can be 100% self-sufficient. So it's been kind of either that we haven't attracted the people who want to work with us and say, like, I believe in this band and I want to help them get to where they want to be. Um, it's either that or the flip side of where was maybe we've had people on the team, but we just kind of feel like they're not willing to put in the extra mile that we're willing to put in. So it's like we might as well just do it, do it ourselves because we're we're gonna be the first ones in and the last ones out. So um I think it's been a blessing though, because you know, we've been in the this band's been around for 10 years, and at this point, we now know we can do anything we need to do. We bought our own equipment, we bought video equipment so we could make content that we can make music videos, we've run our own sound, um, and we've just either like you know built relationships with people that teach us these things or went out and learned them on our own, um, to where we can we can do whatever we want as a band, we can probably accomplish it by by ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Oh wow. Um so I am uh pop culture obsessed and I go in stages of shows that I cannot stop watching. Is there a show that you are currently obsessed with?

SPEAKER_00 12:08

It just ended, but I was really locked in to the second season of Fallout, which I love the video games, so I like I like Fallout. I've been also watching the new Game of Thrones show, which is Night in the Kingdom, which is like a Game of Thrones spin-off show, which is great. Um, and then I'm a big sports guy, so I was kind of locked into watching football like all week, but until now it's now that's ended. But that's really what I've been um watching lately. And then and then also my girlfriend and I were watching the show Severance, which is cool. I'm big into like sci-fi or fantasy and in or like fiction type of stuff, like that type of stuff. I I've really you know found myself being attracted to watching.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Oh, cool, love that. Yeah, I um I am uh watching uh an older show um called Franklin and Bash.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Oh, I remember that. Yeah, I remember when that was on for sure.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, I'm obsessed with that. So I'm watching, I'm just constantly watching that.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

I don't have a ton of time, so it's usually like things that are currently happening, so I can be like, oh, there's one episode from this week. I can like lock in for that one hour. Um, but yeah, I've I've binge like all of breaking bad at one point. I watched it all front to back and I did all of Lost and stuff, but it the it's harder and harder to do that. When we're on the road, it's actually easier to watch stuff like that because we're in these six-hour car rides and we can just just throw something on.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Oh yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, there's a new um show on Netflix that I just started watching called How How to Get to Heaven from Belfast. Um that that one's really good. I I do uh highly recommend that. So if you have time. Yeah. Um yeah, so uh what genre of movie would your life story be told as?

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Probably a comedy, honestly. I think it does have to be, even if it's just the fact that like try not to take myself too seriously and um try to try to be uh always glass half full and bive and try to have positive energy. Um and that goes for the band too. We try to just always focus on positivity and positive messaging and try to just put a smile on people's face and hopefully make them laugh or at least smile or sing along or do something, do something that could bring positive energy into their life. So I'd say probably comedy makes the most sense.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Um, so is there a song that you're currently obsessed with?

SPEAKER_00 15:00

I don't think probably currently. Um I mean if I thought we're loud, I could think of one, but I have been listening to a lot of our unreleased music. That's kind of what it is as a band, is like you listen to your own unreleased music a ton, and then once it comes out, you kind of just stop listening to it altogether. But that, and also we're writing music, so I'm listening to a lot of the demos and stuff, and I try to keep myself infatuated with listening to our own stuff so that I can really like get creative with it and think about where we need to go next with it. But a song of artists or or some music I've been really into lately is to be listening to um there's a band called Bill Murray, uh, that I love that uh is really cool. It's B-I-L-L-M-U-R-I, so it's not like the actor, but like kind of a playoff his name. Um, Bill Murray is great. Um, and uh I've been listening to I listen to a lot of like uh a day remember, listening to them a lot lately, and the new Falling Reverse album is is awesome, so I've been listening to that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Oh, cool, I love that. I'm writing all these down to go listen. Um, what was the last one that you said?

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Uh Falling in Reverse.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Oh, okay. Thank you. Uh I'm excited to listen to these, so thank you.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

It's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Oh, cool. Yeah, I'm very excited to listen to these. So thank you for the recommendations. Um yeah, I just um watched uh a movie called Lurker that I really liked and the soundtrack to it. There's a song called Love and Obsession that I had on repeat.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

I'll go check out that one. I'll definitely check it out.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, it's really good. Um yeah, so um so who in your life has had the um biggest impact on how you choose to live?

SPEAKER_00 17:03

I would say um probably my mom, just because she's always been like encouraged me to kind of just just follow my heart and do what makes me happy, follow my dreams. And there's been times where I've been can kind of had to restart everything from scratch again, whether it be leaving a job or a career and restarting outside of the outside of the band, that's one constant I've always had in my life. But she's always kind of been there just believe in me and just have my back. This is like she knows I'm gonna figure it out. And when you have someone else that believes in you as much as you believe in yourself, it kind of like reinforces that belief you have in yourself. So it's like, yeah, I will figure it out because this person would has never led me, led me astray. So that's always helped a ton. And then no matter what it I've done, whether it's been like a sports team I was on or being in the in the band and coming to shows or whatever it is, she's been always been incredibly 100% supportive and a positive influence on it, even if she doesn't necessarily like like all the songs we put out, she would never she would never tell me if that was the if that was the case.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

So I love that. Yeah. Um yeah, so um, if you had the opportunity to put a message on a billboard for everyone to see, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 18:24

I always love this uh the this just very simple adages from Bill and Ted's excellent adventure, and it's just be excellent to each other. And you take that as be kind, but just just you know, don't think the world would be a lot better if everyone loved each other as much as they uh love themselves a lot of the time. So just be excellent to each other and treat other people with kindness and respect and love.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Yeah. I love that. Yeah, I think that's a a great one that I'd love to see on a billboard. Um so what three words best describe you?

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Um I would say uh loud is a great is a great adjective to describe me because I'm very loud in many senses of the way. Um I'd say uh uh loyal would be uh a word that that I think I am. I'm sometimes loyal to a fault. Um and I will give people you know way too many chances until they I you know uh but that's okay. I wouldn't have it any other way. I always love be giving people the benefit of the doubt and second chances and um understanding that no one's perfect and um and and that uh so that that would be a big one for me. Um and I think the last one would just be um just creative. Like I just find myself as a creative person, whether it's editing videos or photos or graphic design or creating music or whatever it is, if there's something creative about it, I tend to find myself drawn to it and um being able to participate in it. It may not be the best at anything, but I can usually find my way around it and figure out how to do it if it's some type of creative um activity, whether that be you know filmmaking or creating content for the band or doing stuff for my clients in a marketing agency. So I'll be doing graphic design or photo editing or things like that. I can usually find my way to do it.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Oh wow, I love that. Yeah. Um yeah, so I just have uh one final question for you. Um, so today, what are you most grateful for?

SPEAKER_00 20:41

I think I'm most just most grateful to be to be here and being able to continue to make music and to have whether through a the storm of this of being in this band where it it would have been very easy to kind of just say, I'm gonna dedicate this time of my life to something else. But we have a group I'm really thankful to have a a group of guys who truly believe in what we're doing and have each other's backs and are willing to put in the work no matter what it is. And uh, if we say we're gonna be here twice a week at this time, then we'll be here twice a week at this time, going on for 10 years. And to be comfortable with the with the with the journey, not the destination. There's always like some people always have like a destination they're trying to get to in their mind. Like, I gotta get from here to here in the next five years, or um, or we're a failure, or whatever it might be. But we really try to just focus on enjoying the journey and like what we're doing today to hopefully get to there and just thankful that like because of that, we've weathered this storm. And now there are people like you and other people out there that um appreciate what we do and are interested enough to interview us and talk to us and um are excited for what we what we do next. Cause that's always it's always a lot more fun when you have people who support it and they aren't excited about it as much as we are. are so there's been times in this band where we're playing for the other band uh that played and that's it so it's it's really thankful to make it to this point where we can go to anywhere in the in the country and have people excited to come see us play yeah oh I love that yeah um well that was uh my uh final question for you uh thank you so much for joining me I've uh loved talking with you you've made my day awesome well thanks for having me and hopefully we'll come uh meet you at a show sometime we'll play near you sometime soon and we can we can uh you have some talking in uh in person I would love that thank you um yeah so thank you so much again for joining me and I hope you have a great rest of your day yeah you as well thank you uh and that's a wrap on today's edition of the latest with Maya Latest with Maya it's the latest with Maya oh she can talk to me what's he gonna ask