Music Q&A with Pop Alma
Photo courtesy of Pop Alma
Pop Alma is a 4-piece pop rock band out of New Jersey! They recently released a new song titled “My Bed Is Big Enough for the Two Of Us” and it’s off their upcoming EP, Tales of a Hopeless Romantic, which will be out on Friday, November 19th! In this Q&A, the band talks about the new song, their upcoming EP, Slipknot, Fall Out Boy, The Wonder Years, and so much more!
Congratulations on the release of “My Bed Is Big Enough For The Two Of Us”! There’s a lot going on in this song. The vocals, guitar solos, etc. and it all seems to work well. How did this song come about?
Chris: The song came about when Harley showed us a 30 second riff he made, then I hopped on drums and laid a beat on it, and the rest is history, hearing the original demo to now is totally mind bending. So glad it came out just how we envisioned it.
Harley: So this song originally started out as a 30 second demo that I had put together (which turned into the solo section of the song.) I had brought it to the band and at first, Jacob wasn’t completely on board but as time went on, he slowly started to see something in it and then we started writing more and really started to structure it until it became what it is now.
Jacob: What he said.
Alex: Well, this song originated from Chris wanting to wax his stomach and needed an excuse to do it. We also needed to have a song that followed up from “ur my fav”, so Harley came up with a brilliant idea and song, killing two birds with one stone.
“My Bed Is Big Enough For The Two Of Us” is off Tales Of A Hopeless Romantic, the band’s upcoming EP. How do you feel the COVID era affected the band’s creative process for this EP?
Jacob: For us, the pandemic really made us focus on making sure whatever happened, that we at least came out of this thing with something worth writing home about. I think this project really shows off a lot of things that we weren’t able to with SOMA, being that Alex and I were kinda running around like mad-men trying to make sh** happen. It was a rough period, but really brought all of us so much closer than we would’ve expected.
Harley: I feel like COVID really just helped me with writing to be honest with you. It forced me to be home more and being stuck inside with not much to do, I really started honing in on my craft. I started putting together short demos and a good couple of them have been turned into something that you may or may not hear with the upcoming release of Tales Of A Hopeless Romantic. (wink wink)
Chris: I feel like it gave us all the time in the world trying to perfect this EP. We wanted the sound to be not only sonically pleasing, but the whole story around it as well to be as coherent and relatable as possible.
Alex: I feel like covid really helped us a lot actually, it gave us time to have to ourselves. Like too much time. Too much to the point where we felt hella anxious and were feeling uneasy, so what do we do every time we feel like that? We turn to music and relieve all of our booboo feelings there. But I’m glad we were able to do that, it feels like the music is more true and meaningful to us in that way.
What does the EP mean to you?
Jacob: Oh, boy! So, I wrote a lot of the concepts and ideas for this EP a little over three years ago, just before SOMA had even been conceived, so I’ve always had a special attachment to it and I’m so glad that people are actually getting to hear it. It’s taken on a new meaning over the years, especially once everyone in the band got involved. It started as a way for me to talk about some toxic “entanglement” (thanks for that one, Jada) that I was in at the time, and it’s become SO much more. Especially now that I’m not the only one with my hand in this one anymore, I can only imagine the rest of the band can relate when I say that it speaks for us in ways that words alone can’t and has really helped me come to terms with a lot of the things that used to plague my life. I’d be lying if I told you that this EP didn’t change my life, entirely, and hopefully others can find some solace in it, too.
Harley: This EP to me tells the story of a toxic romance with mental health and superficial people. It’s super relatable to a certain time in my life. For me, this EP is telling a story that I haven’t been able to.
Chris: This EP means a lot to me, this is the first ever EP I’ve ever been a part of as a member in a band, and the whole story for this EP as well really hits home with everything we wanted with this EP, We were in dark times writing this record, and I'm just glad we turned our sadness into something we can all relate to and stand together and know we all go through these awful things in life.
Alex: I don’t think I'm going to be the only one who says this, but I feel like this EP is a reflection of past relationships that I experienced. From having the best feeling ever to feeling like you just wanna die, I feel like we all can relate, right?
When was the first time you fell in love with music?
Harley: My family has been musical for generations so I think for me, it’s in my blood. My father played guitar and sang in a cover band for years, my grandfather toured the world with his group from Peru. So I guess for me, I think I’ve always been in love with music.
Chris: My family’s always been musically inclined, I guess it’s just second nature to me, My inspiration to start playing music really stemmed from watching my brother, Matt, play with his band, The Ones You Forgot, and hearing about my cousin, Steve, going on crazy tours in different countries with his band, Backtrack, and Candy. Because of them, I'm the person I am today and if y'all are reading this, thank you both from the bottom of my heart, without you guys I wouldn’t be who I am today. Love ya guys <3
Alex: So my sisters actually put me on music as soon as I was out of the womb. When I was little, they put me on late 1990’s/early 2000’s R&B and Hip Hop. When I was 12, one of my sister’s had to go to the hospital because she had stomach ulcers so she had to be there for a while. I missed her a lot so I would go into her room because that was the closest thing I had to being near her, and in her room she had an electric piano. I started messing with it and that’s how I coped with my sadness at the time, it kinda just took off ever since.
Jacob: I’d always been surrounded by it. My brother started singing a couple years before I did, and my father’s a DJ, so it would make sense that I became involved in music. For me, I REALLY fell in love with it in middle school. I loved the Four Seasons, which is what got me singing at eight years-old anyways, but then one of my classmates got me into bands like Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy, and my life changed forever. I started writing soon after at age twelve, and I haven’t looked back ever since. I’m beyond lucky to be able to share this journey with these guys. Also, thanks to Tim Jackson for bringing Alex and I together. The band probably wouldn’t exist had that never happened.
What is your favorite album of all time?
Jacob: It changes with time, but stuff like Greatest Hits by Waterparks, Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die by Panic!, and Native by OneRepublic are just a few on my current rotation.
Harley: Honestly, that’s a hard one. It changes every so often so I can’t really pinpoint an exact album. Currently it’s Greatest Hits by Waterparks.
Alex: Either Collide with the Sky by Pierce the Veil or Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chem.
Chris: I can name so many albums right now… But to keep it short and sweet, My favorite album of all time is The Greatest Generation by The Wonder Years. This album is a MUST LISTEN. The whole thing from front to back is amazing. The album touches subject’s like loneliness, and feeling lost, being scared and what have you. It’s honestly an amazing record that never gets old to me.
What is one artist or band that you haven’t seen in concert, that you hope to see someday?
Harley: I really want to see Bring Me The Horizon. They’re a really rad band and I love how their music has gone from super hard to blended pop. It’s interesting and I like how they just do what they want.
Jacob: I was just telling my girlfriend that I really wanna go see Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot one day. There’s many others. Too many to lift. Badflower is another one. They are SO GOOD! Genuinely, I love how energetic and engaged they are on the stage.
Chris: I was SUPPOSED to see Slipknot, but sadly I couldn’t go see them. But besides that I want to see Modern baseball, but they don’t play anymore :/
Alex: I was supposed to go see My Chem back in 2018 in Jersey but they kept postponing their show because of COVID, which is perfectly understandable. It just sucks because of the circumstances but hopefully everything turns out okay this year :)
What is your favorite thing about making music?
Harley: For me, it changes depending on how I feel. I feel like some days, my favorite part is recording the music. I love being in the studio because it opens the creativity doors and it inspires me to write more. Other times, my favorite thing is to come up with a new concept and try to flesh it out. However I think the one constant favorite thing of mine is being on stage and having that adrenaline hit you and going absolutely buck wild for an entire crowd of people while they sing our songs back to us.
Chris: My favorite thing about making music is catering to people that feel lonely or unloved or anything, and just letting them know we’ve been there and that they are not alone in any situation they find themselves in. Music has always been my go to way for coping with my problems, people can drink the liver away, or smoke the pain away, but I just listen to music. Music has always been there for me, when I feel lonely, I get lost in music and just listen to artists talk about the same shit i'm going through.
Alex: My favorite thing about making music is that it’s an outlet to how I feel. Most of the time I'm either anxious or nervous about something, so I normally write based on that. But at the same time I feel emotions like happiness or just plain sadness, so no matter how I’m feeling I can always write something based around that. I love doing so because I know there’s hella other people who feel the same way, I want to make music that can help people and be an outlet to anyone who struggles with the same issues.
Jacob: For me, it’s the creation process. It’s a very personal thing, and watching the music take on a life of its own is just an awesome experience. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s really quite majestic. I don’t know how else to express it.
How do you stay positive?
Chris: I believe there is always a B-Side to every situation, No matter how big or small, things will get better, If you ever get sad or stressed over anything, just remember, we’re human, we’re going to fuck up in life, move on and learn from mistakes and encounters.
Jacob: It can be pretty hard at times, but that’s why I write so much stuff. I’m hoping we’ll be able to finish some of them and put out some of them in 2022. I think making sure I really lean into my support system when I need to is also big for me. I don’t believe any of us are meant to be alone.
Any last words or final message for the readers?
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