Welcome to the Pop Shop Podcast’s Headliner Interview, Billboard's weekly long-form talk with a compelling, inspirational voice in the world of music.
When Hey Violet releases its debut album, it’ll be the the first full length on 5 Seconds of Summer’s Hi Or Hey Records -- that’s not by 5SOS, that is (it also arrives via Caroline). The co-ed L.A. group partnered with the Aussies after four-fifths of its current lineup morphed from the teenaged hard rock outfit Cherri Bomb to its millennial-savvy, pop-friendly current form. The switch was a smart one.
"We’re still experimenting with different kinds of sounds," keyboardist-vocalist Miranda Miller says on this week’s episode of Pop Shop. "We love rock, we love pop -- we just wanted to find that balance."
Hey Violet uses guitar, keys, drums -- the traditional rock instruments -- to translate 2017’s bass drop-addled version of pop radio into songs that sound fresh and visceral. The down ’n dirty bass of “Guys My Age” can hang with Top 40 EDM, but in concert, it explodes with low end frenzy thanks to a living, breathing rhythm section.