Hi, everyone! This past week, I got to sit down and talk with Scott Hermo, lead singer and multi-instrumentalist from the Nashville-based bedroom pop band Boyscott. While they're currently based in Connecticut, Hermo met the founding members that would form the band. Although their lineup has changed over the years, the current lineup consists of him, Emma Willer (guitar), his pal, Davy (bass) and Conor Ryan (drums). I'm a huge fan of their first record, Goose Bumps and their song "Nova Scotia". With some of their songs garnering streams in the millions, they had the opportunity to perform at South by Southwest in Austin this past year. Hearing about their music background made me very excited to find out more about these up-and-coming indie rockers.
bazzreviews: Which albums or artists made you want to start a music career?
Scott Hermo: I grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, and I lived right across the street from this guy Evan [Hall] who’s now in the band Pinegrove. He absolutely inspired me when I started considering making music. I went to school down in Nashville, and that’s where I started having more of a desire to make my own music. More specifically, to just take it seriously and record an actual album. I really liked a lot of the smaller bands from Memphis and Nashville, they’re all really incredible. There was this one band called Loser Vision that influenced me so much. He records all of his songs in his bedroom, it’s unreal. Bigger bands like Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors, Modest Mouse and the Talking Heads were big for me when I recorded the first album.
br: You’re originally from New York, and you now live in Connecticut. Why did the band form in Nashville?
S.H.: We recently just moved up to Connecticut, but yeah, we all started after we met down in Nashville. We all we went to the same school together. The Boyscott lineup has changed a lot since we first started, it just depends on who’s around. My good friend John Lewandowski has been one of the main members since the beginning. He played drums on Goose Bumps, and helped me flesh out the songs.
br: Which music scene do you prefer more- Nashville or New York?
S.H.: That’s a great question. I’m torn between both places, I would probably say I’m more biased to Nashville. Everybody down there was super supportive and very welcoming to us. There was also a huge scene for house shows, so you could pretty much get a gig anywhere, anytime. It was much easier to be part of the scene there than in New York. It’s a lot more intimidating in NYC, but I will say, our shows there have been some of our best. A lot of the artists there are really incredible as well.
br: I’ve heard you guys are known for some pretty cool live shows, would you say that the band thrives more off of performing live or working in the studio?
S.H.: I would say that I like the aspect of live shows a lot more, but I’d say both are pretty equal. When we first started to work the first record, we didn’t even know that it was going to be like a band. It was a great experience and there wasn’t a lot of pressure. When we released it, we were like, “Well, we’re going to need to start doing live shows now”. After we did a few performances, I totally fell in love with the art of it. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, but never thought would happen. The fact that we’re doing it now and it’s still going well is really crazy. We literally didn’t record anything for two or three because we loved it so much. At the same time, there is a lot of stress that comes with performing and traveling for so long with no breaks. Now that we’ve gotten back into the recording process now, I just realize that’s where it becomes so satisfying. It’s nice that we’ve gotten a chance to sit back and begin fine-tuning our songwriting process.
br: Your Instagram bio said that you guys are currently recording new stuff, can you tell me a little bit about what it is? S.H.: Yeah, I’m working on a new album right now. I’m thinking it will be nine new songs, I guess you could call it a full-length album. I will say it’s going to be some wacky stuff like the last record, but the production will be even crazier. I’ve been having fun with dynamics, and how a song can really change through emphasizing different parts. I’d love to work more on it this summer and get it out before the end of the year.
br: Can you describe your process for making a song?
S.H.: I take a very long time to write a song. The new songs are really just old songs that have been with us since we recorded the first album. It’s taken me a while to really flesh them out. Most of the time, it starts with an idea somewhere. It could be a riff, a lick, a chord progression, whatever. I spend a brutally long time seeing what I can do with it. We want to make our songs weird, but also enjoyable to play.
br: What’s more important to you- lyricism or production value and instrumentation?
S.H.: I think it just depends on the song. For me, I don’t see myself as comfortable with writing lyrics yet. I always had a tough time expressing myself, and they’re usually on the back burner for me. I enjoy playing with instruments and making something sound crazy way more. The lyrics are just fun and come secondhand to throw some direction to a song.
br: This past year, you guys got to perform at South by Southwest. What was that like?
S.H.: It was really cool. We spent a few days in Austin, and we had a friend who let us stay at his place. It was so much fun, and it was nice knowing we didn’t have to worry about finding a place to stay for the night. We were on the bill with so many bands that I’ve been inspired by, it was insane with how much was going on. It was definitely our best experience down in Austin.
br: What music goals do you have for the future?
S.H.: I want to try and make stuff that’s genuine and I feel that comes from me fully. I’m proud of the stuff that I’ve made, and I hope I can keep making some amazing albums. We want to tour out West and see different parts of the country. Those are our two immediate goals.
I'd like to thank Scott again for giving me his time to do an interview, and I had a really great time speaking with him! For those of you guys who haven't listened to Boyscott yet, please go and do so. I'm super excited to hear what new sounds these guys will come up with in the future, and I hope you will be, too! Thanks again to you guys, my readers, for supporting this article. More great bazzreviews content is coming your way soon!
To hear more of Boyscott's music, go to https://boyscott.bandcamp.com/
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