Anyone who’s experienced the spectacle of a California Honeydrops show can tell you there’s nothing quite like it. The band’s electric energy, joyous exuberance, heart-tingling soul, and raw musical talent are something to behold, and make the band stick out amongst a crowded field of festival favorites. Those who haven’t yet imbibed their first Honeydrops show, as well as those who have indulged before, will have the chance to catch the band on the road this month during a run of shows culminating with their highly anticipated return to Denver’s Mission Ballroom, where they’ll be joined by Sam Grisman Project on November 10th [get tickets].
The California Honeydrops have come a long way since their early days busking on the Oakland subway.
“We started playing in the streets for fun and burrito money,” drummer Ben Malament said during a conversation with Live For Live Music.
The group still retains the skillset they developed vying for the attention of passersby, and it remains a part of their musical DNA to this day. “That spirit is important to us,” Malament explained. “We’ve never relied on the pyrotechnics or stuff like that. It’s always just been the energy of the people and reading the crowd.”
The group’s high-energy performances and onstage spontaneity are thrilling to watch, and fans never know what’s going to happen next. Nor does the band. “We never make a setlist,” said Malament. “We might have what we want to start with, but even that can change depending on the energy that’s in the room. We just try to do what feels good for us and for everybody that’s there, straight up.”
When it comes to working a crowd, one of the Honeydrops’ greatest strengths is the magnetic charisma of frontman Lech Wierzynski, but the rest of the band matches his energy, radiating joy from the stage at every performance. Even behind the drums, Malament makes his presence known with ample charisma of his own. “I do a lot of MCing, and I think enough of me comes through,” he said. “I don’t hide back there, that’s for sure.”
Asked whether the band ever struggles to find the magic or experiences an off night, Malament observed, “If someone says that they’ve never had an off night when they’re a performer, I think they’re in denial. But that’s kind of the beautiful thing about being in a band is if someone isn’t feeling it, we all put our energy out there to carry it.
“There’s always magic on every night,” he continued. “There’s never a night where it’s like nothing good is happening. That’s a fact. Even if you’re struggling, there’s always magic happening, always. I mean, traveling does a number on a person. Being away from your family for weeks at a time does a number on a person. We’re just humans and we bring what we can. That’s part of our thing is we will go up there and we’ll smile. We will play and bring every ounce of energy we got. We’re on stage sweating, playing our instruments, and our fans since day one have really, really fed off of that. So if one person is struggling, it doesn’t mean five people are struggling. And even if we are struggling, it’s like there’s enough energy to live off of, make it a good night. So it’s all good.”
As the group’s fanbase continues to snowball, the Honeydrops have gone from playing their hearts out for unwitting pedestrians to headlining bigger venues where the connection between audience and performer is less intimate. “It’s been more challenging over the years because we’ve had bigger venues and more people in the band,” Malament said. Still though, the band’s ability to connect directly with fans and pull them into the moment continues to be its greatest strength.
“Even if it’s 4,000 people at the Mission Ballroom, the energy is high and it still feels personal. And same even if it’s 9,000 people at Red Rocks, it’s like the energy goes from top to bottom. That’s where we live.” And that’s good, because the Honeydrops have their sights set on headlining the famed Morrison, CO venue.
“If people ever want to see us at Red Rocks, they got to come and sell out the Mission Ballroom first,” urged Malament. “So this is the time to bring your friends, bring your grandma, bring your cousins, get ’em to the show.”
As for what fans can expect from these shows, Malament intimated, “There’s going to be a lot of brand new stuff that no one’s heard. We literally just got out of the studio and I’m sure we’re going to incorporate some of the new music as well as the hits people know and love. We ask the audience for requests too. So sometimes the crowd will even make a set, and while it might not dictate the exact order of the set, we try to bring it all in there—what we want to play, what’s new to keep it fresh, and then what people want to hear.”
He also said the Honeydrops will draw from their most recent album, Soft Spot, the band’s first original output since the pandemic forced them to take a break from touring. During that time, the band hosted livestream performances and released a covers album, Covers from the Cave, which was recorded entirely at home. Once social distancing measures relaxed, the band hit the ground running with newfound fervor, entering the studio to record Soft Spot.
“That was kind of being cooked up during the pandemic, some of it, but some of it was cooked up in the studio,” Malament said of the album. “And a lot of that stuff kind of grew when we started to tour again as well. When we started getting back on the road and we saw how people were excited to see us, it was pretty mind-blowing and emotional. So I think a lot of Soft Spot was actually inspired by getting back on the road. Being back on the road has inspired us to play more from the album too. There’s a lot of juice left in that album, which is great for us. But we also have a brand new single that just came out, so we’re just go mode all the time, pretty much.”
Now, the Honeydrops are back on the tour recharged and with renewed purpose. “I think there’s definitely a different energy since the pandemic for sure,” Malament reflected. “There’s still people that are going to their first live stuff, and we still hear at tons of shows how much our livestreams meant to people, which is really beautiful because we were literally playing into a phone or a computer and you just don’t know what the hell’s going on. And so to reconnect with people in places that were waiting for us to tour because our shows were canceled or that have never seen us and have waited just to go out to see live music, it’s totally special still and means a lot. I definitely don’t take it for granted that people are coming out and hanging with us.”
Last week The California Honeydrops released “Bye Bye Baby”, the first preview of a new album due to drop sometime next year. With layered guitar and horns and rhythms reminiscent of West African music, the song is soothing and reassuring like a soulful lullaby. “All the new songs are great, but I still want people to live off of a Soft Spot because I really think there’s some great songs on there, and we released a whole bonus album that has all this extra material,” Malament said.
Listen to “Bye Bye Baby” below or on your preferred streaming platform, and catch the California Honeydrops on their Bye Bye Baby Tour. The band also just announced plans to celebrate New Year’s Eve at Bally’s Lake Tahoe. For a full list of upcoming shows and to purchase tickets, visit their website.
The California Honeydrops – “Bye Bye Baby”
