Our friends in Felicity are back for a new interview! They have been steadily growing a huge following through their music and content. We got the chance to reconnect and chat about their latest releases, the BareBones Awards, and what they have been up to since we last spoke at So What?! 2022. Take a look below and see what all we got in to with guitarist Andrew Rapier.
BBE: Hard to believe it has already been a year since we first chatted at So What?! How have you guys been?
AR: Can’t believe it’s been a year! Feels like yesterday but also already a lifetime… We’ve been incredible. When we got back from So What!? Fest we got back to working on our next batch of music, played some more shows around the southeast USA, and of course the never-ending TikTok machine.
BBE: We can tell you guys have been keeping busy between covers, promoting, and releasing songs. What has it been like to see the growth that you have been experiencing?
AR: It’s been a wild ride. Since the last time we all got to hang out we’ve put a lot of focus into our TikTok account and grown it to over 100k followers. It’s been amazing to see it blow up. We finally got a video with over 1.5M views and because of that one of our songs “The Weather” just hit 1M streams on Spotify. TikTok is such a powerful tool for independent artists – we are so lucky to have it at our disposal! It opened us to so many opportunities lately – we truly feel blessed!
BBE: To touch on briefly, we love all the fun videos you have been creating to help promote your music. Your fans showed out too and voted you guys for 2022 BareBones Band TikTok of the Year. What does it mean to you guys to know so many fans came out and voted for you and are enjoying what you have been doing?
AR: We are HUMBLED! A little over a year ago we were NOT EVEN ON TIKTOK! It blows our minds even to be considered a “TikTok Band” now – but I truly feel we deserve it. We have worked our butts off on TikTok over the last 1.5 years and through sheer willpower and brute force we have willed our way into the TikTok scene now we blush when we get mentioned with some of the TikTok bands that we look up to like Magnolia Park, Arrows in Action, and Sueco.
BBE: You have been pushing your latest single, “Levitate,” and creating a lot of content for it. What was it like putting this song together?
AR: With “Levitate” and the next batch of songs coming alongside it. We wanted to create songs that didn’t already exist in the FELICITY catalog. Specifically with “Levitate” we wanted a song that was “generation-less” that we could show to a teenager, a 10-year-old, or my grandmother and they all could vibe to it. Something that you could put on at a wedding reception and everyone could jump on the dance floor and dance together like “Mr.Brightside” by The Killers – and FELICITY has never had a song like that. I truly feel like we accomplished that with “Levitate.” For the song we really drew influences from classic rock songs and modern bands like Don Broco and Maneskin.
BBE: What were you doing right before the release? Do you kind of hang out to see the first responses, or do you give it time and check back later?
AR: The night “Levitiate” came out we were on an airplane flying from Orlando to Los Angeles to play Emo Nite LA overnight. It was actually crazy because we were crossing multiple time zones. It kept changing from midnight then back to 11 pm, then back to 11 pm again, then 11 pm again so we kept looking at each other saying, “Is it out yet? Wait, I don’t see it on Spotify..?! Is it out on your phone? No? What about your phone?” because we were 30,000 feet above cell phone service – it was a crazy experience! By the time we landed thousands of people had heard the song and we got to catch up on all the positive feedback – it was a trip!
BBE: How have the responses been to the song?
AR: INSANE!!! We had over 15,000 streams in our first week and our first editorial playlist in over 5 years go stream it on “FRESH FINDS ROCK” on Spotify! So far everyone loves the song!
BBE: How long has the song been being played live at shows, or have you been holding off for the release?
AR: We played the song for the FIRST TIME when we opened for THE USED at their sold-out album release show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. We had only rehearsed it once together – but that’s how FELICITY rolls, we like to keep things SPICY for ourselves. Since then we played it on its release day at EMO NITE LA and the response was incredible. Going forward I don’t think “Levitate” will ever be left out of our live set until further notice.
BBE: What is next for you now that the song is out?
AR: We have 16 other songs hot and ready and we plan on dropping another single every 6 weeks until further notice or until we take over the world! We also plan to eat at every Waffle House and get kicked out of every Lowe’s in the continental united states.
BBE: What is the best way for fans to keep up with the news and chat with the band?
AR: Follow us on all social media at @wearefelicity (Insta/Twitter/TikTok)
BBE: Anything else you would like to add?
AR: Thank you to everyone who voted us as the BAREBONES ENTERTAINMENT TikTok Band of the Year it truly means the world to us!
