Girl duo Fuzzhoneys is launching debut EP CD tal-Ġenn this weekend. They tell Ramona Depares about the music, the chemistry and the dancing.

How did you two meet each other?

Caroline: I found out through a common friend that Francesca was going to the same festival I was attending that summer. So, when we were both at the same gig before going abroad, I approached her about the festival. We’re both very laid-back and both into music, of course, attending the same gigs and so forth… we were bound to become friends at some point.

Was forming a band something that you had both been thinking of even from before? How did things evolve?

Francesca: Being in a band was always on my bucket list and both Caroline and I had ‘bands’ before Fuzzhoneys. I use the inverted commas because sadly they tended to fail after the first rehearsal. I guess that, back then, it was the kind of thing teenage angst makes you do – daydreaming of having a band with your group of best friends.

In reality, what’s most important is the fundamental energy of the music that is happening. The first time Caroline and I spoke of meeting up to play, I had no clue that we’d end up having such a musical connection. In fact, we wrote Chemistry, one of our first tracks, on our first meeting. From then on, we started meeting constantly to jam and wrote new material. At that point I was still unaware that I was going to have my ‘girl band’ ideal come to life.

Is there a story behind the name?

Francesca: I really took my time choosing the sound of my electric guitar. I haven’t owned my red Gibson, Rosetta, more than three years for sure. The same applies to my fuzz pedal. I had bought it specifically for band practice with Caroline; quite the colourful, noise-picking experience. The process to see which name fit started with Pickled Organs – at that point we were still not giving much thought to it, both believing that one day the right name would just come to us.

It came to a point where I really wanted to give us a name, but Caroline wasn’t too easily impressed, which I suppose was a good thing and made us give it some heartfelt thought.

Caroline: I’m very picky. Finally, we settled on the ‘Fuzz’ bit, but we still needed a second part to the name. So Francesca had to write lists of words that would sound cool with ‘fuzz’.

Francesca: Fuzzpuffs, Felinefuzz, Fuzzpie, Fizzfuzz, Fuzzpaste… and finally, Fuzzhoneys it was, with a side-serving of patriotic, local sweetness.

Caroline: ‘Honeys’ seemed appropriate as it’s quite girly and just sounded right.

There were moments of alternative rock, garage blues and soulful groove

Do you remember the first time you two performed together? Was it planned or did it happen spontaneously?

Francesca: This is actually something I’ll never forget. It was not planned too much ahead, so I had less time to chicken out and Caroline’s support gave me the push I needed. It was in 2014, at the Rock the South festival and we were a surprise act for the Sunday early afternoon show. We weren’t even listed on the poster, so it was a good step to balance out the pressure of going live.

We had a set list of eight original songs and were both very nervous and excited, but it was well worth it; live energy is indescribably beautiful.

How do you describe your music?

Francesca: All our music is a collective, honest expression. I guess I’d call it raw, angry emotion, with a set of different stories.Our EP specifically aims to mark how we found our sound. There were moments of alternative rock, garage blues and soulful groove which evolved from the dual connection of attack and response to darker frames of mind.

Our sound varies and my aim is always to be as solid and versatile as possible. I like a band that plays a set of songs that don’t sound all the same and I try my best to improve as we progress.

Do you feel that your individual style has changed since you started playing together?

Caroline: We’re both very open to jamming with other musicians and I do believe that this helps anyone improve – both technically and also when it comes to getting inspired with new ideas and styles and becoming more creative and confident in playing. This is what we’ve achieved and will continue to achieve. But at the end of the day, we’d say we’re growing our style, rather than changing.

Tell us each other’s best – and worst – trait.

Caroline: When we’re song-writing with lyrics and guitar, Francesca has a habit of overthinking and this consumes our time. But then she has this magic ability to spontaneously form a vocal line with melodies that suit the song.

Francesca: Caroline can be too eager to finish a song, so she’ll always be rushing me to say the song is ready. We always try to test different structures in our tracks, rather than the usual verse/chorus/verse and it takes a while to grasp how many bits to add to a song and when.

Then again, Caroline is my lifelong, favourite beat maker and finds the right balance of simple and effective. Plus, her fuzzy creative moments are irreplaceable; somehow, she’s a drummer, a tambourine player and sometimes there’s a little cowbell too, somewhere.

How long have you been working on the upcoming EP?

Francesca: The EP was recorded late 2014 thanks to Daniel Buttigieg, who managed to produce our sound in as true and raw a format as possible. It was all plug and play. Once you are in the studio, you hear yourself from another perspective.

Caroline: The EP has a lot of underlying steps which built up and will stay on after its launch. We took our time to release it, since our main priority was to gain experience performing live. Now, it’s time to have an actual, physical print of our sound.

What was the biggest challenge to bring it to completion?

Caroline: Since we’re both very busy people, time was the biggest challenge. Recording only took two days, but preparing for the actual event was more time-consuming. We’re a very DIY band and we like to do everything ourselves – from designing to actually making the collage of photos for our cover-art, as well as hand-painting our t-shirts and totebags. There was the Fuzzhoneys merchandise to take care of – deciding on a venue, supporting acts, poster artwork, stage planning and – most importantly – practising and developing the set for the night.

Do you each have a favourite track on the EP?

Caroline: I’m a very indecisive person and my favourite song changes constantly, depending on how long we’ve been playing a particular track. In the beginning, Soul was my favourite. But the way Midnight Sun is coming along, it has become my recent favourite. On the EP it’s recorded live and unplugged – our first acoustic song, written specifically for the SunSounds Little Shop Session. But for the launch we did an electric re-make, which I’m very much looking forward to playing.

Francesca: I guess it’s got to be Doors, especially after we brought a visual concept to it, thanks to Franco Rizzo. It’s husky, haunting, masculine and it’s psychedelic blues. We managed to mix up a lot of things, which are close to my heart.

What’s next for the Fuzzhoneys?

Caroline: More live shows, more merchandise production and, most importantly, more song-writing.

Francesca: To end our first chapter of CD Tal-Ġenn, the six-track EP that defines the beginning of us finding ourselves, working together and going on to the maturity of the present, both lyrically and technically. And dancing, lots of dancing.

CD tal-Ġenn is being launched with a live performance on January 9 at 9pm at the Beachaven, Xemxija. Krishna will be opening the event and there will be DJ sets by Michael Bugeja and Chris Radium.

www.fuzzhoneys.com