Popping Up: Oh Honey
Popping Up is our recurring look at new artists making noise on the music landscape. Because, hey —Madonna and Britney were once unknown, too.
Oh Honey is an upcoming duo from Brooklyn, New York. After focussing on songwriting and production duties for other artists, Mitchy Collins decided it was time to release his own music. He just needed a partner in crime. And that’s where self-confessed “spacey” vocalist Danielle Bouchard came in.
The pair were signed to Atlantic Records and didn’t waste any time releasing debut single “Be Ok”. The song became an instant blog hit and was even covered by Lea Michele in an episode of Glee. They continued to build momentum with relentlessly optimistic EP With Love and have been further expanding their fan base with a hectic touring schedule. Oh Honey just wrapped up a stint opening for James Blunt, which will be followed by a tour with The Fray. Learn all there is to know about the rising duo after the jump.
MEMBERS: Mitchy Collins and Danielle Bouchard
HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, New York
SOUNDS LIKE: A modern twist on the boy/girl duos of the ’60s and ’70s. Think of them as the hipster Sonny & Cher or The Carpenters on uppers.
INFLUENCES: In addition to the famous duos mentioned above, the band loves storytellers like Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams.
HOW THEY MET: “I’ve always been in love with the idea of a guy/girl duos — Ike and Tina Turner, Sonny & Cher,” explains Mitchy. “So I started searching. I had met Danielle about a year and a half prior to us connecting and in the midst of my search, a mutual friend brought us together. The June Carter to my Johnny Cash was here all the time.” Aww.
THE AUDITION: “I was in Chicago and I got a call from my friend and he said you need to stop what you’re doing right now and sing into the phone,” Danielle remembers with a laugh. “So I kicked my family out of the house and sang a couple of bars over the phone to Mitch and he liked them. The rest is history.”
THEIR NAME: The answer, it turns out, is twofold. “It’s my favorite episode of How I Met Your Mother but also last summer there was this whole phenomenon of bee farms popping up everywhere,” explains the Oh Honey frontman. “People actually had bee farms on their roof tops in Williamsburg and make their own honey and sell it at the farmer’s markets,” adds his leading lady.
THE BRIGHT SIDE: The duo’s music has a refreshingly upbeat and optimistic quality but it wasn’t intentional. “There’s a great quote that we always come back to that defines our band and our outlook on things,” Mitchy says. “It goes: ‘I don’t want to spoil the ending for you but everything’s going to be ok.’ That hopefulness is reflected in their music.
FUN FACTS: The band’s bio memorably describes Danielle as a “whimsical forest wanderer”. And she’s not exactly sure why. “I don’t know. I guess sometimes I can be a little spacey,” she suggests. “I’m going to use the word ethereal but I think initially they thought that I had an ethereal quality but I’m free, I like nature.”
Have you already discovered Oh Honey? Let us know in the comments below.
