Santa Clarita based pop-punkers Revelry join us at Undergrounds Coffee with caffeinated beverages at the ready to chat about their debut EP Limerence, nabbing a spot on the coveted Emo Nite lineup, and getting their pun on.

Revelry is comprised of:

Christopher Rossi – Vocals

Jeff Sage – Guitar and Backup Vocals

David Alexander – Guitar

Jonathan Martinez – Bass

Christian Duran – Drums

So you guys just released your debut EP Limerence. Congrats! Would you care to share a bit about what some of the songs are about?

Christopher Rossi: Limerence is a breakup record in the most cliché way possible. *laughs* Every song is about a relationship, not just one, but multiple relationships. I had a lot of run-ins with bad relationships over time.

It’s ok, we all have! *all laugh*

Christopher:  Right! *laughs* That’s why I wanted to write about something relatable. I got the idea when David and I used to be in another band, ironically, when we were just finishing up recording another EP with them. I remember going through a tough time. and I was just like, “You know what? The next record I want to write is going to be a really, really, good breakup record, and that’s it.” I just wanted to write something so other people can know how I felt and relate to it.

Basically the new Taylor Swift. *laughs*

Christopher:  Pretty much. *laughs*

Jonathan Martinez: I was just thinking that. *laughs*

Christopher:  I’m the male version of Taylor Swift. *laughs*

Jeff Sage:  What’s also great is that this EP talks about different scenarios and different breakups.

Yeah, I mean, there’s always different kinds of relationships, so that’s cool that you guys put out something that discusses the many different kinds, because either they suck or they’re amazing.

Jeff: Yeah, that’s so true!

About how long would you say that it took for you to write the songs on the EP, and how did you choose which songs that you wanted to include?

Christopher:  So actually, a lot of people don’t know this, but the EP was written a cool minute ago. *laughs* The EP was actually written for mine and David’s last band, but the idea didn’t work out with what they wanted to do. But luckily they ended up working for this band. We thought, “Well, these are still really good songs. We should use them for our record.”

David Alexander: All these songs have been around for a while, it’s just a matter of when the right time is to throw them out there.

Christopher: It probably took about two years to get them on an album. We wrote two new songs in the recording process, but one of them ended up getting scrapped. *laughs*

And which song was your favorite to write and record?

Jeff: Definitely “Forgetful.” That’s probably one of my favorite songs off the record because it’s genuinely fun to perform it live.

David: I’d say that my favorite song off the record would probably be “14 North,” because I can relate to what the song is actually talking about. Musically and instrumentally it’s written very well. That one is also really fun to play live, and we had good vibes from the audience with that one. It’s definitely more of a pop-punk sound than some of the other stuff we’ve done.

Christopher: It’s funny because that ties into your last question too. With “Forgetful,” we wrote that one in like 20 minutes. That one was the most under-thought songs and it ended up becoming the single. *laughs*

David: Hey, but simple works sometimes!

Christopher:  I have two favorites. “Forgetful,” because it’s fun and we knocked that one out in like two days recording it. Whenever I show somebody my band, I always choose that song to show people. And the other would be “Junipers,” it’s just this powerful song. It’s so dope, I love it!

Jonathan: I mean, mine’s the same as Rossi’s. Kind of a cop out with “Forgetful” and “Junipers.”  *laughs* “Forgetful” because it was just so fun to record. I like playing bass on it, it’s super fun to play live.

Christopher:  Yeah, he has a little bass solo. *laughs*

Jeff: We like to include everyone. *all laugh*

Jonathan: Yeah, but then “Junipers” is just one my favorites to listen to. Maybe it’s because it’s new and I haven’t worn myself out on it? I don’t know what it is.

David: The words are just really pretty on that one.

Christopher:  I used the dictionary *all laugh*

David: *points to Christopher* He’s a walking thesaurus, this guy over here. *laughs*

Jonathan: You use the dictionary for almost everything. *laughs*

Jeff: I’ll always ask him, “Hey Rossi, what does this word mean in our song dude?” *laughs*

Christopher:  Yeah I mean I got the dictionary out and decided to make a record out of any word that sounded cool. *laughs*

Jonathan: “Limerence,” “Swoon,” “Revelry.” All words nobody ever uses! *laughs*

Speaking of dictionaries and thesauruses. Thesauri? *laughs* Why did you choose Limerence as the title of the EP?

Christopher: It ties into that whole breakup theme, because “limerence” is actually the technical term for having a crush on somebody. I remember I was on Twitter one day when I found the term. We didn’t have a different name for the EP yet, so I was like, “That’s gonna be the name for it, because it’s sick.” *laughs*

David: We just found it more fitting for what the songs on the EP were written about.

Christopher: Yeah! Actually, it’s in the lyrics in the song. Funny enough, we ended up cutting it out of the record. *laughs*

It was better as an overall name I guess? *laughs* What was the recording process like? How did you choose where you wanted to record, who was going to produce, who was going to mix, etc?

David: Originally we recorded with our good friend Julian on the first round of recording. Things ended up not working out as we hoped, plus he ended up needing to go out of state, so he sent us to one of his good friends named Joey. Probably on like the first day we started recording, he ended up helping to produce the EP to pretty much what we envisioned. It ended up coming together really well.

Jeff: He was pretty good at capturing what we wanted. We liked his vibe, he was very easy to work with.

David: And he was willing to try anything when we were there, so that was another cool thing about it.

Jonathan: What sucked was the drive.  And being in that hot room with a bunch of guys. *laughs*

David: There were some struggles here and there, but we got it done! *laughs*

If there weren’t any struggles, then did you really even record an EP? *all laugh* So what’s the story is behind the artwork that you chose for the EP cover?

Christopher: Honestly, what it came down to was that we just liked the picture itself. *laughs*  That picture was taken by a guy named Niles Gibbs, who’s a guitar player from the band Broadside. We worked with him a lot, he takes our photos sometimes, he’s a cool guy. He helped us write couple of the songs too. Pretty much he sent us his portfolio, we all kind of gravitated towards it, and we were like “Cool, we’re gonna pick this one.” I did a little editing on it, and that became our EP cover.

Jeff: Just so happened to tie in with the rest of the EP as well. Flowers and relationships and all.

Makes sense. So I understand that the EP itself was slightly delayed in release.

Jeff: We had originally planned to release it on May 5th. But due to unforeseen circumstances, there were some things that we weren’t exactly happy with. We were like, “Hey you know what? Let’s take the time to change this and make it right.”

David: We just wanted to make sure everything is exactly how we wanted it before we took that last step in releasing it.

Perfectionism at is finest! And what made you choose “Forgetful” to be your debut single?

Christopher: Everyone kind of picked it as their favorite song, so that could just be the answer for it.

So a consensus agreement?

Christopher: For sure! It was actually supposed to be a music video…

Jeff: Well, we did the video for it. It’s just nobody will ever see it. *laughs*

Jonathan: No, thank god. *laughs*

Speaking of music videos. If you had an infinite amount of money what kind of music video would you want to do for “Forgetful?”

David: Wow, that’s a good question!

Christopher: I think we would use a lot of fire and special effects. *laughs*

Jeff: I would like Rossi to pull up in a Bugatti and just walk out looking all cool. *laughs*

Christopher: Can I keep the Bugatti after? *laughs*

Jonathan: Can we do like a Fall Out Boy thing with all the chimpanzees or some other animals?

David: We love animals, I’m sure that there’d be an unlimited amount. *laughs*

Just have the whole zoo!

Jeff: Or probably shoot it at the zoo!

Christopher: Yeah, we can do that!

David: There you go! It’s a zoo video! *laughs*

*laughs* And what was the inspiration behind “Forgetful?” Apart from some kind of relationship?

Christopher: Well, it comes directly from a line from the second verse it says…

Jeff: I’m such a sucker for thick thighs? *laughs*

Jonathan: Probably still relatable though. *laughs*

Christopher: It says “I know I’m forgetful, but I hope I’m not as forgettable.” 

Jeff: We all forget sometimes, it’s ok! *laughs*

David: What are we here for? *laughs*

I don’t know guys. I guess it’s time for me to get out of here. *all laugh* I hope that you remember that you recently played a show at The Viper Room!

Christopher: I *air quotes* “forgot” about it. *laughs*

And you opened for Tyler Posey‘s band Pvmnts. How did the opportunity come about? And was it nerve wracking to share the light with a fairly well known Teen Wolf heartthrob?

David: It’s really funny, my girlfriend actually works with, or used to work with his neighbor. Or one of the band members’ neighbor. She told me all the time, “You guys should definitely play a show with them! They would really like to have you!” I sent our music to them and they really dug it. I think that when they were figuring out who was gonna play the show, we were on the top of their list out of a bunch of bands. They happened to pick us, we played the show, and we became pretty good friends with them.

Jeff: It wasn’t really nerve wracking from the fact that we were playing with someone like the caliber of Tyler Posey. It’s more of like it was our first show. We had our first show nerves and stuff like that. They’re very awesome guys. It’s not to the point that we see them as, “Oh this guy’s a huge TV star.” You know what I mean? It was more of a really cool friendship kind of vibe.

David: We definitely stay in contact with them as much as we can.

Christopher: Yeah, he’s a cool guy, definitely not what you expect when you think of Hollywood actors. I remember I walked up to him , I knew who he was too, and I gave him a sticker. And he was just like, “Dude, I want to tattoo this on my face!” *laughs* But yeah, he’s a cool dude.

Jeff: Freddy [Ramirez] and Nick [Guzman] are awesome too.

Christopher: Yeah, those dudes are just as big a part of the band as Tyler is.

Jeff: Freddy was actually the first guy that we met from the band. Me and David went bowling with them, and he’s a hustler! *laughs* He says he’s not good, but that dude is good!

David: Yeah, he’s good at bowling, don’t ever trust him! *laughs*

Jeff: He’s good at everything!

Christopher: And Nick, Nick is like the fucking shit when it comes to playing the drums. He’s so good! I’m like “Dude… you’re just…wow…!”

Jeff: Very talented group of young men.

Jonathan: Yeah, shout out to Pvmnts! Definitely good guys!

That’s so cool! I mean, wow, The Viper Room for your first show? And with Tyler Posey’s band? That’s really lucky! And you guys just played Emo Nite! Very coveted spot there!

Jeff: Yeah! So we didn’t it know this at the time, but we actually headlined it. A couple days before they were like “Yeah you guys are gonna headline Emo Night!” That was a big surprise for us!

David: We were told that we got the show at Emo Nite, then they put that we’re headlining, and we were  like, “Oh crap.” *laughs*

Jonathan: It made everything a total game changer.

David: This was our second show ever.

Jonathan: Headlining Emo Nite, that was…

Christopher: I was hella nervous.

David: I didn’t even know we were headlining until I got there. *laughs*

Jeff: I think the only thing that sucked was that literally sound checked at four o’clock, and we didn’t play until like 12:30 in the morning. It was literally 6 hours of just nervousness.

Christopher: And then David came up to me all like, “Dude, this famous guy is in the crowd! We gotta play good!” And I was just like, “Why are you telling me that? Now I’m gonna play bad!” *laughs*

Jonathan: That was definitely a fun experience, something on the bucket list to tackle. And I’m happy we were able to do it at such an early start too. I would definitely love to play again, I know that.

Christopher: For sure! I walked into the bathroom and Jack Barakat from All Time Low was in there. I didn’t say anything to him, but somebody else was talking to him and it was super funny. *laughs*

I don’t know, what do you say in a restroom setting? *laughs*

Jeff: It was like, “Oh you’re that All Time Low guy!” and he’s like, “I just play guitar,” and I’m over here like, “I gotta pee, bye!” We were just kind of waiting around for a stall to open. *laughs*

David: I think the coolest thing about Emo Nite was that helped promote us beforehand. When we were playing the show we had people that actually wanted to watch us, and knew the words to some of our songs.

Jonathan: Especially “Forgetful.” We released it for Emo Night, and people actually knew the lyrics, which was amazing!

Cool! Did you guys do any covers for either show?

Jonathan: We did “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit and everybody went crazy for that!

Christopher: It was lit. *laughs*

Jeff: Yeah everyone was lit for Lit. *laughs*

Christopher: People at the show were like, “Did you guys know that this song is by a band called Lit?” Like, nobody knows this band’s name. They were like, “Oh I know that song!” But nobody remembers what the band was called.

Jonathan: Everyone’s just forgetful I guess.

They forgot Lit but remembered “Forgetful!” *laughs*

Christopher: The puns! Ahh!

Jeff: Alright we’re done!

Interview over! We’re ending it on a punny note. *laughs* Would you say that you were more nervous for Emo Nite than The Viper Room?

David: I think when we played Emo Nite everyone was fine until we were about to play. I remember everybody was in the kitchen, I think Jeff was ok, but Rossi and I were like breathing heavily.

Jeff: I was ok until I got on stage and my guitar wasn’t working. Then I started freaking out. So, that was fun.

Christopher: At some point I was like, “Dude what are the lyrics to this song? I forgot!” *laughs*

Was it the words to “Forgetful?” *laughs*

Jonathan: *laughs* It probably was. Once it got closer to our set, the nerves started to kick in. We were all fine, then they were like, “Alright, Revelry is next!” Then we were like, “Oh…fuck!”

Christopher: I think Viper Room was more sketch for me. When we played Emo Nite, we could see everybody and that was so cool. I like to see people. But Viper Room you couldn’t couldn’t see anybody. I felt like a caged animal. I’m over here like, “Hi! I don’t know who’s out there, but hi!”

Jeff: You couldn’t see anyone or the stage.

Yeah, that stage isn’t very big. I’m sure the blinding lights didn’t help either. And the darkness in front of you. You’re just like, “Well, I might be falling off stage today!” *laughs*

David: Yeah, there were definitely times were me and Jon almost killed each other. *laughs*

I could see that happening. *laughs* If you guys could choose three artists to go on your own world tour with, who would they be and what the tour be named? And you guys can totally have all different answers, the more the merrier. *laughs*

Jeff: I’m not even gonna choose. You go first David.

David: I’m gonna need a minute. Jeff you can go ahead.

Jeff: Jon you wanna go?

Jonathan: No!

David: Three artists! Choose, wisely!

Jeff: That’s a hard question, there’s so many!

Christopher: There are so many, I think I would pick Michael Jackson, From Autumn to Ashes, and The Used.

Jeff: Wow! Old school!

Christopher: And then us. And then it would be called…The Burritour.

Jonathan: The Burritour?

Christopher: I like Burritos ok? Burritos are great! My Instagram name is @breakfastburrito. Every city we’d stop at we’d eat a burrito. *laughs*

Jeff: For mine I would say Blink-182, just because I grew up listening to them and they’re pretty much one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to music.

David: Tom [Delonge]‘s not even in it anymore!

Jeff: First of all, Tom come back! *all laugh* Yeah, so Blink would be the first band I would choose. I wanna choose a rapper too. I would probably say Post Malone. I really dig his stuff, plus it seems like it would be a party all the time, which would be fun. *laughs* And then, I don’t know! I’ve been into this band lately, ah I’m gonna say it! Chvrches! Believe it or not! I love their new album!

Jonathan: Jeff, can you “Get Out?”

Jeff: No! That’s actually the name of one of their songs by the way. I got your pun!

David: Alright, that’s it, interview is done, no more puns! We’re out!

Jeff: I don’t know what the name of the tour would be though!

The Jeff, Can You Get Out Tour? *all laugh*

David: Mine would be the exact same as Jeff, except I would have Paramore on that tour.

In place of?

David: In place of Chvrches.

Christopher: I would want have Logic on the tour too.

Jeff: Aww, Logic! I forgot about Logic! 

Christopher: Only mixtapes though! He can’t play albums.

Jonathan: So just Bobby Tarantino?

Christopher: Yeah Bobby Tarantino! The whole time!

Jeff: I think we’d just go on tour with rappers honestly.

David: Yeah, we wouldn’t even play our music, we would just try to rap to their songs. *laughs*

Christopher: I already do!

David: We wouldn’t be very good at it. *laughs*

Jonathan: I hate all of you! You’ve stolen so many of my picks! I’d probably go with Pvmnts, Paramore, and Sum 41 to end the show for mine, but I would like to have Logic play between all the sets.

David: You’re thinking big!

Jonathan: Thank you! And I’d call it…

David: The What The Fuck? Tour *laughs*

Jonathan: Um, you can call it that. I’d call it, Summed up the Paved Road to More Tour. *all laugh*

Jeff: Well, that’s a creative title.

David: Yeah! We’ll just use abbreviations to make it easier. *laughs*

Jeff: There must be alcohol in that coffee!

Jonathan: I wish! I wish it was an Irish Coffee.

David: It’s exactly what our name means. Our name literally means a gathering of people drinking alcohol. *laughs*

Jeff: I love how none of us picked Neck Deep! Considering our name. I mean, we were writing a lot of the stuff for the first time to their album.

David: Yeah, we’d drive down to San Fernando from Palmdale just listening to the Neck Deep album. Imma say it, Neck Deep, let us tour with you, please!

Jonathan: Neck Deep, State Champs. A lot of that was on repeat.

Jeff: It got annoying after a while, but we still listen to it on the daily. *laughs*

It’s just like, “Do I love it or do I hate it?” *laughs* What kind of audience do you think your music appeals to the most, and what do you hope they take away from your music?

Jeff: I would say the older generation that’s into the early 2000s pop-punk, but I would hope that people from all generations would be able to relate to our music. I mean, we definitely have songs that could appeal to all ages.

David: Even though this is our first EP as a band, we still have so much more to show people. We have so much stuff that we’ve all gone through and will go through in our lives. So I feel like, what Jeff said, that we can reach anybody in any situation.

Jeff: I mean, with this whole record that we’ve putting out, all of this is stuff has happened to Rossi throughout the years. Real experiences that I believe people can relate to.

Christopher: I hope that our listeners take away the idea that at the end of the day, it’s ok if things don’t go as planned? That it’s ok to keep pushing forward, and that you shouldn’t let other people’s decisions affect your life or the direction you want to take it.

Jonathan: I hope that it would take away the fear of struggling. That sometimes writing about it, whether it’s a song or something along those line, can make it better.

Definitely. Apart from the release of Limerence, what fun things can we expect from you in the near future?

Jeff: We’re actually writing a second EP right now believe it or not! We’re working with the same producer.

Christopher: Shout out Joey Doherty!

Jeff: We’re definitely going to be playing shows soon again, real soon. We have to wait for our drummer’s hand to heal up, he had to breakup a cat fight. *laughs* Like, a literal cat fight! Not two females, like, actual cats. *laughs*

Jonathan: He’s allergic to cats so they had to drain his hand and the whole thing.

Christopher: Yeah it’s pretty wild, that’s why I couldn’t be here for the interview.

Jeff: It happened all in one day, like, he’s just like, “Yeah, so my hand’s all fucked,” we’re like, “What?!” Then he shows us a picture of these cats and his hand’s all bloody. *laughs* But we have a bunch of huge stuff that’s in the works. We’re just waiting for it to be set in stone for everybody.

Christopher: We’re just conveniently forgetting about it. *laughs*

Forgetting…“Forgetful?” *laughs*

Jeff: We’re just gonna have to slap it on a shirt at this point, guys!

*laughs* And to kind of end it off, we’re all here at Underground Coffee, and three out of the four of you guys got coffee. What did you guys order?

Jeff: I just ordered the basic white girl drink. Cold brew with some cream in it.

Jonathan: That blonde dye really seeped into your head. *laughs*

Jeff: I’m black haired though.

Jonathan: I mean, it was blonde for a while.

David: It’s funny because all of us were like, “Do you have cold coffee?” *laughs*

Jeff: I know! This is so fancy!

Christopher: I got the signature latte, or something like that. It has agave syrup, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper in it?

Jonathan: Definitely the most interesting choice.

Christopher: Yeah! They told me what was in it and I was like, “Wow, really? I want to try that!”

Jonathan: I thought he was gonna die.

David: And I just got a mimosa. *all laugh*

Jonathan: I actually didn’t order this drink for myself, I ordered it for my fiancé, but somehow I ended up with a mocha.

Jeff: Hey, mocha’s a good choice!

Jonathan: I’m not mad, I love chocolate!

Jeff: When in doubt, mocha it out bro!

That’s gonna be your tour shirt. “When in doubt, mocha it out,”

Christopher: That’s the name of our tour! *all laugh* There we go, we needed a name and now we have one!

Woo! I’m glad could be of service! *laughs*

Christopher: She’s like, “Now gimme my five percent!” *all laugh*

Check out Revelry on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Reverbnation!

About Undergrounds Coffee:

If you’re learning about Undergrounds Coffee for the first time, you have to know about its amazing business history. Before it found its current (and very spacious might I add) home, it previously provided caffeinated goodness to many a customer in the basement of Real Life Church. This ‘underground’ business is what appropriately inspired its name, but they found another way to ‘serve’ apart from what they showcased on their drink menu. They use their success to aid non-profit organizations that work to fight human trafficking. Not only do they use their coffee to bring joy to the one holding the cup, but in turn raise awareness to an issue that is continuously being fought all over the world. Your cup of coffee can evidently help bring someone home.

Undergrounds Coffee is located in a hulking space in Valencia, CA. However, it gives guests the opportunity to choose wherever they would like to plant themselves during their stay. Open to meeting new people? They’ve got an island for you to place yourself next to the next great novelist or business CEO. Need something a bit more quiet? There’s a study room that you can book to get work done in peace. Catching up with friends over the holidays? There’s plenty of seating inside from pallet benches to close set tables, and even more seating to outdoors on their luxurious patio complete with fire pits and weather resistant umbrellas. It was such a beautiful day when I was there that I couldn’t help but take my Mango Tulsa Iced Black Tea outside to bask in the sunshine before the interview.

Check out more about Undergrounds Coffee on their Website, Twitter and Instagram.