RIP EXCLUSIVE: AN IN-DEPTH CONVERSATION WITH FELICITY

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, a genre emerged that would change the lives of future generations. Every few years, new pop-punk bands break through the scene's once-rigid standards to establish an unforgettable sound. Now, Felicity, a group with a unique background, proves that both "pop" and "punk" must coexist for the genre to stay afloat.

We sat down for an in-depth exclusive RIP interview ahead of their new single, "Levitate," which is out now.

Kayla: You have a new single out soon, right? 'Levitate'? I've been hearing clips of it on TikTok and it's really playful. That's what I've seen with rock in general– we're all mixing new stuff with old stuff. Can you tell me more about the song's backstory?

FELICITY: With "Levitate" specifically, we wanted to write a song that had a lot of energy. We wanted to have a lot of people out on the floor dancing. It's very different from our older stuff, which is more like pop-punk and metal-core, kind of in that vibe. So, a lot of us have started to get into styles like Don Broco and Manëskin that have that groove and dance feel. We were like, let's write a song that has a dance vibe, and that's where the structure came from. Then the lyric content behind "Levitate" is basically about having a person you're so infatuated with that you feel almost like they're leading you off into a different universe.

Kayla: That really just encapsulates the journey that fans and musicians have gone through to get to this sound.

FELICITY: It's exciting because we also wanted to write songs that we knew would be fun to play live. We knew that we were also going to be going crazy on stage. That was another huge factor that went into the song's sound.

Kayla: That's so important. As a performer, we feed off the audience's energy, and vice versa.

FELICITY: Absolutely. We recently got to play this song for the first time in LA opening for The Used.

Kayla: Oh wow, now that's a lineup!

FELICITY: Yes, it was amazing. And we're playing it again on 6/2 at Emo Nite in LA.

Kayla: Wait, no way? I'll be there! I already have tickets!

FELICITY: We'll see you there!

Kayla: On a much grander scale, how did the band come to be?

FELICITY: We actually found each other on Craigslist.

Kayla: What? Craigslist is crazy.

FELICITY: Yeah, I'm not even sure if Craiglist still works this way, but we found each other through postings seeking musicians. It started off with Drew putting out a post saying, "hey, I'm looking to start a band." So we messaged each other. Eventually, we made it happen, and we all didn't hate each other and didn't kill each other. You really never know what you're gonna find. But progressively, nearly every member was found on Craigslist, about 7 years ago. It works. It worked.

Kayla: Someone on TikTok said it's silly that we tend to villify people on Craigslist when they're really usually just some guy.

FELICITY: Yeah, you really never know. There was bad experiences and good experiences.

Kayla: You guys have done a lot of really amazing collaborations, like with State Champs and other heavy-hitters like Hawthorne Heights. What's it like getting to collaborate with bands like that?

FELICITY: Definitely. We've gotten a lot of collaborations on TikTok. JT (Woodruff) is a really, really cool guy. We were so honored when he posted about us and asked to collaborate.

Kayla: That's such a cool feeling, right? Because before Emo Nite, there wasn't really a place for all of us to go. Even saying the word 'emo' felt like it had such a negative connotation. Like 'emo (derogatory)'. But now I have this whole group of friends I go with every month.

FELICITY: We go to Emo Nite LA in Orlando every month, too! We're so excited to go to the one in LA. We heard it's insane, like how the Vanderpump Rules girls were just there.

Kayla: I was literally right there when that happened.

FELICITY: No way? That's so awesome.

Kayla: Their set went really hard, too. The people around us were all shocked. It just goes to show how wide our reach has become.

FELICITY: We got to play for a cruise and Emo Nite did a set every night. It was so cool to see T.J. (Petracca) and Morgan (Freed) do their thing so much. We don't get to see them often in Orlando, unless it's really special.

Kayla: Oh, I feel so spoiled. I see T.J. and Morgan so much that I recently signed Morgan's 'get well soon' card. But on the topic of music we love, what are your top 5 biggest influences?

FELICITY: Oh, that's a tough one! Story Of The Year as performers and people. And Silverstein, A Day To Remember–of course, we are from central Florida. A Day To Remember is what you strive to be as a band. They've always done it their own way and that's so cool. Papa Roach is a big one, too. We got to see how excited they were to go on stage, even now, and how nice they were as people. We have influences that we always grew up listening to, or we really look up to their live performance. With Papa Roach, we've gotten a behind the scenes look because we actually recorded at their studio with their same producer Andrew Wade. That lets us see how they work. With Silverstein, we've just been fans forever and they've never brought out bad albums, and they've never stopped. They've put out an album every other year since 2002 and haven't stopped.

Kayla: That's really amazing. Can you tell me any of your plans for the future? You said you're working on some new stuff, and you have more songs coming out soon?

FELICITY: Yeah, we actually wrote 16 songs in the studio.

Kayla: shocked

FELICITY: I know! We definitely want to drop them. Of course, starting with 'Levitate' on June 2. But progressively, every month after that, we want to release another song. That's the plan, anyway. We'll see if it actually happens.

Kayla: 16 songs is a lot! I believe that you can do it.

Now, I'm getting ready to see Felicity perform "Levitate" live to a sold-out crowd for the second time ever. I'm probably going to ask a lot of questions about their amazing Star Wars themed guitars, their 16 vault tracks, and be their tour guide at Avalon in Hollywood.

Felicity's larger-than-life charisma and pro-level musicianship are set to make them a household name in no time.

Keep up with Felicity at https://www.wearefelicity.com/