With a foundation in rock music, Pop Alma still finds their way into creating a sound truly their own with a tinge of R&B and hip hop influence. they use each and every opportunity to experiment and make each song just a little bit different from each other.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Jacob - Lead vocals

Harley - Lead Guitar/Vocals

Alex - Bass/Screams

Chris - Drums

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Pop Alma? How long has the band been around?

Jacob: This was my first band/project, so I’ve been fortunate to just see it expand. I did vocals for a few of Deviant Youth’s shows, and I’ve done a lot of writing, but other than that I’ve just been repping Pop Alma since day one.

Alex: I was in a high school band called True Story, we played one show before breaking up, true story actually (pun intended). What a way to go out. I joined a band called Deviant Youth which Harley is also in, Hi Harley! Jacob was also a part of it for a bit as well but then he left, Bye Jacob! Deviant Youth is still around btw.

Chris: I've been in a couple of “Jam Bands” WAY before Pop Alma, but I’ve never really been in a band that took themselves seriously like Pop Alma.

Harley:So I’m currently still in another band called Deviant Youth as the lead singer and lead guitarist. Hi Alex! Deviant Youth has been around since late 2015. We had a different name at that point but the core of the band was there since then.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

Alex - So Jacob and I were struggling to find band names that weren’t already taken. We tried using SOMA for a while, but there are so many bands with that name! We wanted to be original and find a name that best suits our kind of style. Anyways, one day I went to the barber shop one day with my friend (not for me, he wanted to get a shape up) and I was waiting for him to finish. While I was waiting for him I was skimming through the newspaper to pass the time until I came across a crossword puzzle. I saw the two words Pop and Alma together and something about that struck me. I immediately called Jacob about the idea and he had to sit on it for a minute before saying that he’s down to have that be the new band name. (I also kept the newspaper hehe)

Jacob: Yeah, he called me when I was using the bathroom. They say that’s when the best ideas come out, so I suppose it was fate.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

Jacob: I’ve always been the primary lyricist/songwriter of the group since I’m always writing. However, with this EP, we really all teamed up to create something special. I still took on a majority of the songwriting responsibilities, but everyone had a part to play in making this work. Sometimes, it came together because of a beat or a riff that someone wrote. Other times, a few lyrics one of the guys would write would be the base for whatever came after it.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

Jacob: If I gave you the whole list, we’d be here for HOURS, if not days. A few that have been a big influence for me have been Panic! at the Disco, The 1975, 5SOS, and Badflower, along with artists like Miguel, Bryson Tiller, and Charlie Puth.

Alex: It’s honestly kinda weird for me. There’s maybe 1 or 2 bands at the moment but it’s mostly solo artists for me. I guess I can consider mostly My Chem and a little bit of Waterparks when it comes to bands. But as for solo artists I would say my main guy is Dominic Fike, dudes a beast. Recently I started getting more deep into rap because of groups like the Wu-Tang Clan.

Chris: Man, my list can go on and onnnnnnn. But the main few would be The Wonder Years, The Story So Far, And Knuckle Puck for me.

Harley: So there are really a bunch of different bands that I pull influence from. Waterparks, Bring Me The Horizon, Ghost, Sleep Token, and Barcelona to name a few. I like to pull from all of the different genres so it stays interesting for me.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Jacob: I can’t really put my finger on a specific artist, but I remember WHY I started a band to begin with. For me, it was an outlet, and I wanted to make music with a unit of like-minded people. I wanted to connect with people, and this was the way that I knew how to. I knew this was something I wanted to do long-term.

Alex: When I was super edgy I listened to My Chem and Green Day RELIGIOUSLY. They helped me through a dark time and I knew I wanted to make music to help people like they did for me. What really inspired me to actually go through with being in a band was when I went to my first concert. I got to see This Wild Life and Beartooth open up for Pierce the Veil and Sleeping with Sirens over in Toms River, NJ back in 20-something and I remember when I saw that I thought to myself, I wanna do that.

Chris: Yea! My brother Matt is the reason why I wanted to be a musician. It all stems from an Ipod He gave back when I Was young with a bunch of bands on it and seeing his band ‘The Ones You Forgot” KILL IT on stage and really move a crowd, without him I don't think I’d be big into music or even want to play in a band.

Harley: Honestly, music has always been a prominent thing in my family. I come from a long line of musicians. Though If I had to pinpoint a band, my dad was in a classic rock cover band for like 20 years so he had me performing at the age of 8 with him so I guess it was only second nature to start a band and make noise for people

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Jacob: A lot of sounding like a complete idiot. Vocal warm-ups, a lot of lip trills, and I’ve started actually warming up to specific songs. I have a few songs picked out in a specific order that activates my whole range.

Alex: Funny you should ask, for me my warmup consists of a lot of anxiety and happiness. I usually am able to get myself out of it, but one thing that definitely helps is our pre show ritual. We actually came up with a pre-show ritual where we put our hands in the middle and on the count of 3 we yell “OPRAH”. 1 - 2 - 3 OPRAH!!

Chris: Before I even touch my drumset, I stretch my hands and muscles to get all loose, Then everyday I do my rudiments. Right now I'm not as consistent as I want to be with work and all that.

Harley: I actually don’t really do much if I’m being completely transparent with you. I kinda just sit around and text people until we go on. Though I do make it a point to not eat before the show so that when I throw myself around the stage like a cheap rag doll, I don’t feel sick.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

Alex: Well we kinda just started performing but we got to play our first real show at an actual venue earlier this week. We played some oldies and mostly newbies. There’s this one song we had from the Soma EP called Hope You're well and most of the crowd sang back the chorus to us, that was literally the coolest thing ever!! I cried a bit after the show lol.

Chris: I think the best highlight would be seeing all the beautiful faces reposting our music right when it drops. I shit you not, Alex screenshots every post/story on instagram and keeps it in a scrapbook. He’s at 31 posts right now :) Good job buddy.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Jacob: Well, we did our first show with the boys in Elucidate and that was a blast, so… Boys, if you see this, you know where to reach us! ;)

Alex: Shit that’s a hard question. I guess I would love to go with IDKHBTFM, 5sos, maybe Dominic Fike, or maybe even ManeSkin. That’d be cool.

Chris: Oh man, I would love to definitely play with The Wonder Years or Movements! I would also love to play with Modern Baseball as well.. R.I.P Mobo :( But in all seriousness there are so many bands I would love to play with, I could make a whole festival, assign each band a time slot and stage as well hahaha.

Harley: This is gonna sound totally off brand but who cares. I would love to tour with Bring Me The Horizon, Waterparks, Deviant Youth (wink wink), and a thousand other bands who would be nice enough to let us make noise for them.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Jacob: We’ll be playing with The Ones You Forgot and many more on December 11, 2021, at House of Independents. Bring a friend, a lover, a pillow… anything! We’ll be playing most of the new songs, so you’re not going to want to miss it. Thanks to KILL THE MUSIC for having us!

Alex: We have our second EP coming out pretty soon so be on the lookout for that! Thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting us when we first started off with demos on soundcloud. Also thank you to everyone who just started supporting us and we really look forward to touring and interacting with you guys in person if y’all come to a show. Side note! If by any chance our music helps you guys out in any way, please know we really appreciate you guys for giving us the time of day. It’s okay to not be okay, you’ll be okay. :)

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