Not Happy
NOT HAPPY are the new duo on the Norwich music scene
NOT HAPPY are the new duo on the Norwich music scene. After releasing their first single, Call Me, in October, they’re now working on their EP set to be released next spring. We caught up with Matt and Carmen to hear how they’re getting on.
How did you first meet?
Carmen: Me and Matt met in Cambridge, we worked in a music shop together so we knew we had similar musical interests. Sometimes I’d hang out with Matt at his, after work and we’d try and get something together. We had a bunch of ideas but it just didn’t flow, whereas now we live together it all flows very very naturally.
NOT HAPPY suggests a very particular type of music, what made you choose it?
Matt: Yeah so the duo is called NOT HAPPY which I think reflects the music quite well.
Carmen: But it’s also meant to be a bit ironic because some of the tunes are actually quite out there, and happy and ‘poppy’, but I guess when you listen to the lyrics there are more melancholy vibes going on.
Matt: yeah we wanted to go for a bit of a juxtaposition between having something you can listen to and maybe have a boogie to. But at the same time if you really sort of cut between the surface they’re all quite depressive sort of subjects, that’s what we’ve gone for.
How would you describe your genre?
Carmen: It’s a bit of a mix, I’d definitely whack a label of alt pop on there.
Matt: Yeah we’ve been trying really hard to nail it down, I think we have so many different influences that come together when we write the songs that it’s really difficult for us to say it’s like ‘this’. It presents its challenges when you’re trying to submit to blogs and playlists and things like that, but I think we have really enjoyed trying to get a 90s sort of pop aesthetic out of it. But we have also tried to retain this 'reflectiveness' of where we’re from. Being in Norfolk and Norwich it’s a coastal county and we want a coastal vibe to it, a bit of a ‘surfy’ sort of undertone to everything we do that reflects our surroundings and where we’re from.
How did being in multiple lock-downs affect you as a duo trying to make music?
Carmen: I think more than anything it made us come together, and you never want to say the positives of covid, but in a way it was a lockdown project and everything just sort of snowballed from there. So I think if anything, it has been a good thing for us, but I know that’s not the case for a lot of bands and a lot of people.
Matt: I think for us, we used that time inside to kind of do music as a cathartic experience to make ourselves feel a little bit better about the fact that we couldn't go out to see friends and family. And making music for us has turned into a bit of an escape over that time and it keeps ourselves entertained.
How did your new single, Call Me, come about?
Matt: When we wrote our first song, there was literally no plan to even write the song, it just kind of fell out. And I think from that song onwards, 10 songs proceeded really quickly. Then we clocked we work really well together and there’s something to be built upon here, and since then I think we’ve probably gone from strength to strength.
What can you tell us about your EP?
Carmen: We’re hoping for an early release, spring time I think it will. But we are back in the studio next month and we’ll get a full day down just to do the drums, and then we’ll build on that. We are set to do four songs, it’s a nice little mix of quite sad but some upbeat ‘poppy’ stuff on there as well . So I think it will give a good indication of who we are and what we’re about and hopefully something people can relate to.
