INTERVIEW: It’s Half Past Two, that means it’s ska time!
Photo: Half Past Two’s new EP is called Something Blue. Photo courtesy of The Corona Chronicles / Provided by Earshot Media with permission.
Half Past Two, a band that has been pumping out songs and concerts for more than a decade, know how to mix it up. They are a genre-defying outfit that take a whole lot of ska and add in some tasty morsels of rock and reggae. When the feeling is right, they contribute some pop punk as well.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Southern California group has been working hard on their new EP, which is called Something Blue and now available. The three ska-tinged tracks on the release — “Lyin’ Eyes,” “See You Again” and “I Will” — are spirited, funny and toe-tap-inducing. “See You Again,” in particular, has a mashup quality that’s perfectly hummable — think Elvis Costello crossed with Reel Big Fish. That’s not much of a surprise because David Irish, who worked with Reel Big Fish, produced their EP.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Max Beckman, who plays guitar and sings vocals for Half Past Two. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What do you think your fans will like about Something Blue?
It’s a fun little EP! We recorded it in a live style in the studio to try to capture the energy of our shows, and we’re really proud of how it turned out. We’ve incorporated the traditional ska sound in the past, but that was the sole focus of these three tracks. So it also give our fans a different flavor.
Having nine members is awesome. Do you feel that a band of that size is necessary to achieve the sound you want?
This is something I’ve struggled with over the years, haha. Having nine people has its challenges, but every time I start to think about it, I just wouldn’t want to cut anybody (especially since we’re all good friends)! We’ve gotten by with two horns or no keys before, but I do honestly think the Half Past Two sound (if I may be so bold) is the mix of these nine instruments.
Your music has been classified several different ways. How would you categorize it?
Something I’ve prided ourselves on from the beginning is incorporating many different styles of ska into our songs while still sounding like us. It’s an easy shorthand for us to say we’re a ‘ska-punk’ band (which isn’t wrong), but from the beginning we’ve incorporated reggae, traditional ska, 2-tone, surf music, etc. into various songs. While breaking down bands into specific genres and subsets of genres is a daily debate in ska Facebook groups, we’re just a ska band with anything and everything that entails, and we’re not embarrassed by it!
How has COVID-19 impacted the work of the band?
Fortunately we had just finished work on a couple projects and music videos when the shutdown happened (literally the day before we were in the studio finishing our theme song for Ska Punk Daily), so we’ve had a good base of releases to get us through the last few months. We’ve gotten way more into video content (12+ music videos released this year so far) and collaborating with bands all over the country, which has been awesome. We’re still working on our new full-length album in the studio (always with proper social distancing and protection of course!) so, while we’re not playing shows, it actually feels like we’re busier than ever! We’ve really tried our hardest to make the best of this situation and just keep doing what we do.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Half Past Two’s new EP is Something Blue. Click here for more information.
