Originating in Chicago, High Street is one of those bands that play rock n roll coming straight from the roots. Featuring Phoebe Collins as the lead singer, they now reside in Los Angeles, California. There’s a certain charm to classic rock and a polished, catchy element to pop music, but with High Street, we get the best of both worlds.
Their new song, “Shut Me Out” creatively incorporates vocal lines that hit hard, yet weave through each other so gracefully. The drums provide a solid pocket allowing the guitars and bass to fit like a glove. We felt that “Shut Me Out” demonstrates precisely what High Street is all about - pushing the limits to what modern, old school rock really looks like. Lyrics like, “you shut me out, and that ain’t what I’m about” draw you in and give you a rush as if you were watching them perform live. Listening to the guitar solo, we couldn’t help but notice how the melodies hook you in and deliver an atmosphere that takes you away from the song for a second. At exactly the right moment, the vocals come back in gradually, making you want to repeat the song so you can relive every moment again. You won’t want to miss this fresh, edgy track from High Street.
Hello High Street! Welcome to BuzzMusic. Can you tell us more about how you all met to form High Street?
We all sort of met in different ways. The rhythm guitarist, Cole, was a previous classmate of mine in a music class we both enrolled in during college. We shared the same musical interests and our guitar abilities were very similar so that led us to form a very strong bond. I met lead singer Phoebe and drummer JJ by posting an ad online. They both responded instantly and they auditioned immediately and were welcomed as the next new members of the band. The last member to join our band was bassist Nic Metaxas, who was a long time friend of JJ's and had recommended him to me when he knew we needed a bass player. Once we all got in a room together, we grooved hard and the lineup became official.
Your new song, “Shut Me Out” is so catchy. What does your songwriting process look like? Is it collaborative or do you all write individually?
It is a little bit of both. Most of us will come up with a riff or idea on our own, and then we'll show our ideas to each other at the next rehearsal. Sometimes ideas get shot down, other times there's a lot of potential to take an idea that one of us has to the next level. It all depends on if we think each of us can contribute something unique to that particular idea. When it comes to writing lyrics, we all collectively do that as a band, often having songwriting sessions to brainstorm topics about what we want our songs to be about and what story to tell when putting the lyrics in conjunction with the music.
With so many band members, were curious how each of your unique styles fits into what we know asHighStreet. What was it like exploring and defining your overall sound as a band?
Finding a unique sound as a band sometimes can take a while to develop. Most of us didn't know each other before, so it takes some time to get comfortable performing and playing on stage collectively as a band. But that is why we actively rehearse and perform so that our live show just continues to get stronger and stronger. Each person in this group has something unique to offer which is why when we all play together, you can hear everyone's influences being incorporated into our music which ultimately gives us the unique sound thatHIghStreethas.
Do you have any goals or dreams to reach within your musical career? Is anything being put into place currently?
Each one of us in this band shares the same dream, which is that we ultimately want to be able to play music for a living and become as successful as possible. Each one of us has been playing music since we were just little kids, so we can't really see each other doing anything but performing and writing music. One thing that is currently being put in place right now other than writing music and performing live streams, is a documentary being made about the whole evolution of HIgh Street, starting all the way back from its birth in 2008 up until now. It will also give fans a sneak preview of how we go about rehearsing and writing new material for our upcoming album. What's next for High Street?
Our goal right now is to obviously continue to establish our LA following since many of our fans reside in Chicago where the band originated. We are planning on playing shows all around the LA club circuit once the venues start to open back up and we are also in the midst of writing music for our new album that will come out in early 2021...not to mention a tour to be booked all across the country in support of the album. A lot of exciting things in the works so stay tuned!