The Heirs Say You Should Never Be Embarrassed To Like Pop Music
Meet The Heirs, Los Angeles’ best kept secret. The quintet consists of brother-sister duo Brandon and Savannah Hudson, guitarist Alex Flagstad, bassist Eian McNeely and drummer Brennan Benko. Packed with catchy beats, carpool karaoke-friendly lyrics, and sick ’70s swagger; The Heirs are born to be icons.
Congrats on releasing your new single, “What You Want.” How did the song happen and what made you want to write it?
SAVANNAH: Actually, it was a song about the industry. We were in a writing block for 3 [to] 4 months and had a session everyday. There were people on our team like, “Write a hit! Write a hit! Give us something we can put on the radio.” So, we just decided to give them what they wanted. Like any song though, you can perceive it any way you choose to and make it about whatever you feel.
I have to admit, I never thought that it was about the industry itself. You’ve been in this industry since you were young. Brandon and Sav, you were originally in a duo featured on America’s Got Talent. Brennan, you were in a different band. Since you have had a past of being in the music industry, what is it that you’ve learned from being in it and what brought you together as The Heirs?
BRANDON: I mean, we all come from different backgrounds of music and our EP will be our beginning expressions on becoming a new project and experimenting with our sound. We’re trying to create the best stuff that we can everyday as musicians, not only for ourselves, but for our listeners. We all definitely love each other and love working with each other and we can’t wait to share our creations.
BRENNAN: I’ve known Brandon and Savannah for a long time. We were close friends before we started playing music together.
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What’s your top secret for making a really good song?
SAVANNAH: I think the most important thing about writing a good song is being as relatable and personal as possible. Everyone likes to hear a song they can connect with. To be able to feel something when you hear a song is a very special thing and I think we always try and keep that in mind whenever we start creating.
Apart from “What You Want,” you also have “Lungs,” a B-side, and Ecliptic, which has been out since 2015. Speaking of “What You Want” vs. Ecliptic, how have you grown as artists and which one do you relate to the most?
SAVANNAH: As artists and writers, we are constantly growing and evolving. Brandon and I wrote “Ecliptic” when we were just starting this project as The Heirs and it was a very different time in our lives. Compared to our new music, I feel like you can hear a major evolution. I would say we relate most to the music we are currently writing because we are writing it about our current real life experiences and feelings that are happening right now.
BRANDON: I’ve learned over the years to never settle with what we’re creating when making music. It’s important to not get hung up on one particular song. it’s also important to continue creating, because most of the time when you feel you’ve written the best song ever, the next song you write can be even better than that.
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Where do you usually pick up your inspirations from?
SAVANNAH: We live in Los Angeles – that is a huge inspiration to us. The culture of our social life – we take inspiration from that. Being with our friends, going out in LA…We write about situations that we’ve experienced together because we are all super close and mostly do everything together.
What’s the biggest situation that has impacted your life the most?
ALEX: I think doing Warped Tour over the summer was a very influential part of our careers. It was our first long tour. We all learned so much from that and worked so hard. We feel we really learned how to connect with our fans on that tour and connect with new bands. That was super impactful on us.
SAVANNAH: Also, our headline show at the El Rey Theatre in LA in September was something I’ll never forget. It was so special and magical. All hometown shows are cool but, that one was especially important to me.
I can’t imagine the long and strenuous journey of constantly have to be on the road. What was your favorite memory and the most challenging situation that made you test your patience as a musician?
BRANDON: I think that the two most insane tours for us were Warped Tour and SXSW. With the fast-paced [nature] of this kind of tour, you get used to setting up your gear really fast and having to interact with your audience right off the bat. You have a 30-minute set time and you want people to watch you, and really connect with you and your music.
ALEX: One of the cool parts about being a band and having your friends on the road with you is that you really learn so much about each other and when one of us is having a rough day or is home sick we all know how to cheer each other up.
SAVANNAH: Rough days are rare though because we are all super stoked to be on tour. When we are off tour, we miss it. We are definitely a touring band.
How did the name “The Heirs” come about?
BRANDON: It was pulled up from a song, “How Soon is Now?” and the lyrics [are]….
SAVANNAH: “I am the son and the heir to nothing in particular.” And when we were searching for a band name, we thought being “an heir” was an interesting way to think about us as a generation. You are an heir to nothing, but an heir to everything. Our main thing is that we don’t like to separate ourselves from our fans. We felt that he band name represents a movement rather than us as a band.
I’ve noticed that you got this whole 70s vibe and you are the faces of the 70s revival. How did you become interested in the 70s?
SAVANNAH: For me, it was my parents who introduced me to Fleetwood Mac and The Rolling Stones, [David] Bowie, etc. I was immediately drawn to Stevie Nicks and the whole culture of the 70’s. I draw huge inspiration from her and Mick Jagger and Blondie. I also feel like every guy secretly or not secretly wants to be Mick Jagger or a member in Led Zeppelin. I personally just like an artist that isn’t afraid to break the barrier of being weird and different and I think the 1970’s is when all that confidence was born.
Speaking of music, do you have any guilty pleasure songs that you don’t want anyone else to catch you listening to?
BRENNAN: I have a lot of guilty pleasures, but I’m kinda shameless about it. I love that we got to listen to “Ocean Avenue” everyday on Warped Tour.
BRANDON: New Chainsmokers [songs].
ALEX: “Paris” – love it.
BRANDON: Sav’s guilty pleasure is that Ariana Grande song.
SAV: No!
ALEX: Honestly, we’re all so shameless that we don’t feel guilty about them anymore.
