Hardcastle Talks New Single “Eyes,” Their Independent Era And The Bands Evolution

BY SASHA BASANT

After more than two years without a new release, Hardcastle is back with “Eyes,” a song that feels less like a comeback and more like a reintroduction. The Los Angeles based alternative rock band has spent the last few years moving through different versions of themselves, navigating a major-label development deal before finding their way back to independence. 

“Eyes” marks the beginning of a new chapter for Hardcastle – built around trusting their instincts and letting the music lead the way. After walking away from their development deal, the band found themselves with more creative freedom. The new single became the song that got them back in the studio, a track that started as a ballad before progressing into an upbeat, guitar driven release. Rather than trying to force out a definitive sound Hardcastle is allowing this next chapter to unfold naturally.  

 That sense of movement has always been part of Hardcastle’s story. From the band's time in Nashville to eventually nesting in Los Angeles, their music has continued to evolve alongside the people making it. Graham Laderman, Raul “Perro” Murillo, and Aram Behshid each bring their own musical history into the room, and somewhere in the collision of those influences, Hardcastle has found a sound that belongs entirely to them. 

In an interview with Televised Magazine, Hardcastle discussed “Eyes,” walking away from their development deal, and learning to trust themselves and what it takes to keep choosing Hardcastle through every chapter.

Congratulations on “Eyes,” it's been a couple of years since your latest release. What made “Eyes” the right song to lead this new chapter of Hardcastle?

Graham: We, prior to releasing “Eyes,” we had been in a development deal with a major label, like imprint of a major label and so that was a year of sort of just developing and not a lot of external you know? Or what was external was very limited. Before that we had been kind of just figuring out what we were doing, we signed this deal that’s two years of sort of just like internal working. With the end of that we were like “ we just need to take a step forward and externalize ourselves with a song” and “Eyes” the farthest song along – we just didn’t want to spend any more time strategizing or this or that. That made it the perfect choice because it was right there waiting for us.

What do you hope listeners take away after hearing “Eyes” for the first time?

Perro: I mean, we mostly want people to find connection through it. Whether it’s connecting to a person, or a certain time, just the kind of connection.

With this single does it give fans a preview of what's coming from either a new album, any new releases you have planned?

Aram: Yeah, we definitely have releases planned for the year and we have it kinda mapped out in our head but we also just continue to write and to just have a good time. Which is definitely influencing the release schedule. Not all the songs are kind of living in that “Eyes” world, some of them get a little more intentional and intense. And other ones kind of stay in a more poppier space and we’re kind of gonna just keep releasing and just feeling what happens naturally. 

Graham: I feel like an aspect of “Eyes” that really is gonna set something that’s moving forward is this sort of idea of us doing it ourselves and kind of like playing off each other. That's something that you know we’re gonna bring into our next releases. What I hope fans and us see ourselves, is just sort of like a natural progression and evolution that feels very organic and sort of like, I mean obviously we're intentional with following our instincts because we wanna make things that we like but also an evolution that just feels very organic because it’s us growing in real time with our audience as well.

This kinda ties back into what you were saying earlier. You guys decided to go independent like you mentioned. How did that experience change the way you approach making music now?

Graham: The people we were working with, they taught us a lot of things, they instilled some really great concepts in us and I think the experience bonded us. Perro, a word you used one time, is like it showed us our resilience in a way. We really learned a lot that I think we’re figuring out how to integrate with sort of this independence position that we’re in now because we also have the ability to, like I said, follow our instincts when we have them. We can just follow them and take them someplace. I’m honestly curious as anyone to find where that middle ground is and I think that’s part of the beauty of releasing and doing the stuff and externalizing. We can find what resonates and things that didn't resonate, we can just make those moves. Which we wouldn’t have been able to do in this other situation, it would’ve been just like,“ this is what we’re doing and there’s no ifs, ands, or buts.

Almost as if it's not halting your growth, but kind of keeping you in a box.

Graham: Yeah which again, you know it's an interesting concept because you talk to somebody in branding and they’re like “you should be in a box.” And then you talk to an independent artist they’re like oh you know – so that’s why I’m saying middle ground because I don’t necessarily think it’s one or the other and I think that’s gonna be for us to figure out how to ride that line you know what I mean.

Yeah absolutely. And kinda tying into that, was there anything you had to let go of in order to move into this new chapter?

Graham: Part of this deal was like, we were gonna develop this album and have this fund this ability to go, or like a multi-song album in a nice studio, like the bill was footed. You know what I mean? I think moving away from that now, I’m not saying that that was a positive thing, moving away from. But I do think it was a pretty big reframe for us, when we were going through that transition, like oh we’re gonna need to make this move. I think that was probably just sort of re-orienting with what, let’s say, the next year looks like or making an album itself looks like after a year of building up to this idea.

Perro: We had access to a team and a lot of people that worked with us, there was a lot of belief in the project and that was cool. I also think for everything that we may have had to let go of we also gained so much creatively and musically through the songs that we’re going to be releasing. 

That sounds like there's a lot of positives and a dash of redirection…

Graham: Yeah, it was a big transition to make because it was an intense contract. When we signed it we were like “okay we really have to reframe our expectations, this, that, and the other”. And then to go from that to sort of a 180 where we are like "okay we’re not having those things we get to take what we've learned.”

But I think really the coolest thing has been our energy and our belief in ourselves as a band, outside of other people's belief really – and not to say that it wasn't like that before – but I think it's just sort of materialized in a way that feels like our own. Which is a beautiful thing. 

It sounds like you guys have been through a few chapters as a band, with that I'm sure, like I mentioned before there's a lot of ups and downs. What keeps you coming back and choosing to keep building this band?

Graham: That's a great question, should I give the real story?

Perro: Yeah do it.

Graham: I mean there's been multiple times throughout this where I've either tried to or wanted to change the band, like start something else. I remember being in the studio with Rob Cavallo and being like “hey man i think..” And at each of these junctures or even in this latest deal, the people that I've been working with have been like “no its a great name you gotta keep it, you have a fan base this and that.”

But it hasn't always been an easy decision. I'll just be really honest even playing, we’re just now starting to play some of the older songs like “Mumdane” and stuff and start to feel that connection again because this band has been through a lot of chapters. And it's not just been a solo project there's been different members who have made serious contributions to this project. 

But to be so real, after we went thought the last back and forth, in this label thing and like I was saying with “Eyes” sometimes things get so complicated, at the end of the day I'm proud of the three of us. I'm proud of the music we're making and I just want that to get out into the world. Hardcastles my middle name. I have made decisions all along to pursue this artistry, pursue this songwriting and singing. I think now that we're getting to release music I’m starting to feel that ownership more and more as we take steps forward. It’s not an easy answer and it's not like one way or another, it's developing. But I can say that it feels so good, this is so real – like I was saying before just with Aram and Perro and sort of just owning it and becoming it.

Now, I know before we kind of talked about how you just played a couple shows, did you have the chance to play “Eyes”? If you did, how does it feel performing older songs alongside it?

Perro: We have been able to play “Eyes.” It's funny all these songs, we've been playing them for a while now. Just because through development the team was urging us to play songs live and kind of test them out and see how the crowd likes them. It’s funny feeling the evolution of all these songs and then finally “Eyes” is out and now we've played two shows where we've played “Eyes” as it is on the record, kinda the final iteration of it and it feels really great. It's kind of like some sort of graduation cause it's like all the other songs are still evolving and just to have that song and play that song – we’re so happy with the song. Every time we get to play it in this final evolution it's euphoric, it's awesome. People love it, we love it, it's really fun. 

Sounds like you guys are really grateful for the song itself.

Perro & Graham: Yeah, definitely.

Graham: To your point, we'll play “Mundane” and then we'll play a couple other new songs and then we'll play “Eyes,” it is cool to hear them in the same set, both as released songs because there is a throughline. They are different in their own ways but there definitely is a throughline. That's what I mean – it feels like both are Hardcastle songs, which is very nice.

Yeah, I mean in some ways I feel like when you're in a band it's like your kid, and you're watching it grow up, so it makes sense that you can kind of see the different chapters in the life of the band. With that, when you think about Hardcastle at its core, what do you think has stayed the same throughout all the changes you guys have gone through?

Graham: I think whether it was when I was in Atlanta and making the move to Nashville, or in Nashville making certain decisions or moving from Nashville to LA, I've always felt – and this is something that I think we share, we just want to make the next best move that feels authentic and real to us and do our best in that way. I think that that translates to all aspects, to sonics, to how we rehearse, it translates to business decisions that we make. There's never been a blueprint or “do this, this and this” it’s always been “whats the next best move and feels right instinctually?” At the end of day I am just the kid from Atlanta that has played guitar as long as I can remember and I never liked learning covers. I always liked writing my own songs and I think I've just always always followed that wherever I've gone. 

Through the highs and lows that's just been at the core of it. I think for us – because we've been doing this for a few years together now, I think that's totally translated to I think we all love music, I think we all are grateful to be in a band together. I know Aram had a similar story as mine where he was in another band that he founded and I think we're all really grateful to be in a band together and have that opportunity to collaborate and listen to each other. Outside whatever's happening on the outside, internally that's sort of been a core feature of Hardcastle. 

I think you kinda answered my next question with that but if anybody has anything to add. What's a part of yourselves that you feel comes through the most in your music that people might not see from the outside?

Aram: All of us come from very different musical backgrounds and I really like how that translates in the studio when we're writing or even playing shows. I feel like the energy that I get from Graham is different than the energy that I get from Perro, they both come from music and listen to music, like hearing different things and being influenced by different bands. I feel like we really made a good connection in that way, coming from all these different places, when we come together it kind of becomes this sum is greater than the parts kind of thing. It's really cool. I've never been in a band that kind of feels like that. 

Perro: I think that diversity really comes through, like Aram said the music we listen to kinda spans, the umbrella of music of “what music does Hardcastle listen to?” is so much it spans genres, spans languages.

Are there any artists that you either all collectively listen to or maybe individually listen to that influence the music that you guys make now?

Perro: I have an answer that in my head first reaction – All American Rejects, we love the All American Rejects. I feel like their influences are kinda ingrained in us, that is one band that we all listen to. 

That's a very good core band too, because I feel everybody grew up with them and they're still doing really incredible things as a band.

Perro: They’re doing great stuff in the scene right now, much respect to them. 

Graham: I’ll add on I think sonically, an album that really opened my mind to sound is Pablo Honey by Radiohead because there's a live aspect to it where everything feels – all the instrumentation and the productions feel so alive and in our era there's a lot of amazing music that is very alive in its own way but there's a lot of wall of sound. Like a lot of layering, a lot of this and that and I think we're trying to navigate our way though what our sound is and incorporating some of that rawness to it, in a way that still feels commercial. Collective Soul is another band that I think does a weird thing, they're their own thing but they found their way into the mainstream through their songs and whatnot, to throw a couple out there that I think behind the scenes have an influence for sure. 

Lastly, if someone listened to your entire discography from the beginning to now, what do you hope they'd take away?

Perro: One could only hope that they perceive the growth and see the various ranges and human experience lived through those songs. Graham, what do you think?

Graham: That's a really good question, I like what you said Perro. I thought that was cool. I mean life's a highway. I would hope that they find different sounds and songs to connect to, whether it's them or a group of friends, is a marker in time. I've had people say that about “Mumdane,” each of the songs marks a specific memory and moment in time for me.

Aram: Finding something to appreciate about all the different chapters and how the band has changed so much and how the music has changed so much. I definitely am put in a different headspace when I listen to the earlier stuff or even playing the earlier stuff. It just evokes different feelings, and it was a different chapter and there's always something to appreciate about that change over time. I just think hoping people can just appreciate the change instead of being like “why aren't they playing the same song over and over again” or “why don't they make things like their old music?”

Do any of your old songs ever kind of influence the way you write now? Do you ever hear some of your old stuff and you're like “I like what we did here, let's replicate it into what we're doing now?”

Graham: I would actually say it's more the people that we worked with at different chapters that I feel I've just picked up little things over the years and learned a lot. Whether it's working with my friends earlier on or with producers when I first moved to LA or working with bigger producers. I just feel like learning different things, what I like, what I don't like, that for sure influences decisions and things whether consciously or subconsciously more so than a specific “lets bring back a guitar tone.”