Male-fronted bands such as Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco and Metro Station are dominating the world of pop-rock these days, topping charts with their catchy tunes and clean-cut take on rock'n'roll. But for all their similarities, Hey Monday have one small difference: their lead singer is a 19-year-old girl called Cassadee Pope, who cites her influences as Blink-182 and Michelle Branch, and whose first album Hold on Tight is playing on the stereos of kids across the world.
YourGigs (yG): Your single 'Homecoming' has really broken you into the American charts. How did it all begin for you?
Cassadee Pope (CP): We signed to our label in April last year. It was a smooth process, a few months of negotiating, which was really nice. We were even more excited about being invited to work with Decaydance (Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy's label.) Fall Out Boy is one of our favourite bands and he pretty much said he liked us and wanted to sign us.
yG: On the topic of Pete Wentz, he also called you up to appear in a Fall Out Boy film clip recently?
CP: Yeah; in their clip for 'America's Sweethearts'. Pete had asked me a long time ago; I'm actually singing on the remix but he had an awesome idea for a part he wanted me to play. I got there and I heard what I was doing and I got really excited.
yG: So most of you are from Florida - how did the band come together?
CP: It was around the time when all our other bands had sorta broken up. Three of us had just finished high school, and Mike [Gentile, lead guitarist] and I were in a band prior to this one so we wanted to start a new one. We gave the others a call and there we were.
yG: Do you write your own songs?
CP: Mike and I write all the songs. 'Homecoming' was actually co-written with William Beckett from The Academy Is... but for the most part Mike tends to write the music and I'll come up with the lyrics.
yG: So what was the key for you in terms of writing a really catchy pop song?
CP: I learned that it's a formula that you can go by. We went with the formula, blowing up the choruses as much as we could. I wanted it to be as catchy as hell but I also really wanted people to relate to the lyrics too.
yG: You haven't toured Australia yet, but you'll be here in the not-too-distant future. Will you be headed anywhere else?
CP: Yeah we're actually on tour with Fall Out Boy, and we're excited 'cause we'll be starting in Japan and then making our way through New Zealand and Europe too before we get to the US to tour again.
yG: The bands you are associated with are typically male-fronted bands. Does this affect the way people think about your music?
CP: That's awesome to think about, I know I'm a girl and have a different voice, but if you take a guy and put him in my place and have him singing exactly the same thing, it would be pretty much a lot of other bands out there right now. I think we're judged differently 'cause I'm a girl but I don't let it bother me.
yG: So after the Fall Out Boy tour, what's next for you?
CP: We're releasing a new single. We're playing a festival and then doing a lot of touring. We always just try and spend time with everyone back home when we get some breaks, and I'll sort of hang out, go shopping - you know that sort of thing. Normal kids stuff. But after a while we all start to miss each other [Laughs].
Carrie Dennes
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