Inside Easy Honey: The tight-knit band’s surf-rock success

The brother duo of the Charleston-based band shares favorite memories from tour life and what’s up next

Celia Cheng / V Mag at UVA

A quick scroll through up-and-coming band Easy Honey’s Instagram features the four members catching waves together, jamming out in the Colorado mountains and even squirting honey into each other’s mouths in a spontaneous on-stage antic. A group of artists, but more importantly, friends, the Charleston-based band has taken its energetic, sweet as honey style on the road. 

Easy Honey’s sound blends singer-songwriter folk with a vibrant streak of surf-rock. It’s only fitting that members spend much of their free time surfing and exploring the great outdoors, with the band’s name inspired by two billboards nestled in the mountains. 

The band got its start on the college scene when guitarists Selby Austin and Darby McGlone met over a trashcan full of green punch at a Sewanee darty. The duo then brought on classmate and drummer Charlie Holt to start writing music together and, following graduation, bassist Webster Austin.

As a group made up of college friends and a pair of brothers, Webster said everyone works to keep each other invested and on-balance. The tight-knit dynamic seems to be paying off, as some of Easy Honey’s best performances happen when band members let their guard down and improvise on stage.

“There's just some moments on stage where everything is sounding so great,”  Webster said. “The crowd is great and you just look around at each other. And it's just like this beautiful moment where every single thing in your life has led you to this point.”

All members actively contribute to vocals and songwriting, often crafting songs through collaborative studio sessions. Easy Honey wrote their latest EP, “Ooooo,” over a long period of time between show dates on tour — Selby said he felt like a different person each time he sat down to write. 

One of the EP’s standout tracks, “Orbiter,” evokes the beauty of the celestial sky with lines like, “I just wanna explore this territory / You and me / And the beauty of the forest.”

“Sonically, a lot of things come together for us in that song — it’s indie, but also pretty rocking,” Webster said.

Selby credited McGlone for dreaming up “Orbiter,” saying he tends to be the writer with the most fantastical, otherworldly lyrics. On the flip side, Selby usually finds himself writing about more everyday moments.

“I'm talking about veggie melts, and he's talking about outer space,” Selby said. “But there's a beauty in both.”

This autumn’s two-month tour promoting the EP began in Birmingham, AL and concluded with a night in Atlanta, GA. Over the summer, the group embarked on a “Surf Tour” centered around seaside east coast towns.

Easy Honey recently released a mini-documentary titled “FUBAR,” showcasing their surf tour and local beach cleanups they hosted along the way. Selby hopes publicity from the documentary will serve to promote both the band and environmental awareness.

“The documentary is just a really great way for people to get to know about the band, see our personalities, hear the music, see things we care about,” Selby said.

The group grew connected to the surf through living in Charleston post graduation. After recording a demo, Easy Honey began selling out Charleston venues and rocking out beach stages like Windjammer. Reflecting back on the band’s transition from college into the wider music scene, Selby said the band’s start playing for college audiences provided the perfect opportunity to “make their own fun.”

“It was like a perfect environment for playing your own songs,” Selby said. “You know, people pretty much go wild for anything. So it was encouraging early on.” 

Band members said they were excited to experience college town energy once again with a recent visit to Charlottesville to play a Nov. 4 show at The Southern. Easy Honey featured Richmond-based indie rock group Celler Dwellers and third year College student Jack Stepanian as openers for the night. 

While the Charlottesville show saw a more modest turnout than usual, Selby said the band has learned to play for all types of different rooms and audiences.

“We judge how a night goes not only exactly how many people were in the room, not on how much merch is sold, but on how well we're connected with each other as a band and how well we're connecting with the audience — if we can all come together and share an experience together,” Selby said.

Easy Honey will play two more shows this year, one supporting Stop Light Observations and another supporting Illiterate Light. There is also an album in the works for the beginning of 2024, according to Selby. The group already has multiple gigs planned for the new year, including two co-headlining slots with fellow indie-rock group The Stews.