Q&A: Cry Baby Embraces a Do-It-Yourself Creative Ethos and Brings the Energy of Their Immersive Live Shows to New EP ‘In Love Without You’
A BAND WHOSE MUSIC MANAGES TO FEEL NOSTALGIC AND MODERN AT THE SAME TIME — Cry Baby knows how to give their songs unique life. “Taking the culmination of your life’s influences and all the new stuff that’s coming in, too… Putting that all together into a project is super exciting,” bass player Joey Haines shared. It can be difficult to balance the pull of past influences with the itch to do something fresh and original, but it’s a tightrope that Cry Baby walks to great effect on their new EP, In Love Without You, which is now available on all major streaming platforms.
Cry Baby is a pop-rock band currently through the ranks of the New York City music scene and beyond with a fun-loving attitude and DIY approach to the creative process. The five-member band includes Alex Carlson on lead vocals and guitar, Joey Haineson bass, Carter Long on guitar, Franky Centenoon drums, and Josh Kozic on keys. Luna had the chance to chat with Carlson and Haines just days before the release of the new EP.
The band’s members, as well as some of their fans, often refer to Cry Baby as a “boy band.” It’s a label the group has taken up partly as a way to harken back to some of their early influences, groups such as the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. But the group also enjoys finding ways to defy what people expect from a traditional boy band and expand what the term means.
“We don’t have the traditional trappings of a boy band,” Carlson said. “But it’s an idea that felt fun and fresh again, and the sonic area the music lives in also fits.”
Haines pointed out that the expectations that come along with being a boy band make it easier for each member of the group to have their own identity. “Our goal is to eventually grow the band to the point where people are able to know all the members and have their favorite member,” he said. “It’s that kind of culture that exists in the boy band world that a lot of us grew up with, and I think that’s a fun thing to keep alive.”
Cry Baby came together as a band in NYC and bonded over their mutual musical influences, like The 1975 and James Ivy. “New York is a city that extends your youth,” Haines said of the way the band’s home impacts their music and creative process.
“It’s a place that allows for a very high ceiling of opportunity,” Carlson added.
Being a part of the New York music scene has given Cry Baby some unique opportunities, but they also recognize the difficulties of trying to make it in such a huge place. “It can make you feel absolutely invisible,” Carlson said. “But depending on the effort you put forth and your persistence, at a certain point you’re going to get your shot.”
Haines agreed: “You have to earn your place as a New York band.”
But Carlson also appreciates the collaboration that happens among bands in the New York scene. “It’s pretty refreshingly collaborative and friendly,” he said. “You run into musicians that will blow you away with how much they are willing to offer advice and other resources.”
In contrast to many of the classic boy bands who relied on behind-the-scenes hitmakers to write their songs, Cry Baby writes and produces their music entirely on their own. The members of the band often start off by writing song ideas individually and passing these snippets back and forth, but there is a certain creative energy that happens when they get together in a room to write.
“We’ve written a ton of lyrics together,” Haines said. “You end up getting people bringing in new perspectives or melodic ideas.”
The band also produces all of their own music, usually out of Haines home studio. This DIY creative process has helped the band create their own unique sound and has led to some exciting results on the band’s new EP, In Love Without You. Cry Baby has been playing the songs on the EP in their live shows for a while now, and they have translated the sound and feel of their live performance to the record.
“Touring is a huge part of who we are as a band,” Haines said. “What has been great about the experience is that we got a feel for what people respond to and what feels good to us.”
The EP starts with the uptempo “One Thing,” followed by the equally energetic “Hollister,” which is the first song Cry Baby wrote as a band. Everything from the song’s title to its musical vibe and lyrics evokes the band’s signature modern take on the ’90s and early 2000s pop-rock sound.
One of the EP’s standout moments is when the energy temporarily shifts on the slower, more contemplative “Best Shot.” “If it’s going to hurt / Hit as hard as you can / I wanna feel it / Think we might have missed a turn,” lead vocalist Carlson sings earnestly, accompanied by an acoustic guitar.
When asked about the song, Carlson explains why it holds a special place for him in the band’s catalog: “I’ve always gravitated toward singer/songwriter music,” he said. “That was an element I was really hoping to bring to the band in some capacity.”
Carlson also thinks of the song as an opportunity for the band to expand their sonic palate and showcase different elements of their sound.
In Love Without You closes with “The Show,” a catchy song that evokes a night out at a concert with friends. The music video accompanying the track was shot by Neil Shukla, a photographer and videographer Cry Baby has collaborated with regularly, and it perfectly encapsulates the different dimensions of the band’s identity.
“The video is our mission statement as a band,” Carlson said.
In the opening scene of the music video, members of the band sing and strum electric guitars in a room with old, hardwood floors and an exposed brick wall, playing into the early 2000s rock aesthetic. But later on, we see them practicing choreography for a TikTok dance — a playful reference to how the band leans into the boy band moniker and a commentary on the necessity of internet self-promotion in the modern music industry.
Now that In Love Without You has been released, Cry Baby will continue their touring schedule while also working on new music in the studio.
“We want to tour smart and be able to play with artists we admire,” Haines said of the band’s goals for their live performances.
Carlson added that the band already has new music in the works as well. “These new songs we’ve been working on feel like a really good evolution,” he shared. “I’m excited for us to hunker down and create our best work to date.”
