More to the Story: The Happy Fits
By: Taylor Harrington 3/29/2021 4:15pm EST
New Jersey’s own The Happy Fits, whose single “Hold Me Down” reached Sirius XM Alt Nation’s Top Alt 18 songs, has been making waves that reach far beyond the Jersey Shore. Coming from the same town, the trio truly encompasses what it means to take a chance and follow your dreams. Luke Davis (drummer), Calvin Langman (electric cellist/lead vocals), and Ross Monteith (guitar and lead vocals), all went to North Hunterdon High School, although Ross was born in Scotland.
Calvin started playing the cello at a young age and met Ross in his Latin class. Calvin was looking for someone to join him for an event for charity when he asked his new friend Ross. The two ended up writing some original songs together, realized they might be onto something, and decided to record an EP. Calvin and Ross were looking for a drummer for their recording, and it was fate that Luke was there all along, as he is Ross’s brother Kyle’s best friend.
Kyle reached out to Luke and told him that his brother and his buddy were looking for someone to record with them at William Paterson, and they were going to pay him 70 bucks to do the job. Luke showed up, and he said that they spent four hours recording for an EP, and it ended up being the best four hours of music collaboration he has ever done. After the EP came out, the group found themselves on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds” playlist in November 2016 and were asked to go to Penn State University, where they played their first show. Up until that point, Luke hadn’t spent more than four hours with Calvin, but truly believing in themselves as a group, they went for it.
Ross said, “This is our shot. People are listening to our music. Let’s just drop everything and go for it. I was thrown off when I called my dad to break the news. I said, “We’re all thinking of leaving school,” (for the band), and he’s like, “Yeah, you can go back to college whenever you want. It’s going to save me a hell of a lot of money. Just go for it and if it doesn’t work out, you can go back to college.” Luke then added, “It’s amazing to have parents who are super-fans that told us to just go for it.”
The trio found themselves filming the music video for “Hold Me Down” at historic Asbury Lanes after a long search for the perfect venue. Asbury Lanes even offered that the band used the venue for free, and the rest is history. The music video for “Hold Me Down” was shot as if it were being performed at a battle-of-the-bands competition, and you just can’t help but get up and dance to it.
Asbury Park has been a major part of The Happy Fits journey, and they are looking forward to performing there this Fall alongside Pearl Jam at the Sea Here Now Festival, which is held right on the beach.
When asked how the band got their start, Luke says, “I know Calvin started really early with cello and Ross and I started probably five or six years later with our own instruments. For me at least, I always loved music and I always remember my dad showing me “Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin, and when I heard that and I was like, Whoa, I want to play drums. I started playing Rock Band and I wanted to do that in real life. I had never played on a real drum kit, but I had a teacher ask me to give it a try. So I played “Maps” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and she was like, “You’re good.” We really just took a chance. It’s kind of like going to school, you have to keep your head down and keep grinding. With all this hard work and all the great work Ross and Calvin are doing, we’ve been seeing great positive feedback about everything. It’s really coming to life and it is so exciting.”
The band hopes to tour this fall, and can be found on Instagram at @TheHappyFits and our interview can be seen below, on our YouTube Channel, or listened to everywhere podcasts are available.
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