The Hard Maybes are an indie-rock band from Asbury Park, New Jersey. Formed in 2022, The band is made up of Harley Cunha on vocals, Brian Erickson on bass, Matt Magnifico on drums, Kyle Hahn and Andrew Ludewig on guitar. (Photo credit: Carina Duffy)
1. How did the band form and what does the band name mean?
The Hard Maybes formed out of sheer luck. Brian and I had been haphazardly working on some songs I had previously written with Matt “Fern” Fernicola. We started to piece together the band more as a concept and just something we did when we all hung out on my porch. The name came from my inclination to not solidify plans until the day of. Out of a friendly frustration, Brian dubbed me “Harley Hard Maybe”, after my response to any invite. The real driving force to start the band happened at a local bar, when Brian and I ran into someone and they asked if we played music together. Our drunk selves wrote checks that we fully intended to cash. We started reaching out to other people we knew and eventually the band included Matt Magnifico, Kyle Hahn, and Andrew Ludewig. I think luck is where preparation meets good timing, and I feel incredibly lucky to get to play and create music with these guys every week.
2. Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?
I always had an interest in singing when I was young but I was never aware of how broad the spectrum of “being a musician” was. When I was old enough to go to bars, I started hanging out at open mics and talking with the performers afterwards. After lockdown, it seemed as good of time as any to focus on what I liked about music and songwriting. I started developing some songs I had written, with the help of Fern. Once the open mics started up again, I was performing at them with the people who had gotten me on the path in the first place. I started singing back-up in The Foes of Fern and I’m very grateful for the opportunity that experience gave me to see what that element of performing felt like. It’s also how I met Andrew, one of our guitarists, and he still plays trombone and sings in the Foes of Fern.
3. First concert that you ever went to? (Locally and National acts)
The first concert I went to was BonJovi at Giants Stadium and truthfully I don’t remember much of it. I was 4 years old, and the cost of a ticket was cheaper than a babysitter. The only thing I remember clearly, was the entire stadium clapping and chanting for the encore. It was the first time I had ever been around that many people and I remember asking my parents why everyone was clapping together. It was the first time I had felt that kind of collective energy and started to understand what music can do to bring people together.
4. What's your writing process like?
My process when songwriting usually starts with me singing a melody into my phone, and once that runs out, I'll write it all down and try to add some method to the madness. My lyrics and melodies develop unexpectedly most of the time, but I think there is value in the habit of just sitting down and writing. The Hard Maybes work very collaboratively when it comes to writing our songs. I'll send some ideas to the boys and we’ll keep playing with them and bouncing them back and forth and adding elements of our own tastes until we find something that we feel works. I think this process has really developed our sound to be a different blend of all of our styles.
5. What other artists or songs inspire your music?
There’s a running joke in the band that my singing and writing sounds like what would happen if you gave a princess a pop-rock band, and I think it fits. I grew up listening to showtunes, country, and 80’s hair metal. I found a lot of the elements I liked about those genres listening to pop-punk and indie-rock. I was immediately drawn to bands like Paramore and Jimmy Eat World for their power and the fun edge their music had. As a band, we pull a lot of our influence from surf rock bands and girl groups of the 60’s, like the Ronettes. I think it’s cool that we have all different genres that we pull elements from and see how we can integrate and incorporate them into how The Hard Maybes sound.
6. What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be it's own thing?
Personally, I think there’s a different goal between playing a song for a live show and how it’s recorded. For us, shows are about having fun and making it so other people can have fun with us. Playing shows allows us to deviate from what we play on the recordings, and try out new things. On the recordings, we’re able to layer things differently like extra vocals or guitar in a way we wouldn’t be able to live without doubling our band. We obviously want both the recorded songs and the songs we play live to sound as good as they possibly can, but we play our songs in the way it will best serve the energy we want them to have at that time.
7. Has the band toured? What has the touring experience been, best shows?worst shows?
Our first show was an experience- A live-32 hour interactive Survivor experience, named Survifern, to be exact. It was a few weeks after we released our debut single “Independence Day”. We camped out for two days and watched a DIY Survivor game play out in front of us with other local acts playing between the challenges and tribal councils. We were surrounded by friends, most of whom were other musicians and people who work live shows, and it felt like a real community. About five seconds into starting our set, we lost all power to the mics and some of the speakers while the Survifern crew raced to get us enough power to keep going and we kept playing through the song. By the second song in the set, we had full power and everything went according to plan. I think about that first show a lot, and how much fun it was amidst the chaos, how integral it was to establishing us as a band, and how lucky we are to get to have that experience all together.
8. What's up next for the band?
The Hard Maybes started a tradition of releasing our singles on holidays, and in that tradition we are releasing our third single “Something (Kiss Me Quiet)” on New Year’s Eve 2023. You can catch us live at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ on December 22nd, for an Ugly Sweater Party along with The Extensions and American Stereo. We’re currently recording our debut EP with Mint400 Records and Telegraph Hill Records which will be released Summer of 2024. We’re really excited to keep releasing and playing shows and see what 2024 has in store for us!
Instagram: @TheHardMaybes
Facebook: The Hard Maybes