Strawberry Launch is a female-fronted pop rock band, born from a serendipitous cold call by lead singer Riiza to guitarist Matrianna Gahol in 2018. They quickly added Abby Flicker on bass, Taylor Hurt on keyboard, and Benjy Berkowitz on drums. Their debut EP, released in 2021, garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone India, Atwood Magazine and Under the Radar, who praised their expansive soundscapes and emotional crescendos. Building a devoted following in New York City, they’ve shared stages with Beach Bunny, Hot Flash Heat Wave, Small Crush, and The Toxhards. Their sophomore EP ‘Bad Luck’ is out now on all streaming platforms.
How did the band form and what does the band name mean?
Strawberry Launch was formed in 2018 through a mutual friend, Miss Grit. After Riiza and Matrianna met, Abby, Benjy and Taylor all joined the group within a year. The band name came from a previous drummer we had, Marissa Dumlao, who came up with a list of hundreds of words put together and we all mutually liked Strawberry Launch the best.
Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?
We all have a unique history of music experience. Matrianna and Taylor were both part of School of Rock in Chicago before moving to New York. Abby, Matrianna and Taylor all have degrees in music tech. Abby was in a 70s/80s cover band in high school. Riiza was previously a topliner for DJ's and has a degree in musical theatre. While drumming, Benjy also went to film school and continues to work in film while being apart of Strawberry Launch.
First concert that you ever went to?
Matrianna - Jonas Brothers.
Taylor - Selena Gomez & the Scene.
Riiza - the Rippingtons.
Benjy - Jingle Ball.
Abby - Cheetah Girls.
What's your writing process like?
We'll either start with a melody line/lyrics from Riiza, a guitar riff from Matrianna, or chords from Taylor. Once the rough structure of the song is down, we'll start to carve out drums, bass, and additional guitar and keys.
What other artists or songs inspire your music?
We always tell people that if you mixed MUNA and the Cranberries together, you'd get us. We each love alot of different artists, which brings such a cool mix of ideas to our sound.But across the board, we all love Chappell Roan, Steely Dan, Crumb, Khraungbin.
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?
The first year we were a band, we only played live. We wanted to learn how to be a group and perform together before putting anything down. Naturally, alot of our earlier songs and our first EP are extremely close to what you hear live. But that's starting to change for us, where we are putting songs down and then learning how to do them live. We dont believe any song needs to be identical to the recorded version, but we just end up making our songs sound pretty much the same across the board.
Has the band toured? What has the touring experience been?
We've been on two tours in the last year. Its been a wonderful experience, but its definitely a learning curve. Traveling together is fun and sometimes hard work, but playing across the country has been really cool. We have really kind and dedicated fans, and getting to meet them outside of NY has been so amazing.
What's up next for the band?
We're really just excited that this EP is out in the universe, and hope that everyone will enjoy it as much as we do!
https://www.instagram.com/strawberrylaunch/
https://www.trashcasual.com