Arjan Interviews Honey Ryder

Lindsay O'Mahoney and Martyn Shone of emerging British pop duo Honey Ryder recently released their much-anticipated debut album "Rising Up." It is a compelling piece of melodic pop and rock that they produced in collaboration with the guys from Goldust, Brad Gilderman, (Madonna, Outkast) and Bob Kraushaar (Pet Shop Boys, Robbie Williams). Not too shabby indeed.

Currently on tour with Will Young, the band took some time in their busy schedule to talk with Arjan about their new album and more. (And they took a lovely picture as well. Whoa! Thanks for that!)

Hi there! Great to talk to you. When I first heard your new single "Fly Away," I was immediately captured by the gorgeous vocal harmonies of the song. Does that song represent your sound well?
First of all - thank you for the compliment! And secondly, yes, it does represent the Honey Ryder sound as we have harmonies on every song on "Rising Up," which we like to replicate in our live performance. Our songs are melody driven and seem to lend themselves to 3 part harmonies.

How did Honey Ryder come about? This seems to be such a trivial question, but since you're new on the scene can you give a us a quick recap of how you met?
I first met Martyn in a recording studio when some work friends of mine from MTV asked me to record some vocals for them. Martyn had just become their new lead guitarist and we instantly clicked. Since then we have been in various different bands together playing the London circuit but none of them worked out. I then bumped into Martyn in a pub after he'd just ran the London marathon and after several pints we decided to go it alone and become a singer-songwriting duo, thus forming Honey Ryder.  (We weren't thinking straight at the time....!)

Honey Ryder is of course the very first Bond girl who appeared in Dr. No. Are you both big 007 fans? Who is your favorite Bond actor?
In one word - YES.....and we both happen to like Daniel Craig the best.....although our reasons for that are slightly different. Martyn likes his hard as nails persona plus he went to the same school as Martyn in the Wirral - and I.....well I just think he's FIT!!

You worked on your album with Brad Gilderman. How did that collaboration come about and what did he add to your sound?
Our producers from Goldust had already worked with him on various projects and felt that Brad as well as British mixer Bob Kraushaar, were the best mixers for the job. In our opinion, they have given the album a polished, bright, uplifting feel.

Your music reminds me of some of the pop-oriented country music from Nashville. It must be those catchy harmonies! What are some of the artists or genres that inspire you?
Fleetwood Mac have had a big influence on both of us. Martyn has been a big fan of rock music since he was a kid ranging from Pearl Jam and Guns n Roses to Radiohead and Oasis. I was brought up on a mixture of genres ranging from the Beatles and Motown to Alanis Morrisette, Sheryl Crow, Carole King and country artists like Dolly Parton.....which may explain a few things!

What is it like to perform for Will Young's fans? Do you have a lot of gays at your feet now? (ArjanWrites.com has many gay readers - you can speak freely!)
We're having a ball! I have to say they are a very warm, respectful and welcoming crowd and seem to be from all walks of life. I'm not sure how many gay people we have at our feet but Martyn has size 12 feet so there's plenty of room for them to hop on!!

Where do you hope to be in five years from now professionally?
In a recording studio on our 4th album!