Since the relaunch of Decaf, I have made a big deal out of creating a community within the walls of Decaf, focusing more on awareness and highlighting talent than competition. Within the online publication community, there are so many talented creators and sites that really aren’t getting the attention I think they deserve. Because of this, I’ve decided to start the “Meet the Mag” series as an opportunity to get to know the people behind some of my personal favorite publications and get their insight into a business I still consider myself a noob in.
What better way to start this love fest than with Honey Punch. Run by sisters Liz and Emma, the mag focuses on music they love and the people behind it. Full of striking images and simple, yet personal interviews, Honey Punch is the perfect site for music lovers of all kinds
I recently had the opportunity to check in with Emma and Liz to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes at Honey Punch
For anyone who has never heard of Honey Punch, what’s your elevator pitch?
Honey Punch is a music publication that run by two sisters and based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma! This is our platform to be real about music and the music industry. Here, we want to focus on the people who make music, the people who work around music, and the people who simply love it.
- Where did this idea come from? Why not just join someone else’s collective or magazine?
We actually both contributed to other music publications for over a year before starting our own! While it was great for gaining experience, it just wasn’t for us. It was tricky doing work for people that didn’t see things the same way you did. It was a lot of pretending to like music we really didn’t like in hopes of getting on editor’s “the good side” and hopefully being able to shoot an artist we really liked or write an album review for a band we totally backed. After a while, we sort of just asked ourselves, “What are we doing? Let’s be our own bosses!”
What sets Honey Punch apart from other music publications?
One reason we started Honey Punch was to be genuine and real about music. We aren’t trying to be The Rolling Stone, or use the biggest words in the dictionary, and we sure as HECK will use as many exclamation points as we want!! We want to share music the way you share music with your best friend, not your boss.
What message are you trying to convey with your mag?
We don’t have an ~official~ message, but we just want to share what we love and encourage other people to do that, too. We are also really want to encourage other females who are interested in careers or hobbies within music to pursue it! We also decided to add a team of creatives from around the US and some from across the pond because we wanted to work with other like-minded people and give them an opportunity to share their work!
How has starting Honey Punch impacted your lives?
For both of us, it’s really upped our communication game. Whether it’s communicating with each other, our team members, press/publicity people, or just our readers, it’s been a great learning experience and we can definitely lean these skills for the rest of our lives. It’s also been kinda like getting a new pet- you’re super excited to get one and then 3 days in, you’re like “Welp…this thing can’t just take care of itself!” So since we started, our publication is something we are working on literally every single day, theres no breaks format! It can be overwhelming sometimes, but its become an important part of day to day life now.
What have been some of the most rewarding moments in since starting up the mag?
Some of the most rewarding moments have been being able to interview/cover shows for bands we’ve been listening to for years and really getting to know them. Another cool/rewarding thing is the fact that we’re gradually starting to make a name for ourselves around Tulsa and the cities our contributors are in!
What’s a roadblock you wish someone else would’ve warned you about?
How bad it sucks to be stuck! Some points we’ve been at, we just feel very “blah.” Maybe there aren’t a whole lot of shows coming up or we don’t have anything super exciting to post about. When we get to those points, we really have to dig and get those creatives juices flowing so we can get pumped up again!
Where do you hope to see yourself and the mag in the next month? year? 5 years? Any cool plans we should know about?
We’re planning to add new sections including art, film & fashion – so in the next month we hope to see our following and community expand! A year from now we hope to have an active solid game plan of getting out magazine prints bi-monthly, and to be collaborating with more publications we look up to.
5 years from now, we hope to be able to cover much bigger acts (AHEM HARRY STYLES). It’s a dream of ours to spend a day with one of our favorite artists/bands, get to know them and document our day. It might be a stretch, but we think it’d be so cool to maybe go to their home/creative space to get a better feel for the environment they’re in and hear stories you probably wouldn’t hear in any ole pre-show interview. We’d love to turn this idea into a documentary, too! Maybe individual ones or one big project full of these experiences with multiple artists/bands. Another thing we hope to do in 5 years time is to be working with a band, maybe one who’s just starting out, and document as much as possible within the time of them writing/recording an album, to the time of touring. We’d love to work on a documentary that focuses on the work that goes unseen, and focus largely on the fan base they gain.
And now, what this whole thing’s about. What have you guys been reading? What are some publications, artists, or collectives that you feel need more attention?
The past 2 years we’ve been really interested in the magazine Local Wolves and can definitely say it helped inspired us to start our own publication! It sort of showed us that a publication can be like a community that’s fun and is always keeping people excited for what’s next in music culture!
Some artists/bands Liz is loving RN:
The Young Vines, Molly Burch, Elder Island, Jaws of Love. (Solo project by Kelsey Ayer from Local Natives!!), also, Wolf Alice isn’t new/unknown but HOT DANG I’m so feeling their new single ”Beautifully Unconventional” and have listened to it at least 30 times a day !
And Emma: Coloring, Tom Odell, Fyfe, BANFF, Hein Cooper and Sam Fender
Any final pieces of wisdom?
Emma: Some words of wisdom for anyone wanting to start their own publication would be to 1. keep your ideas fresh and plan ahead! 2.Stay persistent with updating your site and social media! It is always really important and helps a lot with creating a good connection with your followers.
Liz: BE YOU! DO WHAT YOU LOVE!!! Don’t let people bring you down, and don’t try pulling others down, either. Remember that other people or publications aren’t competition! We’re all in this together, so do what ya can to support each other!!
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