Serious fun with the Honey Brothers

(Credit: Shore Fire Media)

“There’s not a lot of shoegazing on stage,” says Honey Brothers drummer/vocalist/guitarist (and “Entourage” star) Adrian Grenier. “We’re not indulging in our pains or our haircuts. It’s really about sharing and having fun.”

That should be no surprise to anyone who’s heard these New York folk-rockers before. The band, which spices up its guitar/bass/drums foundation with banjo and ukulele, delivers smart, sunny bursts of lighthearted positivity that are best enjoyed in short sleeves and flip-flops. The Honey Brothers’ new EP, “Demonstration,” arrives June 16.

Though no tour is scheduled, the group is set to play a couple of festvial dates: California’s Wanderlust Festival in July, New Jersey’s All Points West Festival and Canada’s Osheaga Festival in August, and Seattle's Bumbershoot in September. Before the EP's release, Grenier (in L.A.) and banjo, guitar and ukulele player and vocalist Andrew Vladeck (in New York) checked in to talk about actors-turned-musicians and why ukulele players are ladies’ men.

Your bio says you met at ukulele fantasy camp. What sort of stuff goes on there?
Adrian Grenier: Twister. Lots of Twister.

Sounds like a sexually charged environment.
AG: I’m not going to lie. We do tend to inspire a little heat in people.

Well, Adrian, you’ve said that the band’s bringing fun back to rock. Justin Timberlake brought sexy back. Which is tougher?
AG: We succeeded in bringing fun back, just as Timberlake succeeded in bringing sexy back. Now we’re going to see if we can meld the two and bring fun back to sexy.

How do you think people will react to “Demonstration”?
AG: I think one thing about our band is that people don’t know what to expect, and they often might judge what a ukulele band is like. Or they might judge who’s in the band or something. I think when people listen they’re pleasantly surprised at first and then slowly they’re like, “Oh my god, this is something I actually will enjoy.”

What assumptions do they make?
AG: That it’s maybe too folky…
Andrew Vladeck: Or too silly or too gimmicky with banjo and ukulele…
AG: The instruments are really blended and hidden. You don’t have to hear the banjo in the front of “The Dukes of Hazzard.” It can be an instrument that you use and blend in rock settings as well, if you know how.

I hope people are not going in expecting to see five guys in grass skirts.
AV: No, probably one guy in tennis shorts. That’s probably going to happen. And the rest in sundresses.

Adrian, why do actors in bands get a bad rap?
AG: I think it’s because when you’re in a band you’re really putting yourself out there. It’s a much more vulnerable art form. When you’re acting you can hide behind the script, you can hide behind the director, you can hide behind makeup, costumes…all of that. When you’re playing music it’s just you, and you really do have to give a certain part of yourself, and sometimes it’s a part that may not necessarily be the most attractive. So I think to be vulnerable on stage is sometimes cringe-worthy if you don’t succeed.

And people assume actors won’t succeed?
AG: Well, I think a lot of them don’t. The idea is that when you’re a musician you get judged anyway. And a lot of bands suck. But when you’re already an actor and known for that, and then you go on stage and you suck, then suddenly people say, “Well, don’t quit your day job. Go back to wearing the mask.”

I’ve heard all movie stars want to be musicians and all musicians want to be movie stars. What do you think?
AG: I think everybody, period, wants to be one or the other. And both if possible. I’m no different.

Describe what happens in a bar when the Honey Brothers walk in.
AG: What happens is we walk up to the bar, order a couple drinks and then proceed to walk around awkwardly looking for someone that we want to talk to, until finally we get inebriated enough that it doesn’t matter that it’s awkward and we’re in a bar.

Yet there’s such a stereotype that ukulele bands are ladies’ men…
AV: Those ukuleles, they really are the tools of the ladies’ man trade.
AG: I have to say that that is actually the case. I’ve never seen more girls turn their head and inquire [than] about the ukulele sticking out of [ukulele player Ari Gold's] backpack.
AV: It takes a certain kind of man who will carry around a very small axe.

You’ve become unofficial Brothers, and Adrian has said your DNA has merged. Can you read each other's minds now?
AV: Oh, yeah, definitely. I think we’ve gotten pretty intuitive, operating on a vibeology level.
AG: “Vibeology”? Did you just use “vibeology”?
AV: I quoted Paula Abdul. You are in L.A. right now, so I figured I have to communicate in a way you would understand.
AG: I guess I didn’t pick up telepathically that you were starting to become a little corny.
AV: So I guess it’s not really working.