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Los Angeles-based indie rockers, Evening Elephants, are back to soundtrack our sunny days with their latest EP, Carefree, very. True to title, the EP is riddled with breezy sounds and the laidback ease of a carefree summer evening. We caught up with Evening Elephants for the latest on their release, working with state-of-the-art producers, and more:

OnesToWatch: What was the process of recording Carefree, very?

Brandon Leslie: The EP stretches across different times of Evening Elephants. There's some songs on there that we wrote and recorded in my apartment, and then there's some songs that we did later with PJ Bianco. 

What was your experience like working with PJ? (producer/songwriter, credits: Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Imagine Dragons). 

Sam Boggs: It’s so fun working with PJ. He has a really cool studio out of his home in New Jersey. When we came into contact with PJ through his manager, and our manager, we looked at his writing credits and it was like, Imagine Dragons, Demi Lovato, and the Jonas Brothers, Brandon and I laughed at each other. “Like, this guy's not going to understand what we're trying to do sonically or anything.” And instantly when we came into his house, he was the most welcoming person and caught the vibe immediately. He really lets Brandon take hold of the session and really just facilitates whatever we need and sprinkles in his little magic here and there. It's very flawless and fun. 

It's been two years since “Snow on the Bluff” came out. What's changed since then? Did you realize it was gonna be on this project?

Brandon Leslie: We wrote “ Song on the Bluff” in 40 minutes. We were gonna miss our train, and PJ was like, “let's write a song.” And it was really seamless. Every songwriting experience is just different, and we approach it differently, and what makes good music is life experience. You go through a bunch of shit, and then you write really good music because of it. We evolved so much as artists, and as people, it all sounds like it's in the same world though, which is important. 

Out of all the new tracks on Carefree, very - which ones are you excited for your fans to hear?

Sam Boggs: I'm really excited for people to hear this song called “Inject Me”. We made it within the first year that we were making the music, when we were in Brandon's kitchen. I was definitely the one that was like pushing for that one to get on the EP. It always has a special place in my heart when I'm listening to it, not that it's specifically out about anybody or anything. It's really a moment in time where I was feeling lost romantically and in and out of relationships and situationships. It'll connect to people and not all of our music is like that. I think 80% of our music is fun and there for people to escape from their own lives and enjoy themselves. And then 20% are heartfelt serious moments that we sprinkle in and out, and “Inject Me” is one of those tracks to me.

What do you hope your fans take away from this EP? 

Sam Boggs: It's a lot of the songs that we've been playing live over the past year or two. We normally switch songs around to try new things out. But this EP, specifically, these songs have stayed in the mix except for “Inject Me” and the song called “Sugar Coated Envy (Home)”. So to me, it’s simple, people love coming to our live show, that’s how we made a name for ourselves, and people have just been listening to these songs and having no way to get them other than hearing them live. It's really just us giving back to the people who supported us, and displaying our range of sound within one idea.

What song on EP do you think best represents the direction you want your music to sound in the future?

Brandon Leslie: For me, it's “Sugarcoated Envy (Home)”. The track is sad boy aesthetic, we take happy chords and we make them sad. The 90s were like that. It was happy, sad music, so I love doing that style. And Sam always throws puns, mythology and weird, funny flips on its head. It's quirky and I love that kind of vibe. 

Sam Boggs: Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely with that, too. “Sugarcoated Envy (Home)” is a good amalgamation of our sounds even though the EP as a whole is very versatile. But if we're talking about the future of Evening Elephants sonically, that would definitely be the direction that we're going. We are pulling out a corny 90s, early 2000s feel and flipping it and that song's a good representation of it. 

To close things out, who are your OnesToWatch?

Sam Boggs: This band had a backyard show that went viral on Tik Tok a few weeks ago. They're called Private School and they're based in LA too. They're much more just straight punk compared to our style and how we play between pop and punk, but I really love the energy in their music. They only have eight songs out right now, but they’re really cool.

Brandon Leslie: I like Sleep Token a lot. I listen to Sleep Token a lot and Turnstile. Turnstile is really cool. I felt like the new stuff that just came out is super inspiring and dope. It's so hard too. Like it like they have. They feel like a hardcore band to me but they're like 90s and pop. It's really cool. 

Congrats again on the EP, and thanks for chatting with us!