Interview with Homebase

Homebase is a great new band based out of New York and New Jersey.  They have just released their debut Close To Something, a five song EP that does a brilliant job of meshing hardcore aggression and hook-heavy pop punk.  I had the chance to talk to guitarist/vocalist Matt Valentin and vocalist Tony Valentino.

I know most of you played together before Homebase.  Can you give me a little bit of background on the band?  Also, how do you think Homebase differs from what you did before?

Matt: There is such a deep lore behind our history before Homebase. To keep things simple, our story began at The School of Rock. That’s where I met Ochoa and Tony. Our passion for music grew stronger after we recognized that we each had similar interests in the music that we enjoyed listening to. Ochoa was the most excited and hit me up over the phone when he was first introduced to Tony. “Bro, there is someone here that you HAVE to meet. He is just like you!” It was something along those lines. There was already a high bar Ochoa had set for him. Once we met, we connected instantly. Without hesitation, all three of us went into the rehearsal room and started covering ‘All Systems Go’ by Box Car Racer. It was such a beautiful moment because I knew that These were the guys I wanted to hang out with and work on music together. Caruso and I knew each other long before Ochoa and Tony. When we were younger, we casually hung out at his place along with some other friends of ours. But once we started discussing starting a band, it was like clockwork. Caruso had converted his basement into a practice space for us and the rest is history. It wasn’t until recently we’ve tagged Churro along with our journey. We’ve played shows with him before in a previous band we were involved with. Overtime, things had changed for Churro and he wanted to be part of something completely different than what he had worked on previously. We couldn’t have been more excited to bring him on board.

I think Homebase is fundamentally different than what we’re used from our previous projects. The writing, the production, the stage presence. It’s in a way that we’ve always wanted it to be but never fully understood how to get there. I recall doing some ridiculous skits on stage or uploading skit-like videos with the old band that weren’t as fun as I thought it would be. At least, not in a direction I’d wanted it to go towards. I think the most important difference is our presence. Before, things felt goofy or not serious enough. Not to mention we had a mascot that aged like milk. Looking back, we were completely new to this sort of thing and thought some of the things were funny. But as we grew older, we knew we wanted to step away from the old goofy acts and take things one step further. It was hard, because it felt like we were being pulled away from what we wanted to achieve.

Are any of the songs on the EP from that earlier era or are they all new for Homebase?

Matt: The one song that I can think of before Homebase was even a thing would be "Close to Something." What’s interesting about that track is I remember revisiting Ochoa and Tony after a long hiatus and presented this song to them at some point. The guys were pretty hyped. Tony especially. It gave him such great vibe and impact on the sound. The final mix is far different from the demo. The rest of the tracks we’re written fairly recently.

How does your songwriting tend to work?

Matt: Our songwriting may be considered unusual. I tend to assume that most bands write songs together as a group. While part of that is true to us, we usually write songs on our own privately. Once we’ve felt like they’re good enough, we present it to each other and discuss if it’s something we want to pursue or not. So far this process has never changed for as long as I can remember. It’s honestly pretty rare for us to get together as a group to write, let alone two of us at once to write a song.

For me personally, I write my music based on events I’ve experienced. And yeah, that seems pretty obvious to any musician, but getting the melody, sound, and words down can be pretty difficult. There’s a specific way we each want to express these emotions in sounds that best suit the theme of what we’re going for, and it doesn’t get easier. What helps is we have each other to fall back on. There’s always one of us with an idea to expand the songs that we’re writing, and it keeps the creative juices flowing throughout the creative process.

While I am a fan of pop punk, over the years the genre has become a bit stale with so many bands sounding like each other.  A lot of them also veer so far to the “pop” that there is almost no “punk.”
I tend to be drawn to bands that take it and do something fresh, and having said that, I like how you take that pop punk foundation and then add the heavier hardcore aggression (“Bold” is the perfect example of this).  Do you think this was the sound you were looking for from the start, or did it evolve into this?

Matt: I’m glad you mentioned this. Pop Punk has diversified itself in many different ways. What we may consider pop punk could be something completely different to someone else. What we’ve noticed is that some of our favorite bands crank things up a notch and take their sound into a completely different direction than what we were anticipating. I think that’s what we are aiming for. I believe a great example of what I’m describing would be ‘Letters to you’ by Finch. The beginning of the song clearly shares pop-punk sensibilities but quickly molds itself into this heavier grit-like sound as the song progresses. Though there can be ‘pop’ elements in our music, we lean towards more heavier elements. Head bobbing melodies. This was the type of sound we were aiming for since the very beginning. Writing "Bold" appears to be such a fast-paced song but the writing process took some time to get it exactly where we wanted it to be and for us to consider it a definitive sound of Homebase.

I love the intro to “Close To Something” and how it opens the EP.  Can you tell me a little about that?

Matt: "Close to Something" was a song I wrote sometime back around mid or late 2022. It was what I considered the true beginning of my adult hood. Life for me around that time was questionable for a lack of a better word. I was a lot more ambitious than I am today, I felt strong about pursuing so many different things like becoming a YouTuber, a sound engineer, or a professional go-kart driver. Regardless of what It was, I always felt held back. Most of it was my fault. Either from stress and anxiety or just giving up entirely. Another part of my failure were these poor habits I had. I didn’t really take good care of myself. Eating junk food, playing video games all day. Those were some of the things that were easier to do than put myself in a position where I can learn or become something I’ve aspired to be. I can be very harsh on myself. Over the years, that part of me has improved. I’m back in a position in life where things aren’t looking as bleak, and I’m more inspired than before to take one step at a time towards things I want to achieve and break those poor habits that would normally prevent me from doing so.

“Start Over” is such an interesting song, starting off with what sounds like a long instrumental section and then just breaking down into an introspective acoustic guitar strum and vocals that sound like they are coming from the bottom of a barrel, and then what sounds like a single hit on a piano key.  Can you tell me a little bit about the idea behind that song.  Also, is that meant to be an intro to “Nuff Said”?

Tony: "Start Over" was one of the quickest songs we put together. At the time we were recording at the studio, we had 4 songs ready to go but needed a 5th one, and considering it was our last weekend at the studio, we needed to be snappy with it. We believed it was the perfect interlude track into "Nuff Said" due to its nature in tone and transition. The instrumentals create this feeling you would get on the last day of school but immediately shifts into this dark but almost beautiful acoustic section. The lyrics are simply from the last verse of "Nuff Said", just rearranged in a way where it almost feels like you’re about to give up on something. 

There are actually a lot of little snippets or sections throughout the EP where you throw in a little twist, like the section at the end of “Nuff Said.”  When I listen to it, I hear an industrial metal heaviness that reminds me of Fear Factory.  Are these things that you consciously added or is it something that just happens organically?

Tony: Honestly, when re-recording songs that we’ve had in the vault for a while, it was fair to expect a few changes. The little bits and pieces you hear throughout the track were elements that we never expected to make in the final mix. Ideas involving pedal effects and layered vocal tracks are examples of ideas that just spawn out of nowhere. Stuff like that made the recording process a lot more exciting and the level appreciation just grows through the roof the more those ideas start to form.

The song sequence has a flow to it, and they seem to somewhat segue well from one song to the next.  Is that something that you had in mind when you recorded them and decided on the song order?

Matt: We wanted our EP to be this cool musical journey to follow through. Almost like opening a flip book. We were intentional with most of the transitions from one song to the next. At the studio with Rob (Barbershop Studios) he helped us expand that even further with sick effects and loops that enhanced the transitions and overall sound of the music. We didn’t fully realize how well it all sat once we placed the songs together on the EP. Ochoa was very intentional with the transitions for the ending of "I Feel" and the beginning of "Close to Something". When you loop the EP, they should transition together really well.

Tony: I believe it was early 2025 was when we had a discussion about this. Transitioning into tracks was the least of our problems compared to the overall theme we wanted to go for. We wanted to make sure that each song sounded different while keeping the message of confronting inadequacy the same.  It was definitely something we needed to consider if we wanted people to take our band seriously. In a way, it challenged our perception a little bit and by the time we had the songs done, deciding on the track order came easy as certain keys of the songs made transitioning feel smooth.

I know the EP is streaming several different places.  Do you have physical copies available?

Matt: Yes! We’ve recently printed out CD’s! We intend to sell them at shows we perform at if you visit our merch table. We’ve been discussing shipping the CD’s out to those who live further who want to support us, but we haven’t gotten that far yet. I love vinyl media, and the guys aren’t ready for that, haha.

Now that the EP is out what are the band’s future plans?

Tony: At this point, we’re just gonna keep going. This summer we have a weekender lined up with a few great bands. On top of that, the hype for new music has us rushing to make more. It definitely has us excited and we couldn’t be more grateful to be doing what we love and cherish most.

I saw online that you have a few upcoming shows and when I looked over your previous shows it looked like everything is in New York or New Jersey.  Do you have any plans to expand your touring area?

Matt: Oh absolutely. We intend to travel to nearby neighboring states like Pennsylvania and Connecticut. We’ve been discussing traveling to California for an opportunity when the stars align, but we aren’t entirely sure just yet.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Tony: For those that have ideas in the chamber, just release them in whatever way you can. Whether it’s with music, art, or even film, those ideas can be inspiring to someone someday. We hope you enjoy the music and we can’t wait to start making more. Thank you!

(Homebase)