Making Waves: Easy Honey on Their Surf Tour, Staying Grounded, and Surfing Between Sets

The Charleston indie rock band brings their Surf Tour across the country, fusing together sunny riffs, sustainability, and summer nostalgia

PHOTOS BY ZAYNE ISOM

It was an uncharacteristically cold day in Philadelphia when I joined a Zoom call with Webster Austin, the bassist for Easy Honey. He was joining from his van in warm South Carolina, and I immediately felt warmth radiating through the screen.

Easy Honey has been rocking out and making music since 2018. Made up of four friends – guitarists and vocalists Darby McGlone and Selby Austin, drummer Charlie Holt, and bassist Webster Austin – the band formed during their college days in Sewanee, Tennessee, but now call Charleston, South Carolina home. It’s a city that, over time, has shaped not just their sound, but their sense of community and creative direction.

“Basically, my older brother Selby lived here one summer during college,” Austin told me. “He went to a few concerts and thought, ‘Hey, this is a pretty cool scene.’” At the time, the band was based much closer to Nashville, and Charleston’s appeal presented what Austin called “a fork-in-the-road moment” for their identity.

After college, the band recorded their first album in Nashville in just a few days, creating a fast, DIY sound that captured the raw energy of the band. “That was before I joined,” Austin said, “but it was that classic thing of recording quickly and getting the music out there.” During that time, Charleston was beginning to buzz with creative momentum. The music scene was growing alongside the city itself, and it didn’t take long for the band to settle in.

“It’s honestly been the best thing for us,” Austin said. “We’ve been able to grow here and find our identity. I think Selby uses the word ‘incubator’ to describe it, and I agree. The scene is the perfect size – big enough to be exciting, but small enough that everyone, across genres, still supports each other in a really cool way.”

Charleston also continues to be a grounding force for the band. “There’s this funny paradox that comes with being in a touring band,” Austin said, “once you’re on the road as much as we’ve been, it’s kind of cool to be from somewhere different. Even if you live in a bigger music city like Atlanta or Nashville, once you’re out touring, that’s where your focus is. But Charleston has been great for us, we really love it here.”

Touring is central to Easy Honey’s identity. Each summer they commit to hitting the road, often heading north to escape Charleston’s punishing heat and reconnect with fans across the country. This year, they’re headed coast to coast, wrapping up their run of shows in California, an ideal setting to continue what they call their Surf Tours.

“It kind of started two years ago,” says Austin about the band’s Surf Tours. “We had done a couple of mini tours and thought that it would be cool to have a mission beyond just playing shows.” With McGlone’s background in sustainability and a growing desire to make a tangible difference, the band began to think more seriously about what they could contribute on the road.

At first, the idea was simple – one of their girlfriends introduced them to the concept of turning recycled plastic into jewelry. “She showed us how you could make these necklaces from ocean plastic,” Austin recalls. “And we were like, what if we did cleanups, and then made these ourselves?” However, the concept quickly ran into logistical hurdles, “That would’ve meant bringing a whole machine on tour,” he laughs, “and we try to travel light.”

Still, the heart of the idea stuck. “We figured we could still do the cleanups, just minus the necklace machine.” From there, they connected with environmental organizations like Charleston Waterkeeper and began partnering with them in cities along their tour route. With sponsors and local volunteers, the band began organizing cleanups, often spending their free mornings clearing trash from beaches, parks, and waterways before heading to soundcheck.

“It’s just a really cool thing to do something you totally don’t have to be doing. I’ve called it ‘selfishly selfless.’ You feel good doing it, and it reminds you that there’s a world outside of venues and social media and music.” The cleanups have also led to unexpected opportunities, including going out to play some shows in Hawaii last year.

After so much time on the road, Easy Honey has developed a set of touring rituals, some musical, some not. Before shows, they do their best to warm up before gathering for a moment of silence. On the Surf Tour when venues are close to the beach, some band members’ rituals involve, well, surfing!  Others might run along the sand or simply sit and take in the view. “It’s all kind of intertwined with the nostalgia of summer. It’s like family vacation energy,” shares Austin.

When they’re not organizing beach cleanups or climbing cliffs (more on that later), Easy Honey often uses their time between shows to write and record. After the release of their album Cupidity Unlimited last July, the band had a choice between continuing the album cycle with re-releases and remixes or focusing on new songs and momentum. The band chose to do the latter. “Pretty much all of us write, and we collaborate constantly, so we’re never short on material. And this new stuff felt fresh and right,” says Austin.

They ended up at guitarist McGlone’s uncle’s ranch in Texas, where they shared a bunch of songs and immersed themselves in the process. The result was two self-produced singles: “Copenhagen,” released this March, and “Eyes,” released in May. “We had them mixed afterward, but otherwise, it was just us. It was refreshing to see what we could create on our own.”

Their makeshift studios shift as frequently as their tour schedule. In Colorado, they once spent an off-day deciding between two wildly different plans: recording or ice climbing with a friend. “We’d gone climbing with him before – well, technically it was a traverse across a cliff,” Austin recalls, laughing. “We were harnessed in, but you could definitely die if something went wrong.” This time, they opted to record. “Slightly more productive,” he jokes, “but that kind of physical reset like climbing, or the cleanups is such a good palate cleanser.”

In the midst of so much change, what anchors Easy Honey is the way they work together. Their creative process may be ever-shifting, but the band’s foundation is built on something steadier: Trust. “Honestly,” Austin says at one point, “it’s amazing how well we get along. We’ve learned how to let go of ideas, even if they’re our own, for the sake of the song. That’s important. We’re such a good team because we know how to play to each other’s strengths, and those strengths are constantly shifting as we learn new things about each other. It keeps everything dynamic.”

Catch Easy Honey on their upcoming tour, more information here!