Some '90s rock bands are reuniting for the living wage of a festival appearance or alternative rock tour. The original members of Sixpence None the Richer reunited simply to make music again.
As a singer Leigh Nash and guitarist Matt Slocum he says Bulletin board's Behind the Setlist podcast, the band members' lives happened to intersect again for the first time since 2002. The result, his new group Rosemary Hill The EP was released on October 4th via Flatiron Recordings, and the band is currently on a US tour that wraps up in Los Angeles on December 15th.
“Leigh and I had started working on new music during the pandemic,” says Slocum. “Valley [Baker]who is our drummer, started reaching out. He's been coming to Nashville from time to time because he's still working as a session musician here in the city and in his hometown of Durham, North Carolina, and he tours quite a bit.”
Before long, Nash, Slouch and Baker were talking about making music together at dinner. That conversation led Nash to contact bassist Justin Curry. “It ended up being very funny,” says Slocum, “because he and his wife own a bakery in Albany, New York, and they had made the decision to close the bakery.” Nash called to ask Cary if he wanted to make music again, and “he was more than ready to jump in.”
Truth be told, Sixpence None the Rich never really left. The band's 1998 hit “Kiss Me,” which reached No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 the following year, it was streamed 70 million times and played on the radio nearly 48,000 times in the US last year, according to Luminate. The song has also been consistently featured on TV shows — including a 2016 episode The Simpsons —and most recently can be heard on BLACKPINK member Lisa's new song “Moonlit Floor,” which uses an interlude of “Kiss Me” and takes its title from the song's lyrics (“Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight / Lead me out on the moonlit floor”).
Nash is optimistic that “Moonlit Floor” helps the band reach new fans and introduce Rosemary Hill to a younger generation. “I've seen a pretty big uptick in people and followers on our social media platforms and, without a doubt, these are really young people. So I'm excited to maybe influence a whole new generation with the new music we're putting out. That would be a crazy blessing.”
“It's been really cool to see how it connects with people all over the world and has made that generational leap,” Slocum adds. That “Moonlit Floor” songwriters Ryan Williamson and Jessie Reyez chose to use “Kiss Me” “shows it's just timeless,” he says.
Listen to the full interview with Leigh Nash and Matt Slocum to learn more about the writing and recording of Rosemary Hill EP, which will see him perform again for the first time in over a decade, covering The La's “There She Goes” and meeting The La frontman Lee Mavers in London in 2015. You can listen in the embedded Spotify player below or to go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everett.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/media/podcasts/sixpence-none-the-richer-interview-reuniting-kiss-me-1235815716/
