Eva Hendricks, front-woman of the self-proclaimed “bubblegrunge” rock group Charly Bliss, based out of NYC, was kind enough to talk to the Hassle about “Soft Serve”, gum ball machines, and playing with Veruca Salt, Colleen Green and many others.
BH: How is your tour going supporting Veruca Salt?
EH: It’s incredible! We are having so much fun. They are one of our favorite bands, so it’s a total pleasure to get to watch them play every night, and their fans rule and have been very supportive.
BH: Did you start playing in New York or did you move there to pursue music?
EH: We all grew up in the same town in Connecticut, but we didn’t start the band until we moved to New York.
BH: What bands have influenced your music?
EH: We went bowling three days ago for Eva’s birthday, and here’s what we put on the jukebox:
“Tarzan Boy” – Baltimora, “Bad Blood” – Taylor Swift, “Silver Spring” – Speedy Ortiz.
BH: Do you still use a gum ball machine at your merchandise table? How did that start?
EH: You know it!!! We suck at getting back to our merch table in time after we play, so we wanted a way for people to be able to buy stuff (buttons, temporary tattoos) with or without us there. The other night at our show someone suggested that we also get a soft serve machine (Soft Serve is our album title), that might have to be our next endeavor.
BH: You have played with some really cool people, who were your favorite people you played with?
EH: That’s impossible to pick! We’ve played with so many great bands! More recently, we had a blast playing with Upset and Colleen Green, Ava Luna, Veruca Salt (duh), and PWR BTTM is our favorite band to play with always.
BH: Are there any new bands from New York you really like right now?
EH: All bands are good! Ronnie Stone, LVL UP, Big Ups and Beverly are some of our favorites!
BH: What has been your favorite show experience so far?
EH: Opening for Veruca Salt for the first time in Nashville was very dank, the crowd was really fun and danced a lot and it was definitely the biggest show we’ve ever played! Also, Eating, Roberta’s with Patty Schemel at Shea Stadium was a pretty cool/unbeatable life moment.
BH: How have your shows in Boston been?
EH: The first time we played we ate too much Raising Kane’s beforehand, the second time we are too much Indian food, but other than that our shows in Boston have been THE BEST!!!!!!!
BH: Are you working on a new album? What is next for Charly Bliss?
EH: We actually have an album already recorded! We made it with Massachusetts superstar Justin Pizzoferrato in January and we hope it’ll be coming out sometime soon!!!!
Catch them open for Veruca Salt at The Paradise July 30th.
