In The Waiting Room with Kyle Fasel of Real Friends
Photo by Allie Payne, 11/05/2024
Real Friends have long been known for their unflinching honesty and ability to channel raw emotion into catchy songs that resonate with fans, turning personal struggles into anthems that inspire both reflection and energy. But with the release of their most recent record Blue Hour, having debuted Oct. 11 as their first self-released album, the band is charting a new course—one that blends introspection and ambition with a sense of creative freedom. As they kick off their current tour alongside up-and-comers Carly Cosgrove and cult-classics Can’t Swim, the band is excited to share more of themselves through this new record. This tour isn’t just another run of shows; it’s an immersive experience that mirrors the complexity of Blue Hour itself, with every performance designed to connect with audiences in a more visceral way.
For Real Friends, this tour marks a turning point, not just in their sound, but in their growth as artists and even their approach to the live experience. Blue Hour unfolds as a cohesive narrative that speaks to a profound evolution in Real Friends’ sound and identity—one that’s already proving to be among the most rewarding chapters of their career.
Reflecting this evolution on stage, Real Friends have curated a live experience they hope will captivate audiences on a new level. Bassist Kyle Fasel elaborated on the experience of building this tour: “For us on this tour, something that’s very important is putting on a show... It’s not just like five guys on stage playing songs, right? We’ve gone the extra mile on this tour with production and lights to make it feel dynamic, almost like a journey.” He continues, describing how even the smallest stage details reflect the album’s aesthetic.
As Real Friends hit the road with their new material, they’ve found that the connection between the band and their audience has deepened in unexpected ways. The response to Blue Hour has been more overwhelming than they anticipated. Fasel reflected on this as the tour progressed, noticing a shift in the crowd’s engagement: “It’s been pretty cool to see as the tour goes on...even, like, I think we’re almost two weeks in and more and more people are singing the new songs.” At first, the new material was met with a handful of fans who were already familiar with the tracks, but as the tour continues, more and more people are seen connecting with the new album in real time. “It’s like watching the album grow in front of you,” he said, a rewarding feeling for a band whose fans have always had deep emotional ties to their older material.
The response has been especially gratifying given how fans often cling to their favorite songs from past albums. Yet Blue Hour has defied expectations, with tracks from the new record holding just as much weight as Real Friends' classics. “There were a couple of songs we released over the summer that are on Blue Hour, and even those have gone over just as well as songs we’ve had for five years,” Fasel shared. This speaks not only to the quality of the album but also to how well the band's evolution has resonated with their fanbase.
What really took the band by surprise, was the way fans have embraced Blue Hour in its entirety. As Fasel explained, “I actually feel like the reception for the album as a whole is the best response we’ve ever had.” Unlike previous albums where a few tracks might get the most attention, Blue Hour has sparked a broader conversation about the whole record. “In today’s world, with attention spans being what they are and everyone going 100 miles per hour, I didn’t expect this kind of reception,” he admitted, acknowledging the effort they put into the album’s flow and tracklisting. “It’s really rewarding to see it pay off.” This response has been especially gratifying, given the fast pace of today's music culture, where singles often overshadow full albums. For Real Friends, seeing Blue Hour resonate as a complete work is a humbling confirmation that their attention to detail was worth it.
The experience of playing these new tracks live has also brought a new level of connection for the band. “It’s just so hard to judge sometimes, with the internet and stuff. I still just love that raw connection... with those that are right there singing along,” Fasel said, clearly moved by the immediate, tangible connection with the fans in the room. This newfound connection with their audience, built on both the new material and the band's long-standing relationship with their listeners, is becoming one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of Blue Hour's journey—both onstage and off.
Sharing this stage on their U.S. headlining tour with Can’t Swim and Carly Cosgrove has given Real Friends the opportunity to not only connect with their audience in new ways but also reflect on their own musical growth. As Fasel shared, seeing younger bands like Carly Cosgrove perform and watching audiences connect with them in real-time has been an eye-opening experience for the band. “It’s a cool feeling to watch these younger bands start to experience the same things we did back then. You kind of get this sense of pride watching them sing their hearts out, realizing they’re in that moment, too, where people are really starting to connect with them on a deeper level.”
Fasel continued, “I remember when we had our first shows where people knew our songs, and it was such an overwhelming feeling. Seeing Carly Cosgrove, for example, get that reaction is almost like a full circle moment for me.” This connection, one that comes from those early moments when a band’s music begins to resonate with listeners, serves as a reminder of how far they’ve come.
The exchange of ideas and the collaboration that naturally happens on the road is something the band has clearly found motivating. “It’s inspiring to see all of them play,” he said, appreciating the creativity and different techniques each band brings. This kind of environment—where artists inspire each other, both in terms of performance and songwriting—has played a key role in the growth of Real Friends’ live shows, pushing them to take risks and experiment with their own sound in new ways.
As Real Friends continues to reflect on their journey through their music, Blue Hour serves as a bold statement of personal and artistic growth. One track in particular, “Never Has Become Always,” explores the complexities of change, regret and the emotional weight of past experiences. For the band, the song became a pivotal piece in shaping the record’s overall narrative.
“That song is actually a really good example of a song that carries the narrative of the record,” Fasel explained. “That song specifically was a bunch of lines from songs that we ended up not using... it wasn’t even because they weren’t good lines. It was just kind of like, you can only fit so much into a song.” These discarded lines were reimagined into “Never Has Become Always,” turning what could have been leftover fragments into a central piece of the album’s narrative.
Reflecting on the song’s unconventional structure, Fasel noted, “To me, that song is a very non-traditional song. There’s not really any repeating parts even, so to me, I look at that song as sort of a fever dream, right?” This fragmented quality mirrors the chaotic, often contradictory emotions at the heart of Blue Hour—emotions that are not always neatly packaged or easily understood.
In many ways, Blue Hour marks Real Friends’ unapologetic return to their roots in emo and pop-punk, only this time, they’ve taken their storytelling to a much more raw and vulnerable place. “We wanted to write the saddest, heaviest record we could. It’s like we’ve broken down the walls and are finally being honest with ourselves and our fans,” Fasel said. “We’re embracing being an emo band. No shame. And that’s something we’ve needed to do for a while.”
This emotional honesty, which lies between the lines of Blue Hour, is especially evident in songs like “Never Has Become Always,” where the themes of regret and personal reflection stand front and center. By embracing the vulnerability of their emotions, Real Friends have created a record that feels deeply personal and universally relatable at the same time. For Fasel, the act of putting these feelings into music has served as a form of catharsis. “For me, writing these songs is therapy. It’s the way I work through everything that’s happened in my life—good or bad.”
The title Blue Hour evokes a profound sense of transition and introspection, which directly aligns with the emotional depth of the album. As Fasel described, during the songwriting process, the band was initially unsure of what to call the album. They wanted a title that felt cinematic, almost like a movie title, yet still embodied the mood of their work.
In his search for a title, Fasel stumbled upon the term “blue hour,” a time between day and night, marked by a unique emotional transition. Blue hour represents both reflection and moving forward—a concept that resonated with the themes of the album. Fasel noted that “blue hour” is “spiritually and emotionally... when you're looking at all this past hurt and you’re acknowledging it, but you're not letting go of it... there’s glimmers of hope, but you’re not in the future yet.” This period of liminality perfectly encapsulates the feeling the band wanted to convey, as it aligns with their thematic preference for songs that “feel like you’re in the middle of something.” Fasel added, “I like to write songs for when you're in it. And that’s it. That’s what the song’s about: you're in this thing.”
The title’s meaning became clear as the band settled on it: Blue Hour is about that space between the past and the future—where sadness and hope coexist in a fleeting moment of transition. As Fasel put it, the title "just felt right," offering a cinematic, introspective vibe that complemented the album’s exploration of personal growth and reflection.
As the band settled on the title Blue Hour, they also embraced a new phase by releasing the album independently. Real Friends’ decision to self-release Blue Hour marks a bold new chapter in their career, allowing the band to bring fans into an experience that’s more personal than ever. Embracing the challenges of independently managing every aspect of the album’s production, they committed to a process that was both financially demanding and deeply rewarding. Fasel noted that while self-releasing didn’t influence the album’s sound directly, it heightened their personal investment in the project—both literally and figuratively. From booking their own writing sessions and paying for expenses, to personally packing and shipping records with handwritten notes, they aimed to create a sense of community and a stronger bond with fans.
Fasel said, "If anything, it just feels even more personal. We literally sent out every record ourselves, wrote little notes to people...just trying to make it feel like a community, right?” For Real Friends, Blue Hour isn’t just an album; it’s an invitation for fans to experience this chapter with them, every step of the way.
Be sure to catch them at a show on a date in your city to fully experience this record live. Thank you Real Friends.
**Also shared via New Noise Magazine**