Mad Honey, an Oklahoma City-based band, is set to perform at Norman Music Festival on Thursday, April 27. The Norman Music Festival website describes the group as indie/noise pop/shoegaze. The band was formed by Tiff Sutcliffe, Branden Palesano and Austin Valdez, who were later joined by Lennon Branlett and James Tunell.
The band’s music-making process is a collaborative effort between all members. The band said that typically, one member starts writing a song, and then the other members join in and work together.
“As for our writing process, typically Tiff will write a melody or lyrics and the rest of the band will write out parts around that, or someone else will write a chord progression or an instrumental and we will write to that, it’s all very collaborative and is very much a collective effort,” Mad Honey wrote in an email to OU Daily.
As stated on the Norman Music Festival website, Mad Honey’s music has influences from early 90’s dreampop bands. However, their goal isn’t necessarily to make a certain type of music, and they said that their main reason for making music is simply because they love making it together.
“We would describe our music as dreamy and sentimental,” Mad Honey wrote in an email to OU Daily. “We just really love making music together. We are definitely best friends first and a band second and that’s what’s so special about it, a lot of the 'drive' comes from just wanting to make music together.”
So far, the band has only released seven songs, the most recent single being “Odds B/W Euphoria,” released in 2022. However, the band has finished recording their debut album, which is set to release later this year.
The band said they are excited to perform for Norman Music Festival among other local talents.
“There’s so many talented people in our city, and we’re grateful for a community that supports local artists,” Mad Honey wrote.
Norman Music Festival will be held from April 27-29 in downtown Norman. To learn more about Mad Honey, visit their Instagram or Spotify.
This story was edited by Silas Bales and Emma Blakley. Francisco Gutierrez and Alexandra Powell-Lorentzatos copy edited this story.
