Folk duo Jaffe (left) and Santo.
HONEYHONEY has made three albums on three different labels, staying true to its vision with each.
“We’ve always made sure that the music we make is the music we want to make, no matter the label,” says guitarist Ben Jaffe of the Los Angeles-based alternative folk duo.
Jaffe, who grew up in Williamstown, Mass., met bandmate Suzanne Santo in 2006 at a party in L.A. when both were 21. They had something else in common: They each left home when they were teenagers.
When they met, Jaffe says he was “weirdly involved in the alternative comedy scene” and writing songs for Nickelodeon and cartoon shows. Cleveland native Santo was working as a model and actress, landing roles on Law & Order, Blind Justice and the Sigourney Weaver film Imaginary Heroes.
“We became friends. We’d see each other around,” Jaffe says of his collaborator. “Then we started writing songs together, and now we just love each other.”
Dave Cobb, whose other credits include Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell, produced their third record, the matter-of-factly titled 3. The 12-track Southern-flavored rock album will be released on June 9, one day before HONEYHONEY takes the stage at the High Noon Saloon.
“I loved the records we wrote in the past, but this one’s just better,” Jaffe says. “The songwriting’s better. I went through and read every single lyric, and I stand by all of them. I’m proud of the lyrics we both write.”
Some of the songs are written solely by Jaffe or Santo, but 3 features more collaborations between the two. “Usually someone comes in with an idea to develop with the other, but we’ve gotten better and better at co-creating simultaneously.”
As it has evolved, HONEYHONEY has stayed true to the honest lyrics and soul-punching melodies that keep audiences coming back for more.
“Because we have to play this shit every night, we have to believe it,” says Jaffe. “It has to resonate with us. That’s the place we write from. And we write some mopey shit.”
