Husbands: The OKT Q&A

Husbands co-founder Danny Davis looks forward to the release of the band's next album in October. Photo by Kelsey Davis

For the last several years, if I have wanted to impress someone unfamiliar with the talent in the local music scene, I take them to a Husbands show. The power-pop and indie dance band from Oklahoma City with substantive lyrical depth has been pleasing Okie ears for years—and increasingly national and international ears as well.
This is an exciting new chapter in the band’s history. After a year-plus of extensive touring, including a recent set at Chicago’s famous Lollapalooza festival, founding member Wil Norton, who shared vocal, guitar, and songwriting duties with friend Danny Davis, left the band as other life responsibilities called for his attention. Davis, now alone as Husbands’ lead songwriter, took some time recently to talk to Oklahoma Today about the band’s new album Cuatro—set to release October 13—and the band’s upcoming show Friday, September 30, at Tower Theatre with Tulsa indie folk band Wilderado and singer-songwriter Ken Pomeroy. Visit towertheatreokc.com for tickets and more information.

Oklahoma Today
This is the first Husbands’ album with just you guiding it. What was it like writing for that and like putting the album together? Was that different from your process on the other albums? How did that feel?

Danny Davis
Yeah, it felt really weird. Because until this point it had been Wil and I, and something I really valued about the way that Wil and I worked together was his challenging of ideas. I had to learn to do without, and part of that was working with some of the other guys in the band. So for this record Berto, our drummer, and Zach, our synth player/guitarist, they were a lot more involved, and they were the guys to bounce ideas off of and challenge certain things and say, “This wasn't good enough.” And, you know, we’ve been playing music with them the whole time we’ve been a band, so it was really natural. And Zach had kind of contributed to songs and Husbands before on some level. So it was fun to work with those guys in that capacity.

Oklahoma Today
What happened to Wil? What is he doing now?

Danny Davis
We’re still great friends. What happened is he has a new job, he has a third kid. And he also was involved in starting the new venue on the south side of OKC, Resonant Head, so it was basically just a lot of commitments building up. On top of that, Husbands was touring, and that’s probably a large part of the catalyst. Our aim with the band, you know, is to fully do it, especially after I quit my job a couple years ago. His time commitments elsewhere were increasing, while ours were also increasing. So it was a natural time to do that, and he just chose to leave knowing what was on his plate and what was on our plate going forward. And, again, still great friends and excited to see whatever he’s doing in the future.

Oklahoma Today
What's the meaning behind the new album name, Cuatro? It’s the Spanish word for four, but is there something deeper to it?

Danny Davis
In some ways, it’s kind of an allusion to Led Zeppelin and certain other bands like Mac DeMarco or whatever where they’re kind of cataloging the place in the discography, which I always liked. I love very concrete canonical designations, you know? It's Cuatro because it’s the first one written after I moved to Costa Rica. So it’s sort of signifying, you know, we’ve been talking about moving to Mexico or somewhere Spanish for a long time, like two records ago. So it’s kind of like, in some ways, a small wink at maybe accomplishing the dream of doing that. And some of the songs are about being done working and kind of feeling fulfilled.

Oklahoma Today
The first single that came out from the album was “Can’t Do Anything.” It should please fans of lo-fi or indie pop music. What was the process for coming up with that song?

Danny Davis
This one came out basically from resurrecting an old nugget of a demo from a long time ago and fleshing it out. You know, sometimes old nuggets just—they sit there and you sort of mull on them for a long time, and they wait to reveal their final form to you later on. That one had been around since before even our After the Gold Rush album. And that demo started from an instrumental track that Wil had uploaded probably in 2016. There’s a few songs on the new record that came from Wil’s instrumental demos. I think there’s like three songs on the new record that come from that, and “Can't Do Anything” was one of them. The riff that follows in the outro came from Wil’s instrumental, and I’ve always loved that riff. And I loved the title. So basically, I was checking my iPhone for recordings, and I heard this chorus I did on my recording app. I thought, “Oh, this would match this old demo from a long time ago.” So I combined the two, and I think it was written when my wife Kelsey and I were in Costa Rica.

Oklahoma Today
The interview is in advance of your show with Wilderado coming up at Tower Theatre in Oklahoma City. Wilderado is a Tulsa band, and so it's sort of like an all-encompassing Oklahoma tour a little bit, just between the two acts. Are there any other Oklahoma bands or musicians that you'd want to give like a shout out to?

Danny Davis
One thing I want to say is, I love those Wilderado guys. We toured with them a handful of shows last year and are doing another handful this year. I actually filled in on bass with them for a while, while they were looking for their full-time replacement. I’m so excited to get to hang with them on the road and watch them play every night, because their set is amazing, and I love their music, so I’m honored that they asked us to play with them again for another set of shows. As far as bands to give a shout out to, start with Love Seats and Chelsea Days—one of our two bassists, Ethan, is in those bands. They are so good at a consistent and very tasteful sound. I just love the sound of their recordings and their voices and the textures of the guitars. And they’re also just really good stewards of the scene as well. You know, they helped other bands record and play a bunch of shows and are just good people. Another band that I think is relatively new, Easier, actually helped us do our music video for “Can't Do Anything.” They don't have much music out—I think there's only a few songs on Spotify—but they're just so good, the songs. I listen to them all the time. I also love Mad Honey as well. They have an album coming out too, and it seems like they’re doing great. I’ve heard the album. I got the sneak peek to listen to it. And it’s great. So I’m really excited for them and what they’re doing as well.

Written By

Ben Luschen

Luschen joined the *Oklahoma Today*’ staff as Research Editor in 2021 and currently works as the magazine's Web Editor, managing the website and social media fronts. His past *Oklahoma Today* stories have ranged in content from the state's bee and quail industries to its vibrant art and music scenes. Not adverse to a road trip, Luschen is always on the lookout for the next big adventure. He is never out of opinions about the current state of Oklahoma City Thunder basketball.