Homemade Crazy

8.27.14

INTERVIEW: HOMEMADE CRAZY

Indie pop-rock quartet Homemade Crazy dropped their debut album Synergy last week. We caught up with the band to find out a little more about them and discussed the new album. Check it out below!


Could you give me your name and role in the band, please?

Max Kugler. Drums.

Aaron Paiz. I play Bass.

I’m Breezy and I play the synth and also do vocals.

My name is Koby Black. I play guitar and sing.

When did you form and how did everyone meet?

Aaron: I met Koby and Max in 2001 when I moved to Nebraska. We were in lots of bands together.

Max: We formed in February 2012. We have all been friends for a while. Aaron, Koby and I have been friends since junior high and they actually knew breezy before I met her but she fits right in!

Breezy: I met Aaron in 2005 and it wasn’t until I moved to McCook in 2009 that he introduced me to Koby and Max.

How did you come up with the name Homemade Crazy?

Max: We had a different name at first but it was a pretty common band name so we got our name from a sort of shady local story about a meth house that burned down while making some Homemade Crazy.

Aaron: Someone told us that story and we all caught that name and jumped on it.

For those who have not heard of you, how would you describe your music?

Koby: It’s really personal and in your face, but it’s also peaceful and welcoming

Max: I always tell people to come up with the genre on their own… But the best way I can describe it is indie electro-rock.

Breezy: I usually tell the country folk around here pop Rock because most of them don’t know what you mean when you add words like “synth” “electro” or “indie”


Who are some of your biggest influences?

Max: My top 5 bands are rage against the machine, 311, incubus, the raconteurs, and the fratellis

Breezy: Radiohead, Phoenix, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac

Koby: Everclear, Cage the Elephant, Nirvana, Greenday and Sublime

Aaron: Twinshadow, Jamiroquai, Land of Talk, Brand New, and Carlos Santana

Your album, Synergy, recently released. What was it like writing and recording it?

Koby: It was wild. I’ve recorded music before, but never on the level we were trying to reach. Click track was very new to me but I think we conquered it. As far as writing goes; I constantly write. However, during the Synergy sessions I was desperate to get some things off my chest.

Breezy: Mostly it was fun. We all figured out a lot of things along the way, I’m excited for the next one.

Aaron: I was trying not to pass out the entire time. I was working night shift at a rubber plant so I had worked until 7 in the morning before heading to the studio at 9. I was only sleeping like four hours a day between work and recording. Well worth it.

Did you have a specific process for creating this album?

Breezy: We really didn’t. We just used it as something to pour all of our love for music into and this is what we got.

Koby: We did it the Homemade Crazy way. Diving in head first.

Who or what inspired you to write this album?

Koby: Many years of doing what we do without any hard evidence that we were doing it.

Breezy: We wanted something for people to take home from our shows and Aaron definitely pushed us in the right direction to make that happen.

Aaron: I told the band that I would liquidate their dividends and drink all their scotch unless we did.

Max: My inspiration came from everyone else. I did not write any of the lyrics but they are great songs and we are all close friends so there is something to connect with emotionally for me.

Which one of your songs are you most proud of and why?

Max: I’m proud of all of them, we have songs that obviously stand out but for me it’s the whole album I’m proud of.

Breezy: Unlucky One is the only song that we wrote all together, out of nothing, on the spot at practice which makes it pretty important to me.

Koby: I’m really proud of ‘Man Up’, that song pulled me from a bad place.

Aaron: I really enjoy playing all of our music.

What is your ideal Taco Bell order?

Max: My ideal Taco Bell order is one that actually has everything I ordered in it…. Usually just a bunch of Doritos tacos

Koby: KFC

Breezy: Steak Quesadilla with extra jalapeño sauce and a medium potato wedge

Aaron: Crunch wrap supreme. Bean burritos.

NO: Anything you’d like to add before we wrap up here?

Breezy: We finally have our album out! Swing over to Itunes or CD baby to get one or you can also find the order link on our new website. www.homemadecrazy.com

Aaron: We will playing touring the united stated in June 2015. We want to party with you.

Koby: Look out for us! We’re headed your way. - Nothing original

8.18.14

EXCLUSIVE STREAM: Homemade Crazy – ‘Synergy’

Nebraska doesn’t boast much for music, but what they do claim is good. Bands like Bright Eyes, The Faint, and Cursive call Nebraska home. So do Homemade Crazy, but don’t toss them into the Saddle Creek group the others are a part of. These musicians are something very different.

Homemade Crazy hails from a small town in southwest Nebraska. The music they make is, safely put, odd. A list of influence would be too long to write here, but some sample 90s punk, blues, synth-pop, rap, and modern indie-rock and you get the gist of the first 5 tracks of Synergy which drops tomorrow.

Their approach to music, especially in their live show, is to translate their love and joy of music with sharing their own individual stories through their songs.

Listen to Synergy below and grab it at your digital retailer of choice on Aug 19. - Substream magazine

8.4.14

“Coldest Hell” by Homemade Crazy | Song Premiere


[Editor's Note: "Coldest Hell" is streaming on HN Radio all week long.] 
The cymbals quietly rumble as the tremor of the electric guitar ignites Homemade Crazy’s “Coldest Hell.”

“Coldest Hell” is the third single (others here and here) from the McCook, Neb., band’s debut album Synergy, set to be released on Aug. 19. Breezy Ortega (keys, vocals), Max Kugler (percussion), Aaron Paiz (bass) and Koby Blake (vocals, guitar) formed Homemade Crazy in Southwest Nebraska in 2012, a rare locale for original music in the state.
In “Coldest Hell,” Ortega’s vocals mimic the cymbals disposition, melodically leading the listener into the harsher and louder notes that Blake sings in the chorus. The catchy summer song pairs an upbeat tempo with lyrics of lost love.
“I feel the summer slipping away,” Blake almost yells, a strain in his voice. “I feel the cold creeping in. I don’t know where we all went wrong. I can just sing it in a song.”
Homemade Crazy first released “Only a Memory” earlier this summer, followed by “Cumulo Nimbus.” With the premiere of “Coldest Hell,” the band allows its vocals to stand independently, leaning away from synths and toward an emotional pull.
Homemade Crazy plays in Denver this Wednesday and at Zoo Bar this Friday.
Check out the premiere of “Coldest Hell” here:
http://hearnebraska.org/feature/coldest-hell-homemade-crazy-song-premiere - Hear Nebraska

Exclusive Song Premiere: Homemade Crazy, "Only a Memory"

ARTISTdirect and Homemade Crazy are getting crazy today! We have teamed up with the band Homemade Crazy --is there any better kind of crazy?-- to premiere the band's song for "Only a Memory," which is from Synergy, out August 19.

Hailing from a small town in southwest Nebraska, Homemade Crazy are a mix of indie, punk, pop and blues elements, with a twist of synth. Their approach to music, especially their live show, is to translate their love and joy of music combined with sharing their own individual stories through their songs.

There is no better crazy than the Homemade kind, so why not get to know the band better by visiting facebook.com/homemadecrazymusic.

Enjoy the sound of Homemade Crazy's "Only a Memory" song and love it as much as we did.

Did you get Homemade Crazy with us by listening to "Only a Memory"? - ARTISTdirect

Homemade Crazy Premiere New Song, "Cumulo Nimbus" — Exclusive
Posted 07/23/2014 at 11:05am | by Damian Fanelli
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Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Cumulo Nimbus," a new song by Nebraska's own Homemade Crazy.
The track is from the band's upcoming album, Synergy, which will be released August 19.
The album's 11 tracks are a mix of indie, punk, pop and blues elements with a twist of synth. Their approach to music, especially their live show, is to translate their love and joy of music combined with sharing their own individual stories through their songs.
For more information, visit homemadecrazy.com. - Guitar World Magazine