Oh Honey is a feel-good indie pop duo out of Brooklyn comprised of Danielle Bouchard, who’s the harmonious, sunny voice of the group, and Mitchy Collins, who is the backing, upbeat string man. According to their biography, Danielle is best described as “a whimsical forest wanderer” while Mitchy Collins is a “hardened, troubadour songwriter.” And after chatting with the duo, I can certainly see Danielle’s free-spirited likeness, yet I’m challenged to accept Mitchy as “hardened.” This twosome has a combined energy about them that is pure, welcoming and leaves a smile on the face of whomever they encounter.
The band has experienced a lot of momentum in the past year, partially thanks to their song “Be Okay,” which has been burning up the charts and featured on television shows. In May, the group did a mini-tour as an opening act for James Blunt. They are currently touring with The Fray and will be playing at Chastain Park Amphitheatre on Friday, July 18th. Atlanta Music Guide recently had the pleasure of sitting down with these two rising stars. Read on to find out more about Oh Honey as they share with AMG about their beginnings, achievements and future.
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AMG: How did you all meet? And where did the name “Oh Honey” come from?
Mitchy: Well the name “Oh Honey” came from the Katy Perry episode from How I Met Your Mother. It’s the best episode- there is no better…. As for meeting, A buddy of mine latched me on to Danielle and I fell in love with her majestic, angelic voice and her whimsical forest wanderings (chuckles). But like I said, I feel in love with her voice, and then she and I got in the studio and it just fit -basically everything clicked. And the rest is Oh Honey history.
AMG: Okay- this next one is just for you Danielle. Do you play any instruments or are you strictly a singer?
Danielle: I do play guitar. Before I was doing this I was doing the singer/songwriter thing in high school and college, but in the future, I’ll just sing.
AMG: Now this is just for you Mitchy. Which came first- the guitar- playing or the singing?
Mitchy: Definitely guitar playing. I actually never thought I could sing- ever. And then I was always the guitar-player, songwriter guy in my past band and stuff. And probably when I was like 20 or 21 or so I just kind of thought ‘screw this’ and started by myself. I told myself I could sing and I had always been a backup vocalist so I have the idea of it, but I didn’t really start singing up until till probably like 4 to 5 years ago- like actually singing. So again guitar came first.
AMG: So I was trying to think of girl/boy duos and I found myself drawing a blank for the most part. Sure, you have Matt & Kim and The White Stripes, but for the most part, y’all are a rare breed. What is it about you two that clicks? What makes you work so well together? What is it that each of you brings to the table?
Mitchy: I mean that we work well songwriting wise. We get along. Plus we met through a really good friend of ours so there’s that connection. We have a lot of things in common. You know we hang in the same friend circle and hung around at the same places.
Danielle: I think the main thing that sets us apart is that the songs are really honest and truthful but they all have that optimistic twist. I think that makes the story [of who we are].
AMG: Since we’re the Atlanta Music Guide, we like to know what people think of our fair city. Have you two ever been to Atlanta (either for work or for fun) and if so, what’s your favorite thing about the city?
Mitchy: Atlanta- I love southern girls. Well I love Little 5 Points, especially Criminal Records, I’m a fan. It’s the music town, it’s amazing. There is so much life in Atlanta, especially in Little 5 Points.
Danielle: Yeah I went there for my first time in May on our tour with James Blunt. I didn’t really get to explore but [they] did bring me over to the Little 5 Points area and it was really cool so we’re hoping we’ll have some more time [to check out the city] .
AMG: Tell me about the moment when you found out that you would be touring with the Fray.
Mitchy: It was definitely an “oh shit” moment; getting to play some pretty crazy shows and getting to watch them every night, for me. Not to mention, we’ll be playing to thousands of people every night but also we get to watch the Fray every night.
Danielle: Yeah there was point and time a few years ago where I was sitting at home listening to the Fray. Finding out [we’d be touring with them] was a pretty big moment. But we’ve been learning a lot by watching them every night and they are really, really nice guys. They are so helpful, which is really cool.
AMG: “Be Okay” is such a happy, light-hearted tune. Where did the inspiration come from for the song?
Mitchy: Well we were driving and and I was kicking around the idea [of the song] in my head for a while… The name of the song comes from an old saying, “I don’t want to spoil the ending for you but everything is going to be okay.” Life happens to everybody and we are all going through heartaches, everyone goes through money troubles, everyone has family issues, whether they like to admit it or not. That song is our way of being like hey, you know life happens, but you know there is tomorrow. Its not going to rain forever.
Danielle: I think that there’s enough sad songs in the world and I think that happy songs make people feel good, so we were excited to write something that left people feeling optimistic and hopeful.
AMG: So “Be Okay” was featured on an episode of GLEE- that’s HUGE! How did it feel to have your music feature on such a popular show?
Danielle: It was awesome, I’m a theater kid and I went to college for theater. And I’ve seen the show before and Lea Michelle, who’s pretty legendary in the theater world, so finding out she will be singing our song on national television was really, really awesome. We had a party and watched it, we popped some champagne! We watched the scene ten times over- it was pretty fun.
Mitchy: It was definitely a defining moment.
Danielle: Very surreal.
AMG: Any shout outs or announcements you’d like to throw in before we wrap things up?
Mitchy: You know, our new EP is out now, With Love, “Be Okay” is on it. Keep an eye out for more and for our full-length album later this year.
Danielle: Oh and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @ohhoneymusic.
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Can’t get enough of Oh Honey? Check out their video for their hit song “Be Okay.”
