Jun 17

Meet "Like Roses". Headed Out On Sad Summer Festival 2024!

Sad Summer Festival 2024 Presented by Journeys and Converse will make its fifth trek across the US this summer for a total of 17 national shows. This summer’s lineup, headlined by Mayday Parade and The Maine who are both making their Sad Summer Fest return will also be welcoming newcomers Knuckle Puck, We The Kings, Daisy Grenade and Like Roses.

I had a chance to chat with one of Sad Summer Festival's newest up-and-coming artists Like Roses. The alternative emo pop band from the East Bay of California who have been trucking through the DIY scene since the mid-2010's who last year dropped a two-song EP entitled "Splenetic" and recently wrapped up a portion of a tour leg with Youth Fountain and ACTION/ADVENTURE.

You can check the band out on the fifth annual Sad Summer Music Festival presented by Journeys and Converse kicking off July 12th, 2024 in Sacramento, CA.

To give us an idea of who Like Roses is inspired by, who is your “Mount Rushmore” of bands?

Taking Back Sunday / Microwave / My Chemical Romance / Good Charlotte

It looks like you guys never stop touring! You’re always on the road. So coming back home must be weird sometimes. With that said, what are some habits that you do on tour that you now unconsciously do when you’re not on the road at home?

The most notable habit that’s stuck with us from touring is breaking out into song, particularly Alanis Morissette.

Speaking of tour, you have a couple of crazy ones coming up, support for Youth Fountain and The Wonder Years as well as some dates on the Sad Summer Fest. Were you a fan of any of those bands before hopping on the bill? Are some of these shows a dream come true?

This summer is definitely a dream come true. We’ve been listening to most of the Sad Summer Fest bands since we were in middle school and high school, so it’s pretty wild that we’ll get to share the stage with them.

On the Sad Summer Fest, have you ever attended past festivals? What makes Sad Summer Fest different from other festivals you’ve attended or played?

This is definitely the biggest festival we’ve ever played, and we’re especially stoked that it’s all on one stage, so we can catch all the other bands too.

You all come from semi-similar yet different musical backgrounds, how does this help in writing? Can it be difficult?

There are definitely times when we have radically different ideas about which direction to go with a song, but for however long it takes us to settle on something that we all like, it’s worth it. As time goes on we get more and more comfortable picking things apart, wrangling each other’s ideas, and making each other think about songwriting in different ways.

Speaking of writing, Easy and Splenetic dropped in 2023, anything new in 2024? Anything on the way?

Ohhh yes. We actually just spent some time out at Diver Down Studios working on new songs with Fred Mascherino and Stephen Angello. With Taking Back Sunday on our “Mount Rushmore of Bands” it was pretty surreal to have Fred producing our new songs. Maybe one of those songs will be released in time for Sad Summer Fest

Lastly, after Sad Summer Fest, what’s next for Like Roses?

More writing, more touring, world domination, etc.

You can see LIKE ROSES on the 5th Annual Sad Summer Festival Presented by Journeys and Converse live. You can check out more from LIKE ROSES below, as well as a full list of tour Sad Summer Fest and Like Roses tour dates!