Happy People

At its creative core, Happy People consists of two New Jersey natives - Steve Ortega and Jeff Widner. So when you hear their 2011 inaugural release, HP-EP, you could wonder "How is that two people?" or "Who's doing what here?". Well, the astral, zero-gravity vocals, and crooked, backdoor honesty - that's Steve. The hollow bass, cathedral guitars, soaked keys and glassy drums - that's Jeff. Basically, when the duo floated some early demos around and none of their slack-ass musician friends signed on, they figured "fuck it, we can write and play all the parts ourselves anyway." Of course, as soon as the recording was finished they had no trouble finding members for their live band lineup. The "something" they captured on these tapes is unfairly seductive.