‘Beautiful, Broken’- Liv with HVSHI

The future is looking bright for Hvshi. With an upcoming EP release to mark the moment, they’re headed well on their way to making a name for themselves. Made up of Shaden Nugent and Davey Banks, Hvshi is a pop punk band sharing their origins from both Washington State and Arizona, giving them a fun and eclectic pop punk sound. With a new EP ‘Beautiful, Broken’ coming out on Dec. 15 and a few tours just around the corner, I was able to sit down with Shaden and Davey to chat about the band and what’s to come next. 

This was such a fun interview to do because both Davey and Shaden are incredibly bubbly and so down to earth. As a way to get to know them, I asked about fun tour memories and must-haves while on tour. For most people, phone chargers are a must have but Davey made sure to note that having a Tolkien book is a must have for him. He also shared a funny tour memory of him falling asleep at Venice Beach, one of his favorite places, and even had Shaden bent over laughing at the memory of their manager finding him after he woke up.

While the two are quick to laugh or bring up a funny story, they’re still some of the most self aware musicians I’ve met. Throughout the entire interview, Shaden and Davey both mentioned their family multiple times and how great it is to have a family that supports them. Shaden mentioned the passing of his father and how that impacted him. But he was quick to bring up the young fan they brought on stage because she also lost her father recently. He mentioned that was an incredibly emotional moment for him and how impactful that moment was for him and how that was a cherished memory for him. 

Shaden brought up his dad several times throughout the interview, one of the most common threads was his dad blaring music to wake him up as he was growing up. We talked about what music they listened to growing up and which bands influenced their own and they couldn’t name enough bands. Although the common thread was UK Rock (honestly, same), they mentioned so many bands ranging from 80’s bands, country, current hits music, and so many others. During this conversation, I was treated to both Shaden and Davey breaking out in, what I have to assume was, their best Elvis impression while they sang a bit of The King’s song ‘Suspicious Minds.’ Which was, without a doubt, quite a treat for me. While they may internally channel The King’s energy, there’s no denying how they resemble Motley Crue and they mentioned how often that gets point out to them. While they don’t mind the resemblance at all, they are proud of the separation they’ve recently had from the party lifestyle since they’ve stopped drinking. 

Throughout the interview, the sober aspects of their future was a recurring topic. We talked about how much fun they’re having at shows and on tours while getting the added benefit of remembering it afterwards. While they’re not showcasing their lack of drinking publicly or trying to get attention for or because of it, they did say they are speaking up about it to hold themselves accountable. While they’re content if they decided to find a happy medium and start drinking again, the move from party-hard early twenties musicians to them now is notable even with how they talk about their upcoming EP and tours. 

While they had shared memories of their previous tours, there was a lot of filling in blanks and gaps in the stories. Then when talking about their new EP and upcoming tours, it was great to see such pride and ownership coming from both Shaden and Davey. When talking about the EP they were both incredibly proud of the work they put into the EP and the people they got to work with. I’m big on people lifting others up and Shaden is right along with me. He shouted several bands and people out so many times throughout the interview I had him send a list to make sure I got them all covered. Shaden made sure to shout out Ghostheart, Thaddeus, Lasko (Chase Warren), and Mike Snoody for being such big parts of making this EP. He also wanted to make sure to shout outs to Rio Wiley, This Modern, Crimmins, Electric Pussycats, and Austin Jones. 

Over the entire interview, both Davey and Shaden shared how important this EP is to them. It was so great getting to chat with them about this and seeing their passion. From seeing how important family is to them, to talking about their influences, support system, bands they’ve worked with, and how excited they are for their upcoming EP and tour, it was a pleasure getting to know more about these two. I’m excited to listen to their EP, out Dec 15, and see them on their East Coast tour in early 2024, and other tours to follow. We should all be excited to see what Hvshi has in store from here on out.