Tomorrow night queer pop icon Rebecca Black will be playing her biggest show yet in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection… and so will our buddies Blue Hawaii, who will be opening for Rebecca Black this Saturday, March 29th, at Theatre of Living Arts. We’ve known the Canadian electropop duo – comprised of Raphaelle “Ra” Standell-Preston (also of BRAIDS) and Alex “Agor” Kerby – since 2013, but haven’t caught up with them since they headlined Johnny Brenda’s in June of 2022… However, they recently took some time to chat with me from the road and tell me about what they’ve been up to in the past three years, what it’s been like touring with Rebecca Black, and some new music that you should definitely check out.
Izzy Cihak: You’re currently on tour supporting Rebecca Black, who is also so cool. How have the shows been going so far? Any highlights yet, whether from onstage or just time hanging around?
Blue Hawaii: We are now two-thirds of the way through the tour, and we’ve covered a lot of ground. We started with her own show in Miami, then went over to the west coast, all the way down to LA, over to Amsterdam, through Europe, the UK, and Ireland, and now we’re back in New York for a double-bill tonight! The best highlight so far is probably playing in Los Angeles, as we shared a stage with Katy Perry and got to talk to her before the show.
Izzy Cihak: What are your thoughts on Rebecca Black, as a musician, performer, and tourmate? Were you previously fans?
Blue Hawaii: It’s really awesome because I think we share some of the same fan base. We’re both well known within the queer music scene and it’s really fun to see her do her thing with the dancers and the new material, which is so expertly produced and made, with really cool singing! So, it’s been really great, and we’re also releasing music that fits within that world as well, with our latest single “Tanlines,” that you can check out wherever you listen to great music 🙂
Izzy Cihak: What would you tell her fans to make sure that they show up a little early to catch your set when you play Theatre of Living Arts? What can be expected of the live show on this tour? I’ve only seen you at Johnny Brenda’s, so I’ve never seen you in a venue of this scale.
Blue Hawaii: Definitely come early to catch us play, as we will be opening and only have a 30 min set! Get there at doors or just after so you can see the magic of a crazy warehouse DJ set with live vocals distilled into a bite-sized piece! We remember the Johnny Brenda’s gig. That was super fun too. We played with our friend Rentboy, who lives in Philly.
Izzy Cihak: The last time we talked was June of 2022, which was actually nine years since the previous time we’d spoken before that… I’m curious what have been some of the highlights of the group in those past three-ish years? Last year you released your first full-length in half a decade and you have done some additional touring in that time.
Blue Hawaii: We definitely changed our sound to encompass some more Euro aspects of dance music, but always keep the signature sound of Ra’s vocals, which sits between R&B, experimental, folk, and big belts. We will always continue to adapt because we’ve been a band for so long and got to change and anticipate the new times.
Izzy Cihak: Have you had any favorite reactions to the new music, whether things that fans have reached out to tell you or just reactions it’s gotten from live audiences?
Blue Hawaii: It’s been great to test out a lot of the new music on the road. We just released a new single called “Tanlines.” It’s fun to see people jumping around dancing to that. It’s a bit slower than our last record, but still really banging with a lot of pop elements, including a bit of rapping and also cool vocals and an electro beat. We were testing out some other new songs on the road before releasing them and have had amazing reactions every night to this one called “f*ck balenciaga,” which is kind of about what you’d think, and everyone gets the lyrics right away and cheers a lot.
Izzy Cihak: You’ve recently-ish done some collaborations, with a cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” with Hugo Cantarra and AUGUSTE, and prior to that “Kiss Me Hard” with WhoMadeWho. How did those come about and how was it working with each of them?
Blue Hawaii: Since we live in separate cities, sometimes we need to do collabs sending back and forth beats and mixing vocals and doing production from a distance. That’s how these collabs all happened over the winter. When it comes time to do our own music, we often need to meet up because we like the energy that happens when the two of us are in a room writing music immediately together.
Izzy Cihak: Finally, what’s next for you, after these dates with Rebecca Black wrap? What are you working on or excited about for the rest of 2025?
Blue Hawaii: We have some cool Pride festivals lined up for the summer, including a great one in San Francisco for a club called Rhonda. We are also rolling out a new EP with Helix Records, so stay tuned!! See u in Philly!
*Get your tickets here.
