Honne’s New Year’s resolution: more shows, less chocolates
The month of December, especially after the first week, is typically a “very quiet period” for Honne. The holiday downtime, often spent in the electronic pop duo’s native England, can sometimes extend all the way to the end of January the following year.
But this time, members Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher found themselves celebrating New Year in a different timezone, eight hours earlier than they usually would.
Foregoing their annual “hibernation,” they flew all the way to Manila and welcomed 2025, playing a rousing set of music for fans and revelers at “NYE at the 5th,” Bonifacio Global City’s New Year’s Eve countdown party that also featured local music stars Juan Karlos, Rico Blanco, Sarah Geronimo and the K-pop girl group Itzy.
“In the UK, I often feel like I don’t know what to do on New Year’s Eve, and it’s a bit of letdown at times. So I’m excited to be out somewhere else fresh and exciting, and experience how you guys celebrate the occasion here,” Hatcher told Lifestyle, hours before he and Clutterbuck took the stage.
First New Year’s show
“This is actually our first New Year’s show ever,” he said. “It’s fun to be here with the band. It’s fun to be in this part of the world.”
In Clutterbuck’s case, babies happened—two of them, in fact in the the last two years. So by the time the clock struck 12, chances were he and his family were already sound asleep. “I’m looking forward to staying up a bit later than normal!” he said, laughing. “I would love to see some fireworks, do the countdown and yeah, party a bit.”
The year 2024, which saw the British music act releasing its fourth studio album, “Ouch,” was “a little bit challenging” at times, Clutterbuck said, but “nothing too bad,” thankfully. All things considered, 2024 “was quite nice.” He and his bandmate haven’t done much reflecting yet, but they will perhaps after a few drinks, they said laughing.
“It’s always good to debrief after the year. It’s a good time to think about making alterations in your life and setting new goals and challenges,” Clutterbuck said.
Listening to full albums
What are their New Year’s resolutions? Hatcher vowed to continue the album-listening club of sorts that he started with his friends—a way of rekindling his appreciation for cohesive collections of songs amid the industry’s and the listeners’ current propensity for singles.
“The world’s gone toward individual songs and playlists. After our previous tour, I figured that I have to start listening to full albums again, which I used to really love. So every week, we pick an album or a bunch of them—old or new, jazz to contemporary—and have a discussion,” he related. “It’s been fun and I want to carry on doing that.”
Clutterbuck, meanwhile, is starting small: “I need to eat less chocolate—that’s bad!”
Less sweets, but more shows, most definitely. “We hope to keep on touring because I feel like we’re not yet with done with the cycle from our current album. There will be shows in the spring, and some more later in the year,” he said.
New music, they don’t know yet—the two will have to go back to the drawing board for that. But fingers crossed, they said. “We’re just planning for the coming year. Now, we’re taking it easy while keeping the fans happy. We just want to keep the ball rolling,” Clutterbuck said.
Hit songs
Known for the hit songs “Location Unknown,” “Day 1,” and “No Song Without You,” Honne has been taking part in festivals and holding shows in the Philippines since 2017. While their previous outings here were all memorable, the first one at the Wanderland music festival, will always be special.
“We weren’t on the main stage, but still, there were loads of fans, watching us, singing all the words to our songs. And then, halfway through the show, James’ keyboard fell over!” Clutterbuck recalled.
Staying true to their band name, Honne—a Japanese word that refers to a person’s genuine feelings or true self—the two artists wear their hearts on their sleeves, and pour their emotions into synth-laden tunes, which can either be fun and danceable, or dreamy and introspective. With their chill, lo-fi vibe, they found a captive audience in Filipino people.
“Our music is also melodic and quite catchy in a sing-along way. I know that Filipinos have a big karaoke culture so hearing you guys sing at the top of your lungs is a fun thing!” Hatcher said.
“Every time we come, the shows end up becoming memorable for one reason or another—usually for good reasons. It’s fantastic and we just love it here so much,” Clutterbuck added. “We hope to keep coming back.”
