Tournament has officially given their rebirth a sound — and it’s an indie-rock explosion. Their debut single, “FOMO,” is bursting with the post-punk spirit that rocked on during the early 2000s. It’s playful, alive and nostalgic with a modern twinge. “FOMO” shines with boldness, yet still remains grounded in a relatability that creates a natural community for anyone who listens.
Emerging from the ashes of their previous project, Slug Bug (a former band identity that occupied the custom genre of “indie jangle”), the Arizona-based trio of Ellie Willard (bass) and brothers Wyatt Hjerpe (vocals/guitar) and Waylon Hjerpe (drums) discovered remarkable self-assurance in their reinvention as Tournament.
For a debut single, “FOMO” is impressively mature, cohesive and intentional — a product of a band that has confidence in their new direction. Having been recorded almost a year ago, the track marks what the band calls their “first step forward into a new era,” an introduction that makes listeners want to jump in before they’re the one who’s missing out.
With Wyatt Hjerpe’s provoking vocals and three cracks of Waylon Hjerpe’s drumsticks, the track immediately transports the listener into the jumpy crowd of an intimate underground gig. Not long after the song begins, the listener can hear the utter fun that’s naturally laced in the vocals. The smooth yet raspy strength of the vocals moves fluidly with the instruments — moving as one instead of separate layers. The musical collision of the boppy guitar, Willard’s demanding bass and the driving drums weaves through assertive percussive moments that keep the atmosphere constantly shifting. The force of the electric guitar strums surges behind the quickened drum beats, subtle electronic glitches sneak in the final seconds and the whole track lands with a smile-inducing sense of playfulness, the world could use a little more of right now.
Despite the prominent, yet universal, message of the “fear of missing out,” the energy that courses through the song does the opposite of wallowing. In fact, “FOMO” feels like a song you would hear at a function that people feared skipping out on. Tournament conveys both their experience and evolution with their debut single, showcasing their newfound conviction as a band and creating musical moments everyone else wishes they were part of.
Crave Music Magazine had the opportunity to ask Tournament a few questions about their debut single as a reinvented band, as well as their musical inspirations and aspirations for the future, spotlighting the passionate people behind the lively song “FOMO.”
CRAVE: There’s a clear influence of early 2000s indie-rock — especially considering your open love and appreciation for The Strokes — but you guys twist it into something modern and uniquely you. While playing with what the sound of Tournament was going to be, what other artists or pieces of music inspired you?
WAYLON: We all have very different influences and generally avoid trying to play a certain type of music on purpose. I think a major touchstone that shapes our sound is Wyatt’s parasocial relationship with The Strokes. He really likes [the band] and talks a lot about [them]; I hate The Strokes. And that relationship is kind of our formula. Whether we like it or not The Strokes are always rearing their horns somewhere in the distance behind whatever new thing we are drawing influences from. In the weeks surrounding the recording of “FOMO,” Wyatt and I were obsessing over “You Know What You Are?” by NIN until we both saw them live and realized we maybe don’t like NIN that much. I think we do that a lot. We latch hard on to a specific influence for a couple of weeks and that really affects whatever song we are working on at the time. And now we will list 12 songs we like and that have inspired us in the order of Wyatt, Ellie, Waylon, Wyatt, Ellie, Waylon, Wyatt, Ellie, Waylon, etc. “Rock & Roll” by The Velvet Underground, “Pretty Girls Make Graves” by The Smiths, “Fairmont” by La Dispute, “Losing My Edge” by LCD Soundsystem, “Ian Curtis Wishlist” by Xiu Xiu, “Told You So” by Paramore, “Reptilia” by The Strokes, “Idioteque” by Radiohead, “Do Me” by Jean Knight, “Man in Black” by Johnny Cash, “Banshee Beat” by Animal Collective, “Come Up and Get Me” by Death Grips.
CRAVE: You guys recently closed the chapter on your previous musical endeavor Slug Bug. Was the transition to becoming Tournament something that came naturally, or was there a specific inspiration that really pushed the reinvention?
WAYLON: I think it just happened naturally while we were recording. Last year was the first time we really hit a stride with recording and somewhere in that process we realized we didn’t really stand by the songs that felt definitively Slug Bug. Our early songs were maybe self-serving and didn’t really translate well in recorded form. The transition to Tournament runs parallel with a transition to thinking about recorded music. Basically we are just trying to make good songs.
CRAVE: Has stepping into the new identity of Tournament changed your writing and/or recording process during the creation of “FOMO?”
WYATT: Everyone has an awkward phase, a favorite outfit you now look back at and cringe. I think the new identity is just that, a new outfit that represents who we actually are. “FOMO” is one of many songs that felt restricted by the Slug Bug name, so really it was the other way around, the songs and writing initiated the change.
CRAVE: The maturity, growth and especially confidence radiates throughout the entire track. Was this kind of energy felt at the beginning of the process? Or did it evolve over time?
ELLIE: Thank you! We started recording “FOMO” a year before it was released. Before the recording day, we had jammed it countless times, played it live, and made multiple demos, so we had a strong level of confidence in the track and how we wanted it to sound when we went in to record. Over the year of holding onto “FOMO” and not releasing it — we did grow the confidence to create a musical world it made sense in.
CRAVE: Arizona has a strong local music scene, with you guys playing a role in that. How has being a part of that scene shaped the identity and/or sound of Tournament?
WAYLON: The Phoenix scene is interesting because it really is so strong but also very poorly compartmentalized. Essentially Phoenix has a hardcore scene and a miscellaneous scene. We live in a lawless wasteland of mixed bills which I think is actually a really good thing. We get to perform alongside such an eclectic mix of musicians for a crowd that is willing and ready to engage with basically whatever genre is played to them. Some of our closest collaborators include Jude Kellen and Belgium Tree. Jude Kellen kind of makes yacht rock? But really he is a cover band of himself; every show is the same songs in a different genre. Belgium Tree makes nightcore covers of The 1975 songs. And somehow all three of us played together last week at a nightclub. I honestly don’t really know what effect this environment has had on our music but I think it’s positive.
CRAVE: Looking toward the future, are there any sonic risks or experiments you guys have been wanting to explore on upcoming releases?
ELLIE: YES — so many! The joy of being Tournament is that it opened up a new world for experimentation. Being Slug Bug was beginning to feel limiting. We felt like the music we had on Spotify didn’t represent us well, but then people would come to our shows and be disappointed if we didn’t play the songs we had on Spotify. It was hard for us to take risks because everything just kind of felt like a bummer. A big step forward for us was adding synth into some of our newer songs. We’ve been messing around with noisy secondary guitar parts and samplers too. My pedalboard has recently expanded into heavier, louder, and noisier realms, and we’re trying to find a way for Waylon to have a pedalboard on the drums — we haven’t figured it out yet but we will. We’ve been taking endless risks now with no consequences, so creating music has had a newfound joy that I hope shines through in our future releases.
CRAVE: “FOMO,” of course, is an extremely relatable feeling that essentially everyone has experienced. So, it’s only fitting to ask when was the last time you all felt the classic “fear of missing out?”
ELLIE: A few years ago, La Dispute was coming to town and I really wanted to go, but didn’t want to go alone. I asked Waylon to go with me and he said no, so I didn’t go and was super bummed about it for a while. A few months later, Waylon said to me “I’m sorry we didn’t go to La Dispute. I actually really would have wanted to go. I don’t know why I said no.” A few months ago though, we both bought tickets to see La Dispute this upcoming April. Finally, the curse of FOMO was lifted, it just took a few years. FOMO is always really funny when you think about the long-term context of things. Weird how things usually change over time and how minimal those painful feelings can be.
CRAVE: Was there a certain moment during the transition into Tournament where everything just clicked and felt right?
WYATT: After our big change over show, there were a few posts I saw on Instagram that really made me feel like we did something right. They had found stickers and made their own ASCII text art to decorate the post in the theme of the band, a band that didn’t exist before that show. [It felt like] they understood what we were going for. All the time leading up and uncertainty really went away right there thanks to the support from everyone.
CRAVE: Who in the band tends to bring the initial spark of an idea, and how does it evolve once everyone gets involved?
WYATT: Hi, Wyatt here. So far most songs start as an acoustic song that I show the others, if they like it we jam it till we get basic parts down. Then phase two starts, experimenting, talking lots and ideally we record a demo.
CRAVE: What do you hope listeners will take away from your debut single “FOMO?”
ELLIE: I hope this track keeps people wanting more to be honest. The song itself represents a new era for us, it really is where we began our new chapter, so the other tracks we have recorded (and will soon release) include songs we are even more proud of and excited about. I hope our day-one Slug Bugfans are proud of the growth they’ve seen out of us the last few years, and I hope new listeners enjoy what they hear enough to stick with us for a while.
Keep up with Tournament: Website / Spotify / Apple Music / Instagram / TikTok / YouTube
