We DO Talk About It - A Show Review And Conversation With Diva Bleach

For those of you who aren’t aware already, Kate (fellow HMM contributor) and myself are big supporters of the Connecticut DIY scene. We’re also huge fans of shows that take place in a local church basement hosted by Rockhopper Productions. On June 19th, Rockhopper hosted their first ever festival with seven incredible acts. Combining talent from the Free Hugs Tour and the BBL Tour, the basement hosted familiar faces like Cinema Stare and welcomed new ones such as lolitslea, and Leisure Hour. I won’t lie, I was definitely the most excited to see Diva Bleach, a band I’ve been wanting to see since the 2024 Sad Summer lineup dropped. Since then, they’ve released an album, Can You Keep A Secret?, which is celebrated through their headlining set.

The night opened with the supporting acts of the Free Hugs Tour: Ringpop! from Boston, Lake Drive from Miluakee, lolitslea from Jersey, and 5ever also from Boston. I had seen 5ever previously, so I was excited to get to see them again in one of my favorite venues, and they certainly delivered a memorable performance that even included gambling! (Don’t ask.) All four acts brought incredible energy to their performances and some even had impromptu guest appearances within each others’ sets.

The next two acts to take the stage were from the BBL Tour. Cinema Stare is easily my favorite band in the CT scene and I had high expectations as this was my fourth time seeing them. I can confidently say that they are rising to the top and are definitely a band to keep on your radar. If you haven’t already, I recommend checking out their debut album The Things I Don’t Need. Leisure Hour went next and was absolutely incredible. They mainly performed their newest singles, but also played songs off their first album The Sunny Side. I was a big fan of “jenny,” and the crowd was too as it was the most lively the room had been the entire night.

By the time Diva Bleach took the stage, the crowd was perfectly warmed up — figuratively and literally. They opened their set with the single “We Don’t Talk About It” and had the crowd in the palm of their hand instantly. Vocalist Sydney Roten showcased impressive range and created fun banter moments with the crowd throughout the set. Guitarist Brie Ritter had impeccable stage presence in addition to shredding up a storm. I was shocked to learn this was their first real headlining tour because watching these two perform, you’d assume they’re seasoned professionals. The final song of the night was “Beaches,” a standout from their second EP No Fun (Pt. II). Members of the Free Hugs tour were invited on stage and every single person in the room was jumping around and having a great time. It truly felt like a scene out of a movie and was the perfect conclusion to both the night and the end of the Free Hugs Tour.

Sydney Aldrin: Hello Honorable Mention Magazine readers! My name is Sydney and tonight I have the pleasure of interviewing Diva Bleach. Thank you both so much for taking the time to do this interview with me.For any readers who may be unfamiliar with Diva Bleach, would you introduce yourselves?

Brie Ritter: Thank you! I’m Brie, I play guitar.

Sydney Roten: Thank you for having us! I’m Sydney, I sing.

SA: Tonight we are in a church basement in Connecticut, I bet that’s a sentence you never thought you’d say before. I grew up in this area so this is what I consider my local scene. I know you guys are from Arizona, how has your local scene impacted you and your career?

BR: The Phoenix scene is amazing! There are lots of different artists involved and everyone is supportive and welcoming. It’s nice being able to turn to other people around you and ask how they “did it” to get yourself started. Everyone’s making a bunch of different stuff and it’s very diverse.

SR: It’s been great and yes, it is very diverse. Everyone in Arizona is very nice and super supportive. I remember when we were new, everyone was welcoming and eager to take us in. It’s been super inspiring.

SA: That’s amazing to hear! Your first album, Can You Keep A Secret?, came out earlier this year. Congratulations, that’s very exciting. What have each of you learned about yourselves as artists through the writing and recording process of the album?

BR: Well, we definitely had to pick into our brains and talk about things that we’re not necessarily comfortable with for the writing process. Things that are usually a passing thought we definitely dove into deeper than usual I’d say, so that was pretty interesting.

SR: It’s cool writing with someone you’re friends with because then it feels just like you’re talking with your friends. You know, a lot of our stuff feels like diary entries. It’s also cool because we’ve written with so many different people, so exploring new ways to write and other people’s processes has been really inspiring to us when we’re trying to write new things.

BR: Yeah, I think it’s pushed us to try things that we usually wouldn’t have on our own, which is cool. We’re learning different ways to approach things just by working with all these people.

SA: I feel like I can relate to that a lot with how Honorable Mention Magazine was formed. It all started with a group of friends sitting together talking about our love for music and how we should jokingly start a company, now we’re almost three months into this so thank you for being a part of it. A number of the songs on Can You Keep A Secret came out as singles in the months leading up to its release. How did the album end up coming together? Were singles chosen as a way to introduce your fans to your new music, or did you create the singles on their own and later decide to include them? What was that process like?

SR: They were definitely written for the album, and we were kind of releasing them as we wrote them. Some of them we already had for months, and then we decided which should be released first based on what we were feeling at the moment.

SA: “Make It Stop!” is my favorite song of yours, I feel a really strong connection to the lyrics, so that’s part of the reason I love it but it’s also super catchy. How much of your music would you say is inspired by your real life experiences rather than just creating scenarios?

BR: I think everything starts from a personal experience and then we definitely play off of what we’ve gone through. We’re also not afraid to expand on and make it a little fictional sometimes.

SR: At the end of the day, we want songs that people want to dance and sing to. Everything’s inspired by something we’ve gone through, but also things we’ve seen friends go through. I mean, it’s all things we’ve felt before and everything we write comes from the heart.

BR: Maybe it hasn’t necessarily happened to us but instead is something we’ve seen. Sometimes we’ll have songs about a certain feeling but it’s not about the exact same experience each time, we might combine different stories into one song.

SR: Yeah, a lot of our songs are combined experiences and not about one specific moment. We’ll share our experiences and other writers will add to that as well.

SA: You also had a single, “Midnight,” come out last month. What was the collaboration experience like with Kids in America?

SR: That one was fun! They already had the song and were looking for female vocals, so we both got asked to be a part of it. We had so much fun working with Curtis and Paul for that song. It was a very fun, spur of the moment kind of thing.

BR: They sent us the directions and were like, “Here’s the vibe and here’s the parts we want to hear from you guys, do your thing with it.” Ironically, we met at midnight to record it, but it was really fun!

SA: I love asking questions about the process because I find it so cool and I feel like there’s a lot that goes into these things behind the scenes that people don’t get to see. I’ve seen on your social media that you’ve teamed up with Peta2 for an “Adopt, Don’t Shop” campaign. Would you like to share a little bit more about your involvement and what this campaign means to each of you?

BR: That was something that they had originally reached out to us about. “Adopt, Don’t Shop” is something that has been important to me my whole life. I’ve always had a little companion at home with me, but I’ve never gone to the store and bought a puppy. My mom was always like, “That dog will find a home,” so I think it’s important to go to a rescue and find an animal that you can connect with and give them the chance they deserve. It’ll give you so much in return.

SR: Same, all the animals I’ve had in my life have been rescue animals. The campaign resonates with both of us and is something that we’re happy to be a part of.

SA: Tonight happens to be the last stop on your headlining tour. Congratulations on a successful run! What have been some of the highlights of the tour from both a personal level and from an artist standpoint?

BR: People showing up is huge, it’s been more surprising than we expected. I mean, we didn’t know what to expect with it being our first headlining tour, and we’ve really never gone this far east without a bigger name with us. It’s really cool to see people coming back and be like, “I saw you at Sad Summer and now I’m here again,” and making those repeating connections.

SR: Yeah, I think we were both pretty surprised. My expectations were just like for me to get out and have a good time and if people showed up then cool. We’ve been really surprised by the amount of people who’ve shown up and known the songs, given us bracelets, given us drawings, and things like that. We definitely did not expect that at all. It’s super reassuring knowing this is something we can do and there are people supporting us doing it, and a lot of them apparently.

BR: Hell yeah. The shows themselves have been really fun, and that’s the main reason we do it.

SR: The show itself and our crew as well, it’s just so fun getting to hang out with your friends every day and everyone brings their own piece to the project. It’s a super unique experience and we’re both really grateful.

SA: Lastly, are you able to give us a little bit of insight as to what’s next for Diva Bleach? Are there any future projects we should keep an eye out for?

BR: We’ve been writing for “what’s next” even before the album came out. We’re sitting on things, waiting for the time to put them into the world.

SR: We definitely have music ready, we also have another tour coming up in the fall that’s going to be announced eventually! In the meantime, we have a few summer shows in between now and the fall tour, but yeah, be on the lookout for singles hopefully by the end of the year.

SA: That sounds great. Thank you so much again for taking time to interview with me and I look forward to seeing your set later tonight!