HOT MULLIGAN | All Ages

When the emo band formed in 2014 and cut their teeth playing house shows and naming songs by closing their eyes and typing into auto-correct on their phones, no one expected they’d be selling out thousand-cap venues, one of their scene’s most respected bands a decade later. But as Hot Mully readies their phenomenal fourth LP THE SOUND A BODY MAKES WHEN IT’S STILL (Wax Bodega), that’s exactly where they’re at. Hot Mulligan is a resounding success story, the #1 Hot New Band (11 years running, just ask them), and ready to keep fighting the good fight.

“I don’t know anyone in their right mind who says, I want to be a musician, make money, not have a job, and also be comfortable,” jokes guitarist Chris Freeman, thinking back to the band’s formative years in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and later, down in the mitten in the college town of Lansing. “The dream was to play a song in a shit basement, live in a van, be gross, sleep on French fries, and go to cities you’ve never been to before.”

Since 2018’s Pilot put Hot Mulligan on the map, they’ve been lauded in Paste and Alternative Press, streamed over 140 million times on Spotify, and toured with sonic forefathers like The Wonder Years and Jimmy Eat World. For Hot Mulligan—vocalist Tades Sanville, guitarists Freeman and Ryan Malicsi, bassist Jonah Kramer, and drummer Brandon Blakeley—the new LP is a white-knuckled affirmation of everything they stand for. 

And make no mistake: it's never been easy.