FELICITY is a four-piece band out of Orlando, Florida, known for blending pop-punk hooks with a chaotic, genre-bending sound they call “trash rock.” With Damien on vocals, Drew on guitar, Mike on bass, and Tyler on drums, the band fuses emo, alt, metalcore, and whatever else hits — no rules, just energy. Their latest release, Mixtape for the End of the World, Vol. 1, is a fully independent project — written, designed, hand-drawn, and shipped by the band themselves. From garage beginnings to festival stages, FELICITY has built their momentum by betting on their own vision and turning chaos into community, one track (and TikTok) at a time.
SNQLX: Let’s start with the name—what does “FELICITY” mean to you now, years into the chaos? Has it evolved?
DREW: FELICITY means doing whatever makes you happy in life and never stopping the chase for that feeling. So much has changed for us over the years, but the one constant has always been our hard work, determination, grit, and passion to become the biggest band in the world.
SNQLX: You call it “trash rock” — what does that actually mean from the inside out?
DREW: It really comes from our ability to create rock music that spans across all the sub-genres: emo, pop punk, metalcore, alternative, pop, even country. We feel like we’re incredibly versatile as a band.
When people told us to “pick one genre and stick with it,” we decided to just make our own instead. We call it “Trash Rock.” Basically, it’s taking all the genres of rock, throwing them into a trash can, shaking it up, dumping it out, and what you’re left with is this wild mix of FELICITY songs.
SNQLX: The Mixtape for the End of the World, Vol. 1 just dropped. Fully independent. No label. What did it take to bring that vision to life?
DREW: It took us five years to put this whole thing together: writing the songs, releasing singles, planning, trial and error, losing members, gaining new ones, switching managers, pulling late nights, and yes… making a lot of TikToks.
We did everything ourselves: creating the artwork, naming the album and songs, marketing, designing and ordering all the merch. We even hand-drew every single “mixtape” cassette that fans can buy. On top of that, we hand-packed and addressed every merch order and lugged hundreds of boxes to the post office.
Doing everything independently is way more work than most people probably expect, but we’ve never had a problem rolling up our sleeves. Honestly, most record labels these days feel more like predatory lenders than partners. They take 90% of the business and leave artists with pennies. We’d rather bet on ourselves.
SNQLX: You’ve built a fiercely loyal fanbase — the FELICITY Family. What does that bond feel like from your side of the stage?
DREW: It feels amazing to see all the hard work we put in behind the scenes translate into people singing along in the front row at our shows. Even on our very first West Coast tour, when we were playing cities we never imagined traveling to, there were always a handful of the FELICITY FAMILY at every single date.
One of the craziest moments is pulling up to a venue and having someone run up saying, “You’re Drew! I’ve watched all your TikToks!” We’ve been a band for 10 years and started this project in a garage, so having a loyal fan base all over the world now feels both humbling and incredibly rewarding.
SNQLX: The live video at Kraken Fest with Dan Marsala — walk me through it. Whose idea? What did that moment mean?
DREW: That was definitely a “wow” moment for us. At the time, our manager was also the publicist for Story of the Year (shout out to Dayna!), and he helped make the feature happen. Dan was such a legend for jumping on that track with us.
Later, when we got booked on the same show as SOTY, we asked Dayna if she thought it might be possible to have Dan come out with us. She said, “It couldn’t hurt to ask!” Dan was totally game, and we made it happen. Having a legend you’ve looked up to since childhood come on stage and perform a song with you was just unreal.
SNQLX: Your TikToks are unhinged in the best way. How do you approach social media without burning out or faking it?
DREW: We split up responsibilities between us. We film everything together, but either Damien (our singer) or I (Drew, guitar) will handle the editing and posting. Sometimes it ends up being 90% one of us for weeks at a time, depending on headspace or the time of year, so we can each take a mental break when needed.
No matter what, our mentality is always “whatever it takes,” and that carries through in everything we do with FELICITY.
SNQLX: Let’s talk writing: what’s the creative process like for a FELICITY song? Who brings what to the table?
DREW: It’s really changed a lot over the years. In the very beginning, I (Drew, guitar) would write the basic skeleton of a song, bring it to rehearsal, and we’d jam it out. Damien would then write whatever vocal parts came to him, and we’d just roll with it.
Later on, we started working with producers who put more emphasis on songwriting, especially Andrew Wade (A Day to Remember, Neck Deep, Wage War, The Ghost Inside, Magnolia Park). He really pushed us as songwriters and honestly felt like a sixth member of the band, writing songs with us.
For Mixtape Volume 1, we wrote the entire album in the studio with Andrew Wade, plus a couple of tracks with other producers. Looking ahead, we’ve been taking more ownership of the writing process outside the studio, and we’ve already started working on the songs that will come out after Mixtape Vol. 2 drops. We always want to stay ahead of schedule and keep new music in the pipeline.
When people told us to ‘pick one genre and stick with it,’ we decided to just make our own instead.
— Drew, on the birth of Trash Rock
SNQLX: You’ve been releasing track after track — what’s on the horizon? Album plans? Tour chaos? A weird concept video in the works?
DREW: We just dropped Mixtape Vol. 1 this summer, so we’re still pushing that and gearing up for an upcoming winter tour to support it (dates coming soon!). Right after that, we’re only days away from getting the final mixes of Mixtape Vol. 2 in our hands, which means we’ll start rolling out the release plan, strategy, and a tour to go with it.
Like I mentioned earlier, we’re already in the early stages of working on what comes after the “Mixtape for the End of the World” era. We’re super excited about both the immediate and long-term future of the band. In the next year or two, we hope to finally do our first European tour, play some bigger music festivals, and hopefully snag some opening spots for major bands across the U.S.
SNQLX: As the rooms get bigger, how do you keep the DIY fire lit?
DREW: That fire never really goes out for us. Our greatest gift is that nothing ever feels like “enough.” We always have this constant drive to improve, push the project further, and hopefully let it take up more and more of our lives.
Of course, the dream is to quit our day jobs and go all in on the band, and we feel like we’re getting closer to that every day. We’re very hands on with everything, which can definitely be overwhelming at times, but honestly, I don’t think we’d want it any other way. After all the years we’ve put in, it would be hard to give up control and creative direction. And the way we see it, what we’re doing is working, and the growth has been happening fast.
SNQLX: If FELICITY had to enter a battle of the bands against evil clones of yourselves, what song would you play to prove you’re the real ones — and what would the clones do to try to beat you?
DREW: I think we’d have to play our LIVE version of the weather because we have some hidden tricks included in the song that aren’t included on the album version.
SNQLX: If someone were to design a poster that visually captures your sound — no band photos, just colors, textures, symbols — what would have to be on it?
DREW: I think it would be chaotic and silly, packed with all the inside FELICITY jokes and lore that only our fans would recognize. Stuff like Todd from Lowe’s, Juuls and White Claw, Waffle House, and of course “the Big Red X.”
FELICITY isn’t just a band — it’s a self-built rocketship launched from a Florida garage, fueled by grit, chaos, and the kind of belief in each other that you can’t fake. Over a decade deep, they’ve made it clear: no label, no shortcut, no blueprint. Just five people who decided to do it their own way and are now dragging the industry forward on their terms.
What shines through in everything they do — from the mixtape cassettes they hand-draw to the TikToks that feel like inside jokes you want in on — is a level of intent and hustle that can’t be copied. Not by clones. Not by algorithms. Not by a system that never saw them coming.
With Mixtape for the End of the World still fresh and Volume 2 already loading, FELICITY’s not waiting around for permission. They’re moving fast, staying weird, and betting on what’s always worked best: themselves.
Stay loud. Stay DIY. And if you hear the Big Red X calling — you’re already part of the family.
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