Charlie Giovanniello, Stephan Stanzione and Greg Almeida were three high school friends who brought their mutual love for music together to create indie band Here’s To You. After a decade of creating music, finding Mike Fenimore and spending three years working on their latest release, they were beyond eager to release Phase I of Wonder/Wander.

“Honestly, the reason things originally started so slowly with this album was because we were all just starting our 20s,” Stanzione said about the three year gap they had while creating the album. “We were beginning figuring out college, true love, 9-5 jobs, our futures, etc. As we grew, I think we learned a lot about what we wanted to do, how we wanted to do it and why. Finally, as we settled in, things kind of clicked and we started spending more time writing songs and the train finally started chuggin’.”

“We’re definitely all still learning a lot about how to balance the responsibilities of our young adult lives with our passion for music as a band,” Fenimore added. “Taking our time with this release has definitely been worth it though. It’s afforded us the opportunity to be over-the-top intentional with the writing of each individual song, and extremely strategic in the way we’re releasing and promoting the new album.”

In the decade since their formation, their sound developed from a bright mix of pop and rock before turning into “a more mature, electronic/indie rock band” according to Giovanniello. They’ve kept elements of pop music in terms of structure and melodies, “but the overall sonic nature is just more full and polished sounding.”

The maturity in their sound comes from something they all agree on – their taste in music has expanded since high school. Even since Fenimore joined the band a few years ago, they’ve delved into artists and genres that have ultimately led them to bigger and brighter ideas.

When it came to their latest release, it was recorded in phases that allowed them to be more intentional with each song as its own entity. It was a unanimous decision to record this way, noting that the way people listen to and digest music has drastically changed in the last decade. In turn, they decided to release them in phases as well.

“I think people will be led to tracks they will like on the record easier this way, instead of the dilemma of sorting through all of it at once,” Almeida said.

Wonder/Wander is just the beginning of all the stories and emotions Here’s To You has shared through song, in hopes that they bring a positive, relatable aspect back to its listeners. Whether it’s a single lyric or an entire song, they’re hoping this first phase of new music speaks as loudly to others as it spoke to them.