By Barrett White
“From a glitter-filled gutter somewhere in Houston crawled out Hank Honey—here to make you feel goddamn good.” -Carter Smith
In December 2018, Houston-based musician Hank Honey teased us with his first single, “Better Than This,” the precursor to his May 2019 EP release, Taste & Passion. The latter is a collection of earworms that offers the artist range, while insisting the listener get up and dance.
Carter Smith, the human behind the Hank Honey persona, kicked off his career as an intern at the famous SugarHill Recording Studios, before being contracted to produce and mix for a few of the studios’ local artists. As he became increasingly involved, those in the Houston music scene knew that it was only a matter of time before Smith himself threw his hat into the ring. Among those in Smith’s circle is Asli Omar of The Tontons, who Smith says has offered invaluable support while he’s ventured into his own music.
Hank Honey’s aesthetic and musical styling is uniquely Houston—a sound that mixes pop influence, tender doo-wop ballad, and a sincere emotional range, with an appearance that portrays a promise of post-Gaga disco bangers. The whole presentation is reminiscent of a night out at Barbarella or the old Etro in Montrose. In fact, you could say that Hank Honey, in all of his queer, glitter-filled, chain–smoking glory, is truly Montrose personified.
“The name just came to me one night,” Smith says of the Hank Honey moniker. “I love an alliteration, it looks good on a marquee. ‘Hank’ is masculine, ‘Honey’ makes it a little femme. It’s campy, and it has a vaguely ‘70s pornstar vibe. And you smile when you say it.”
“You could say that Hank Honey, in all of his queer, glitter-filled, chain-smoking glory, is truly Montrose personified.” -Barrett White. Photo by Dani Benoit.
Smith’s EP release show at Warehouse Live was remarkable to say the least. Stage presence, he has. As expected, he performed Taste & Passion in full—each song meant to make you dance, smile, and lose yourself in the music. But one song stuck out from the rest. “Can’t Stop Loving You”—though if judging by the title may sound like something you’d see on a George Strait album—is actually a tender piano ballad. “They don’t tell you that when you break up with someone, the love doesn’t stop,” Smith says of the song.
Smith has no plans to release the ballad—guess you’ll have to attend a live show to experience it—but he appreciates the headspace he was in when he wrote it. Not ready to write the song off (or the others he wrote post-breakup a few years back), he sneaks them into his live shows rather than including them on digital releases. “I’m proud of a lot of the writing I did [during] that time,” Smith says. “But I don’t want to be ‘sad boy pop star.’ When I think of people listening to my music, I want [them] to have fun. I think of the songs that get to me—yes, I’ll happily cry to a good song, but what really gets me is dancing. Even if you’re dance-crying—I want people to experience it and I want people to move.”
Hank Honey’s first full EP dropped on all streaming platforms in late May 2019. For those who have yet to discover him, my heart goes out to you. Plus, if his six-song collection is a hint of the caliber of music that we can expect out of a full album, we should be excited.
More of Hank Honey can be found on Instagram and Facebook, and on all digital music streaming services.
