Cover Story: Honey Revenge return to Summer School for its junior year

Truly living up to their name, Los Angeles duo Honey Revenge bring a sickly sweet flavor to the modern pop-rock circuit. Known for their high-energy live shows and sharp confidence with radiant vulnerability, the band—comprised of vocalist Devin Papadol and guitarist Donny Lloyd—has continued to relentlessly make their presence known in today’s indie rock world.
With the release of their debut album Retrovision in 2023, Honey Revenge made a bold introduction with their vibrant blend of pop, metalcore, and rock influences. Following the record’s release, Papadol and Lloyd toured with the likes of Loveless, Meet Me at the Altar, State Champs, and more. In 2024, they earned a spot on idobi Radio’s inaugural Summer School Tour, spearheading the introduction of alternative music’s newest traveling festival alongside Stand Atlantic, Magnolia Park, Scene Queen, The Home Team, and Letdown.

Following last year’s run of shows supporting Spiritbox on the second leg of their North American Tsunami Sea Tour, as well as their co-headlining run with Rain City Drive throughout Europe and the U.K. back in January, Honey Revenge are now gearing up to return to the Summer School roster once more, making them the first artist to ever appear on the lineup more than once.

Speaking with Melodic Magazine ahead of the tour, Papadol says it’s exciting for Honey Revenge to make their bold return to the roster as both upperclassmen and headliners. “I feel like Summer School is one of those fests where they’re so great in the way that they change up the dynamic every year. No one tour for them is the same,” she says. “We’re getting asked [to perform] as a headliner, which feels way cool to go back to one of the tours that really helped our career early on. The first Summer School we did helped us grow our band so much. We made so many new fans, and those people are still with us. So I think it’s awesome to get to come back as a headliner and have a hand in picking the bands.”

Previously playing on Summer School’s debut tour as a supporting act, Honey Revenge are coming back to the festival’s junior year with the knowledge and experience they obtained from their first run. “I think that tour really taught us to just work on our feet,” Papadol says. “That was the first tour where I feel like we ran into the specific technical difficulties of being a small band, because we didn’t get a soundcheck. That’s a big part of being one of the smaller bands on that tour is you don’t get that luxury every day, because it is more of a festival vibe…And because we had that experience in Summer School on year one, it prepared us to be able to handle those situations in the future. So I think we’re just well seasoned now and we can go with the flow a lot better than maybe back then.”

The duo’s growth in the Summer School roster coincides with the dawn of a new artistic era for Honey Revenge. With the Retrovision era coming to an end, Honey Revenge are now preparing for the release of their new full-length album Loving And Losing, out September 18 on Thriller Records. In preparation for their upcoming record, Papadol says those who attend the Summer School tour this year can expect a bold introduction of what lies in store on Loving And Losing.

“I think we’re going to try some new things for sure,” she says. “We’re really going to have to find a good balance in our catalog of giving people the bangers that they all know and love and then giving them a taste of what’s to come. We have an hour set, so it’s pretty nice. I feel like we’ll be able to find a nice, easy spot in the middle.”

While the setlist will change, what remains constant for Honey Revenge is their fiery live presence. Known for the unrelenting energy they convey on stage, the duo’s aim of creating a safe space at their live shows is what they’ve made themselves known for in the current rock scene. “Concerts were my whole life when I was younger,” Papadol reflects. “That was the whole reason I had a job, was so I could pay to go to concerts and buy tickets to see my favorite bands.”

Creating a safe space also makes them a perfect fit for Summer School, a tour that ultimately strives to keep the community feel of traveling alt-music festivals like Warped Tour alive. “For us, I just want us to be that escape and a place where people can make new friends who have similar interests and be their truest selves,” she shares. “I think it’s really easy to say that you are your truest self when you’re just happy.”

When it comes to bringing this accepting and inclusive atmosphere to Summer School specifically, Papadol says the equal playing field that the festival maintains for every band on the roster makes it easy to foster this safe space for fans. “What I like about Summer School is [that] no specific band gets special treatment,” she says. “[When] you go to tours, it’s a given that the headliner is going to have higher production, a little bit more glitz and glam, the lighting’s going to get better as the night progresses. But what’s cool about Summer School is that it’s pretty much the same backdrop for everyone. No one’s trying to be flashy. It’s about the community. We’re all from the same generation. All of us have similar influences, and we’re just scene kids.”

Ultimately, it’s authenticity that Honey Revenge always strives for. Whether it’s through embracing community in the pop-punk scene or their welcoming live shows, the duo use their artistry to encourage listeners to chase the thrill of being their truest selves. “You’re never going to get the life that you’ve wanted and aspired to have without putting your best foot forward and trying,” Papadol says. “You have to take that leap of faith sometimes, even if it’s scary. I’d rather try something new than live in fear of the judgment of it all. You have your whole life to rebrand and start over. There’s never a time limit on that.”

As a women- and queer-fronted rock duo, Honey Revenge don’t just advocate for authenticity; inclusion is also the driving ethos behind Papadol and Lloyd’s artistry. “I think that’s been a big part of this band,” Papadol says. “Early on, especially when I was in other projects, there was this idea that you can’t be feminine and you can’t be beautiful and still be grungy and be in a rock band. I think that’s a maybe dated opinion now, but coming up in the music scene, trying to be in my own band, I think I always felt I couldn’t, and I had to be one of the guys. I think this band has really given me that space and that chance to spread my wings a little bit and embrace that I am a woman in music, and people want to box us into that being one thing.”

Along with the likes of fellow Summer School performers Winona Fighter and South Arcade, Honey Revenge stand tall as a femme-fronted rock outfit. With a lineup consisting heavily of women artists, Papadol says this is a representation of greater acceptance of women in the alternative scene. “I think what’s great is that this festival isn’t just a bunch of women in bands; it’s just a bunch of great bands,” she says. “I’m very proud to be a woman in music. I’m not trying to take away from the fact that we need more of them, but it’s way more common than it was when I was growing up. People don’t even bat an eye. I think the female-fronted narrative is being played out enough that no one even cares what kind of person is in the band…I’ve been very fortunate to be on tours where that’s just not even something people are interested in. They’re more interested in our music and who we are as people.”

Papadol continues, “If anything, I’m more interested when anyone comes up and tells our guitarist how inspiring it is to see someone who is non-binary or someone who’s a person of color being in the front of a band…

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