cassadee pope 2019 hey monday

Hey Monday's Cassadee Pope on the most punk thing she ever did

When we heard late last year that pop-punk band Hey Monday were reuniting, we knew we needed an audience with lead vocalist Cassadee Pope. In this 10 Topics piece that ran in AP 378 (January 2020), Pope was positively enthusiastic and ebullient about what was going on in her life.

She navigated Jason Pettigrew’s queries with aplomb and the occasional laugh. And despite living in Nashville, she swears the Hey Monday reunion was not a one-off. (Was that a spoiler?)

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THE BEST THING ABOUT NASHVILLE.

The music. I think the community of music here is the best part. I know there’s music everywhere, but here the community really supports each other. Everybody, for the most part, is looking out for your best interest, and everybody just wants to help each other out. If you come from anywhere different, it makes you feel like you’re at home.

KACEY MUSGRAVES’ REAL PERSONALITY.

[Laughs.] Yeah, she is a badass. She knows who she is. She’s unapologetic. And what you see is what you get with Kacey.

SIGNATURE DANCE MOVE.

I do a stank-face body roll. Sort of like a Kristen Wiig dance that she might have done in Bridesmaids. I don’t know if she actually did. But just for some reason, that combination of the stank face and the body roll reminds me of Kristen Wiig. So I’ll go with that one. 

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THE MOST “PUNK” THING YOU EVER DID.

I don’t remember, so that’s punk in itself because I think I had been drinking. I believe in Australia when Hey Monday were touring with Fall Out Boy and the All-American Rejects, I think we trashed our green room, and we actually got in trouble for it. [I think] we sprayed soda or chocolate milk or something all over these pipes and drapes, and we ended up staining them.

MOST HATED FASHION ITEM.

The shorts with the butt hanging out on the bottom. I hate wearing them because I have a booty, and it doesn’t work for me. But I also feel like girls that wear them should just go ahead and wear bikini bottoms because that’s basically what they are.

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SCRAPING THE RUST OFF: FACT OR FICTION.

I’ll say fiction. I think the rust is what makes us who we are. And the more we cut our teeth doing things or not doing things, the more authentic the experience is going to be. No one’s going to be perfect at anything. I think the rust is what makes us unique in ourselves. 

LAST PIECE OF MUSIC THAT MADE YOU WILD WITH ABANDON.

Probably “Girl” by Maren Morris. It makes you feel good because you feel like you’re not alone. But it also makes you feel a little bit of an outcast at the same time because you realize there are a lot of things that you have to deal with on your own that you don’t really share with people. An interesting inclusive song.

FAVORITE VICE.

I think it’s a tie between The Real Housewives on Bravo or drinking. I like them both just as much. I probably watch Real Housewives more than I drink, but sometimes they go really well together.

Read more: Cassadee Pope breaks out Hey Monday song on headlining tour

SOME ADVICE TO YOUR WORST ENEMY.

Stop caring so much. Because I don’t, and it’s embarrassing for you to keep caring.

VISITING OR STAYING.

I like a routine. I really like when I get to be home for a long period because I’m visiting most of the time. And that’s fun. But there’s nothing like being home for a long period of time and getting to be with my family and my dogs and in my house and being able to go to bed in my own bed every night.

[The Hey Monday reunion] was so fun to do. I don’t think I would be able to do it with everything I’m doing on my solo project. But we were talking about potentially doing that again [in 2020] or, you know, twice a year or something, because it was that fun. And there are a lot of places [where] we have fans who couldn’t come, so we would love to see them, as well. The door is always open, absolutely.