When Dirty Honey first assembled in 2017, the four-piece Los Angeles rockers quickly established a close musical bond, a distinguished sound, and a common goal, which led to them writing a batch of songs that they were raring to unveil. Things seemed to be progressing easily, though the true task would lie in getting their music heard by the masses and establishing a loyal fan base, which any artist will tell you is the difficult part. But keeping their easy streak rolling, the quartet’s first single "When I’m Gone," became the first song by an unsigned band to reach No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. Proving that it wasn’t merely a fluke, their second single, "Rolling 7s," went into the Top 5 just as rock stations and streaming services began heavily pushing their music. Their fan base grew by the minute and before they knew it, they went from playing on sidewalks and in parking lots to touring with The Who, Guns ’N Roses, Slash, and Alter Bridge, and being featured on festival stages across the country. Dirty Honey’s quick route to success is confirmed upon hearing their self-titled debut album, which is a hard rocking collection of hits that pays homage to their classic rock roots. The band takes pride in playing loud and never holding back on their musicianship, and while the songs are driven heavily by guitars and vocals, the heart and soul of their music comes from their southpaw, deep-grooving bassist, Justin Smolian. Influenced just as much by Bootsy Collins, James Jamerson, and Flea as he is John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, and John Entwistle, Smolian shows his love of funk and classic R&B with his pocket riffs, fat-bodied tone, and his crafty, impressive runs. Going beyond simply serving as the backbone to DH’s music, he kicks his playing into high gear on "No Warning," "California Dreaming," and "The Wire,” where his standout bass moments take center stage amid epic choruses and heavy bridges. Smolian’s creativity and love of taking risks within his playing are a big part of why his band is experiencing the kind of stadium-sized success they’ve achieved in such a short span. And that’s exactly why they’re going to keep rolling the dice and riding this hot streak. What was the writing process like for your debut album? We were supposed to go to Australia in March of last year to record another EP, but lockdown happened two days before we were going to get on the plane. We had 4-5 songs that we had written on the road during a previous tour. We took the pandemic as an opportunity to write and workshop a bunch of unfinished ideas. We rented a lockout for two months and we were in there as much as we could be. By the time we went into the studio, we were so prepared that we knocked the whole record out in six days. How did you come up with your bass lines for these songs? I always try to serve the songs first while still injecting my personality into them. I had been trying to work a hammer-on