Straight out of Huntington Beach and gunning for the Hot 100, Your Favorite Color isn’t just chasing fame—they’re kicking down the door with their latest track, “Where Did It All Go Wrong.”
ECHO sat down with bandmates Matthew Warren and Cameron Pearson to talk about the journey so far, losing yourself in LA, and what lies ahead for one of alt-pop’s most promising groups.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
ECHO: What was it like touring in Europe with The Driver Era?
Cameron Pearson: That was a very eye-opening experience for all of us. I think going on our first European tour, we had no expectations. We were just like ready to take it on, and there were a lot of emotions that whole time. Just trying to be in the moment was so tough ’cause so many things were happening at once and then we’d realize, oh my gosh, we’re in France or we’re in Germany right now, playing a show. And that’s an experience we’ll never forget. I couldn’t have asked for a better first European tour.
Matthew Warren: I think just to go off what Cameron is saying; It was just a stimulation overload. We’ve been a band for a long time and before that tour, I think some of the biggest crowds we’d ever played for was maybe 200 people. And, you know, us being just the dreamers we are, we always envisioned that we’re gonna travel the world. We’re gonna play for thousands of people.
And I think it was one of those things where when it actually came true, that first time walking out on stage, and then for the whole tour, it was just like, pinch me, pinch me. This is a dream. It was very much imposter-syndrome feeling. Just very surreal. We’re definitely ready for the next one.
ECHO: I’m ready for the next one you bring stateside! Especially since “Where Did It All Go Wrong” feels like a deeply personal unraveling. Was there a specific moment or experience that sparked this song?
Matthew: So, this was one of the first songs we wrote right when we got back. I think that our band is quickly maturing on the inside and with our songwriting and just even as like individuals. We’re just constantly growing, and when we came back there was this sort of calmness. We had just to dive deeper into ourselves. With this song, our guitarist, David wrote the instrumental for it. He brought it over to my house and it was just one of those ones where it all just came together really quick. I pretty much immediately had a melody for it, and then some lyrics started to come out here and there, and the song took a kind of a deeper route and kind of a more personalized route of, ironically, the hardships of being a musician and being a dreamer, even though we just got off a really great high being on that tour. But I mean, yeah, that song ultimately took a road of telling a story of somebody who is chasing their dreams and just going after it with all their might.
But in the process of doing that, they may be getting a little lost or feeling a bit alone, or looking back at what they’ve had to sacrifice to keep this dream alive and then just feeling like “what the hell I’m doing with my life?” I think a lot of people feel that in unique ways and for us the most, you know, the most relatable thing was being in LA and going after this music thing. You know, it’s a hard journey, but we love doing it and it’s good to find those negative feelings you have and turn ’em into a song. There’s no better way to deal with hard things than writing a song about it.
Cameron: I agree. The song does feel very personal. I feel like it’s for any listener. The lyrics can mean so much.
ECHO: There’s a haunting repetition in the question, “Where did it all go wrong?”definitely holds that meaning. Were you searching for closure or just trying to be heard?
Matthew: Well, there’s a line in it that says, “I’m not ashamed, but I wish I was.” And I think that that is the most important line for me.
I get some philosophy from Jim Carrey and he has this saying, and I’m gonna butcher it, but it’s like once you decide to create yourself and go for your dream, you can go for it or you can kill your real self and, you know, fall into your grave, grasping for the person you never were.
So I think that when you create yourself to, do something kind of crazy and risky, like try to be in a successful rock band, you are taking that, that chance. But it’s also a double-edged sword. ’cause it’s like once you’ve created yourself to do that, you kind of can’t turn back without regrets. Or at least I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how I would be able to do that, so I think when the chorus comes around, like, so where did it all go wrong? It’s like, man, when did I create my identity? Right. It’s like, when did this all start? I thought I was following a righteous path to chase my dream, but now it’s not turning out the way I thought it would in my head. It’s not a perfect roadmap, and so it’s like, where did it all go wrong?
Cam: Yeah, that’s a pretty good way of putting it. I think it’s expectation versus reality. The expectation of following your dreams. You obviously want everything to work out, but you know, things just aren’t gonna be that way. But you honestly don’t know if they’re not gonna work out until they start not working out. Those are hurdles that you have to figure out how to get over and you contemplate with yourself constantly if it was worth it or not, or if you’re doing the right thing. Time’s always against you. It’s a tough path to follow.
I like the setting of the song being in LA because everybody out there is trying to do that and trying to strive for the same thing, and they’re all thinking these things in their head. Some people have it easier than others, but like a lot of transplants in LA come to follow their dreams here and they realize that it’s a really lonely place and it’s a really hard place to make something happen. And you’re putting on this face for other people. You wanna impress other people, make friends, but at the end of the day, you are sitting with yourself and you might ask yourself, “Is this what I wanna do? Is this who I am? Is this who I’m trying to be?” But everybody’s asking that to themselves and putting on these faces, these masks.
ECHO: Sonically, the track blends melancholy lyrics with lush, atmospheric production. How do you approach balancing beauty and pain in your music?
Matthew: For me, and I think for the band too, we try not to think too hard. Whenever we embark on writing a song and we just follow the feelings and follow our instruments and follow like what is just in us. Although I’ve never had a kid before, I would imagine it’s like what it would be like to have a kid, you know, like this thing gets born and it’s up to you to kind of guide it to become its best version of itself. We just try to see how we can help. And so this song was born and we just kind of helped nurture it, really. It’s hard to know where those feelings come from, but I do know that all of us have a lot of identity and are inspired by music that is melancholy, that has a balance of happy and sad, you know?
I know that I’ve noticed in the past whenever we’ve written songs that are way too happy that I love the songs, but they don’t feel as deep to me. There’s always something that makes me want to make it a little bit more sad, or if it’s too sad, I wanna make it a little more happy.
Cameron: That makes it more real, I think, for all of us. It teaches us a lot about who we are as writers and artists.
ECHO: What do you hope listeners take away from this song? Is it meant to comfort, confront, or both?
Matthew: In a boring answer, I hope they take whatever they need from it. I’ve always loved music where things are up for interpretation.
I’ve grown up listening to songs where I can’t even understand what the hell the singer’s saying. I just, you know, I create my own story in my head to those songs of whatever I’m going through in my life. Kind of similar to how when you read a book, the author’s writing it out for you, but you’re the one painting those images in your head, and it’s amazing what people’s imaginations are capable of doing. I just hope that people can get inspired by this song the way I’ve gotten inspired by all the artists I listen to.
Maybe on a more direct [note], I hope that if somebody does feel a little lost in their life, they wouldn’t feel so alone hearing someone else relate to that feeling too.
Cameron: I think Matt hit that right on the nose.
ECHO: Your music draws from the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s—decades soaked in emotional storytelling. What do you think those eras got right about vulnerability in music that still resonates today?
Matt: Take it away, Cam!
Cameron: I think it’s something about the unknown with those artists. They just weren’t afraid to dive right in, to try something new and be different and be trailblazers. It’s not necessarily missing today, but it was much more relevant back then to want to be different. And they had their influences, but their influences weren’t popular. It wasn’t like, you know, pop music. They found their way.
There were scenes, sub-genres, just so underground. Places to go where you can congregate and find people that had the same mindset as you and art just thrived in in that era. We do our best to kind of, not necessarily revive that, but get the essence of that back, and get the essence of kind of being a trailblazer and reliving those moments through sound. I think that we do our best to take influence from the past and bring it into a real modern sound, sonically.
Matthew: I agree. Cameron is, in the band, he’s like a dictionary of of music. He just knows so many bands and so I felt like it was a perfect question for him and I think he nailed it. Yeah, we love it. Making something that feels new but is nostalgic at the same time and has that rawness that those eighties and nineties bands really nailed.
ECHO: Finally, if “Where Did It All Go Wrong” is a question—do you think you’ve found even part of the answer yet?
Matthew: Yes. I think that it’s an ever-changing answer, and it’s not an answer that I think will always make you feel better because, ultimately, the song’s about being lost. I just had a great conversation with my friend about this the other day, ‘cause I mean, even from [the time] when we’ve written this song, there’ve been so many times where life is clear skies and the the path is clear and everything’s great, and then you go right back to feeling lost again, and then it’s great again and it’s lost again. So it’s like, I think for me the answer is just: breathe. Get through it, you know, it will be okay. And honestly, just welcome in struggle. Welcome in hardship and don’t fight it. ’cause there’s beauty that can be found in it. I’ll finish it with this: I think sometimes the universe gives us answers and problems; and figuring out those problems is our way to get to the other side of whatever hill we’re trying to climb.
Cameron: Yeah, I can’t add too much, but just to go off Matt, is that you could probably always be asking yourself, where did it all go wrong?
ECHO: All I know is, you guys are doing it right! I’m ready to be first in line when you head to Boston.
Listen to Your Favorite Color’s new song, “Where Did It All Go Wrong,” here.
Featured Photo Courtesy of Your Favorite Color
Nicole Speros holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications & Media Studies and is currently diving deeper into the industry at Berklee College of Music, where she’s studying Music Business. A passionate storyteller with an eye for what’s next, Nicole brings a sharp, curious voice to her work as a music journalist. She covers emerging artists, shifting trends, and the ever-evolving intersection of music and media—with a focus on authenticity, accessibility, and the songs that connect us all.
She’s an active member of GRAMMY U/The Recording Academy and Women in Music, always looking for ways to support and amplify voices in the industry. When she’s not in class or writing, you’ll probably find her stage-side at a local Boston show or hopping on a plane for her next adventure.