On the Rise
We Three

For many artists, the past eighteen-months have brought stasis, cancellations and the inability to create. But for Oregon trio We Three, last year’s lockdown delivered the opportunity to try something new.

At the start of the pandemic the trio, siblings Manny, Bethany and Joshua Humlie, were in Germany kicking off their European tour. With new album Dear Paranoia, Sincerely, Me out and ready to promote, being locked down at home felt like a dead end. “At first I was really nervous, like what are we going to do?” says Manny, fresh and upbeat across an early morning Zoom. “TikTok was the main thing that saved us during that time, and I wouldn’t change it for anything because our platform has grown so much. It's the best.”

Led by Bethany, the band honed and refined their social media skills, sharing their bright and melodic pop and showcasing their personalities through intimate, endearing and funny clips. “My sister is absolutely incredible,” smiles Manny. “She’s taken on so much in the past couple of years with the social media. She just decided she was gonna learn it and figure out exactly what you have to do, algorithms, everything. She calls every morning and says, ‘Alright, here’s what we gotta do.’”

The Humlie’s grew up in the town of Mcminnville, forty-miles South of Portland. “It’s a really, really supportive, cool town for the arts and we’re also surrounded by wineries. There’s like a handful of bars but we didn’t ever really do the bar circuit, we always did the winery circuit,” Manny laughs. “I was twelve when I started doing those circuits, but I’d just load up on cheese, play guitar and it was the best thing ever.”

For a while, older siblings Bethany and Joshua would play covers with a mix of different musicians from the area, before admitting they played better as just a duo. They began covering Stevie Wonder songs, before Bethany finally let her younger brother join. “At the time I was twelve and that would have made the band uncool if her younger brother was in there,” he laughs. “I had to prove myself to the group and eventually I got in and we were just The Humlie Trio for just the longest time.”

Both Humlie parents had a formative impact on their children’s musicality. Their dad founded a music school in Mcminnville where all three siblings would end up working as tutors. Manny describes him as taking a hard line when it came to tuition. “My dad would go for it and wouldn’t stop and would push me and push me. He just didn’t take no for an answer,” he smiles. “But then our mum was very good at the creative side and getting you in touch with your emotions and trying to get it out in a beautiful way, rather than a toxic way. They looked at it differently and they did it differently, but I think both those combined did some really cool stuff for all three of us.”

Their mum passed away from cancer while they were in their late teens/early twenties. Two years later, in 2018, they were selected for a slot on America’s Got Talent, playing “Heaven's Not Too Far Away", a song written from her perspective during her final month. A loaded and emotive performance, it moved then judge Mel B to tears.

They progressed through the televised rounds, leaving the show in the semifinals. However, for We Three their time on the show wasn’t about winning, but the opportunity to gain new fans and grow their platform. “The goal was to further our career. That was literally our thought process the whole time. It was like, how can we benefit from this the most?” Manny explains.

They left America’s Got Talent with a debut album and a headline tour ready to go, capitalising on the momentum they’d built. Unanimously, they made the decision to quit their teaching jobs and focus full-time on the band.

Creating music together, each sibling brings a different approach. Joshua is classically trained and can often see the bigger picture, whilst for Manny the act of writing is one of self-discovery. With Bethany acting as middle-ground, the trio create melodic, honest and tender bursts of pop-rock. “There’s really no other feeling I like more than finishing a song,” smiles Manny. “That will give me the biggest high out of anything. I love performing, but when you get that hook in a song or you write that melody, it’s the best feeling in the world for me.”

In June they released the video for “Sara”, a track from their 2019 We’re All Messed Up - But It’s Ok EP. “I’ve been wanting to film a video for Sara for a very long time, but you kind of need a reason to film it,” Manny explains. “We released it a while ago, but then TikTok found it and they just ran with it and it gave us an incentive to film a video.”

Like much of We Three’s music, it’s open and vulnerable, direct and deeply moving. The song and video tackle the issues around self-harm and suicide, with all proceeds going to the non-profit Write Love on Her Arms.

Creating a dialogue around heavy or sensitive subjects is something that’s important to We Three, and Manny credits his mum for his ability to broach such delicate issues. “I think it stems back to how my mum would teach me to emote,” he says. “For me a big thing is when I show someone a song for the first time, I want some of the lyrics and things that I say to make me uncomfortable. I want to feel like, oh, I don’t know if I want them to know that. I think if I don’t do that, I didn’t dive deep enough and there’s more that I should have said. That’s usually a good bench that I try to reach.”

Having been hampered by lockdowns, the recent lifting of restrictions has given We Three the chance to release new videos for past songs and singles. Using the opportunity for renewed creativity, as well as their new following on TikTok, they’ve given much-loved tracks a second lease of life.

Released today, fan-favourite “Half Hearted” gets an official video featuring trapeze artists Duo Transcend with whom they competed during the filming of America’s Got Talent. With a breathtaking routine, performed above the trio as they belt out the dynamic emo-bop, it adds another dimension to the music. “It brought out the emotion in the song without having to be too literal. You just felt it,” smiles Manny. “It was very interesting and difficult to film. There was a lot you had to nail the first time, everything about the take, so it was a little stressful. We’re very proud of the video and excited for people to see it.”

So long as there is opportunity, We Three will bring their creativity, and it’s exciting to see where their journey will lead them next.