Imagine living 20 minutes from the beach. For Hawai, that's just every day life. Performing together since they were teenagers, the indie-pop group has grown up side by side. After teaming up with producer Lars Stalfors, their EP, Working All Night, took shape. We had the chance to catch up with vocalist/guitarist Jake Pappas to talk about the band's early days, their EP and what's coming up in 2017.

Hometown: Orange County / Los Angeles

What's the story behind the band name?

We've always liked the idea that the state of Hawaii represents this idea of paradise and good vibes. So we wanted our band to reflect that. But our printing company charges us by the letter, so being money conscience, we had to drop an "I" to save some money.

You started out playing together as teens. How do you feel like you've improved as musicians and as HAWAI since then?

We're learning new things musically everyday. I think we are always trying to push each other to be better. When I listen back to older music of ours, I notice that we've made our songs easier to understand now.

How has SoCal influenced your sound?

Location and climate have a lot of influence. We all grew up less then 20 minutes from the ocean, and now we all live within walking distance from it. So I think that closeness to something so massive and powerful comes out in our music subconsciously.