Push Ups is a Brooklyn-based emo-rock band led by Grey Li, who handles nearly every aspect of the project. The band debuted last year with Push Ups Was Here, an EP that channels the raw, grunge-tinged sound of, say, Superheaven’s depraved emo-rock intonation contextualized by the self-seriousness of the modern shoegaze revival.
Li’s musical journey started in Oregon, where he formed early musical connections, notably with longtime collaborator Harry Teardrop. Although Li initially pursued film at Columbia College Chicago, his passion for music remained constant. After moving to New York, he immersed himself in the city’s underground indie-rock scene, ultimately forming Push Ups circa 2022 with a floating cast of band members.
After one of his DJ sets at Old Flings, I chatted with Li, delighted by his sleazy, snappy track selections — an array of 21st-century indie regalia peppered with dance-pop hits. Li touches upon on the fluid nature of Push Ups’ identity and the evolving influences that have shaped their music. There’s also a subtle pushback against current musical trends, as Push Ups seems to resist easy categorization, justifiably so.
SW: There’s not a lot made public concerning where you came from or how you got into music initially, right? So how were you first introduced to music? I know you’ve been playing since the age of nine.
GL: That’s true. I tried to start a band with my friends in elementary school when I was living in Oregon but I was the only one who took up lessons. The rest of them didn’t since it was just a fun idea for them, but it was serious for me… and then around the same time, Harry [Teardrop] and I also started playing music. We took lessons together in Oregon and then throughout the rest of our childhood, and adolescence, we would always be playing music together, and now we’re still playing.
SW: And Harry is your bandmate and collaborator. How did you both reunite in New York City? Did you always know that you were going to?
GL: No. He’s younger than me. I graduated college first and then when I graduated, I was kind of lost. I was either going to move to LA or New York. I was living in Orange County at the time, and Harry was living out here, and he was just like, “Why don’t you move to New York?” and so I did.
SW: What were you studying? Where did you graduate from?
GL: I studied film originally, funny enough. I went to Columbia College Chicago, and when I first moved here [to New York] I was freelancing film, but was always involved in the music scene too. I’ve always been playing for Harry’s band, doing music videos, or doing press photos so I was always tapped in. Push Ups started about a year ago but I began writing songs two years ago, and then we got a chance to record and put out our EP last May.
SW: And who would you say your musical influences are, past and present?
GL: In elementary school, it was Fall Out Boy… my friends were obsessed with Fall Out Boy at the time, and that’s what got us to want to start a band. Now I love The Get Up Kids, and Elliot Smith is a huge influence. At the Drive-In is another band that I love. So I’d say those are our biggest influences.
SW: Your debut EP Push Ups Was Here is reportedly “about navigating different relationships in a city of extremes like New York City.”
GL: That’s not really what it’s about. That was just something punchy that that interview needed, they just needed something to kind of sum it up. Now, in hindsight, it’s just a collection of songs, and so there is no theme. The theme is Push Ups… we’re a band, and people should know about us.
SW: I was wondering what your relationship with New York City is. Having lived here for, I don’t know how many years.
GL: Don’t get me wrong, living in New York, and being partly from here, definitely influences the music. It influences the things we sing about but the biggest thing for us now is that people are obsessed with putting New York in a box. They want to say New York is “indie sleaze” or whatever, and that’s always what it’s been. But that’s not true. Every kind of genre has come out of New York and we are influenced by a lot of bands from New York that people just don’t talk about right now. Texas Is the Reason is from New York – a great emo band. Taking Back Sundays is from Long Island. Those are the bands that we want to champion more in terms of there being a ‘New York sound.’ So in reaction to indie sleaze and shit, I guess, is our relationship too.
SW: So Push Ups is a response?
GL: Not intentionally.. but those are just the bands we listen to.
SW: And how would you define the genre of Push Ups?
GL: Just emo rock… like emo, but in a rock way. A lot of people do emo in a screamo way, or like emo in an indie way. We’re kind of emo in a rock way, but we’re also indie because we’re not signed.
SW: I know some of your listeners were a little disgruntled that “Uniform” was removed from all streaming services. Is there a reason why?
GL: I was just tired of that being our biggest song. I mean you got to think, I put out a song and I didn’t think anything of it. It somehow caught fire, and it’s still my biggest song. I put it up under a new name [grey’s anatomy], and that artist project has 10,000 more monthly listeners than Push Ups does. I have no idea what that’s about, but it’s one singular song and that’s the only song that they’re gonna ever get from that project or that sound. I took it down originally, but too many people were missing that song, so I put it back up under a different name.
SW: Pertaining to your new sound, you have a new song “Bleeding Thin.” What would you describe it as? Is it a part of a project, or is it a single?
GL: It’s part of a double-sided single. We put out “Trachea” a couple of weeks ago. That’s just one side to the double-sided single we’re putting out. It’s a single, but it’s two songs, And I would just describe [Bleeding Thin] as a bittersweet two-minute banger. It’s a short song.
SW: The Trachea music video was your first music video ever. What was the process? And what was the inspiration, or vision, for that video?
GL: There wasn’t a ton of vision or preparation honestly. This dude Evan Akins – he’s a college student – and I saw one of his videos a while ago. I always thought he was talented, and when it was time to start putting out these next two songs, he was the first person I asked to do the video. He honestly created it from scratch. The only reference I gave him was the “Dirty Little Secret” video [by The All-American Rejects] because, in that video, they have title cards that people are holding up. That was the only thing.
SW: What’s next for you in the upcoming year?
GL: We’re dropping “Bleeding Thin” and there’s going to be a music video with that. And then we’re doing our first LA show in October, and then we’re doing two, possibly three, Tokyo shows in October also. After that, we might have a Market Hotel show coming up. Other than that, we’re just writing.
SW: You’re the main writer?
GL: I’m the main writer, singer, and lyricist. I did everything for these six songs that we have. But we might start writing more as a group. It depends on everyone’s schedule and how invested people are because all my other bandmates have other bands. So it just depends… I would love to write more as a group.
SW: How do you choose your bandmates? They’re not necessarily just your bandmates, more so your friends would you say?
GL: They’re my homies. Harry’s like my brother so that was a no-brainer. And then Aiden [Yobear], I played a show with his band, The Dallas Cowboys, with Harry two years ago. I always knew that he played drums and when it was time to start playing live shows for Push Ups, he was the first person I asked. He’s been with us since the beginning. As far as the live act goes, he’s just the best. I love that guy. Getting to know him through playing together has been super gratifying.