MOST OF THE PEOPLE driving on Walnut Boulevard in Brentwood likely never even noticed the strange sign that easily blended into its surroundings, but it left an impression on those who did see it.
It was a simple, white poster taped to a street sign with words written in black ink. It had a similar look to any yard sale sign one might see, but instead of providing an address or a direction, it encouraged people to “Listen to The Happys on YouTube.”
Signs attached to telephone poles or street signs like this one can be found across the Bay Area. And once people notice them, it’s hard not to notice them anymore.
“I saw them on every single post,” recalled Yaritzy Herrera Flores, an 11th grader at Liberty High School in Brentwood. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, are they from here?’”
Herrera Flores isn’t the only one who’s noticed these signs. Checking the comment section of The Happys’ music videos on their YouTube channel shows local people learning about the band through signs posted in San Francisco, Berkeley and Marin County. Some people living as far away as Baltimore and New York City reported seeing similar signs as well.
Although posting handmade signs on street posts seems like a strange way of advertising today, signs like these are really a blast from the past. Former East Bay Times music critic Tony Hicks described his time as a musician in the 1980s in Hollywood, where sidewalks would be completely covered with band flyers.
But in a world where the internet dominates advertising today, physical advertising like flyers and signs used by The Happys have gone from typical to a way to stand out.
“Unless you have somebody who really believes in you and is gonna sell you and put money into you, you have to find ways to sell yourself that other bands aren’t using,” Hicks explained. “One of the oldest tricks in the book is going back to the way things used to be.”
Standing out in the crowd
Signs and flyers have become more common across the board as online advertising has begun to stand out less and less. The New York Times reporter T.M. Brown noted the rise in flyers, whether it be for a celebrity look-alike competition or speed-dating events, in his Oct. 16 article “Have Something to Say? Put It on a Flier.” Flyers have simply become a new, yet old, way to catch people’s eyes.
And The Happys’ signs have clearly caught the eye of many, having a noticeable effect on the popularity of the Bay Area band.
“It’s almost like an American dream,” said The Happys’ lead vocalist and guitarist Nick Petty. “It’s kinda funny.”
Petty, 34, who founded the alternative rock/pop-punk band in 2012, spends time between shows finding wood and other materials to recycle into band signs. He tries to place them in areas with high visibility and sometimes mixes up what they say by changing the signs’ text or color to keep them interesting.
Sometimes the signs tell readers, “Don’t Listen to the Happys” and occasionally those who crossed out the posters would receive a witty comeback through another poster reading something like, “A fascist crossed this out.”
While there’s definitely a comedic element to the signs since they were introduced as a promotional tool in 2019, they’ve been a genuine way to get the ball rolling for the band.
“My dad had passed, and then my mom has diabetes, so I was like, ‘I want to get my music out,’” Petty said about how The Happys’ unique advertising campaign began. “I thought it’d be funny to have garage sales signs for your band.”
Petty’s work with The Happys is greatly influenced by his own life and struggles. He grew up with a dual diagnosis, having ADHD and substance use disorder. He went through the nonprofit Ambassadors of Hope and Opportunity after going to jail because of his addiction to opiates. While he was going through the process of quitting his addiction, Petty was looking for an alternate high to chase, leading to him performing live at open mic events at bars. This was in 2012 when the first seeds of The Happys were planted.
“I wasn’t supposed to play at bars,” Petty said of this time in his life. “The probation officer saw me at a bar and then said it was good for me to play, and that was a big deal for me. That kinda felt like getting signed.”
Three albums showcase unique style
The Bay Area rockers recently released their third album, “Listen to the Happys,” on May 16 and named it after their well-known advertising strategy. Their album cover even pictures one of their signs in front of the Hollywood sign. The band’s debut album, “Trippin” was released in 2016, followed by “ADHD” in 2022.
Although band members have come and gone throughout the years, the band’s lineup since 2021 has remained consistent with Petty as lead vocalist, Brett Brazil on bass, Alex Sanchez on lead guitar, and Eli Smetzer on drums. As the years have passed, the band has developed its unique style.
Petty brings lyrics and his acoustic guitar to practice and begins playing song ideas and snippets, Brazil said. From there, different ideas are developed and put together to make songs. Brazil, who also does recording work for the band, records Petty’s vocals and guitar first before layering on other instruments.
“On the ‘Listen to the Happys’ album we just put out, there were a few songs that we put together like that, where then we had to be like, ‘Okay, well this is the song now. We just structured it,’” Brazil said about the recording process. “All the parts are in there and recorded, and the song’s done, but we had to then go back and learn the song because it changed while we were recording it.”
Besides recording, the band spends a lot of time touring, traveling from city to city in Brazil’s van. He described touring as rewarding, but definitely challenging at times. The four band members have spent months in their touring van, sometimes finishing one show and then immediately driving eight hours to their next one. But he still loves touring and has grown close with his fellow band members over hours of driving.
“It’s definitely an adventure,” Brazil said. “I love waking up in a new city each day, just not your normal routine. I think that’s a fun part of it for me, and getting to meet new people and obviously just be out doing what we’re trying to do across the country.”
After years of playing shows across the country and putting up signs wherever they visited, The Happys have slowly grown in popularity, currently boasting more than 2,500 monthly listeners on Spotify. Some fans have taken it upon themselves to put up their own “Listen to the Happys” signs, some of which have been seen as far away as Australia.
Striving to be happy
Though many signs for The Happys have been taken down, including the one on Walnut Boulevard, many more are put up in their place. Petty has decided to use his influence as part of The Happys to give back to his community and help provide others opportunities he might not have had. He spends time shouting out the Ambassadors of Hope and Opportunity at shows, participating in high school assemblies about addiction, and speaking at the Marin County Jail.
Petty credits the band’s fans along the way for The Happys’ success, but he also acknowledges the importance of his passion for music and finding his niche in putting up signs and giving back to his community. He encourages people to find their own passions, stick with them, and find out what they mean to them just like he did.
“You gotta find meaning to why it means a lot to you, and why you started,” Petty said. “What does you getting up on a stage and striking those chords and having a voice represent? To me, it represents perseverance, perseverance of an underdog, somebody who has mental health issues, and to keep going when things suck. That you’ll have good days and bad days, but strive to be happy.”
Julian Reynoso is an 11th grader at Liberty High School in Brentwood and a CCYJ reporter. He is a layout editor of the school’s newspaper, The Lion’s Roar.
This story originally appeared in CCSpin.