Runaway June Reveals Story Behind ‘Buy My Own Drinks’

Runaway June’s latest single, “Buy My Own Drinks,” is rapidly climbing up the charts. The song, from their upcoming self-titled EP, was written by bandmates Jennifer Wayne, Naomi Cooke and Hannah Mulholland, along with hit songwriters Hillary Lindsey and Josh Kear.

“That was the first time we’d all been in the room together,” Wayne tells PopCulture.com of writing the song. “So you never quite know how it’s going to go. But Josh came in with the title and he was like, ‘I’ve had this title bouncing around and I don’t really know what it could be yet.’ So he threw out ‘Buy My Own Drinks,’ and of course having four other girls in the room we were like, ‘Yes, we want to write that.’

“We were pretty careful when we were writing it because we wanted it to be really empowering but we wanted it to be inclusive of everybody where it’s like, she’s just on her own self-love journey,” she continues. “She doesn’t need her friends, she doesn’t need a guy, she doesn’t need anybody, she’s just happy being herself. And I think that’s something that hopefully a lot of people can relate to at some point, finally getting comfortable in your own skin.”

The three women, who met as songwriters, knew right away that it was going to be a hit.

“That was a really fun write,” Wayne shares. “We had a lot of fun writing that one and then started performing it. I think just a few weeks after we wrote it, we performed it for the first time and got such a great reaction. So we even skipped the demo session, we were like, ‘Let’s just go straight and cut it and record it for the album.’ It was on the fast track, that song.”

Runaway June’s debut single, “Lipstick” cracked the Top 30, but the trio try not to pay too much attention to what position songs hit on the charts – at least not any more.

“This is our third single,” says Wayne. “The first single you can quite literally drive yourself crazy to where you’re not enjoying it anymore. But it is also a hard line for us because this is our life, our entire life. You can get really wrapped up in the numbers game but I think for us three, we’ve been on the road so much. It really is significant to our growth and who we’ve become, and seeing that a number ten or a number two or number 22 doesn’t really matter to your audience.

“If they know your song and they’re singing it back and they have the energy and they’re feeling the vibe, that’s what it’s all about,” she adds. “It takes a little time to see that. It takes really being out there with them performing for them and spending time with them to see that getting wrapped up in a numbers game. There are so many huge songs that never went No. 1. It’s out of your control.”

“‘Lipstick’” went to 25 and that was a learning experience,” Mulholland chimes in. “That’s how we end our shows and crowds sing it back to us. It’s a fun moment for us where people wait for that song to come up, and it was a No. 25.”

Runaway June’s EP will be out on September 7, while they work on their first full-length record, which they promise will be out before they join Carrie Underwood on her Cry Pretty Tour 360 next May. Find all of their music and concert dates at RunawayJune.com.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Rick Diamond