Tell us about the genesis of your project. How did you get to where you are now?
Mike and I had been in various projects in the LA music scene, we’d known each other for years but one day things just lined up for us to do a project together. One of our first demo ‘babies’ we had together was our song “Year Of Self”, which I immediately connected with and knew we could make all kinds of babies together. Our long time collaborator and producer Matt Bishop entered the picture not long after and it’s been magic ever since.
What is the favorite song you wrote and why?
It varies widely but “Dead Weight” feels really pertinent right now. The tune opens with “my dear, how do we survive the teeth of this modern life?”
When it was written I was struggling with anxieties and fighting off a general depressive spirit reading the (any) news. Making the song was cathartic in dumping all those anxieties into art… well today the news hasn’t gotten any easier to read, and the expression of “Dead Weight” still helps qualm the madness in the mind a little.
Who are your all time musical icons?
There are too many, but I always admire artists that can keep evolving and inspiring throughout the years.. Peter Gabriel and Tom Waits come to mind, they’ve been able to keep challenging themselves and making interesting work through decades.
What are some things to do to keep your inspiration alive?
That’s the eternal trick question for any artist isn’t it.. I think staying in touch with what you’re going through is really important. Meaning what your day to day thoughts are–not just the super exciting and inspirational stuff but the difficult things creeping in your mind. It may seem counterintuitive to dip into the dark recesses in one’s head but your mind andwant to process that, it’s easy to be high on a great song or film, but I think it’s incredibly important to process inner questions and struggles in some form through your art.
Who are you binge listening to these days?
I love SiR’s Chasing Summer. It came out in 2019 but it’s still a regular on my week to week, which is a testament to how solid the tracks are. I feel like people sleep on that record but SiR’s one of my favorite LA artists, really low key R&B pop tunes that are so well written and creative.
Tell us about your latest release and how it came out?
The pandemic hit in the middle of recording this new EP. After the shock wore off we decided to finish it and bubbled ourselves with producer Matt Bishop in his studio. It was a peculiar silver lining because as the world around us got really serious, we had nothing to do but dive in and get lost in the music, and man it was actually a beautiful experience–an oasis of much needed joy… it was a strange dichotomy. A big theme in this new EP is about navigating through chaos and turmoil, it was all written pre-pandemic but it felt even more relevant as we were recording the music.
What’s the future looking like for you?
We have another new single coming out next month, “U-Turn”. We’re really excited because we got to work with fellow musician Caroline Kingsbury, she’s amazing and brought so much to the track with her powerful singing style. Our full new EP will be coming out August 20th and if I may say so myself, it’s beautiful music.
What do you think is the best way to make it as an artist these days?
Good question, let me know if you guys figure it out 🙂
