Tell us about the genesis of your project. How did you get to where you are now?
Our project called, “Loud Forest,” comes from a few years of recording out of our recording space in Pasadena CA. Bernard and I (Rachel) are married and music collaborators. We have two daughters, their existance inspires our projects, our drive, our creativity. We are studio rats! We have a lot of desire to write, compose, and create music, art and performances. We just keep doing that, and I guess that’s how we got to where we are now.
How many hours a day do you spend making music?
Bernard probably somewhere around an obsessive 4 or 5 hours a day. Rachel’s kind of a diva – she swings in to record, write and compose once a week.
Who are your all time musical icons?
Bob Dylan, Mavis Staples, Neil Young, Lauryn Hill, Rosetta Tharpe, Radiohead, Wilco
What are some things to do to keep your inspiration alive?
We write together – we write alone – we write music and collaborate with friends. We travel. We play shows. All of these things keep our inspiration alive.
Who are you binge listening to these days?
HER, Cautious Clay, Kacey Musgraves, Dua Lipa, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday, Justin Beiber, Cage the Elephant, Black Pumas
Tell us about your latest release and how it came about
We just released a remix of our song, “Costa Rica.” This remix comes from a song off our 3rd album, “Seventeen.” We recorded that album right before the pandemic, and had some amazing sessions with the full band in our studio. The song, “Costa Rica” which tells about our love story, ended up on the album as a very electronic pop mix – so the desire for this remix was to showcase the energy of our band – live in our studio – rock drums and guitars all over the place! Our studio in Pasadena is kind of an experimental space for art and music – and this remix really captures that vibe for us.
What’s the future looking like for you?
We are about to release a 4th album! It’s pretty much done, so we’re pretty pumped about that. We’re gearing up to release a few singles, hopefully play some shows (fingers crossed), travel a bit and of course keep writing.
Who inspires your style and aesthetics?
We are inspired by fashion, pop aesthetics, color and playfulness with image/text etc. We design our own stuff. Bernard’s grad work is in fine art, so he designs a lot of our images, photo shoots, and album designs.
When is the time you feel the most satisfied and accomplished with your work ?
Everytime we release an album – there’s this sentiment of great achievement. The work that goes into it is so intense, that it’s such a beautiful release to put our art out there.
What is your advice for aspiring artists that want to achieve what you achieved?
Work a little bit everyday. Don’t judge your work – create judgement free space to be creative and express yourself. Don’t quit your day job. Don’t pour everything in to social media – find other ways to get your music out there. Be creative on a small scale – reach out to super fans and spoil them!
What would you change in the music and entertainment industry today?
I think I would love to take social media out of the equation. Followers, number of listens, number of listeners… All these algorithms seem to take the joy and creativity out of the game. Making art so competitive with these numbers is a buzzkill on so many levels.
