Why do you create? 

John: Partially for the joy of connecting disparate ideas and influences through our own work, partially to continue challenging ourselves, but mostly to have something cool to share with the people in our lives.

Ren: For me, it is usually for the excitement of contributing to something bigger. Making something is a lot like large-scale gift-giving for me.

How do you deal with writer's block or creative slumps?

Ren: For me, slumps are a part of the process! Time away from the creative process is a necessary evil - Almost like an information-gathering phase. I have to go out and think, or spend some time not thinking at all to return with something substantial to say. On top of that, I recognize the importance of a “muse” in writing, so to speak. Most times I sit in front of the piano or stare at the DAW, what comes out on the other side of time is dogshit. Every once in a while though, if the weather is right, If love is in the air, and if I show up to at least try, Something will come down from the sky and seed the air with that fabled songwriting magic you often hear about. All I have to do is develop the routines to be there at the right time. And if I'm not, I can either chase that magic through the streets or wait for it to come around again! Often, being a working individual, it's the latter. 

Josie: If I’m in a bad creative slump, I find it’s usually because I’m neglecting something else. As an artist I think it’s valuable sometimes to take a step back, clean your apartment, eat a big meal and go to sleep. The song will still be there tomorrow!

Who are you listening to currently that inspires you?

John: DJ E by Chuquimamani-Condori hasn’t left rotation since it came out; Elysia Crampton’s work in general has a level of vision and aesthetic commitment that I deeply admire. Always down for anything released on QTV too.

Ren: Wanted to second Elysia Crampton for me as well! In terms of recent releases, I’ve been loving the new Kim Gordon and Tyla records. Unfortunately, I’ve been listening to an amorphous glob of Pop Country too. Art is all around us, even if it comes in sponsor-secured Ariat boots.

Favorite recording tools that you use?

John: I love anything that emphasizes the artifice of a recording - I stretched out the vocals on the 2nd chorus of Figure Drawing as far as Ableton would let me, froze the audio from that, and squished the audio back down leaving all the stretch artifacts intact.

Ren: 2 shouts. 1) The Voice Memos application. I am an obsessive self-archivist. I’ve been cursed with the type of creativity that has boundary issues so, often songs will come to me and I am not in a place or situation to see them through. I have to get an idea in the mist net before it flies away. I’ll record a million little melodies, lyrics, production ideas; what have you, and pull from them throughout the writing process. Because I’m working, I try to collect as many as I can for when I have the time and capacity to put them into something more than some close-mic’d mumbles. 

2) MIDI and for the same reason as before. I’m lucky to get into our studio space once a week, so often I find myself writing just on my laptop on a fifteen, or at home away from my toolset. Piecing together all the harmony in MIDIi makes it a ton easier to go back and make edits If I can’t get to an interface indefinitely. 

What rituals do you have before sitting down to create?

John: The best way I can set myself up for success before opening a session is by having my cat in my lap.

Ren: Firstly, I like to go into every session with a plan. Even as vague as “I want to make a song that is fast (etc.)” just so I don’t hit the deck and flop around waiting for somebody to throw me back into the water. At a minimum, I ideally have something to see to some sort of an end. Next up, I like to drink a fuck ton of coffee and then pre-game listen to a bunch of music that inspires me. Something I’ve struggled with in the past is wanting to walk the same bridge back and forth across different project files, so opening up my palette via some other songs across genre helps me to “warm up” and access different patterns of thinking I wouldn’t usually access if say, I had only been listening to the Tekken 4 soundtrack and a DnD podcast that week.