This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What are the things you do to maintain your mental and physical well being while on the road?

Lydia: I like to make sure I connect with people local to the area we are playing- maybe that means reuniting with long distance friends I’ve met through previous shows or making new ones :-)

‍What strain does touring put on your life, if any?

Sebastian: Because we’re all full time working/students we are only scheduling shows on weekends, or dipping into sick days to make a show work. It gets hard (especially when I was in school) because time off is so necessary to not get burned out and traveling and playing shows is the complete opposite…..Hard to get home at midnight on Sunday completely exhausted and then take an exam the next morning…..

Lydia: We are really spoiled and we only do little things we like and all have the time for. We’ve all agreed that we want to still have our own jobs and lives and not make music any kind of full time job. Our shows are a special treat I get to look forward to.

How do you organize and plan finances when they can change so much from month to month in music?

Lydia: My favorite thing is withdrawing all my payouts in cash form and saving it all in a box. I dip into these funds for things like school tuition, care repair etc. It’s the only way I won’t spend it online shopping and it’s satisfying to pencil in my money notebook each earning and each expense.

Some musicians experience a double bind, where they are touring too much to have a reliable day job yet don’t make enough money solely through their music to get by. Have you been in this position? What do you do to make touring feasible for you?

Jake: I am fortunate enough to be able to utilize vacation days at my full-time accounting job for touring. Though it occasionally gets to a point where I have to choose between out of town shows with feeble little horse and another super fun band i play in. Making those choices in order to keep myself in good standing at my place of work is really difficult, and I wish I could put my whole heart into both bands.

Lydia: Right now, I work full time at a daycare in the infant room with my awesome crew of 9 babies. When I’m not there, I’m a private nanny for two pre-school age boys whose family is from China so I am helping them feel comfortable with English and being bilingual. I work at another nursery on Sunday mornings as well. Besides that I do my art business The Asheley Catacombs and sell things I make. I am a student at Chatham with one more semester left! I am earning my bachelor’s degree in studio art this winter and hopefully after that I will get accepted into an MFA program. 

How much do you make off streaming, once the label, and management and everyone is paid out? You don’t have to name the amount, but does it help you? What are your opinions on streaming in general? 

Ryan: We have not made any money from streaming. Being signed to a label, they “advance” all the expenses to release an album and then you don’t see any money until that advance is recouped on their end. This is more an issue of the way releasing music under a label works and not necessarily streaming. I mostly view streaming as a necessary evil in today’s world, but am always interested in how some musicians (ie Cindy Lee) release music in ways that circumvent streaming.

Sebastian: I like streaming…I think it was stupid to give complete power to a few monopolies but I also think streaming has really connected niche artists to all the people around the world who like their music. We all have so much control over what we listen to now its great. I get to find new artists all the time and instantly listen to their whole discography. Like what would I have done 30 years ago? Let my music taste be curated by some radio DJ? Only listen to local bands and artists established enough to get their CD in record stores? The $ is horrible for artists and algorithm shit sucks so bad but the low barrier to entry and the accessibility is amazing.

What existential thoughts or moments have you had on the road? What insights has it produced for you?

Lydia: I just feel so lucky. This really wasn’t a choice for me. I never sat down and thought I would become a musician. I’ve always chosen to be an artist and pursue visual art making no matter what. Somehow I ended up here and I still feel out of place among musicians when it comes to technical abilities and experience. I love to perform though and I love that we can make our songs happen in real life for the people who care most about them.

It’s mind blowing having words I wrote sang back at me by a crowd and to think that these songs are a part of their life in exclusive ways is so strange to think about. I have feared that eventually it will all feel dull and nothing will feel new or special, but then insane shit happens like getting an offer to play Coachella while under the impression your band is history. In the end though, it’s genuinely the people I’m with that make it awesome. My favorite thing is always friends.

Jake: Though it means so much to me that our music leaves a positive impact on some people, it’s not everything. To me, societal worth is based upon how I treat other humans and the impact I leave on the world. And the end of it all, it doesn’t matter how many records you sell, just be a good person.

How can we as a society make the music industry better?

Ryan: I am not 100% sure what impact this would have, but I think having universal healthcare in the United States would greatly benefit musicians and people pursuing creative fields generally. Pursuing music full time, especially for folks who don’t come from a super wealthy background is often committing to being under/uninsured for a fairly indefinite period of time.

Sebastian: We have no power…we can do nothing…the only people who can fix it are the ones making the money….

Describe a moment when you felt like you “made it” - whatever that means! 

Lydia: When I got a cobrasnake photo at the Praying party in LA with Ash and Alex from Julie and we stormed the Coachella Valley together.

What’s a tour memory that was scary or bad in the moment, but you can laugh about now? 

Lydia: Me Jake and Seb almost completely missing our flight back home from LA…

Stress and Bliss. What are they for you while touring? 

Lydia: Stress: Right before the show is horrible it’s the worst feeling in the world. I get very nervous.

Bliss: Right after the show talking to everybody and especially when I get a trinket gift.

‍What is your recording process like? 

Lydia: Sebastian builds me a blanket fort to sing inside! and we unplug the fridge. 

Sebastian: We do all our recording ourselves for as little $ as we can. Because we’re usually in a bedroom or living room i put blankets everywhere to soak up all the sound and record 1 just instrument at a time. Its probably also probably why we all sing so quietly - We made an ep and most of an album before we played our first live show so we’re all just used to keeping it low. 

Jake: Hit the drums super quiet, sorcerer Seb will make them sound phat after.

Favorite recording tools that you use? 

Ryan: I really like the Ableton instrument “Simpler”. It allows you to take a sample of something, say an instrument or voice and chop it up and sample it in cool and interesting ways.

Jake: I cut up an old drum head and place it on top of the snare, it makes it sound so cute.

What’s the most special moment you've had recording? That sort of “ah ha!” moment. 

Sebastian: Probably my biggest "ah ha" was for our song "chores" - we recorded the vocals in Pittsburgh and later when I opened up the file at home to mix it I saw that I had left the mic recording while we were all talking after the last take. During it, Lydia says this crazy “Sorry!” and I was like oh fuck….why would that be perfect in this empty spot right after the chorus…dragged it over and it just was instantly awesome.