What is your recording process like?

Since we record ourselves entirely, the writing and recording processes are one and the same. Most often though, a song is usually about capturing some pressing thing in my life.

I think a big piece of why I feel so neurotic all the damn time is that I want to do things so fully, so extensively and intentionally that I constantly feel consumed and overly activated. I’m always trying to figure out how to be more in this shit, but the more I think about it and form theories, the further I probably get from knowing. Sometimes I can feel like I have way more thoughts than I should, or maybe more than what's within the healthy range, median, or mode. It feels like two hundred people are living in my brain, all crammed in and elbowing each other.

Songmaking is the main way I try to siphon out the noise of everyone yelling up there. At best, it unifies them. At second best, it temporarily quiets them enough for me to decipher a few of the prevailing voices. I desperately transcribe their messages and see how it all fits on me. But our recording process is always modulating according to how we feel, with everyone bringing their own interpretation and meaning to the sentiment of the song.

How do you replenish your creative energy?

I'm learning that often the best option is to take space. The more connected I am to my own internal clock, the more present I can be when a song comes around. That includes rest, moving through emotions that can feel a bit inconvenient, or being around people who comfort or inspire or challenge me.

Another thing that helps me is to not get too attached to any particular idea. When you can just write things and let go of the outcome entirely, you'll stumble onto your favorite ideas, probably.

Occasionally a very small dose of psilocybin is something to try as well.

Why do you create?

1/2 to figure myself out and 1/2 to connect with others.

Being isolated when composing, writing a record, or just being on a computer in general is weird. What do you do to work through those mental challenges?

I can enjoy being pretty isolated at times and have some hang-ups I'm working on there. A lot of my friends gently remind me that I need to leave the cave more.

When we're deep in album mode I do make an effort to let the sun hit my face, write in the journal, play fetch with the cat. But I feel very alive existing in that particular mad scientist kind of torment, feeling so consumed by singing poltergeists.

How do you move past the anxiety that your societal worth is placed on your production?

I try not to hold onto anxiety about that part because I deeply care about and love what I'm making. We end up reinventing ourselves a million times throughout our lives and it's best not to listen to anyone else's idea of what you're doing. Of course, some people won't like what you're doing, and that becomes freeing to realize in a particular way.

It gets muddy because obviously, having a successful record translates into better income which translates into greater freedom. But one of my friends, talented engineer and producer Judybelle Camangyan, pointed out recently that it's not about making everyone your fan. It's about moving authentically through your work and making it available to the right people–the people who are going to genuinely connect with your records, whether or not they're deemed sparkly and golden by everybody else.

How do you deal with the sometimes intense transition from the stimulation of touring to come home to sometimes no commitments?

Honestly, I'm almost always really excited to be in cleaner, quieter, greener pastures. Noor and I were just talking about how fun it is to write songs on tour, though. So a lot of the time I jump into getting ideas we had at soundcheck recorded.

What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about touring for you?

Performing and getting to connect with Familarky at our shows is one of the most meaningful parts of my life. But on a sillier note, another favorite is making stories with my bandmates. We play a lot of make-believe games that wind up as deeply important lore, with long-spanning characters and plot lines we carry with us everywhere.

In terms of my least favorite part, I have mild scoliosis so back pain is something that usually happens on long drives. I could do without that </3

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

We had an entire tour where we were supporting Slow Pulp in an urgently failing van. Rolling backward down hills in San Francisco because it couldn't make it up...We broke down in the desert between California and Texas, and a man named Wrecker ended up towing the van, so we rented an SUV to get to Austin. Wrecker helped us get our abandoned van repaired on the cheap, keeping in touch with us along the way. We easily could've been scammed but the kindness of strangers prevailed.

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

There was a couple who came out to a show recently. They told us they had their first date at one of our shows a while ago and that they were about to get married! Their song is You Make Me Smile so I was pretty misty during the song, watching them dancing, so in love. It's hard to imagine a song you made having that much meaning to a pair of people you don't know. As far as I'm concerned, I've made it based on that show alone.