Interview by Emily Elhaj

Welcome to Southern California. What prompted your move to Los
Angeles? First observations?

I’m really just trying to be on the road less, so it just seems like the best place to write and collaborate more, I guess? It also helps that the weather here is completely photoshopped. First observation is that everyone is rich and hot and no one ever seems to be working.

Each of your albums has a strong narrative and you seem either reinvented or evolved with each release. Are these developed characters or just natural progressions of a more personal kind?

Yeah, I guess the theater nerd in me takes over when I make an album because I love when it feels like you’ve stepped into a little movie. But I also love just hearing songs, too. [It] just depends how I’m feeling.

I’ll sometimes use storytelling devices with characters and scenes and stuff like that, but the material always comes from personal experiences. The latest album is more straightforward though. I was doing more writing in real time about what I was going through, though there are definitely storytelling devices in it. At the end of the day that’s really what I am, just a story teller.

If you were introducing your records as if they were people, how would you describe LONER, Superstar?

Haha, that’s a good question! LONER would be the devilish teenager looking to prank someone, Superstar would be one of the contestants in Drop Dead Gorgeous, and The Art of Forgetting would be the heartbroken loverboy reading poetry on the lawn.

The Art of Forgetting album art was nominated for a Grammy. You mentioned the idea began with a photo by Monica Murray, could you describe that photo and also how your parents help your creative decisions?

Monica came to visit me at some point when she was on a road trip. She’s a photographer so she always has her camera and this time had some rare film. There were about 8 of these so we thought it might be nice to try and use them to just perfect one shot. I had this red velvet chair in my living room where I’d sit and write, drink my coffee in the morning, do my little meditations -- it was my special place. In typical thespian fashion I couldn’t just sit there like a normal person, so I stripped down to my undies, put on a fur coat and poured myself a glass of wine. We got the most stunning photo after about 6 tests, it was really something. It didn’t really capture the entire vibe of the album, so when we recreated it two years later -- including a realistic facsimile of my living room -- I thought it would be more fitting to be blindfolded while the house was burning around me. I find it darkly comedic, which is my vibe.

My parents are both really talented visual artists, so it’s really helpful to have them around. My dad made book covers at a publishing house and my mom did layouts for many years, so they have really detailed knowledge of typeface and layout, how ink translates to different types of paper, things like this. My mom does the layouts and type [for] all my records. It was actually her idea to travel up to Montreal to make sure the color was correct before they printed all the sleeves. It happened to me once where the jacket hue was printed wrong, and it’s basically eaten away at me ever since so, like a true psycho, I will always travel to check the print now.

Does your architecture background inform your music?

Honestly, probably not. It does bring me a lot of joy designing things though. I’ll design object files for things, like one time I couldn’t find the right size housing for a midi pickup on my guitar, so I made one in Sketchup and had it 3D printed at some guy’s house I found on Craigslist. Things like that are really helpful to be able to do. I’m hoping to 3D print a house design within the next few years.

You have a North American tour planned in 2024, could you describe what the orchestral collaboration with The Metropolis Ensemble will be like? Will these arrangements by Lena Simon appear elsewhere on your tour?

I haven’t worked with Metropolis before but I know they put on really interesting, unique shows so, I think it’s going to be really stunning. Lena is doing such an incredible job, I feel like I barely have to describe an idea and she is already finishing my thought. She has experience with writing composition so it seems to be a really fun way for her to flex those muscles. I’m hoping once we get some shows under our belt we can try doing some pop-up performances here and there but, for now, it’s just the 3 performances at the beginning of the tour.

On previous tours for Art of Forgetting you had an elaborate light and projection show. Could you talk about what went into designing, setting up, and performing with a synchronized lighting concept?

I had made this design based on an old theater trick called “the reveal effect” using a loose-weave fabric called scrim. It allows you to throw a projection onto it, but if the stage is dark and a figure is lit up behind the fabric it will look as though the figure appears out of nowhere. It’s really cool and, surprisingly, no one has really done this in the music world! It takes quite a lot to pull off with a very small crew and no LD though. It took me a long time to research and design because there are so many things to consider -- the frames have to be lightweight and durable enough to withstand the road, the scrim has to be the correct weave or else you won’t be able to see my bandmates standing behind it, every stage has different dimensions so you need to take that into account for setup each night, as well as consider the projector’s throw, plus (!) all of this can get very expensive so obviously budget is a major concern.

My bandmate, Glenn Van Dyke, was pretty much the one who convinced me we could do it. She and I tested the different fabrics, projectors and lenses, and she was the one who became our A/V tech. [She] set up the projectors and projection mapped them to the screens, in addition to performing in the show every night. It was a massive amount of work and she really did an incredible job. If you need a brilliant A/V tech, hire Glenn! The lighting design was by me and John Foresman and programmed by John, who also pulled off a hail mary of work. Glenn programmed the projections, then all of it was triggered by clips in our Ableton show file built by my Ableton guru Alberto Chapa, which also houses all of my sampler instruments I built at home.

On the topic of touring - ticketing fees, merch cuts, and tour-burnout are a few common and generally unsavory industry topics. Could you talk about your experience with each?

Yeah, I mean people burnout from touring because we are straight up not seen as people but rather as profit -- by corporations, by labels, by venues, the list goes on. We get robbed in plain sight and we get robbed in the fine print of our contracts. We are the backbone of this industry yet, we are guaranteed no health insurance, retirement plans, or benefits of any kind other than an unripe green room avocado with no knife to cut it... Which, laughably, still comes out of our paycheck.

There are old laws in place that make it difficult for us to properly organize or unionize. It sets us apart from other creative industries like film and TV, where they are fighting not just for the most basic rights but also for the security required to one day own a house, start a family, or retire. Things like this are out of the question in the music industry unless you strike gold and make enough to invest elsewhere, outside of the industry.

We hear constant stories of artists having to cancel tours due to mental health struggles because all of this is a lot to have to manage. Not to mention, once you’re on the road the schedule is grueling and there are few resources at your disposal to keep your mind right. It’s hard out here and I think we need to talk about all this more because everyone still thinks we’re out here having a blast partying every night. Those days in the industry are so, so over.

You are a strong vocalist, how do you maintain a healthy routine and voice?

Oh God, I feel like I just started taking care of my voice because I had to! I got diagnosed with Muscle Tension Dysphonia a week before we started touring The Art of Forgetting. It was so scary and soooo stressful. All of a sudden my voice just couldn’t do really basic things I’ve always done effortlessly. I’m still on the mend but I warm up my voice religiously now and try to be mindful about my posture and how I’m carrying myself when I speak or sing. I also have this really nerdy necklace with a singing straw on it that everyone thinks is either a very discreet vape pen or a coke straw.

‍I couldn't help but feel pulled to make a connection with you vocally to Kate Bush. Even her collaboration with a Bulgarian Trio felt in line with your "Love/Lover/Friend" track. Maybe even The Roches felt like a kinship. Thoughts? What are some tracks that inspire you vocally (i.e. vocal harmonies, a capella singing groups, etc.).

Y’know, no one has ever compared me to Kate Bush ever and I’m kind of offended by that!! I love her, thank you. I only know The Roches by that one song that Spotify always suggests when you make any playlist with an acoustic guitar on it. You know the one I’m talking about.

And you better believe I have a whole reference playlist I used for vocals - (Spotify link) The Bulgarian influence is pretty obvious on The Art of Forgetting, but there are some others I was really inspired by, like the percussive range of vocalists like Yma Sumac, Sheila Chandra, and Sussan Deyhim who create an incredibly diverse sound palette using their voices. Others like the Gregorian and Georgian singers are more melodic or textural influences. I find all of it so beautiful and interesting!

What do you anticipate are areas you'd like to explore sonically that you haven't yet?

Luckily, I still love writing and making music, I think I will do that part for a while longer. Y’know, to be honest, I’m in this phase of wanting to just write songs and maybe put out a record of plain ol’ songs. I need my life to feel like water for a little while and then maybe I can go back to making more complex albums and putting on more intricately produced shows.

Contemporary music you enjoy or are currently listening to?

I’m listening to the latest James Blake record literally as I write this and it’s very good. I’ve also been listening to King Krule, Yaya Bey, Jessy Lanza, Tirzah, Sir Chloe and Lucinda Williams. There are a bunch of bands out of Vermont making absolutely bonkers music. Greg Freeman, Robber Robber, Lily Seabird, and Dari Bay.

Live shows you've seen recently you've enjoyed?‍

I saw Arooj Aftab, Shazhad Ismailey, and Vijay Iyer at the Ford recently and everything about it was stunning. The opener Zsela was a perfect addition. I loved the whole night, start to finish.