Amongst other musical commonalities, you both seem to share an affinity for trip-hop. Who are your three essential trip-hop acts?

Bre: Correct … Trip-hop is my passion, thank you for asking. Portishead is obviously the most quintessential, best to ever do it, etc. and Massive Attack close behind, but I’m going to throw Bowery Electric in there too—very much underrated imo. Honorable mentions to Sneaker Pimps, Puracane, and Akira Yamaoka because I can’t just do three, sorry!

Shaun: Portishead, DJ Shadow, Team Sleep.

You are inspired by all these different lanes in music—dreampop, electronica, trip-hop, Britpop—so, when you are making music, do you often find yourself feeling conscious about genre, or does it all kind of meld naturally together?

Shaun: No I never think about that. It’s all about trusting our intuition, and if it feels right—it is right.

Bre: All of these influences are just swirling around in my head at all times, and they each take turns popping up to the surface but it’s never really intentional. It’s like a perpetual stew I’ve been brewing my whole life but with songs in my brain…

Upon finishing a project where a lot of the material delves into heavy subject matter, do you tend to feel emotionally drained? Or do you feel as if a weight has been lifted?

Bre: The process of writing and recording a heavier/darker song is often really draining for me and can be difficult to even get through, but once the song is released I’m completely free of all of it. It’s subconsciously a very healing process for sure.

Shaun: I feel proud, but not relieved. There’s always something around the bend…

How do you go about developing ideas together while living in different cities? How does that influence the way you shape and build ideas, and turn them into songs and albums?

Shaun: I think we just trust our intuition. We dig into things we’re interested in, have really high standards, and trust in each other’s gut feelings about what we’re making. Living in separate places allows us to each have our own unique take on the project, and I think the duality of that process is what keeps it fresh and exciting. We don’t ever pick apart or overanalyze what we’re working on, we just let it happen and do what feels right and that’s worked so far.

What are some things outside of music that influence or inspire you, whether aesthetically or artistically?

Shaun: Addiction, video games, love, mental illness, Magic: The Gathering.

Bre: Hope, grief, my connection to reality (or lack thereof), exoplanets, nature, and yes, video games.

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