Sam: New things are starting to take shape, but how do you feel when you look back on your debut? I feel like that’s the weird thing about the process. We tend to look back at the last thing and think, “Maybe that was bullshit,” or maybe it wasn’t. [laughs].
Nina: I mean, I love it so much that I wouldn’t want to do it again. Jeff was basically in charge of most of the instrumental playing, and it was a very simple interaction, very easy and flowing. It was so great that I wouldn’t change anything. There was a part of me that was worried that the new band would sound like a completely different band, but I don’t think that’s actually the case. I think the first record sounds like a great introduction to what it eventually evolved into.
Jeff: I agree with everything Nina said, and I love that record. At first we did it remotely, but this time we did it all in one studio with the two band members we wanted. The first one was more of a joint project, something Nina and I had to do to keep us from going crazy.
Right after Kenan passed away, I started sending songs to Nina to keep her busy and distract her, and I don’t think we even had any intention of becoming a band until after that. I had this guitar that her grandfather had given me in his will, and I connected it to an old Traynor amp that was a wedding gift to her grandfather. When I plugged it in, it had a weird old tone and started playing some kind of cinematic Spaghetti Western style sound. When I send Nina her stuff, she usually sends it back the same day, and I thought, “Are we a band?”
Sam: That’s amazing. It feels like a lot of projects started during the pandemic but never really took off, which really seems like a coincidence. Nina, this is a quick question, but how do you approach writing lyrics?
Jeff: She climbed into the wooden boat and the water flared up.
Nina: it’s true [laughs]. I try not to write dark content, but I really love that kind of content. I like ugly subjects and try to make something nice out of such stories. It’s difficult to talk about the process. What Jeff brought to me was very easy because he conjured up these visuals. And I was able to live in those landscapes. When I’m writing a song on guitar, I often start with one word and piece the rest around it.
Jeff: I think some of the songs on this record are almost sunny. For example, here’s “Move Away Towns.” bonnie and clyde type of thing. “Death of Money” might be the same. There are some more upbeat songs on this record that aren’t just about exorcising demons and such. I mean, some of them are quite heavy.
Nina: I’m trying not to lose hope completely. Because when I write like that, I almost end up wallowing in agony and feeling sorry for myself. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but I always want to have a sunny space there. It’s hard to know how these things work, but some people are really good at explaining such things clearly.