What was the most memorable moment in the writing/recording process for your new album Night Leaf?
Saara: Definitely spending the three weeks it took at Kyle Mullarky’s family ranch in Topanga Canyon to record and mix. Every day felt so refreshing and calm.
Glenn: There was a really wonderful hippy snack shop at the bottom of the hill. They have these long veggie rice rolls with avocado and carrot. It doesn’t sound like much, but I always looked forward to the snack part of the day. It’s a veggie sushi burrito.
Chase: I fell in love with a pig.
What was the key inspiration/story behind your song ‘NY Rip Off’?
S: I was having a conversation with friend/animator Mike Wartella and he said, “It’s the New York rip off.” I thought it was the perfect line for a song, so I combined that with some ideas of friends I have who do “odd” jobs to make it work in the city.
What do you think is the most important part of the album?
S: The songwriting. I feel like with Kyle’s help we were really able to take the songs to the next level.
G: It really was all of us in the room shaping the songs. There’d be a really small part that wasn’t quite working and we’d take the time to get it there. It was super important having the time to be able to let the songs evolve instead of rushing through the process and being like, “Okay, that’s fine.”
C: I’m so stoked on how cohesive it is. The songs vibe together, the production is smoothed out in the same vein, the artwork feels like the music, and the whole experience of us escaping the New York winter and camping out in Topanga Canyon really oozes out. It’s like a scrapbook for me.
Having recently played with Hockey Dad and toured with The Gooch Palms in the US, what was the highlight of that experience?
S: We had such a magical experience with The Gooch Palms through the American SouthWest. It was actually with them who we went to Juarez with, and where the song ‘Juarez’ was born. Hockey Dad are super nice guys, we played with them in Brighton, UK. It’s so cool to meet up with a band from around the world in random places.
G: We’re trying to get a one up on our Aussie slang from them, so we’ll see how much we retained. We played a haunted hotel in Tucson, Arizona with The Gooch Palms and stayed up late looking for ghosts and talking about Charles Manson. I think we did a good job freaking ourselves out.
It’s your debut Australian tour, what are you most looking forward to experiencing?
S: The surf, the positive vibes, the beautiful smells of the countryside, avo toast, and açaí bowls.
G: I’ve never been to Australia, but I’ve had a recurring dream since I was a kid about being there. I’m usually on a beach somewhere looking around and all the trees and animals are super trippy and wacky, like a Dr. Suess book. So I guess I’m really looking forward to seeing a lorax.
