Photos by Samantha Walla

RC: You recorded your album in a piecemeal way. It was never a live band in the studio, so how did you turn that into a live act?

ST: I'm still working on it! I think there are things I can improve. It doesn't sound exactly like the record, but that's part of going to see a live show. You could just listen to the record at home, but there's not as much participation involved. It was definitely a challenge to orchestrate it for a live band and figure out what pieces can go where. We're still finessing the details of how to make that work.





RC: Before this, you were working as a producer and recording engineer. How did that influence your work on this album?

ST: It started as a calling card for my production. I've been writing my whole life but I’ve been shy about sharing it anywhere or performing it. This summer, I was very productive on the writing front. Everything was sounding like it could be a part of a similar project, and so I thought I should throw this more cohesive collection together and make something that flexes my production chops. Then, I could have something to show, and create something for people to latch onto if they were interested in me recording their band.





RC: Did you always think you would start a band or did you think you would stick with production?

ST: I was just doing it for fun. As it started coming together more and more, I was hoping to try to figure out a way to put out the album that was more than just like dropping it on Bandcamp or showing it to my friends. A lot of my friends were encouraging me to play out more and so I got over that fear of performing those feelings in front of people and figured out how to make it a show.

RC: How was the process of transitioning from being someone working behind the scenes in a studio to being the frontwoman of a band?

ST: It was wild! It's confusing sometimes because I'm so used to letting someone else be the artist, which is fun. I love creatively guiding an artist, but in this case I can just do my thing. I think having those production and engineering skills made the record turn out a certain way. As I started playing and getting more comfortable playing it out more, I definitely thought, “Maybe I could do this”. It's really fun and I love it just as much as being in the studio now.





RC: Was there anything specific you learned from working on a certain project or album that influenced a choice you made on Kiss Yr Frenemies?

ST: Probably? I think having experience in the studio and learning how other people work was big: picking up recording tricks and production tricks, listening to a lot of records, and stockpiling that vocabulary that you can use in the studio. I’m always referencing other music and other art. Some artists create in a vacuum and they don't want to hear anything else, but I am always drawing from everywhere. Listening back after having time away from the record, I can totally pick out these moments where I know exactly what record I was thinking about. I can see where the influences come together. Part of being an artist is collaging that stuff together and then making it your own thing.

RC: What have you been listening to recently?

ST: I always return to Motown: that music is so perfectly crafted. They knew how to write hits, they wrote hits every single day, and they recorded them all in a day. My record took a lot of pieces and a lot of tweaking and I had the computer as a crutch. For Motown, they had a couple mics up, the band would play the song twice, and then they had a record at the end, which was a magical and cool way to make music. What else? Lucy Dacus, still on repeat. Courtney Barnett, always on repeat.

RC: What's playing in the tour van?

ST: Mitski has played more than once for sure. We were also listening to this podcast. When we started listening to it, I thought it was really lame, but then I was getting into it. It’s so awesome. It's these guys playing Dungeons & Dragons and narrating it. I don't know anything about Dungeons & Dragons, but they're funny so we were listening to a bunch of that. We listen to a lot of friends' records. I've been listening to a lot of people in LA who have not yet put out their music. I really love it and I'm hoping they will come out very soon. It's always fun when people send over demos or mixes and I just can’t wait for everyone else to hear them. I’m so excited to have it and I'm so bummed that I haven't been able to share it





RC: How has touring been so far?

ST: I didn't know what was gonna happen. We did one tour that was hella DIY. We never knew what we were showing up for and we were always expecting the worst. I planned really ambitious drives where we were just driving eight hours every day, no matter what. It was horrible. But this tour is great. The most fun part is that every day is different for better or for worse.

RC: Do you pick the music that goes on in venues before you play?

ST: I don't have a playlist for these shows, but I'm going to make one because we've had some terrible house music. We’ve also had some great music. On the run we just did with Diet Cig, they had a playlist so right before they went on it was just their Spotify going. I have a walk-on song and only two people have played it this whole tour! Mostly because they don't want to play it.





RC: What is it?

ST: KISS’s “Lick It Up!"” I would love for “Lick It Up” to be on full-blast before I go on stage tonight. I think for the next tour I want to curate the vibe a little better. It can be such a bummer. One venue we played had this indie rock playlist playing and two of our songs played, just before we played!





