Brooklyn based art-pop/electronic-indie quartet Iris Lune is back after a mini-two year hiatus. They debuted their title track “Lost in Chatter” off their forthcoming sophomore EP on Clash a few weeks ago. And now, this week marks the release of the EP which you can listen on your preferred music provider. You’d think working as a quartet with completely different music tastes would be hard but Iris Lune explained how easy it is for them to make stuff happen. No doubt what they’re doing works because we’re wanting to hear more from them.
To align with their release of their Lost in Chatter EP, we had a chance to chat with all four members about their history as a band, working together as a quartet, and what they hope to accomplish within the new year. Plus – keep scrolling until after the interview to listen to their entire new EP!
The Young Folks: How was Iris Lune formed? How did you all collectively decide, “Alright, let’s make things official and become a quartet?”
Asher Kurtz: Originally, Ella and I started the band after meeting at a mutual friends recording session. We knew pretty instantaneously that we loved making music together so we brought in Aaron and our original drummer Tim Merle and started the band. Until we had finished recording the first EP and brought in Angelo to play drums though, the dynamic was that Ella and I were the leaders, and the other guys saw themselves more as the regular session players. The dynamic shifted when we all listened to the first couple rounds of mixes from our producer. It became clear that the music we created for the first EP was something we all strongly believed in so in efforts to get it out in the world more effectively, we decided to join forces and do our best to make something happen.
TYF: With four different minds put together, how did you all decide the kind of music you want to put out to the public?
Aaron Liao: There’s a healthy blend of music we all take a liking to, as well as some that we tend to only like individually. This balance creates a musical environment that is both familiar and new to all of us that keeps it inspiring. I personally try and operate out of the intention and story behind a song; the “Iris Lune sound” is simply the end result of whatever happens when the 4 of us are ourselves and play music that we all dig.
Asher: I think the kind of music we make is based on what everyone is checking out at the time of creation. Especially when making an album, we share a lot of playlists that can range from Rihanna to Olivier Messiaen and beyond. Usually we end up finding a track or artist that everyone is super into and we try to drop some of that influence into a track we’re creating. Recently Sylvan Esso and this Thom Yorke album “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes” have been huge at least for me when producing new ideas/tracks.
TYF: With your new song, “Lost in Chatter”, it’s a bit more upbeat than previous. Is this an indication of what we can expect to hear in future songs?
Ella Joy Meir: Not necessarily upbeat, but definitely more groove based. “Lost in Chatter” is still probably the most upbeat and dancy song we have in our repertoire as of today. That being said, we might come up with something even more upbeat in the future. Open-mindedness is a beautiful thing, as long as you’re staying true to yourself.
TYF: Now since “Lost in Chatter” is an ode to Alice in Wonderland, who was your favorite character?
Aaron: Mad Hatter.
Asher: Cheshire Cat
Ella: Chesire Cat, even though I’ve felt like the rabbit for years.
Angelo Spampinato: Mad Hatter as well.
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TYF: With your forthcoming sophomore EP coming out soon, what can your fans expect to hear on this one?
Asher: The tracks are more immediate feeling, and groovy over all on the Lost In Chatter EP. The last 2 tracks, Son and Fistful of Thorns, are more similar to our former EP with slower builds and more abstract forms. There’s a crazy guitar solo (that doesn’t sound like a guitar at all) on Son and Fistful of Thorns is a folky, mostly acapella song we occasionally play as an encore
TYF: It has been 2 years since your last EP. With that much time passing by, how has your music evolved? How have you as a musician evolved?
Asher: I’ve evolved as a musician in the same ways as the band over the past couple years, I think. I’ve become way more into synths, production, and rhythm in general since the last EP. A lot of my ideas for Iris songs now start working in a DAW instead of on guitar.
Angelo: We’ve all matured a lot and have been influenced a lot by our time spent living in NYC. The scene here is really inspiring and is constantly pushing us to try new things and to be better at what we do.
TYF: How was the process like putting this EP together versus putting together your self-titled EP?
Ella: This upcoming EP is much more of a collaborative effort. The first one was mostly spearheaded by Asher and I, and Dalton Harts our producer. We’ve grown a lot as a band in the past couple of years, and have become more of team that feeds off each other’s energies and ideas. It’s been an amazing journey, and I can’t wait to see what the coming years will bring.
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Aaron: The last EP exposed many areas that needed work outside of the music, particularly with branding and social media. This time around, there’s a bit more momentum and a shared vision for aesthetic that has opened doors to many assets, including our latest merch item, a peach chili hot sauce made in collaboration with Dawson’s Hot Sauces! It is currently being sold on our website, our gigs, and at Heatonist in Brooklyn, leading purveyor of high end hot sauces which we’re really excited about.
TYF: I was curious as to how the band comes to decisions when it comes to solidifying what the final song will be? Do things get taken apart piece-by-piece for approval, is it put in one person’s hand to make the final decision, etc?
Asher: Right now the process has been Ella or I come to each other with a seed idea, we’ll talk about the parts we like and don’t like, and then talk about the direction we want to head in and try things out until we have what we think is a solid representation of what we’re going for and then send it out. Everyone offers their feedback but lately the track has been pretty far along before we send it out.
Ella: It also really depends on the song. We’re all very particular people, especially Asher and I, and many times it’s about figuring out a middle ground. This process taught me a lot about being more specific and knowing how to fight for something that’s really important to me and how to let go and compromise on something that maybe doesn’t matter as much. I think that’s what makes a really successful collaboration – the whole is always bigger than the sum of its parts.
Aaron: We used to jam out ideas and build them together, but trying to meet 4 different expectations before there was an established direction only slowed the process. Ever since we implemented a system where we carve the song out before sharing it with the others, the creative flow has been smoother. For this EP, Asher and Ella were the main writers whereas Angelo and I have moreso tackled things on the business/logistics end (any managers out there?! Ha.. for real though), but that’s not to say we won’t have different combinations of writing teams within the group in the future!
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With 2018 slowly (and somewhat quickly) creeping up, what do you hope Iris Lune will accomplish within the new year?
Asher: Hang out a lot more together both musically and otherwise, make a bunch of new songs, and narrow those down so we make a full length record.
Ella: The reactions to our new hot sauce, ‘Eclipse’ have been incredible so far, and I’d love to have two more flavors by the end of 2018.
Aaron: To do a show in virtual reality. More sauce. BUT! 2017 isn’t quite over yet. Our EP dropped yesterday and we are doing our release show at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn to celebrate!
Angelo: We’re also talking about doing some tours throughout 2018, stay tuned!
UPCOMING EP RELEASE SHOW AT BABY’S ALL RIGHT:
Wednesday, December 6th /w MMEADOWS & Lip Talk
- Tickets: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1581426
- FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1258846557592144/
STREAM LOST IN CHATTER EP BELOW:
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