#avestra

What do you do when you return to a world that has changed massively in your absence? Do you start anew and learn what you have missed? Or do you stay rigid and cling to what you know? That is the dilemma the Eternals, the first children of the universe, must face as they return to a universe that changed in their billion-years absence.

The duo behind the electronic R&B group, Avestra never thought more than 80 people would show up to the release party for their first EP “Niche”. But to the surprise of vocalist, Savannah Johnston, 21, and producer, Zach Troupé, 20, a crowd of almost 150 fans packed into the U Heights auditorium singing along to tracks that were released just days before.

“Honestly, that entire night was crazy for me,” says Johnston. “Zach and I talked a lot about this the moment we had left the after party. We sat down at 2 a.m. and it was like, ‘I can’t believe that this all happened’. It all felt like such a dream.”

Ever since Avestra formed last May, Johnston and Troupé have been writing and performing singles that are sonically complex and vocally passionate. They have collaborated other EDM musicians like TNAN and have been remixed by Houston-based artist, Kindrid. But fellow emerging artists aren’t the only ones noticing Avestra. In under a year, the group has reached tens of thousands of streams on Spotify and their first single, “Come My Way” has over 50,000 streams and counting.

The two artists met over three years ago, but they didn’t start making music together until last spring when Johnston asked Troupé to help her with production for a solo show. She says that they clicked really well on and off stage and immediately asked him to become part of Avestra.

“It was through practicing for the show that we made our own songs,” says Troupé. “[‘Come My Way’] was the first song we ever made together.”

Although Avestra is new to the Seattle music scene, the pair’s diverse musical backgrounds put them in the ranks with veteran artists. Growing up in Phoenix, AZ, Johnston played instruments, took voice lessons, and wrote songs for most of her life. Today, she studies music at the University of Washington and brings her education in music theory to the production process. Troupé, on the other hand, is a self-taught musician from Marysville, WA, who took up music production in high school. Johnston says that instead of clashing, their diverging musical backgrounds don’t stop them from helping each other on both sides of the production process.

“Our producing process is very cohesive and very codependent,” says Johnston. “Zach sings melodies to me and I’ll make drum beats, which are the very opposites of what we do overall, but my point is that it’s an effort together.”

Their first EP “Niche” launched this past February and has already been heard over 60,000 times on Spotify from listeners in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Just last week, the EP’s second track “What You Want” was featured on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds” playlist. Troupé says that the experimental four-track set merges synthetic sounds with acoustic guitar and brass instruments, and takes inspirations ranging from rapper Amine to neo-soul singer Kali Uchis.

“I think we just like to try new things, which a lot of times sounds really bad but sometimes it’s like, holy crap, this is so cool,” says Troupe. “Like, ‘Hey, why don’t we pitch this down and reverse it because why not?’ and it turns out to be really cool.”

While “Niche” is an experimental project for Avestra, it’s also extremely personal. Johnston says that she was inspired to write these tracks after experiencing heartbreak. She notes that the EP’s final track, “Window Seat” is straight up sad. In the song, she sings about still feeling the presence of a partner even after the relationship is over and reflects on intimate moments they had together.

“I remember I wrote that on a plane ride home to Arizona,” says Johnston. “When I got back, we took that idea and recorded. I literally wrote that entire song on the plane on the way home with the melodies and the lyrics and everything. I was straight up crying on the plane, it was really sad.”

But Avestra doesn’t want to leave their audience on a sad note. On the heels of their first EP, they have already started writing and recording songs for their next album, which they plan to release this summer. Instead of love songs, the full album will be a think piece discussing ideas rather than romantic experiences. In between balancing work and school with recording, it’s obvious that Avestra has a unique drive that keeps them always on a roll.

“It’s impossible for me to have free time,” says Johnston. “We’re either sleeping or working in one degree or the other. It’s very taxing sometimes but what makes it worth it is that we’re seeing results that we would have never even expected, which is so exciting. So although we have bags under our eyes, we’re like ‘hell yeah’.”

By Claire Butwinick 

I’ll usually pounce on any chance to grab some tea, regardless of who it’s with. Last week, I got the chance to sit down with Seattle’s own, Avestra, for, well, tea and one iced coffee. For those who aren’t familiar with Avestra, the electronic duo consists of vocalist Savannah Johnston and producer Zach Troupe. The duo reminds me of a combination of electronic/tropical house artist Alina Baraz (especially her EP Urban Flora) and electronic duo Marian Hill. While Johnston, when young, was trained classically in music, and playing all types of instruments, Zach only began experimenting with production and sound more recently. Genuine curiosity has pushed him from downloading music production software just for fun to contributing heavily to Avestra’s sound and vision.

In the past year, Avestra has churned out single after single, most notably songs like “Come My Way,” as well as “Mind’s on You.” When asked whether the pace at which the two have been releasing music at seemed maintainable, the duo replied, “We keep on waiting for the low or creative block to hit, but, surprisingly, we haven’t hit it, and don’t see it being anytime soon.” Full speed ahead, Avestra’s pushing forward into their new EP Niche release. We sat down to talk about their plans for their new music, as well as Avestra’s ambitions moving forward into 2019, with no speed bumps in sight.

It’s easy to assume that the lyrical perspective mostly stems from the vocalist: I mean, they’re the ones singing, right? Being naturally curious about an artist’s perspective (especially in a group), I decided to ask the duo about how they interweave the stories of both members into their music. According to the duo, Niche draws more so from Savannah’s personal experiences, but at the end of the day, feelings of infatuation and relationships across the board, are innately easy to sympathize with.

Niche consists of a crisp four tracks, including “GLOW”, “WHATUWANT”, “HEART”, and, my personal favourite, “WINDOWSEAT.” “GLOW” and “WHATUWANT” are tracks where Avestra’s in cruise control, combining spacey beats with alluring, and at times velvety vocals. Where the EP really starts shining is the track “HEART.” When describing the song that he was most proud of, Zach stated that, “HEART has gone through so many changes, seeing where it started and how it turned out production wise is what makes me so proud of it.” Right off the bat, the guitar sounds luxurious yet enticing, almost harp-like. My only gripe with “HEART” lies within the end of the song, where the group manipulates Savannah’s vocals and pushes more bass into a song that naturally succeeds by being more pared down. “WINDOWSEAT” gives me more of what made HEART so sumptuous. With less bass in production and more natural vocals, “WINDOWSEAT,” with Savannah’s mother on the saxophone, delivers Avestra’s best on the EP.

While Niche establishes a base for their discography and fans, in no way do they want to be put in a box. “The hardest part is waiting to release new work and sounds, we wish we could show [you all] what we’ve been working on”. Catch Avestra this Saturday at ASUW AE’s Band Bash in Maple Hall at 7pm or at their release party next Thursday, 6pm at The Auditorium @ UHeights.