#hauntedsummer

Does your music come from life experience?

BM: It’s a subject we can’t seem to get away from

JS: People have said it before but I just feel like it really is just a diary entry like a scope into a moment in our lives or an outside perspective

What artists and bands influence and inspire you?

JS: We both have a lot of influences but something that brought us together was our love for David Bowie, Bjork, and the Flaming Lips but we listen all kinds of stuff – I just bought a Merle Haggard tape

BM: That’s something I’ve always appreciated about John – we can listen to a variety of things and appreciate the heart and the melody and the soul of any kind of music. That’s really all it’s about

Do either of you have a band that you like that the other one can’t stand?

JS: Oh yeah – I’m not going to say I hate them but I don’t like Death Cab for Cutie and she does.

BM: I mean I was a 14 year old girl once

JS: I’m sure she can tell you stuff that I like that she doesn’t

BM: I’m pretty open

JS: I don’t think you like Dr. Dog and I love Dr. Dog

BM: I don’t not like Dr. Dog I just don’t love Dr. Dog

You have a really unique sound – did you stumble upon that or did you have it in your head and work towards it?

BM: I think it’s something we have always dreamed of making but never had the capacity or the partnership to really make it happen. That’s something that always surprised us when we did start making music together just for fun it was like, “this is a sound we’ve always been attracted to!” But it felt really organic – we didn’t really try to sound like anything in particular. It’s just like what comes out of us based on a plethora of influences and just wanting to explore and being open to ideas and not really trying to run the show.

JS: It’s something that I’ve envisioned for a long time but stumbled upon organically with her because she helped me kind of zone in my pedal addiction to a certain degree. And there’s something to be said for the idea that you can envision something but the slight changes that happen along the way you end up allow you to come across something that’s more special than a sound that you come across on your own.

How would you describe your sound?

BM: In my head it just always feels like a jazz standard at the base of it and with sounds of space around it. Just trying to make it atmospheric but down to earth as well.

JS: I feel like it’s psychedelic and it’s modern but you can hear the influences through time. Psychedelic but also throwing out the rulebook –– that’s kind of the Haunted Summer sound. If it works for us then that’s fine – it doesn’t have to be 100% correct.

What are you most looking forward to on the rest of your tour and coming home?

BM: The rest of the tour is going to be really fun – we’ve been to SXSW before but it’s our first year as an official showcase member and that’s always such an honor. Treefort has been a festival we’ve been wanting to play for years and we’ve got a lot of homies going – it’ll be a blast. But coming home will be nice – I miss my dog.

JS: Yeah even when you have your loved one with you, you leave family behind – you get homesick sometimes but if you really enjoy the road the road gives a lot back and it makes it even more special when you get back to your family and dog.