Interview: Cali Indie Pop Duo Inanna Talks About Their New EP "What is Living Above the Light"
/
Major thanks to Cali based indie pop duo Inanna, who connected with DCWS for an exclusive interview to discuss their newly released debut EP “What is Living Above the Light”. During our Q&A with guitarist Hank Dorsey and vocalist Hannah Stewart, we got a chance to find out about how they met and decided to work together, their creative process for the development of the EP’s six songs, their goals musically for the remainder of 2019, and much more.
After reading our Q&A with Hannah and Hank, be sure to stream/share the “What is Living Above the Light” EP and connect with them on their website and social media!
How did you two meet initially and what motivated you to join together as a duo to create music?
Hannah: We met at UC Santa Barbara when some of my friends moved into the B unit of a house Hank and some of his friends were in the A unit of. A bit later Hank and I got together and when we first started living together I think the idea arose pretty quickly of just messing around and covering some songs. It was fun but the songs were easy for Hank, so I started suggesting trickier songs like John Mayer and the White Stripes and from there it was an easy jump to “let’s just write our own songs so we can sing about what we want to too.”
Congratulations on the release of your new EP "What is Living Above the Light". Describe your creative process when it came to the development of the EP's six songs.
Hannah: Thanks so much! Because this was our fist experience creating and recording music together, it was a little bit all over the place, process-wise. Most of the music was written entirely on a road trip of the US we took that summer, with the exception of a little bit of Paradox and Spooky, which were written before but slightly re-worked as we began thinking of arrangements. Writing under such idyllic circumstances allowed me to have a really relaxed timeline and ease into a rhythm - the freedom from certain constraints made all the difference. I wrote a ton of songs, so then I had to spend a good amount of time just considering which worked together best to craft the overall message I wanted for this EP. Once I had that, we started with Nebulou, as we wanted to just get a single out there first. We wanted it to sound interesting and attractive, and otherwise were pretty open going into it. We recorded the vocals and guitar, I added electronic elements I was interested in, and Hank worked with me on production to get everything sounding how we liked, which was ultimately dreamy, washed-out pop. And we pretty much repeated that process for the other songs except Miss Terry’s, which we had to record in one take together.
If you had to select one song from the EP to share with a stranger as the greatest representation of Inanna as a duo, which song would you select? Why?
Hank: “Nebulou” is always going to be the one I think of. “Nebulou” was the first one we got recorded and I think it really had the elements that characterized the space we were in most organically. We worked on the guitar tone for a long time and I love the way it starts with an almost percussive wall of sound. The dichotomy between washed out instrumentation and soaring vocals, is really emblematic of this album in particular.
With the EP now out, what are some of your goals musically for the remainder of 2019?
Hank: I think we want to bridge the gap between mind and body. I wanna dance. Hannah wants to dance. And I think that’s going to be coming through.
Hannah: As cryptic as that is, I completely agree. Stay tuned...
Finish this sentence, when someone listens to "What is Living About the Light" for the first time, they ..."
Hannah: will hear something completely fresh and different from the modern-day pop formula!
Hank: wish they were flying across the desert under a full moon by themselves.
Stream and Share “What is Living Above the Light” on: Spotify | Soundcloud