Interview: Indie Electropop Trio Lindy Vision Talk About Their Brand New EP "Adult Children Part II"
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Major thanks to Dorothy, Natasha and Carla Cuylear, the three sisters of the Albuquerque, New Mexico darkwave/synth-pop trio Lindy Vision, who connected with DCWS for an exclusive interview to discuss their brand new EP “Adult Children Part II”. We also talked with the sisters about what it’s like to work with family in the music business, their musical influences, creative process when developing new music, and much more.
After reading our Q&A with Lindy Vision, connect with them on their website and social media, check out more of their music on Spotify, and be sure to stream/purchase their new EP, “Adult Children Part II”.
It really feeds the soul to see a trio of sisters work harmoniously and authentically together to create something magical as Lindy Vision. What’s it like working on a day to day basis with family?
Thank you. It really has been magical getting to work with one another. Working on a day to day basis with family is special. When we were younger, we probably took each other’s presence for granted because we grew up in the same household and we’d see each other every day, so we naturally just grew close and developed similar interests. As adults, we are still extremely close, but the only difference is that now we are living separately and we each have our own individual lives, so when we come together to spend time with one another as sisters or bandmates, it takes intention and a concerted effort.
Most families can probably relate that there are times when you might not be getting along with certain family members and you need a break, but when you’re in Lindy Vision and you disagree with someone, you’re kind of forced to work through the issue because there’s a lot on the line. We are all hypersensitive to each other’s moods and emotions and that can create a certain type of energy when you’re writing and playing music together, but we strive hard to resolve most disagreements and always stay loving and supportive towards one another.
It’s a lot of work, and we’re human, but it allows us to be the best artists and sisters we can be in this relationship. Majority of our relationship as adults has revolved around Lindy Vision and we’ve watched each other make a lot of personal sacrifices with regards to our individual families, finances, and time, so, we try to stay mindful of that and respect what each of us has sacrificed to keep our collective dream alive.
The inspirations from Karen O and the yeah yeah yeahs are definitely evident, and you cite them as one of your inspirations. We see a lot of rock influences, but do you have any RnB, hip hop, or other genres that help influence your music? Additionally, people have described you as no wave and dark wave, but how would you describe yourself?
Other genres that have influenced us include hip hop, Motown, and 60s/70s rock. One of our absolute favorite hip hop artists is OutKast. Stankonia was one of our favorite albums growing up.
As for Motown, I think we just always loved the melodies and compositions behind a lot of the songs written on that label. And the 60s/70s rock encompasses artists like the Kinks, The Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, and Marc Bolan to name a few. There is something inspirational in the lyrical freedom that those 2 decades offered in songwriting.
We would describe ourselves as Indie Electropop.
The vast travel across genres is an impressive one - while Abandonment has a little more of a tinkling, electronic sound, while Gamblers is a little bit harder and more explosive and grungy? Is your eclectic sound a cohesive and intentional one, or is is the result of your different styles meshing in a. Brainstorm moment together. You’ve previously mentioned that three of you have a natural order of leadership and who plays their part in terms of musical roles. Creatively, are you on the same page when you come up with songs, or do you all usually bring something different to the table?
I think our eclectic sound is a hybrid of both intention and our different styles meshing in a brainstorm moment together. We each have our own unique creative process but when it comes to the overall vibe/emotion that we want the song to create, all three of us are usually on the same page.
Naturally you have 3 different people writing their individual parts and helping to structure the song and establish the vibe. Our band really is a three-headed monster, but somehow, on our last 5 projects, we’ve managed to agree on a direction and what’s best for the music.
Anytime we can create a new song that we all enjoy, it’s this miraculous moment of everything falling into its right place. We were lucky enough on this last album to work with a producer, (Enrique Tena Padilla) who could make sense of the madness and bring a little more cohesion to our sound.
We love seeing girls crossing new boundaries in music - especially badass ones that know how to rock a guitar solo and play some wicked percussion. It’s very easy for the industry and public to quickly put female artists in a box under a singular label, but the diversity in your songs kind of refuses to let people do that. There’s sweeping drama, there’s indie rock elements, and even upbeat pop that we really haven’t seen since Karen O’s heyday. What’s your music making process and how do you see things big picture (i.e, concept, lyrics and production) as opposed to getting too focused on one thing?
Our creative process is always collective. We do everything together. Usually one person takes the lead with a certain part, for example Natasha might have a guitar rift or Carla might have a beat or Dorothy might have a vocal melody and then we build a song from that one part. The person who takes 'the lead' part usually has a song inspiration in mind and if the other members get writer's block, then we can use the inspiration song as a reference. It's a fun collaborative process and it's one of our favorite parts about being in a band. We really inspire each other when writing together.
I think our common goal of striving to create songs/music we enjoy listening to helps us keep the big picture in mind. Once recorded and released, songs take on a life of their own, and we are such big fans of music, we never want to put out music we don’t ourselves enjoy. It’s challenging creating music that all 3 of us like 100% of the time. We’ve all let go of Lindy Vision songs we’ve personally liked for the greater good of the band. I think this helps to make us stronger songwriters.
A big part of the vulnerability and rawness in your music and this “Adult Children Part II” EP related to your openness about how the three of you are kids of alcoholics. It’s always great to see artists use music as a tool of empowerment and empathy for other kids who have suffered from emotional trauma and trust issues. Lyrically, your tracks are intimate but still remain relatable for a range of any human being with feelings - what’s the secret to the formula, and how do you get inspired when it comes to writing?
Our music is very autobiographical. So, our own lives and personal experiences really inspire our creative process. Our secret formula has been striving to experience life with an honest and open heart and to experience every emotion – the good, the bad, and the very ugly.
As kids, our emotional literacy was quite poor, so creating music as adults has allowed us to explore all these suppressed emotions that we didn’t even know we had. Art is powerful like that. When it comes to writing, we get inspired by other artists and their music. It’s like whatever we're listening to at the time can really steer the direction we choose to take a project.
It’s also really inspiring to watch how artists that we’ve loved over the years have evolved with their music. It makes us want to continue to push ourselves and try new things and see what we can create next.
Apart from opening up on your personal family struggles, what is the importance of exploring your Native American and black culture in relation to your music, and how do you express those parts of your identity?
Our culture and identity as Native American and African American women have always been important to us, but it’s something that we’ve only recently began to explore in our music on our last three projects. As we’ve matured as women and artists, we’ve come to a place where we can honor these parts of ourselves in a way that is respectful, and not exploitative. Those parts of our identity are expressed in our performance attire and the strength we exude anytime we step on stage.
We wear our face paint as a sacred homage to our Jicarilla Apache ancestors and to our Black forefathers who sacrificed their lives so that we may exist. It’s important to represent our culture when given the opportunity, because of the violent, oppressive, and racist history of America towards Blacks, Females, and Native Americans. We are proof of our existence and resilience despite all odds working against our people.
Presenting our music and our image is also important in order to diversify the predominantly white male indie rock music scene. In America, we historically and presently have had an underrepresentation of people of color in places of power and influence, whether that be artistically, politically, or in pop culture. It’s important to see artists that look different or that look like you on major platforms. There is a value in being seen and acknowledged.
Who are some other emerging New Mexico artists the three of you support and that we should be adding to our playlists?
The late Wakeself, Andrew Martinez, was a groundbreaking Native American hip-hop artist in NM that we loved. His lyrics were always uplifting and positive. Checkout his last release “Ready To Live”. And A. Billi Free, a young African American female RnB artist from Southern NM; she seems to be putting out some strong music; check out her album, “I Luma”.