HEIRSOUND – Layers

By starrymag | May 14, 2017

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

Dane: As lifelong fans of music we set out to blend the styles we love so I’d say our sound holds a little something for everyone. Can’t deny the strong pop & hip hop influence.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

Dane: We usually go with everything from Death Cab to Kanye, with a touch of the boy band era in there somewhere. [laughs] It can be difficult to narrow them down to a few.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Proud.”

 

Dane: Proud really stems from a past friendship where this person simply didn’t turn out to be who I thought they were. You could say I found out the hard way. Music is my outlet for so many different emotions and I like to do what I can to turn negative situations into something positive I can grow from or even look back and laugh at. Proud is the result of that with the sarcasm & monopoly references mixed in.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

Dane: I think our fans know they get a large part of our personal selves through our music and enjoy essentially listening to our audio diaries, finding things they hopefully relate/connect to. This is a big part of what I’ve seen anyways. Hopefully, they just think it’s catchy, too. [laughs]

 

Q) How will the video play into the message of the song?

 

Dane: The video definitely brings the sarcasm and monopoly references I mentioned earlier home or even to another level. [laughs] We knew we were really going to let loose and goof off on this one. It didn’t feel like something we should take too seriously. We wanted to be ourselves and laugh at life’s recent adversities. Not the old friend but the inspiration came from the situation. We actually spoke with this person prior to the song’s release and had a good laugh about it.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

Dane: Our songs come to life in a few different ways depending on the mood. I wouldn’t say you need music before you can have lyrics because we’ve certainly both had lyrics come first with certain songs, but the majority of the time, we write, produce and track a demo of a full structured instrumental before fully finishing vocals. Even if we know what our melodies will be or what the track will be about, which happens often as well.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

Dane: Virtually, we have full creative control and hand in not just the production of our music, but everything people see as well. The HEIRSOUND camp is very DIY. Alexa [San Román] and I craft out all the sounds within our songs, track a demo, then amp up/fine tune/change anything we wanted to in a new studio session when the time comes to track everything for real. For LAYERS, we worked with a good friend, Robert Curtin who runs a great home studio called The Alamo out here in California. He engineered and helped produce as well as mix/master the final sounds throughout all tree volumes of LAYERS. Bob is the man we enjoy working with him and bouncing ideas off each other.

 

Q) What songs off your upcoming Layers EP mean the most to you and why?

 

Dane: To me, LAYERS is separated into three volumes and three musical moods, but the whole thing is a personal story. So to listen to it front to back in its entirety, looking back on the whole ride, it means the most to me as a whole.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live HEIRSOUND performance?

 

Dane: A whole lot of white clothes, instruments and setup overall. [laughs] You can count on Alexa and I harmonizing for at least thirty minutes as well.

 

Q) What do you want to be sure fans know about your music and new EP?

 

Dane: Like I said before, I believe our fans know they get a large portion of our personal selves through HEIRSOUND. Not just through the music or visuals but through actual communication as well. I’d want anyone to know that we put our everything into what we do. As far as LAYERS goes, it’s a story. An audio diary of experiences past as well as present and the feelings that come with them. At the risk of sounding cheesy, you’re literally peeling back the layers of us musically and lyrically. There’s a reason we’re giving it to you the way we are. I hope you take the ride, enjoy and connect to it in your own ways.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

Dane: Because we have the opportunity to use our voices further and return the love we so luckily receive constantly. We can continue to share things and learn about others through the community built with our music. We can do this with so many people around the world who find us in one way or another.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

Dane: If you have any appreciation for us or what we do, you can be sure the appreciation goes both ways.

 

 

ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY DANE PETERSON