HEIRSOUND – Sound In The Signals Interview

Alternative pop duo HEIRSOUND, formed by Alexa San Román and Dane Petersen (both formerly of Love, Robot and Petersen from Sink Swim) are quickly building their fan base and bridging their old sound with their new sound. They've already released three of the songs from their upcoming EP, Merge which comes out August 5th. They were kind enough to tell us how their songs are built from the ground up mostly based on feeling, how they set out to bring the EP to life visually, and how art plays an important role in life.

First, thanks for the interview!

Thank you for having us!

HEIRSOUND was formed in December 2014 while you both were in transition from your previous musical endeavors. Can you tell us a bit about your background, what it was like when you formed HEIRSOUND, and your music for those who may be unfamiliar?

(Dane): After so many years prior of being heavily involved in music both together & separately, we really grew into HEIRSOUND. After a lot of good times & hard work with our previous endeavor, which was something that had existed for a large portion of Alexa's life & played a big part in mine, we felt ready to close that chapter & take the opportunity to really collaborate on what was next for us. We got to conceptualizing/writing almost immediately & have been steadily releasing pieces of our work over time ever since. We've each had strong goals & many ideas from the start so taking the time to bring it all to life together has been a vital part of the experience as well as something that fortunately feels natural.

Your debut EP, Merge is set for release on August 5th. You've said, "This EP represents to us both the collaboration of two artists from different hometowns, as well as a metaphorical bridge from both of our older bands' previous sounds to what HEIRSOUND is now. As our old bands were more heavily rock-influenced, this EP has both elements of that as well as more electronic sounds letting long-time fans ease into this new sound." How does your past music and experiences shape this new collaboration? What inspired you to include the new electronic sounds?

(Dane): Neither of us can change where we came from musically but we both aim to constantly grow.  Whatever the two of us are presently experiencing in life is a big part of what shapes our collaborations. The inspiration behind the newer sound really just came from a desire to experiment & mold our favorite types of music together to create something unique. We still feel ourselves developing & will definitely continue striving to do so.

I really like the color theme behind the EP. You've said that each song is represented by a color that has an aura and a feeling, which creates the color wheel. What inspired this idea and the connection between certain songs and certain colors?

(Dane): Applying some sort of visual to the sounds you're hearing is something the two of us have always enjoyed doing naturally. Before the EP was even finished we set out to bring the whole thing to life visually & once we landed on the final six tracks, we found there was a special feeling for us in each song. Each one was different. If we closed our eyes, the colors were just there. It just made sense for us & tied the feeling together: six tracks, three primary colors, three secondary colors.

Along with the color influence on the EP and the colorful promo photos and artwork, I understand that Alexa is also involved in photography and filming the videos. How influential is art to you besides just in music? Do you think art plays an important role in the EP and in music, in general?

(Alexa):  Absolutely, art plays an important role in life - life is art.  Anything we do creatively is art and that goes from music to video. The reason why I got so into video is because of how hand in hand it is with creating audio. The right combination of audio & video can actually bring a physical reaction out in someone & THAT is art to me. My sister does our photography I stick with the video stuff & she is always showing us different artists that inspire her that we can all expand our minds from.

You're also releasing videos up to the release of the EP that are inspired by the corresponding color as the theme including videos for "Do It Over", "My Own", and "Hoods Up". Alexa is producing these videos. How does this come together? What inspires the videos and can you describe what the process is like when creating the idea and when you are actually putting them together?

(Alexa): Generally I just listen to the song a bunch of times in a row until I start to see in my head the first thing that comes to mind.  We have the colors assigned to each song & I keep that in mind when brainstorming. For example, My Own is the blue song & I had been wanting an excuse for a long time to shoot at an aquarium.  Back in 2011 I had gotten out of a relationship & the first place that I went to by myself was the aquarium in Boston so the chorus of this song (“I’m always on my own”) felt appropriate to use the aquarium because of what it represents to me. 



You are both from previous bands where you were the vocalists. I agree with others that your vocals are really great together and it seems like an equal switch off of vocals in HEIRSOUND. I particularly like the dueling vocals in "Do It Over". How do you come together when writing lyrics? What's changed and/or become better since working together in Love, Robot?

(Dane): Our songs are built from the ground up mostly based on feeling. The two of us have found a sort of sync when it comes to applying the mood of the day to a new track. Lyrically, we've always met in the middle & gotten to a place where neither of us feel like we're compromising or holding back anything either of us are trying to say. Our process still continues to strengthen with time.



Merge will be released in August. Fans can expect new songs and videos in the weeks to come as you prepare to release the EP. Can you tease anything that they can expect? What else is coming up and how can fans keep up?

(Alexa):  We are content machines so there will be new songs & videos before the EP as well as after. Every song on Merge will have it’s own music video & we will be getting some new merch out there soon! 

Thanks for the interview. Do you have anything else you would like to add?

(Dane): As always, thank you to everyone who shows their support. HEIRSOUND aims to always stay true to ourselves & we want to thank everyone for being a part of the whole experience with us.

(Alexa): Huge shout out to all the fans and our incredible online family, haven’t been able to meet you all yet but as we progress I look forward to many post show conversations.

Pre-order Merge on iTunes.

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-L.Burden