Interview: Know Your LA Bands with VOICEsVOICEs

BeatCrave is proud to bring you duo, VOICEsVOICEs, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. These two lovely ladies don’t just make “pretty” music – they create sensational, astral-projecting euphoria. Nico Turner and Jenean Farris have been compared to non-lyrical band Explosions in the Sky, yet the music of VOICEsVOICEs takes one to a whole other world. Their use of pedals, looping, spellbinding vocals, and heartrending drumming have even gotten fans to feel a sexual charge throughout their performances.

Do not underestimate this female pair. Their Sounds Outside EP has captivated music lovers through both live shows and online, and they’re about to take off for a tour in February.

Their next show is on January 21st at Silverlake Lounge. Get their before 9:00pm to make sure you’ve got a good view and a close proximity for the performance. It’ll be an experience. Until then, check out our exclusive interview with VOICEsVOICEs below!

What part of LA are you guys from?

Jenean: I’m from Texas, but we just moved to West LA. It’s really not as bad as people say.
Nico: Maybe they’re jealous.
Jenean: We like the quiet, and would rather not deal with junkies harassing us on our walk home. We love being part of where the LA music “scene” is happening, but love coming home to our own space at night.

How did the two of you meet?

Nico: Legend has it we met at a Xu Xu Fang Show.
Jenean: We did meet at a Xu Xu Fang show. It was magical.
Nico: One of the first things we discussed was starting a new music project, but didn’t try it til months later.
Jenean: Yeah, and when we had our first “jam” session, it was pretty disastrous… We didn’t try again for quite some time. But, we eventually coalesced, so it’s a happy ending.

When you formed the band, did you always know it would have a mysteriously ambient element?

Jenean: Not at all! We had no real goal other than creating something new, authentic, different. We had been confined in our last projects, and wanted to break out of the roles we were placed in. We had more to share, and refused to be held back.
Nico: It’s surprising what two scorned drummers have been able to do.
Jenean: When we started, we only had a month to create some material for some pretty big shows that we scheduled. Which, made me pretty nervous, but forced us to just do it.
Nico: We had never experimented with, or had the knowledge of the machines and instruments we were using. So, it was kind of a challenge, but really exciting. It was liberating to create sounds we had never heard. We couldn’t place judgment on them, as being good or bad, as they were totally new to us.

Your band name sounds very appropriate, but how did you decide on VOICEsVOICEs? Were there any previous contenders?

Nico: No, there were no previous contenders for the name. I like the idea of the communing voices throughout time. Like, whatever we’re doing now, we’re always hearing the voices of those before us, whether we want to, or realize it. Before I even decided I would actually pursue music-making, I always pictured myself and someone else… two of us, making music. Always two, like a mirror. I wanted to approach the music, whatever the sound, as us simply communicating with each other. I felt VOICEsVOICEs was apt, being that we communicate most with our Voice. I could go on. Obviously the name means a lot to us.
Jenean: Yeah, and it’s so much easier with two people. We are the creative center… without competing members

Many people say that your performances are sexually charged. What do you think of that?

Jenean: I can see how people might take that from our performances. I personally think when people really let themselves go, you can almost see into their bedroom styles. Whether it be really rhythmic, choppy, crazy, uptight, you get a sense for their natural approach sexually, and at most things.
Nico: Plus, I think we have a special chemistry I’ve never experienced with another person on-stage. I know I’m really listening to what Jenean’s doing, really feeling it. I think that’s an integral part of the music we make, on stage and off. You’re witnessing a real connection, which happens to come across as a sexual charge, i guess.

How did you come up with the name, Sounds Outside, for your EP?

Nico: Beyond the obvious idea of listening to the natural music of the sounds outside, Jenean and I are pretty obsessed with the way words fit together…
Jenean: It’s true. Syllables, placement, rhythm, how easily it rolls off the tongue. I’m pretty obsessed with prepositional phrases too.

The video for the title track is incredibly trippy. How did the concept for it come about?

Jenean: I’ve been wanting to get into video editing / effecting moving images for a while now. So I’ve been learning After Effects, and we decided to use my camcorder for a video project. We went out and just got a lot of footage from around LA. Then i took it into After Effects and manipulated it to the point where you can’t even tell what the original images are. Which I think is so awesome. Taking something natural, already existing, and make it something entirely new. It’s kind of my same approach in the other artwork I do for the band.
Nico: We spend a lot of time discussing very visual aspects of music and time and space. The title track feels to me like shapes and light separating and coming together again, a continuous flow. Jenean was so excited when she figured out how to create that effect on the footage we shot.

A few of your live videos were filmed at The Smell. That venue has such a good reputation for it’s size. What is the greatest thing about that place?

Jenean: The comfort, freedom, and encouragement to explore & experiment. I feel most at ease in that environment because people are just so open and supportive. The sounds we make and our performances don’t feel judged or expected to be something, which is so prevalent in a lot of LA venues.
Nico: The Smell is like home. It’s a safe-haven of sound. There’s so many new and exciting things going on there. People aren’t waiting for the next big thing at the smell. They come to be inspired, they come to listen, they come to create. They come to feel alive. Being at the Smell is like hearing an amazing album for the first time when you’re fifteen and it changes your life.

Does “Tape Noon” have anything to do with Jim Morrison?

Nico: Yes. His poetry inspired a lot of commotion in my younger years.
Jenean: Nico’s pretty obsessed with Jim Morrison, and sometimes she even claims she’s his daughter. But it’s cool. I like to think I’m Jon Bonham reincarnate… a little bit. Don’t wanna go overboard.

What’s next for VOICEsVOICEs?

Nico: We have a West Coast Tour coming up in February, presented by Manimal Vinyl, with Corridor and Alexandra Hope. We’re in the beginning stages of working on a full length when we get back in March.
Jenean: A lot of people have said our music sounds like it could be a soundtrack to a film, which is kind of ironic, in that we’ve always wanted to score a film. We just might.

Quick-Fire Round:
Where’s your favorite place to get coffee in LA?

Jenean: Japan town!
Nico: There’s this place in Little Tokyo that sells gelato and has the best and cheapest cup of coffee.

What was the last thing you got in trouble for?

Nico: Having an imagination… which equals being horribly late most of the time.
Jenean: Having my own opinion. I don’t shy away from stating my perspective. I actually think there’s lots to be learned from other people’s perspectives, and I respect when they have the balls to share… but not dominate.

How excited are you for Inauguration Day?

Nico: Supremely excited. It’s a huge development in the psyche of the American people. Evolution, Revolution taking place right before our eyes.
Jenean: Never been much for American presidents. Never had much, if any, faith in our government. But this inauguration should be pretty positively charged. A lot of people’s hearts have been changed from this election. It’s up to the victor to keep the faith alive.

What album are you currently listening to?

Nico: The new Portishead, it’s become the go-to CD for most car rides. We just saw this amazing band TEETH!!! (from London) at the Smell the other night and bought up their merch table. Jenean also turned me on to Caribou and I pretty much have to listen to brahminy kites before I go anywhere in the morning.
Jenean: 60 Watt Kid, Daedelus, Yppah. I want to be listening to Caldera Lakes too.. how can we make that happen?!

Tell us one thing about yourself we probably don’t already know.

Nico: I was supposed to fill in as drummer for Hello Astronaut Goodbye Television, before they broke up. Oh! We got mugged down the street from the smell once. Right before an Abe Vigoda show. Some dude stole my phone! Also, I’m half African-American. Most people don’t know that at all.
Jenean: Yeah that was scary and ridiculous. Like, in the moment, it was just so surreal. Couldn’t believe it was actually happening, or that people can be that evil. Also, we just gave our CD to Kirsten Dunst and her posse at the Cha Cha Lounge. It was slightly awkward, but they were receptive. I mean, what the hell, why not?

We think VOICEsVOICEs creates a dreamy ambiance of poetry. What do you think of their music off of Sounds Outside?

Photography by Gina Clark and LA Underground