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Hi Agent Envy, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
I’ve been doing really well, all things considered in 2020, thank you for asking! I’m really excited to be here virtually.
Out of all the songs out there, why did you choose to cover Deftones’ “My Own Summer”?
The original song is so iconic and Deftones is easily one of my favorite bands. The main guitar riff is one of those ear worms that I wish I had written myself and Chino’s vocals have this eerie intimacy that I am really hooked on. In general, I gravitate towards songs with cinematic qualities and the Deftones track checks all those boxes. I really enjoy reinterpreting songs in my own style and this one turned out so well that I knew I had to release it.
What was the approach you chose to tackle this cover?
The song came together very naturally. I knew that I wanted to go for more of an industrial rock/trip hop version of the track, which lends itself to some specific instrumentation choices like the addition of synth bass, programmed drums instead of live, plus some fun mechanical-sounding samples for color. The whole thing started out with me and producer Richie Beretta sending demos back and forth to one another and building out from there. Some stylistic differences, like choosing to whisper “shove it” instead of scream, came partly out of necessity, since I’m not a trained screamer (…yet?), but I really love the contrast.
How did you go on balancing the original with your own take?
A funny thing often happens when I’m working on a cover, where I don’t realize quite how different my version is until I listen to the original again. In my mind, I’m just singing or playing the song as it was written, but when you’ve spent a lifetime developing your own sound, inevitably it bleeds into your performance whether you’re conscious of it or not. With this song, I kept thinking that my version wasn’t too much of a departure from the Deftones’ original version, and when I finally went back to listen to it after finishing the cover, I realized we’d made it something entirely different.
The cover comes off your upcoming EP Hybrid – what’s the story behind the title?
The title Hybrid is a reflection of how I see myself, as well my music. There’s this duality in every aspect of my personality, my interests, and the way I view the world, two sides that I oscillate between and yet occupy at the same time. I’m an introvert with extrovert tendencies, an optimist and a cynic, dark soul with a bright energy, the list goes on and on. I’m biracial as well, which really puts the icing on the hybrid cake.
Without giving too much away about the EP, the songs included in the collection, the rest of which are original tracks, all fit fairly squarely into two separate moods, and each song itself can be described as a hybrid of genres.
How was the recording and writing process?
The songwriting process for this EP spanned from July 2019 to about January 2020. Initially when I approached Richie to work on this with me in June of last year, I had written around 20 songs and we picked 10 out of those to produce. I subsequently went on vacation, realized I wasn’t happy with nearly any of the songs, and then proceeded to write another 15 or so. Nine of those are on the EP.
I write most of my songs in my head, melody and lyrics first, without any actual accompaniment. I’ve got a great ear which is both a blessing and a curse, composition comes naturally to me but consequently I’m lazy when it comes to music theory. So things sound great but I’d have to work a little harder to tell you why they do. All my new song ideas get recorded into my voice notes on my phone, and then i’ll let them kind of marinate there and i’ll keep revisiting them until I’ve got something fully formed. Instrumentation comes after.
Some aspects of the recording process are still ongoing for a few of the songs. Covid definitely forced us to rethink our plans this year since we had originally expected to be in the recording studio throughout April. The studios are open again but venues are still closed, so we decided to focus on putting out a few singles this year and hold the EP until live music comes back, hopefully early next year.
What role does Brooklyn play in your music?
Creatively, I’d say Brooklyn has almost zero impact on the content or style of my music. Logistically, however, living in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan allowed me to finally have enough apartment space to set up a home studio, which has had an enormous impact on my ability to make music. Most of the concerts I’ve attended in my lifetime were here in New York City, so when I think of live music, I tend to think of this city. Growing up in San Diego, I was far more immersed in the musical theater scene both as a performer and a spectator, I really didn’t go to that many concerts until I moved to New York for college.
What is it about the 90s that you find so fascinating?
I grew up in the 90s so anything from that era has a solid nostalgia factor for me. The movies, the music and the aesthetic from that decade have a dark edge and a simplicity that I find really satisfying and comforting in a way. There’s a raw authenticity in a lot of the pop culture that originated then. Rock music ruled the radio and people weren’t spending as much time singing about how much money they make.
How has Massive Attack and Nirvana influenced your writing?
My love for Massive Attack started with the Matrix soundtrack, which is my all-time favorite film. Their song in that movie, Dissolved Girl, has this dark, brooding energy that I resonate with, and their album Mezzanine as a whole fits that vibe. I was exposed to so many other artists via the Matrix, like Rage Against the Machine, Prodigy, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie, and it really informed my taste in music after that.
Nirvana is so widely loved that it’s hard to say anything really profound about them that hasn’t already been said, but I really love their use of sardonic lyrics paired with catchy and upbeat riffs. That’s a theme you can see running throughout my songwriting as well.
Where did you find the inspiration for the music video you filmed?
The concept kind of evolved out of necessity, I had to come up with something that could be achieved with practical effects on a single day in a single location. When you’re an independent artist, you’re frequently figuring out how to work with what you’ve got, and how to maximize the end result. Covid became another factor in the concept because I wanted to make sure we were filming it safely, which meant I couldn’t have another person in the scene with me.
Ultimately what I wanted to achieve was something dark (do you see a theme here?), dreamlike and a little bizarre. To me, ‘My Own Summer’ is about isolation, retreating from the rest of the world and not quite knowing if it’s self-imposed or not. I wanted the video to capture that feeling by creating a void-like, windowless visual with a cyclical storyline. Am I trapped there, or did I do this to myself? The team at Rethink Films was fantastic in helping me to achieve that vision.
What else is happening next in Agent Envy’s world?
I’ll be releasing a few original singles in the next few months, starting with my song Spiral in mid-September. I’m so excited for my audience to hear something that is entirely mine. This song is a personal favorite off the EP and I love the way it’s come together. We just wrapped up filming the music video for that one as well and I can’t wait to share it.
In the meantime, there’s a ton of fun content across my social media accounts and YouTube channel, for those who want to see more of my process, including live performances, song breakdowns, production vlogs, and behind the scenes footage from the recording studio and music videos.
