All photos courtesy of After.
Welcome to SOUND ADVICE, Interview‘s destination for playlists curated by our friends, enemies, and lovers. In recent weeks, we’ve featured playlists from Anok Yai, girlsweetvoiced, and Cannelle. This week’s installment comes to us courtesy of After, the LA-based duo made up of Justine Dorsey and Graham Epstein, former Hinge matches turned bandmates. The sentimental pair first bonded over a shared longing for the early 2000s music scene before combining their tastes to create something addictively nostalgic. Together, their music feels like a dreamy road trip with the windows down, diving into cold water, and being hit with déjà vu all at once. Their forthcoming debut album, Fell Asleep in the Sun, is both an ode to a simpler past and an attempt to soak it in for just a little while longer. With the record’s title track out today, the duo curated a playlist featuring Y2K staples like Björk, Coldplay, and Hillary Duff. They also took a stab at our questionnaire, telling us all about their childhood anthems, studio essentials, and what nostalgia truly sounds like.
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Your favorite Y2K anthem?
GRAHAM EPSTEIN: “Blurry” by Puddle of Mudd
JUSTINE DORSEY: “White Flag” by Dido
What’s a song on this playlist you wish you wrote?
“Monsoon” by Tokio Hotel
Dream collab, dead or alive?
Adam Schlesinger
What does nostalgia sound like?
A cold beach
Is there a song on this playlist that reminds you of a certain memory?
EPSTEIN: We listened to “Tornados” by Ben Lee a lot in the family car around the same time I was obsessed with lighthouses. So really associate this song with going on these little family trips to as many lighthouses as we could.
DORSEY: We had a trampoline in our backyard and Mylo Xyloto was my trampolining album. It reminds me of grey days that aren’t quite cold enough, not quite warm enough either.
Three things you always bring with you to the studio:
3 Diet Cokes
What’s a lyric on this playlist you’ll never forget?
“I defy.” – Hilary Duff
Where are you most inspired?
Wherever we’re homesick.
Name your favorite artist no one knows about:
EPSTEIN: Coffret de Bijoux, a Québécoise black metal artist I’m obsessed with. She experiments with so many genres. Some of the best songs I’ve heard in awhile.
Describe your debut album in three words:
Sands of time
Between the two of you, who’s always on aux?
Graham!
How do you influence each other’s taste?
DORSEY: Graham has shown me so much music, artwork, and film that means a lot to me now. He’s like The Matrix. I feel like I see so much of the world through his lens.
EPSTEIN: Justine’s taste and vision has definitely changed the way I perceive things. Like in the imagery she gravitates towards, and in fashion, and color, it’s all very true to herself. She has a crazy eye for small things that end up being game changers in our art that I 100 percent hold on to and trust.
