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Hi, it's great. Hi, I'm Laura. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
Hi, I'm Kennedy. I'm looking at an outline. So good to meet you guys. I love your album, by the way.
Thank you. So for the local show, we're trying to cover genres that we listen to, and my favorite genre is punk music. So I was so happy when I got your album and listened to it and everything, because the Raspberry Gems is the coolest name ever. How did you guys come up with that?
Well, that was before it's all over here. Yeah. And I feel like there was a day in where me and kids were brainstorming. And we were thinking about band names that we liked, and I know one of them was Strawberry Switchblade, and we were like, the fruits.
And then we were also thinking, because we played in Kennedy Basement, and we were like, the bass, snip, and jams. I don't know who came up with that. But one of them was the Raspberry Gems. They got licked.
Nothing else they had to be Raspberry. Like, Strawberry just had to be Raspberry. That's so weird, because I can tell what you mean. You guys don't seem like the Strawberry Gems, if that makes any sense.
Yeah, I agree. There are some people who mix up our name. I remember at school, this girl was like, you guys called the Strawberry Gems, right? I'm like, no, no, no, no.
I was like, what's the matter? I was like, is it Strawberry or Raspberry Gems? No. Guys, come on.
I feel like that would be the worst thing to happen at a show, because it's like, you're already there. Honestly. They seem nice, though. That's good.
So how did you guys meet and start the band? Well, it was in a one day of freshman year. I started learning drums in freshman year. So I I guess being a band wasn't like, it wasn't expected, but I definitely was preparing, I guess.
We actually started as a three piece. This was a four-zole. We had this other girl in the band, and then she went away. And we were like, oh, really?
What are we going to do? And we were like, we have to keep making music. We sound really good. We have a lot of potential.
And we just kept working as a duo. And I eventually learned bass, so we can have a full band on recording, essentially. It's really funny looking back on some of our really, really old demo recordings, because our genre just changed so much. We had a very dreamy sound when we worked as a three-piece in freshman year, and then we became a little more punky and formed our own thing.
And then what do you want to talk about with you about here? Sure. So it was at a show. And it was around Halloween.
And you guys were talking about how you wanted a third person to join. And then I think I made a joke about playing a triangle in the back or something. And then you guys were like, wait, wait, wait. And then yeah, we all, like the show was at Adeline's garage.
So we all posed. Like I remember a lot of us sat behind the drums and Zola pretended to hold the bass. And then we like swapped and Zola was like pretending to play the drums and I was trying to play the bass. And everyone's like, this is good.
Oh, because I didn't play drums or bass before this, but like I play piano like my whole life and like a bit of guitar. So like I was like, it was there. I was like, I was like, I can learn. Yeah.
And then yeah, I remember too. We were all wearing pigtails that day. Yeah. Just happy.
Yeah. You like already looks like a band. It's amazing. So you guys said you got more punk like as you went on.
Do you have like favorite bands that kind of influenced that at all? Oh, we can talk about favorite. Tell me about it, please. Okay.
Me and Kenzie, when we started, we had very different music tastes and I think there was like a couple bands where we were like, this is what we like. So it was the cure and strawberry switchblade. We're like, how did you got me the strawberry switchblade? Oh, well, I thought we were good.
Well, yeah. But I remember the cure was a main one and that's probably why we sounded that way at the beginning. And I think both of our music tastes developed a lot and it changed our sound too. I've been very inspired by specifically the talking heads and oingo bingo.
So it's like 2022. And I always knew that that's something like that's like, that's where I want to be someday. I would be like them because I just like, I'm listening to music. I hear all these different elements.
It's like so cool. And I'm kind of, you can talk about the other stuff, but that yeah, now I'm really inspired by social distortion and the record heat. Those are like a couple of my biggest inspirations at the moment. But yeah, Kenzie has some good stuff too.
I've always listened to a lot of music at my house. Like my parents are very like, they used to play music like a long time ago. So they're, my music case was very like inspired. And there's just some bands that are always like stuck out to me.
And I, it's funny because I feel like like within like the past few years, I've definitely got more to the punk stuff like you had one. But like some of my favorite bands, this isn't really punk at all, but I really like balance a bastion. Okay, I just love your sounds. There's just so many different elements.
And I feel like each song is just very like unique. And I also, I do like plum tree a lot. Recently, I have been obsessed with the Dead Milkman. They are one of my favorites and the Diggies.
I just, I guess I like songs add a lot of parts in them where it's like not so like guitars louder than everything. Like I like how structure and I feel like our music case being coming all over the board. Like it does all come together and make something very unique. Do you have anything more agile?
I mean, since I kind of joined the band, my music case has really evolved honestly. And I'm kind of listening to just like a bunch of different stuff. And that's really awesome. Because then I can kind of like have inspiration from so many different things.
And yeah, these guys got me to like start to switch played and stuff like that. And I've been influenced. Yeah, I was telling people to listen to my favorite band. Oh, yeah, you take that well.
That's the best thing. Like I love sharing music with my friends. Like we send each other albums and stuff all the time. So I love that you guys like get each other into stuff.
Yeah, our group chat definitely looks like that. And they'll just send like a random song. It's like, you guys should listen to this. It's like a good song.
I don't know. We actually listen to it. I mean, it's there. And yeah, someone gets inspiration.
We made a band playlist where all three of us added like songs and it's like crazy. Those soul like the switching between songs. I can remember I added like Sweeney Todd song. And like, and it's only from Glee.
And then we have like the circle jerks and like, I don't know. I was wondering if there's a one direction on there. Yeah, it's the difference. Listen, I love all music.
Yeah. As you should. Amazing. So I know we talked a little bit about like you guys like songs with a lot of different like layers and structure to it.
And I feel like that kind of comes through in your music. Like I kind of noticed that when I was listening to the album, there were just a lot of cool little parts that I really enjoyed. And that's something I feel like I would describe your sound with if I was telling somebody about you guys. But my question is, how would you guys describe the Raspberry Gems to someone who I never listened to?
That is always a question that stumps me. I definitely have like the punk influence and I know like on some of the newer stuff that we're working on that isn't quite recorded yet. Like we definitely lean into like the punk, you know, like right girl sounds. Even like the topics of the songs like it a little more political.
How do you guys describe it? See, it's better in an interview because we don't have to give like a one word answer. Because like if I were trying to say a genre, it's a pretty hard thing to put down. I would say we have a very strong sound, especially I would say my vocals and Kenzie's drumming is very unique.
I feel and like the stuff that she writes and because Kenzie talks a lot, the stuff that Zola's writing is also like emulating that. There are drums in our guitar. It like matches with each other really well. And we have that like right girl sound.
We also have like a bit of like a rock and roll sound, especially in this new stuff. And especially seeing us live, I would say that like there's a lot of like there's some epic rock and roll moments. Like when we hold up those long notes and stuff. But yeah, I would say always has to be described in a lot of words.
Well, this isn't like a way to like describe a genre. Like I feel like it's connected. The way we write our songs, like we just all have to be there, you know? Yes.
Like as a two piece, right? Okay, like we've got this one. Even now it's like Zola, like we eat everyone. It's kind of like a big mind-mill.
Yeah. I also feel like emotion is a really big. I mean emotion isn't all music, but like I think that the like emotions that come with being a teen girl really come through. That's something that's important.
Yeah, for our genre. Whatever. I love that. There were a few like all-girl pump bands that I really like that were teenagers when I was in high school.
And that was like the best thing ever for me because I felt like somebody got what I was going through. And that sounds so cheesy, but I'm sure you guys got what I mean. Yeah. Yeah.
So I love that you're doing that too. And I guess my follow up question to that would be like, where do you guys want to go from here? Like what's next for you? That is weird.
I know that's a big question. I mean, I personally, I want to continue making music. Like we're all about to go to college and move on with the future. I do feel like this band is like very important to me.
And it's pushed me to do a lot of things I never would have thought to do before. And I feel like even like going to shows and like seeing how people react to music and like the whole process of creating is like something that I really enjoy to do. And I feel like if we've got what it takes, I feel like we can still have the juice to make music and do more with the band. Yeah.
I mean like exactly what's going to happen to the future is like, we don't know really at all. All we know is that we kind of just want to keep playing music. Yeah. Yeah.
It's been like scary to think about. I know for a lot of us, for all of us, I mean, I've only broke down into yours a few years ago. But yeah, that like main like just thinking like we just want to keep creating is kind of what's driving us. And like we still got a lot of ideas.
So just like just letting our music take us away like let ourselves evolve through it. And I feel like it'll speak for itself. I think we have what it takes. You definitely do.
And thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it. Of course. We love to talk about our music.
Yeah. I can I can blabber. And we want you to. That's the best thing.
Yeah. Thank you so much for like choosing us. And yeah, like pushing us out there. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, we're kind of we're trying to support local music as much as we can. And we got a lot of like, we get a lot of albums sent to us basically. And this one, my boss was like, I think you really like this one.
And then I checked it out and I was like, oh my God, you're right. Like perfect. Thank you. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, I feel like I'm probably like the target audience. So I mean, I like to think that and you know, it's kind of nice to hear because like as we've like put our music out there, especially on like Instagram and like TikTok and stuff, like I just see all these like younger like people, I'm like, you know, I'm happy that like people are enjoying it. But I'm not expecting like a lot of audience to be like freshmen in high school.
Like it's funny. But yeah, it's nice to know that like more than that. Yeah, especially with like, like, like everybody that's reaching out to us and stuff, it's really cool that like so many people want to play with us and want to be out there. Like, it's just really cool.
Like we started, you know, basement and now we're here. I'm still in a basement. I also, I love that for you guys. I'm glad like you're getting your senior audience kind of expand.
That's the coolest thing. I'm glad to be a part of that. Yeah. Yeah.
Anyway, I think that might be it for me. Yeah. This is fun. Yeah, thank you so much.
Very nice to chat about these things. Thank you for listening to this WXAV 773 Sounds podcast. For more information on 773 Sounds, please visit our website, WXAV.com.