In this interview spotlight, we chat with Portland based duo When We Met to discuss their new project, challenges and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and their animated music video for Ride The Tide can be found below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Bryan: We are from Portland, Oregon and we create music that inspires us, music we enjoy listening to.
Melissa: I think our music bops around genres a bit, from alternative to lately being called new wave. We like to create variety in our sound, one way we do that is by trading lead vocals and switching writing styles.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
B: Music has always been part of my life, ever since I was little I wanted to be a musician. Other life obstacles got in the way of pursuing my musical dreams and I took a break from my passion, that is until I met Melissa. Together we stay on course because we love creating music so much.
M: Like Bryan, I have always dreamed of playing and creating music, but I was held back by my insecurities and fear for a long time. At this point I stay motivated knowing what joy we get when we play a successful gig, the idea that our music could mean the world to another human (like so much music has meant to me throughout life), the joy of touring and simply just playing.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
B: This is basically our first “official” professionally done music video. We wanted to do something special for one of the songs on our new album. It’s different in a few ways, one being the video version of the song has a longer intro and outro that the cartoonist, Magnificent Kaaboom added. Then I composed some original scores to go with those animations for the intro and outro of the music video.
M: We toss together DIY little videos here and there to share our music, we want to have more fun videos. This is the second one Magnificent Kaaboom has done for one of our songs, the first one was an awesome surprise he did for us, this time we worked together, and there may be another collaboration in the works…
Do you face challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?
B: It’s made it easier on an unsigned DIY musician to have capability to record, mix and master music on your own. I went to school for audio production and have been recording since I was a teenager and with the digital age it’s made it affordable to buy different DAWs, plug-ins and interfaces that you could not afford before. Also, it’s really easy to learn new things on YouTube.
M: I would have to say the exposure you can get with social media and being able to e-mail for booking. All of it has it’s pros and cons, but for the most part it is helpful to have so much information at your fingertips. But still, nothing beats getting your ass on the road and playing for real people.
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
M: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are our main socials, @whenwemetband. Join the mailing list on our website here: whenwemet.band to make sure you get the tour dates. Social media is so filtered, you need see anyones posts. Our website has a links to all our social medias, a blog and more things.
B: We encourage people to listen on Spotify, add us to your playlist and follow there as well. We have music on iTunes, physical copies through CDbaby and we are on Bandcamp.
Anything else before we sign off?
B: We will be going on tour this spring, until then we will hibernate and write / record some new music and drop a new music video in the summer!
M: Thank you for you time!
