Interview: Duo Bestfriend Talks New EP and First Live Show

Written by Zoe Tevyaw, Photo by Maxine Tamoto

Up-and-coming Canadian indie pop duo Bestfriend released their sophomore EP places i’ve left on April 21st. A follow up to their debut EP places i’ve lived, this project takes on a nostalgic sheen in building upon the ideas of the first. The two are honing in on their distinct sound in real-time with the building inertia and success of their first release that’s been playlisted by Spotify and featured in several publications. With their upcoming release show being their first live performance as a group, Bestfriend answers our questions and eases inquiring minds with information about their sound, success, and shows.

Zoe: You guys have been getting a lot of traction on Spotify playlists and from some big music publications! Does it feel like a long time coming for you both or super fast? 

Stacy: Can we say both? It sort of feels like both.

Kaelan: Totally agree. On one hand, we’ve been working on this project together for almost a half decade now, and in such a way that we’re always doing it with a certain intentional attitude given the planning usually involved with cross-country trips and calls and the like. It’s been a lot of really, really hard work to sort of believe in the root of what we wanted to make together enough to push through the inherent barriers. But the flip side of that coin is that nothing really feels terribly real or concrete because of the distance and digital aspect of it all, so any time we take in any of the success we have found it’s sort of like standing up too fast. Dizzying and wild to comprehend, and it all feels so sudden. 

Zoe: Your music seems to take a lot of things floating around the indie music sphere and streamlines it into your unique sound; where do you draw inspiration from? Are there any artists you find your music around that you’d want to work with in the future?

Stacy: I draw inspiration from lyric-heavy songs, particularly ones where there’s almost a bit of a dissonance between the lyrics and the melody. Songs where the lyrics are soul-crushing, but when you first hear them, they make you want to dance. A musical Trojan horse, you could say! Love the idea of treating both of them (lyrics, music) as separate-but-tied entities.

Zoe: You started your working relationship long-distance living on different sides of the country. Did quarantine and Zoom meetings have a big impact on your work, or were your skills in long-distance able to help you get through?

Kaelan: It definitely prepared us a bit for the storm, professionally at least. We were already pretty used to the Zoom writing sessions, the too-big-for-email file sharing, the time zone gaps, etc. It sort of allowed Bestfriend to be a real beacon of normalcy and hope for us where the rest of our lives had completely fallen away and been put on pause. 

Zoe: It seems like you’ve both been really into music since youth. Is there anything you’ve carried over from your earlier days that still comes in handy now that you’re making waves? 

Stacy: Absolutely everything. I am not much of a collector of knowledge – I wish I was one of those people who could just spurt out random facts I learned in elementary school – but music is one of those things I’ve carried with me all through my life in ways that I can’t quite articulate. There are songs that I heard when I was in grade 7 that I listen to now and brings me back to exactly the same feelings I felt when I listened to them back then. I think that’s helped a lot in shaping the way we write songs – is there a timelessness to this? Will I be able to listen to this five, ten years down the road and understand how I was feeling in that moment?

Zoe: The difference between your first EP and this one is that nostalgia and retrospection, right? Why did you decide to follow up places i’ve lived with this angle? 

Stacy: It sure is. places i’ve lived was a way for us to do right by our younger selves and say the things we wanted to say back then that we couldn’t at the time. Whether it was because we didn’t really have the platform, the nerves to say it, I don’t know, but that is exactly what that was. And personally, I feel as though we’ve gotten it all out now – which means that we can start writing about the Now stuff. 

Zoe: These youth experiences seem to be the basis of the first EP; is that idea an important one for you? Will we see more nostalgia in your future projects?

Kaelan: We both truly love to yearn. Adore to yearn, even. I think it’s pretty well-built into our general worldview and romanticization of our day-to-day lives and tasks at this point. So I would be shocked if we suddenly decided we were no longer interested in exploring the stories of our lives. Who really gets over anything ever, right?

Zoe: Do you think you’ll keep up with the world you’ve built in places I’ve lived and places i’ve left in your future releases? Do you think the two sister EPs are each half of the whole? Do you think the idea of keeping a theme across multiple releases will show up again in your future writing plans?

Stacy: I think they’re both a part of a greater whole, maybe not so much half of one singular whole. People are people, which is to say that everyone changes but ultimately will remain the same person through their lives; I’m sure that a lot of the themes we cover in lived and left will show up from time to time in future releases. It’s just the way our lives work. As much as I love the idea of wrapping up an era of your life with a neat and tidy bow, that’s just never going to happen. 

Zoe: You two became friends over shared love of gear and a certain synth, right? Is there anything you’ve both been geeking out about lately?

Kaelan: That almost makes us sound way cooler than we actually are. I’m pretty sure we both bought the cheapest available entry level MIDI controller online. We were both broke students, so frugality was king.

Stacy: We adore everything Teenage Engineering makes. I picked up the internet’s favorite synth, the OP-1, a little over a year ago, and we used it loads on the upcoming EP. 

Zoe: Your release show is your first live performance together – have you been rehearsing? Is there anything you’ve discovered about how you both work during this process that you hadn’t during your time songwriting and recording?

Kaelan: So much rehearsing. So much weird, independent rehearsing, and now a dedicated week of rehearsal together in person in the week leading up to the show.

Stacy: Which has been nuts. We really didn’t know what to expect at all, and have leaned on some of our more experienced live music friends for tips and help building our rig and stuff. The whole thing has been brand new in the truest sense. So many emotions. It’s been fun dedicating a whole month or two to basically just conjuring this whole thing out of thin air to show all our friends and family at the end like a camp showcase.

Zoe: Can you give us any hints about what we might expect from your stage show?

Kaelan: I could talk for ages about this so I’ll try to be succinct. I think it’s going to be the coolest thing we have ever done. Lots of excitement, lots of laughter, lots of emotions. Dancing. Maybe some confetti.