Q&A: THE SOUND OF SOLITUDE: FINDING CONNECTION THROUGH LONELY BOYS
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY DANY MIRELES ☆
There’s something tenderly raw about Lonely Boys, the self-titled debut track from Idaho-based duo McKenna Esteb and Jake Freeman. It’s folk, Americana, and quite something cinematic. Music born from dusty roads and long talks about pain, empathy, and healing. Together, they craft stories that feel both intimate and universal, tracing how hurt can echo between people yet still find resolution in sound.
In conversation with The Luna Collective, the pair reflect on their organic creative process, the beauty of Idaho’s landscape, and the strange and ironic magic behind their name.
LUNA: The song “Lonely Boys” feels intimate and cinematic. How did this song first come to life, and what emotions did it spark?
MCKENNA: This song was actually the first song Jake and I wrote together. It was inspired by experiences with people in our past who are quick to fight without much thought. Whether it's an ex or someone we’ve worked with in the past, it’s kind of about how we’ve noticed a pattern of people who hurt others are often hurting the most.
JAKE: It’s a song about hurt people hurting people. We usually start a writing session by just sort of asking each other something like, “What are you thinking about or feeling right now?” I don’t remember who said what to prompt this, but McKenna has this great gift of writing about an emotion and taking a personal experience and making it very universally accessible through story.
LUNA: How do you describe the world of music Lonely Boy lives in?
MCKENNA: I would describe it as folk/americana - Mazzy Star meets Sheryl Crow.
JAKE: I would describe it as pondersome, thoughtful- music that is attempting to focus less on the “me” and more on the “us.”
LUNA: There’s a beauty in the lyrics “ I thought I saw your face / it scared me to death.” What moment inspired that line?
MCKENNA: When writing these songs, we were sharing experiences of people who had hurt us in the past. I had recently been driving and thought I saw an ex who was quite aggressive, and had this moment where my heart stopped a bit until I realized it wasn’t him. This feels like a moment lots of people can relate to - seeing someone from your past or thinking you’ve seen someone from your past when you least expect it. No matter how much time has passed, it can kind of transport you back to how you felt at that time with them.
LUNA: What does the creative process when creating a song look like between the two of you?
MCKENNA: Jake and I will trade off going to each other's houses, and each time we meet, we write a new song. Typically, Jake will start with a cool riff or chord progression, and we will just go from there. I’ll start singing gibberish on top of it until words start to take shape, and then we'll talk about what we want the song to be about and shape the lyrics together.
JAKE: It’s old-fashioned and natural. We just hang out and talk and try things out until we find something we think is cool. I harvest a lot of ideas for songs, like if I’m playing my guitar and I stumble on a chord progression or a riff or something I think is cool, I’ll file it away to bring into a writing session later. We are just getting to know each other better in this way, but we have really caught a stride lately. McKenna is a really good singer and has a masterful command of melody - I realized very quickly that when working with her, there are no limitations.
LUNA: How do the landscapes of Idaho influence your storytelling and sounds?
MCKENNA: Idaho definitely has a country/Americana feel to it. Being in the desert, near the mountains. But more than anything, the people influence the sound here.
JAKE: I love Idaho. I love the desolation, the big sky, all the open space. Even though I don’t really think about having an “Idaho sound,” or whatever, I’m sure it influences everything I do, because living here is foundational to my creative lifestyle.
LUNA: This question is for McKenna. You’ve built a strong solo presence before forming this band. What creative freedom came with collaborating on this new project?
MCKENNA: I love this question! This is my first time really writing on a group project, and I’ve loved it! It’s allowed me to really hone into a niche, which I haven’t done before, and to lean into my folk side, which has been so fun. I grew up on a lot of Mazzy Star, Brandi Carlile, Jeff Buckley, and Bright Eyes, and I never really felt I could lean into that side of myself in a natural way in my McKenna Esteb project. So this has been such a fun outlet for that side of music that I’ve always loved and admired. It’s been so fun and absolute magic writing with Jake.
LUNA: Freeman, your sound carries deep roots in folk and western music. How did your background shape the sonic sound of Lonely Boys?
JAKE: I do love folk and western music. But I also love lots of different music too. 660s Memphis R&B is probably my favorite of all music ever created. I love soul. I love psychedelic music. I’m not sure I can talk about the shape of Lonely Boys yet because we are still pioneering it. I play the same jangly guitars and pedal steel I always play, though the context in this is definitely different than more traditional music, which is a goal of mine because I have no interest in recording strictly traditional music.
LUNA: Are there any “happy accidents” or spontaneous moments that happened in the studio that shaped the final version of this song?
MCKENNA: I think most of our happy accidents come from a lack of funds. The choir you hear at the end is all just my vocals because I can’t afford to pay a whole choir. So I was just standing around a mic all over my apartment singing in different voices to make that choir sound, which was really fun and silly, and I ended up really liking the final sound of it all together!
JAKE: The pedal steel part on the song was the very first take I did. I thought I would go back and craft a different part, but I ended up really liking that first take - there is some magic in a first take, when you are just playing responsively and intuitively and not thinking too hard or trying to be clever.
LUNA: What drew you to make this track self-titled, and how does it reflect the emotional world of your music?
MCKENNA: We actually came up with the song name before this became our band name. As we were thinking for weeks of band names, we had just finished practicing this song, and Jake was like, “What if that’s just our band name too?” And I was like, “Yup, that’s perfect.” I think it does reflect the emotional world of our music! It’s kind of silly because the front man is a gal, and I also think a lot of our songs speak to and confront classic “American” traditions and how this patriarchy we’ve built really makes us all lonelier, more than anything, and I like that.
JAKE: It’s just a good name, and we both like the irony of it. We are both fairly silly people who make serious music, so it’s really just a perfect name for us.
LUNA: Looking ahead, what kind of musical world do you hope to build as Lonely Boys continues to grow?
MCKENNA: We are sitting on a lot of songs right now, and I’m fairly sure we will be releasing an EP or album within the next couple of months or in 2026. I look forward to putting more songs out with this project and to eventually tour a bit! You can expect more songs that call men out for shitty behavior, some love songs, and some protest songs.
JAKE: I love every song we’ve written. Every new one we write, I love more than the last. Like I said earlier, we are just catching our stride with all this. My only intention is to keep exploring and creating and experiencing the growth - that’s my favorite part of all of this.
