Q&A: An Instinctual Introduction to Untitled Freak
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
Photo Credit: Mars Alba
FRIDAY THE 13TH BROUGHT NEW MUSIC FROM UNTITLED FREAK—the solo project from shoegaze four-piece Laveda’s Ali Genevich. Her new EP 7 circles is an unguarded expression of herself as an individual, yet it preserves the atmospheric rock n’ roll we love about Laveda.
Following the release of Laveda’s third album, Love, Darla, Genevich explored her solo sound as untitled freak. It was an unplanned direction that she credits to a “release of energy” from wrapping up the recording of Love, Darla which presented Laveda with a few challenges.
“It was really fun but we had a lot of stressful obstacles to work around,” she describes. “So, I wanted to make something for fun with no limitations—just on my own terms.”
The resulting 7 circles is singular. It’s difficult to compare it to anything you’ve heard before which is the direct effect of Genevich’s “first-thought, best-thought” approach, as she describes. She trusts her intuition, not editing the words or notes that appear as the initial instinct. There’s nothing to compare it to because it’s entirely her own unfiltered perspective.
“I think it’s some of my most vulnerable work,” she shares.
A stand-out track is “flower,” which is led by an emotive guitar that builds throughout the song and finally erupts toward the end. It’s a testament to Genevich’s ability of establishing sonic immersion where emotion lures the listener in, guiding them to feel the exact emotions Genevich was when creating the track. It’s impossible not to give in—her intuitive process is raw honesty, after all. It’s as if Genevich’s truth allows the listener to access their own.
Her journey to rock originated from the violin performance program at SUNY Purchase before transferring to the College of St. Rose from which she graduated with a degree in music industry.
She recalls, “I was locked in a practice room every day for four to six hours after my classes and not socializing as much as I wanted to. I was in bands at the time and I was traveling for gigs on weekends, but I didn’t like the intensity of being in a conservatory so I decided to transfer. I’m glad that I did because I don’t think I would be making rock music if I didn’t.”
Genevich’s debut EP as untitled freak is partly inspired by her experiences at the College of St. Rose. It’s also where she met her Laveda bandmates.
“I would like to come back to violin,” she shares. “When I transferred to St. Rose from the conservatory at Purchase, I was like, ‘I want nothing to do with this. I just want to play rock music.’ If I had a friend who needed strings on a project here or there, I would do that. But I really didn’t play. Now, I’m realizing that I miss it. It has been cool to incorporate strings on untitled freak in a very different way than how I’m trained. I’m doing a lot of experimental playing.”
You can check out all five tracks off 7 circles now and read our full conversation with Genevich below.
Photo Credit: Mars Alba
LUNA: Why did the name untitled freak feel right for your solo project?
UNTITLED FREAK: I chose the name because the first song I wrote for the project was “untitled freak” and it was super spontaneous. I didn’t intend to start a solo project. It came after I had finished recording with Laveda. We had finished doing our third album and I was kind of feeling this additional release of energy and feeling relieved to be done, in a sense, with the recording process. It was really fun but we had a lot of stressful obstacles to work around.
So, I wanted to make something for fun with no limitations—just on my own terms. I wrote “untitled freak” and was writing more by myself. After I had the EP, I was like, “These songs all fit together really well. I should release them as a larger project.”
LUNA: How many songs did you end up writing during that time?
UNTITLED FREAK: It was five or six and I chose five for the EP and tracked drums with a friend over the summer. Everything was first-thought, best-thought energy. I didn’t re-track anything. It was all whatever came initially.
LUNA: Yeah, I read that you write intuitively and you keep the first instinct. What does that approach do for your art? Do you think it brings up a certain quality that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to capture?
UNTITLED FREAK: Definitely. I grew up playing classical music which is very rigid. My first instrument is violin. That classical training led me to recording music with everything having to be very meticulous, well-produced, and thought-through. But this project is the complete opposite. I’ll just start recording over the basic structure of an idea, and sometimes that’s just the take. I’ll improvise on the guitar and, if it feels right, just leave it.
It has been really interesting to figure out with my live band too. We played our first show in December. It was really challenging to dissect all of the different parts of the songs, especially the guitar parts, because none of them repeat. It’s one linear line that ebbs and flows around the rest of the song. I’m learning my own parts back which is challenging sometimes, but I think it makes for a really cool sound.
LUNA: The way you write reminds me of neurographic art. I’ve never tried it, but it’s this art form where you make freehand lines and don’t think about it, don’t plan anything, and see how the lines end up intersecting. It’s supposed to be this bridge between the conscious and the subconscious. People describe it as a meditative process. Do you find that your approach to music—where you’re letting yourself flow—is meditative for you?
UNTITLED FREAK: Definitely. Part of the reason that I decided to write songs on my own was because I needed some sort of outlet to release energy that was in a more meditative way and less energetic or angry. I feel like I get those emotions out when I play with Laveda because it’s high energy music. I get to thrash about on stage, but it doesn’t feel meditative. untitled freak feels much more therapeutic. I feel like the takeaway is maybe greater in the recording process for untitled freak versus Laveda. They serve very different purposes and I think it’s cool that I’ve found this other outlet to just chill.
Photo Credit: Mars Alba
LUNA: There’s something about being alone that forces us to explore things that we wouldn’t otherwise. How was it different without the whole band with you?
UNTITLED FREAK: I was able to follow my intuition. It was faster. A lot of times, when you work with other people, you’re stopping and starting. You also have these amazing moments together where things sound incredibly cool, beyond anything that you could imagine, because you have other people in the room playing with you. When you’re alone, you might not have those moments. It’s more of a patient process and that’s what makes it enjoyable in a very different way.
LUNA: I can imagine that could also be a little scary, especially the approach that you take where you’re choosing the first instinct. It requires a lot of honesty.
UNTITLED FREAK: I think it’s some of my most vulnerable work. Maybe it’s more disguised, at least lyrically, because of my process being first-thought, best-thought. I feel like the lyrics come to me kind of how you were talking about the neurographic art where your subconscious meets your conscious. That’s what the lyrics process is like for me. I’ll just scribble things down and sometimes they’re super vulnerable or it’ll be the opposite where I’ll do a vocal take and I’ll say things that I’m like, “Whoa, I didn’t know that was inside of me.” But it’ll be a line that really makes sense to me. I think vocally too, my vocal performances are super vulnerable because it’s a live performance. There’s no redoing anything.
LUNA: Years down the line when you listen back to this project, because it’s a spew of consciousness at this time with this version of yourself, it’ll be so interesting to listen back and remember. All music is like that, but this project especially, where you’re not polishing it so much.
UNTITLED FREAK: Yeah, that crossed my mind. Even recently, I feel like now that I’ve had a little bit of distance from the actual writing and recording process, I’m like, “Whoa, I’m evolving into a new sound already.” It’s interesting to compare.
LUNA: It’s very cool. I was reading about the song “birthday” and you had said that the song transported you back to when you were 19. I thought that was really interesting because you had this moment of remembering that became the song. Could you tell me more about that experience and how that song came to be?
UNTITLED FREAK: Yeah, it was already kind of within me. My college roommate, Grace, inspired me to start writing music in the first place. I was already writing music, but I don’t think it was until I met them and saw what they were doing that I really felt the motivation to keep going. I always wanted to pursue music seriously but didn’t really have a role model or anything. Honestly, they were kind of my role model at the time. They made such cool music.
I went to college in Albany. That’s where I met my bandmates in Laveda. The DIY scene surrounding me at the time was inspiring. There were really cool bands coming through and playing house shows. I feel like that period in my life was super important for my foundation as a musician and songwriter. Something about “birthday” brought me back to Grace’s songwriting. The Albany scene was definitely a big part of my life. I feel like that song pays homage to it. It almost feels like closure, in a sense.
LUNA: It’s interesting that it transported you to a time when you were younger because the song does have a childlike quality to it. There’s the lyric “I just lie like a kid.” And the video has the crayon coloring imagery. In general, there’s something innocent about birthdays, I think. They always remind me of childhood. Although it wasn’t childhood—you were 19 in college—it’s still interesting that it takes you back to a younger time.
UNTITLED FREAK: Yeah, I like that you noticed the crayons in the video. There was something about the video that I was like, “I have to use crayons and color in this.” And the wintery cold aesthetic. I feel like [the video includes imagery] that reminds me of Albany. So I wanted to recreate my own version of what Albany feels and smells and sounds and looks like from my perspective.
Photo Credit: Mars Alba
