Q&A: LEARNING TO LET GO: INSIDE THE CREATIVE MINDS OF SYDNEY QUISENG AND YAM HAUS
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY DANY MIRELES ☆
SOME COLLABORATIONS FEEL LIKE EXPERIMENTS—while others feel like alignment. For Yam Haus and Sydney Quiseng, that’s the case with “Always Falling In Love,” a song that merges coastal calm with Midwestern warmth that feels both strangely effortless, like two worlds quietly clicking into place. Created between Los Angeles and Minnesota, the track grew out from a long-distance creative exchange built on trust, admiration, and willingness to let the process unfold naturally. For Sydney, it became an exercise in letting go and discovering the freedom in working with people she deeply believes in. For Yam Haus, the collaboration arrived during a moment of artistic grounding, where clear melodies, emotional honesty, and a sense of home have become their compass.
The result of the song drifts somewhere between country and indie-pop, and while this song has its own release, Yam Haus is far from slowing down. The band is already gearing up for their next chapter with their next single, “Ain’t Dead Yet,” arriving on December 12, hinting at a continued evolution and an even more sonic era ahead of them.
LUNA: How did “Always Falling In Love” first come to life? Was it born out of a lyric, a melody or a shared moment in the studio?
HAUS: It really came from both a lyric and a moment between us. Sydney and I each had a little line we’d been holding onto, something we thought was cool, and both of those lyrics ended up in the final song. We first met in January on a cruise ship called the Rock Boat, basically a floating music festival, and we connected right away. Our bands got along, and we had a lot of fun. At some point, Sydney and I tossed out the idea of writing together. A couple of months later, we actually did. We ended up at Sydney’s place on a rainy, cozy day in Los Angeles, getting to know each other creatively and tossing ideas around. Sydney had this incredible verse idea that became pretty much the entire first verse, which I’m the one who ended up singing. I brought in the chorus idea that started with “I like the way you memorize my number. I like the way that we can talk about nothing at all,” and it all just fit together.
Everything about the process felt natural, and the pieces kept falling into place without us even having a clear plan. Before we knew it, the song became a co-release, and Sydney was in the midst of launching an exciting solo career while still playing in her band with her bros. It all felt serendipitous and kind of perfect.
LUNA: What was the creative process like between you two? How did you find that balance between both your styles and voices?
QUISENG: I think there was something really natural about singing together, which we actually got to test out on the Rock Boat. When we all first met, we did a cover of “When You Were Young” by The Killers during one of our sets, and that ended up being the first time Sydney and I ever sang together. From that moment, we realized our voices blended in a way that felt effortless—something that definitely isn’t guaranteed, even when you’re a huge fan of someone’s voice. People have all kinds of vocal textures, and sometimes they just don’t mesh, but for us, it was obvious right away that it worked. Yam Haus handled all the incredible production work with their team, and I was mostly involved virtually for most of that process. I recorded my vocals in LA while they were tracking in Minnesota, so it was a couple of states’ distance, but it worked out really well because our tastes are so aligned. They’d send me a version, and I’d listen and just think, “Oh my gosh, I love this—this is really sick.”
LUNA: Yam Haus, this is your first-ever collaboration — what made you decide that now was the right time to open that creative door?
HAUS: I’m definitely a big fan of Sydney, and that was part of it, but it was more than that. I’ve worked with, written with, and hung out with people I’m fans of before, and it didn’t always lead to a song that clicked or fit into everyone’s timelines. When you’re in a band, or running a project or doing the solo-artist thing, timing becomes a huge factor. But with this song, as Sydney said, everything just clicked—it all fell into place in this weirdly effortless way. It felt like the perfect first duet for us, and we’d never wanted to force something like that just for the sake of doing it. This felt like a genuinely special song with a special artist we believe in, and we’re proud to have our name next to hers.
So much of it came from this really strong chemistry and easy decision-making that made the whole process fall together quickly. We’re just really proud of it; it’s a great song, and we love Sydney’s voice. And like she said, you can admire a lot of different singers, but that doesn’t mean their voice will blend with yours or fit your style. From day one, we were joking about starting a band, and in a way, this song feels like our little version of that. Who knows what the future holds, but right now it all just feels really natural.
LUNA: Sydney, what about this song or this band drew you in creatively and emotionally?
QUISENG: I feel like I’m just getting started on this whole journey with my husband, and it’s an especially sweet season because we actually just announced that we’re having a baby. It feels like we’re falling in love in a new way as we cross this threshold into becoming parents. Even though I wasn’t pregnant when we wrote the song, it already rang true for me, and as we took this next step, I found myself relating to it even more. That’s part of why it felt so obvious to do this song together. I hadn’t really done duets in a while, especially under my new married name, Sydney Kusang, and I’d been excited to explore duets again going into 2025. This one happened so naturally. I really do feel like I’m falling in love with my husband over and over again; every time he makes me laugh, I think, “Oh my gosh, this is why I love you.”
I hope people in relationships can relate to that, because that’s the dream, finding someone who makes even the ordinary days feel meaningful. Of course, there are hard days and nothing is perfect, but finding ways to fall in love with your person every day is key to having an entertaining marriage. I relate to this song so deeply, and I love it, which is why I’m so happy I got to be a part of it on the feature side instead of only as a writer, though I would’ve been content with that too. Doing it together made it even more special.
LUNA: There’s such warmth and nostalgia in the production — what were you listening to or inspired by while making it?
HAUS: Before we got into the studio, I sent Sydney a reference track our band really connected with — “Secret Garden” by Bruce Springsteen — and she clicked with it instantly. We loved how that song sits on the line between having a touch of country influence without actually being a country song, what I call heartland rock. We were aiming for something that felt timeless rather than tied to a trend or a specific moment in production. The song does that so well with its light instrumentation and analog synths, letting the lyrics and vocals lead. That inspired a lot of our approach. We kept the arrangement simple and let the drums be the main character. They just chug along in this steady, classic way, and Jake completely crushed that part. It helped give the song that warm, familiar, but not overly genre-specific feel we were hoping for.
LUNA: How do both of your individual home bases influence your sound and the kind of stories you want to tell through your music?
HAUS: I’m such a sucker for the Midwest. I love LA, I love Nashville, I love New York, and I love traveling, but I always find myself yearning to come back home because the Midwest is quiet in this really grounding way. It’s not reaching for anything grand; it’s just warm, steady, and constant. That vibe has definitely influenced our band’s latest direction this year: less flashy, more rooted, the kind of music that still works if it’s just an acoustic guitar, a piano, or a simple drum pattern, letting the lyrics and melodies lead. This song feels like that too — sturdy rather than showy, something that hopefully stands the test of time. And to me, that’s exactly what the Midwest feels like.
QUISENG: I’ve spent time in so many places, but I always end up coming back to California, and that coastal feel slips into my music. I’ve started calling it “coastal country” because it blends influences from everywhere I’ve loved — Nashville, Hawaii, and all the spots that shaped me. Coming home is always special, and there’s something about writing in your own bedroom that brings out ideas you can’t get anywhere else. But writing outside your comfort zone has its own magic too, which is why time in Nashville or even the middle of nowhere can be just as inspiring. Being home for this song felt especially right, though — my two free-roam bunnies were running around the whole time, probably annoyed at the loud guitars, but they handled it.
LUNA: Did recording this song together change anything about how you approach your own songwriting or performance in general?
QUISENG: It was actually a great exercise for me. I'm usually super hands-on with my own production, so learning to trust people I admire and not feel like I have to control every detail was really refreshing. When you’re working with the right collaborators, you can end up with something amazing without doing everything yourself. It let me focus more on how I wanted to present the song visually and creatively, instead of stressing over every tiny production choice. This whole process reminded me that finding the right people makes everything easier, more inspiring, and just as meaningful as the projects I’m deeply involved in.
