FLEURETTE FONG
Tommy’s instrumentals and I’ll get my best ideas.” And while Los Angeles is a renowned hotbed for rising artists, it’s certainly not the glitz and glamour it’s made out to be. “The music industry is all really political. Pitch to a blog, and you can have really great music and they could love it, but if you don’t have 10k Twitter followers, they don’t care because it has to be a two-way street. They want exposure from your end too,” Tommy explained.
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“We’ve had to play it really safe. But we’re optimistic. We only have one song out right now but we’ve gotten good feedback from friends and blogs,” Jess said. “And it’s all connections, you know? It’s a really strong network.” Grit. You can say that word through clenched teeth or you can recognize that it’s a fundamental quality to have while navigating any challenge. The obstacle course otherwise known as ‘The Industry’ requires a profound sense of grit, and boy, does Disco Shrine have a lot of it. “If you have a dream, if you put yourself in a situation where there’s no other option but to do it…that’s like this. Everyday it’s the only thing I can think about, really. I’m not leaving myself any other options,” Tommy said. “And this is the most creative control on a project I’ve ever had. For the longest time I could only write one verse and be happy with it but have no idea how to finish the song, but I’m happy and able to do it now.” “For me, this project really helped to…I wouldn’t say serve as a distraction, but serve as an outlet for me to let go of everything — and you can tell in the lyrics. So it came at a much-needed time. And now I’m much better,” Jess reflected.
FALL 2015
It’s a tale as old as time: music has the profound ability to mend the most wistful hearts. And as Jess said, it’s easy to be inspired by sadness. Maybe we all have a penchant for songs about longing and films about loss and general melancholy because we grew up with people always telling us not to be sad. But sadness is just as valid and necessary of a feeling as happiness. And I think it’s incredibly difficult to do, but Disco Shrine captures that dichotomy beautifully. The most honest art we can create is often a concentrated amalgam of all the experiences that have moved us the most — and that’s why it means so much. And that’s what we need more of. “You know, when I first made the opening synth line of ‘Shy,’ way before I met Jess, I was actually taking Megabus up to Davis to visit my (then) girlfriend.” Today, there are no seas or time zones separating the two; coincidentally, they’ve always lived fifteen minutes apart. It has been five months since Jess and Tommy began making music together but they’ve already come full circle. By seizing the very circumstances that inspired “moody dance music” and biting it between the teeth, they’ve found peace in heartbreak. So what’s next for Disco Shrine? While they have their first band practice tonight in preparation for their first live shows in Los Angeles, they’re on the cusp of releasing the Soft Fur EP and writing brand new music inspired by brand new experiences — some shared with each other, others not. “At the beginning, it was just so fun because I thought we were just writing music. Sixpack of beer, turn on the string lights, and light some incense,” Tommy reminisces. “It was just…so fun. We’re really excited for the next phase when we can write and get back into that again.”