Q&A: Bestfriend Recounts Their Creative Journey and Discusses “WHY DO WE DO THIS?”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY IZZY PETRAGLIA ☆
Photo By Becca Hamel
TORONTO AND VANCOUVER-BASED INDIE DUO BESTFRIEND HAVE TRULY SETTLED INTO THEIR GROOVE. Stacy Kim and Kaelan Geoffrey have dedicated time to navigating their creative process and bond with one another to bring their newest single “WHY DO WE DO THIS?” to life. Preceding their third EP, the single consists of heavy ’80s-inspired production–depicting raw emotions of loneliness and self-doubt that they have endured.
Both parties work in tandem to share music over voice notes from their respective cities of Toronto and Vancouver, but the pair truly came to understand the collaborative nature of songwriting while working together in person. Bestfriend offers a unique glimpse into the growth of their musical partnership by revisiting questions from their 2021 interview with LUNA with new knowledge and a fresh set of eyes.
Photo By Chris Ho
LUNA: I read your last interview with LUNA from three years ago, and thought it might be fun to revisit some of the questions you were asked last time to see how your answers may have changed! You spoke on the collaborative process of you, Stacy, recording a basic demo and sending it to Kaelan to, in your words, “flesh it out” –sometimes turning it from a sad ballad to a catchy pop bop. Has this process changed or evolved in any way over the last 3 years?
STACY: Fundamentally, no, but what I will say is that we've had a lot more opportunity to write together in the same room now, especially on this [next] EP. We have two songs that we wrote in Los Angeles with our friend Aidan Hogg, and that was definitely a really interesting experience, going from the little voice notes I’d send to Kaelan [to that].
The process hasn't changed, but I think that the process changed me in a way. I kind of came to realize that because I was sending all of these really bare bones demos to Kaelan that were - in my head - these sad little ditties. Like you said: the Julia Jacklin, Big Thief-type songs. And Kaelan just turns it into this beautiful landscape of sound and bop energy. I almost found myself stuck at a certain point. I would start thinking a bit too much about, if I send him this, what is he gonna change it to? I stopped thinking about these songs that I was writing almost in a silo, and it got a little bit tough for a minute there, just because in my head I'd be thinking, Kaelan is gonna make this so much better, but I don't know how exactly. So that changed a little bit. And then there's also the aspect of, yeah, we did start writing in person together quite a lot more.
LUNA: So before it was basically only sending stuff back and forth?
KAELAN: Yeah it was mostly that, I think the big thing within the last three years is basically what Stacy said–we’ve realized how much more we like doing it in person. It’s really nice to be in a room and feel the magic of where a song's going and be pulled away in the current with it, especially when we have the opportunity to work with other people as well. That kind of riding the current together while someone else is doing the “tech-y” stuff. It’s pretty much the most fun that we've had writing songs. Every time we do this, we learn a little bit more of what we like and what we don't.
LUNA: In terms of inspiration, last time you spoke of reflecting on your own feelings, visuals from TV shows, movies, music videos, etc. Where else have you found inspiration in comparison to three years ago?
STACY: It’s all the same, but what I will say though–and Kaelan’s gonna make a face when I say this–I’ve started gaining inspiration from Kaelan.
When we first started this–and even when we chatted with LUNA in 2021, we had only been doing this for about two or three years. We had only hung out maybe three times in person, if that. Now that it’s been a minute, I know him better and we’ve gotten to know each other better. It’s been nice considering we didn’t really know each other at all when we started, and now we have this openness that we didn’t have way back then.
We'll be talking about things unrelated to music, like our feelings, and he'll say something like “Oh, that's actually very astute, I kind of want to build on that.”
Otherwise, everything else–movies, TV shows, other songs–are still a huge source of inspiration.
LUNA: I feel like conversations with friends can be one of the best sources of inspiration.
KAELAN: Yeah, we just didn’t have that basis right off the top. I think it goes both ways that we came to a place where we can understand each other and take inspiration from one another because we’ve done the groundwork. We know, approximately, how Bestfriend works, we know approximately how the internet and music works, and to some degree we know approximately how the other’s probably feeling on a day-to-day basis–just by how they’re texting. It’s just the process of getting to know someone.
LUNA: You become more in sync as time goes on.
KAELAN: Exactly, so that’s just been a pleasure.
LUNA: That’s so sweet to hear, I love hearing about the ways people can form a partnership and continue to grow with each other. You’re not only building a friendship, but watching each other grow creatively as well.
KAELAN: Which has been so fun from my perspective as well! Stacy was a lot less experienced when she started. I feel like if I’ve had any growth it’s harder to see, just because I had a head start–that’s a song pun–on the music stuff. So it’s been really cool watching her learn and have thoughts and flesh them out or explore them and find connections between things. It’s really wonderful. It’s a good time.
LUNA: Your new song, “WHY DO WE DO THIS?’” touches on insanely real emotions. Its release is honestly timed perfectly as so many people get into such a slump during November and throughout the winter. What are each of your coping mechanisms when experiencing this self-doubt and loneliness that you touch on in this song? What helps you find solace in loneliness?
KAELAN: Stacy would it be fair to say that we’re getting out of a year and a half long slump or is that just true for me?
STACY: No, I'd use we.
KAELAN: As far as coping mechanisms go, and this is going to be the stupidest, deepest way to say this, I think that something that appeals to us is looking for opportunities to see the world through other people’s eyes. We get so frustrated, tired and sick of doing it through our own narrow lens that's been shaped by our lived experiences and our traumas, the people we love and the people that we feel the opposite of love [towards].
It’s nice to be able to look at art created by other people–TV shows, movies, music, anything that's an expression of “I'm here in this world, and this is how I see it.” We’re big fans of watching slice of life comedy/television because it's really nice to just have a small interaction with the world from a brain that isn't yours, you know. I would say that is a coping mechanism that is for sure a good one to talk about. Beyond that, I mean personally, my bank account is a disaster from Uber Eats–that’s something I’m working on.
STACY: I got into a period of making things quite a lot. Like I started picking up things like frame by frame animation, and woodworking, and embroidering, all kinds of things.
LUNA: Woodworking is SO cool–that’s such a cool hobby to have.
KAELAN: That’s my favorite of her hobbies.
STACY: Yeah it’s a lot of fun! I basically started doing silly little projects. I learned how to do all kinds of things. That was sort of my way of being able to make something physically tangible, which was very, very important for me at the time, because so much of my life was digital. Especially with music stuff. I guess music conceptually is not really tangible. We would create all these songs, and there's the tangibility of singing and the instruments and things like that, but once it's out, it's out. You don't get to touch it. Being able to create something out of nothing was really important to me, and to be able to hold it and say “I made this.” That was really good for me.
LUNA: I find when you can actually just take time away from your phone and disconnect by actually putting effort into a hobby, it just feels so refreshing. You feel a lot of anxiety start to lift out of your body the more you continue to do it. I'm really happy you mentioned that.
STACY: I think it's prudent for me to mention that while all of these are coping mechanisms, they're the healthier ones. I think Kaelan and I have kind of recycled through a lot of different coping mechanisms that are not so great. I just want to make sure that's on the record. Sometimes the coping mechanisms were not good, and that’s okay, because they were coping mechanisms.
KAELAN: Sometimes it’s just what you do to get to tomorrow!
LUNA: It’s true! At the end of the day we’re just doing our best. The next thing I wanna ask, since the track’s production of the track has heavy ‘80s inspo, who are some of your favorite ‘80s artists?
KAELAN: I really like Peter Gabriel and everything he’s ever done. That’s what I’d go with off the top of my head.
STACY: I’m gonna go with Bowie and Fleetwood Mac.
LUNA: Perfect answers, honestly. I know you guys are coming to Toronto next month, opening for Valley at History. Given that you're based in Toronto and Vancouver, how have you navigated your way around the music scenes in both cities and then in Canada as a whole?
KAELAN: You want to start this one, Stace?
STACY: Does it look like I do?
KAELAN: Okay, I'll start [laughs]. That interaction that you just watched probably won't translate to text, but that is a great example of how we handle a lot of the preparation for live stuff and multi-city work. Basically just being like, “You got an idea?” “No. You got an idea?” “No.” and then saying “Well alright one of us will.”
LUNA: Like, it’ll work itself out!
KAELAN: Exactly! What's been nice is that I love the Toronto music scene. I grew up just outside of Toronto and three or four nights a week I was taking the GO train in to see whatever was playing. Through all of my formative years. So I'm super familiar with it, and it just means the world to me.
I have a lot of excitement that I can share with Stacey about it–the Vancouver music scene is a little bit less bumping but there are still some real cornerstones and experiences that are important to hit. She gets to bring those to me. We both get to have a new lease on our respective music scenes through the other person, which I think has been a really nice experience.
As far as prepping for the shows and stuff like that, a lot of it is just being really intentional about it. We have to do a lot of work alone, and when we get together we make the most of our booked rehearsal time so we don’t have to book more rehearsal time–since that costs money. It’s a lot of intentional practice.
LUNA: The local scene in Toronto is really great honestly, there’s a lot of connection.
KAELAN: Yeah, people are down to work with each other and make connections., which isn’t always the case in other cities. There was a period where I was kind of out of it just from doing this stuff, but I grew up in the indie boom of the early 2010s. There was such a connection between all of the people there–you'd go to the shows and you would see everyone from the other shows, artists that opened for them and the artists that they knew. You get to watch these people graduate and move throughout the scene. Getting to do that on another level now with my own friends that I grew up with is special.
LUNA: Then circling back to your last interview with LUNA, you mentioned goals including scoring a movie and playing a show. So, have you crossed either of these things off?
STACY: You’re never gonna guess, we played a show.
LUNA: You played a show! Have you added any new goals to this list, in addition to scoring a movie?
STACY: Writing an album.
KAELAN: Yeah, we’ve done the EP thing; once this next one is out it’ll be three times. The first one was learning how to do it, the second was fleshing out that knowledge, this third one we kind of felt like we were lost and searching for some direction. It’s album time, it’s so album time.
LUNA: And then in three years the album will be out and then you can come do an interview again with a new set of goals for the three years after that!
KAELAN: Exactly!
LUNA: I wanted to close out by acknowledging how I’m sure everything must feel really exciting and fast-paced right now with new music rolling out. In light of that, how do you find yourself staying grounded and present through all the excitement?
KAELAN: Two things come to mind for me–one of them is horrible to say and the other one is delightful.
STACY: Don’t say the horrible thing.
LUNA: I kind of want to know the horrible thing.
KAELAN: It’s just embarrassing. Digital organization–I love Notion.
STACY: I didn’t know where you were going with that.
LUNA: I honestly love that.
KAELAN: It’s just so good to get stuff out of here [pointing to his head] so that it doesn’t fester and put it into organized spaces so that you can keep all your things together and you know when to get it done. hen, you don’t feel the crushing weight of it all at the same time. Big fan of it. I was a minute late to this call because I was watching a video on organization.
The other one is, for me, resounding the fact that we really aren’t alone here, as much as it can feel like it. As often as possible, even when your brain is telling you to stay in for the night, it’s important to lean on your people. It’s important to communicate with your people and to open those channels. The more you can live in a space of honesty and compassion, the easier it is to stick around in what’s real and what’s not.
STACY: Definitely the idea of clinging onto a sense of community where you can find it. I think post-COVID it’s like a free-for-all at this point. There’s such a sense of individualism that has fostered itself into something that is not conducive for mental well-being. I 100% fell victim to that, where COVID happened and I receded into myself. During that time I was like “Oh I’m an introvert” but then after the fact I was just saying that to cope–I actually do enjoy going out and seeing my friends but it’s been very difficult getting back into it. I will say it’s challenging leaving the house but that, if anything, is what keeps me feeling like a person.
LUNA: You hit the nail on the head. I find one thing that I think about often post-COVID and throughout it after spending so much time on the internet is that people have gotten so comfortable being mean. I’m not sure if you guys keep up with Ethel Cain at all, but she made this post about how people make everything ironic and no one can take things seriously anymore or accept vulnerability because they don't know how to receive it.
STACY: That was a great post, I’m glad you brought it up because that’s exactly how it feels. It’s hard to earnestly compliment people nowadays, and it can be hard to receive them as well. It’s tough. Just to close this out, with that whole idea of leaving the house, you kind of realize people out in real life are actually very kind. It’s good to remind ourselves of that.
Photo By Chris Ho
