Q&A: CMMND Talks Latest EP '2,' Blurring the Lines of Genre & More

☆ By GEORGE MATSUO ☆

 
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LIKE HITTING SHUFFLE AND DISCOVERING GEM AFTER GEM — 2 is the latest offering from CMMND, the Los Angeles-based collective of musicians, designers, and visual artists who are reimagining the archetypal music group. It’s not every day that you come across a cooperative enterprise whose byproduct is anything from seasonal apparel to full-length EPs. Such a group dynamic allows range — each song on the album is uniquely its own, though it seems as if they were knit together by an invisible force, sort of like CMMND itself. 

2 is an album imbued with resonant neo-soul keys and hip-hop beats that surround lyrics pertaining to the West Coast state of mind. The first track, “summer21,” is a groovy introduction with nostalgic new wave synths that beg for a night drive. The project in its entirety is vibrant and geared for summer, yet at times introspective and emotional, with tracks like “nothins free” and “slow down.” There’s something incredibly refreshing about an in-house project that fosters variance alongside talent — if music is only one facet of this creative supergroup, I’m eager to see what follows this project.

Check out their new EP and read down below to get to know more about CMMND as they talk about inspirations, the process of writing, and their favorite quarantine meals.

Photo By Graham Smith

Photo By Graham Smith

LUNA: You all get to express yourselves through a variety of media and truly get to break outside the box with your work. Can you share what led you to create CMMMD and work together in this capacity? 

CMMND: We all met at UCLA — we were brought together by KP (Karl Perkins), who was friends with all of us. He saw all the creative things each of us were doing and wanted to make something out of it. Each of us has a different medium of art we work with, whether it be music, fashion, photography, videography, graphic design, or even creative direction. Despite this, we all still give creative input to the others, even if their medium isn’t our area of specialty. Cross pollination between these different areas of art is what drives CMMND as a collective. We wanted to have a group brand that represents the different field of being a creative that has never been done before. We live by the motto that everyone is a creative and [we are a] brand that embodies that. 

LUNA: Collectives like yourselves are becoming more “mainstream,” and it’s been cool to see creatives blur the lines so much with their work. What positive changes/impacts do you hope this trend can have on the industry as a whole? 

CMMND: We hope this gives individuals more artistic control over their overall message of their work, from the visuals to the sound to the merchandise. We hope that by doing so there is more power back in the independent artist to create whatever they are able to envision.

COLEMAN: We want to impact the industry by proving everybody is a creative in some form of medium, and [that] there is no real method to being a “true” artist as long as your art is being shared with the world. At the same time, for CMMND we hope to be a monolithic powerhouse that is able to continue to simulate the melding of all the different arts mediums into one collective brand. 

LUNA: How would compare the feel of your new EP CMMMD Ep 2 to your previous work? 

COLEMAN: The feel of the first project was very feel-good, had a consistent theme of high energy throughout, and was based around the idea of community. This was our first attempt at getting the message across that everybody is a creative, and we proved that by involving practically everybody we encountered while making the project. However, it was still introductory in terms of what our skill sets are — in production, [with] lyricism, putting a theme together, media assets, and overall artistry. I’d like to say that our new project 2 is true to its title, in that it shows a whole new side of us. Where we are consistent in our skills but still more matured sounds and even more inspirations and styles than before. This project is not too much about community, but showing you really who is behind CMMND and really just a tiny preview of what our abilities are. There’s still so much the world has to learn about us and what we all can do.

LUNA: Can you share a favorite moment from the making of the project? 

SLEEPYBOY: My favorite moment throughout making this project would probably be when we first locked in at an Airbnb. I hadn’t really seen much of my friends due to the pandemic, and I feel like the moments we got in our bags at the Airbnb really sparked a lot of creative juices for me. 

COLEMAN: My favorite moment was when we recorded “slow down,” the last track on the project, which also happened to be the last song we recorded. I walked in on Seiji making the beat and was super shocked because he usually doesn’t make beats like that. Till then I thought that Dilla pocket was something I liked, and they weren’t too fond of me seeing them come up with ideas. It was me seeing their artistic abilities and palettes grow in real time and was something cool to witness. It made me really happy and really made the project feel full circle

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LUNA: If you had to pick one song off of the EP to best represent your sound moving forward, which song would you recommend to a listener? 

SLEEPYBOY: Personally, “slow down.” I feel like I touched a bit of my different styles on that song. But honestly, it really represents the fact that I’m trying to expand myself sonically and try new things moving forward. CMMND-wise, the whole EP honestly best represents our sound because all the songs have a different sound and style, and all of us as artists have differing styles as well.

COLEMAN: Not to be corny, but I feel like one big point the project gets across is that we, and I, can be elusive and can really do anything to be honest. We aren’t bound to one specific sound to be consistent in but instead anything we touch becomes our sound. That's what I’d like people to think when they listen, at least — that anything I get on becomes mine. Anything Sleep or Seiji gets on becomes theirs. 

 LUNA: What’s been inspiring you lately? Who have you been listening to these days? 

KP: Joony is an artist that has been super fire sonically and honestly just in a lot of print media of the ’80s/’90s has been [my] inspiration for visual display.

SLEEPYBOY: The homies have been inspiring me lately, honestly. And the weather. Aside from that, I’ve been listening to Joony, Lil Durk, and Casey Veggies lately.

COLEMAN: Those who know me know that most of my inspiration — especially lately — comes from journaling my dreams, which have been sort of transcendental since I was young. That’s a story for another time. In terms of who I’ve been listening to, I’m in love with the music Gwen Bunn and lately have been listening to Kelis, Raphael Saadiq, Schoolboy Q, my friends’ music, and everything that my homies listen to.

LUNA: You recently collaborated with UCLA for a clothing project — can you share any upcoming plans on the fashion side of things? 

SLEEPYBOY: On the fashion side of things, we’ve got some new styles and new graphics in the works down the line. 

LUNA: Outside of music, fashion and visual design, are there any creative areas you see yourselves diving into soon? 

KP: To be honest, more environmental/immersion projects. Things that people have to be in space to experience, whether it's a pop-up or a unique take on a music concert. 

COLEMAN: I’ve recently taken more of an interest in creative direction as it pertains to visuals. I’m super new because I never knew it to be important and now see it as a whole nother method to communicate something music can’t. So I’ve been writing a lot of visual ideas for CMMND and for my own stuff, as well lately, and I hope to get more in touch with that. I also want to find some other unusual visual mediums to learn sometime soon.

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LUNA: A fun one: what’s been your go-to quarantine meal? 

KP: Smoothies.

SLEEPYBOY: Strawberries, mangos, pineapples, and fried or BBQ chicken [have really been] holding me down. I’ve had one of the four things at least once a day since we got on lockdown — no cap.

COLEMAN: Waffles or omelettes.

SEIJI: Sleep (not Bryan).

LUNA: Finally, with CMMND Ep 2 out, what do you hope the upcoming months will bring you? 

CMMMD: Live shows, more in-person interactions with our community and the people that support us. 

COLEMAN: Recognition! It’s time to pop to be honest. Yeah, I’m itching to do shows and put in all types of work and all that, but I’m ready for our numbers to grow.

SLEEPYBOY: Concerts or live shows would be cool. I really hope we get to vibe out with the people that really fuck with the project and just the community around CMMND and friends in general. 

SEIJI: Peace of mind. Really looking forward to doing the visuals for the project.

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“We’ve been having a lot more fun in the experimentation stage of the creative process. Usually when we make a record it’s similar to a Jackson Pollock painting - we just chuck tones of stuff at a canvas and hope it comes out alright. With this next project we’re spending a little longer exploring influences & sounds before putting anything down properly. I think it’s easy to get caught up in what comes the quickest & not necessarily what feels the most exciting.” - Alex Headford of Jadu Heart in Issue 14 💘 🌟Print copies of Issue 14 are currently sold out on our site but you can still cop a digital copy as a Monday treat for yourself ✨
Submission opportunity 🗣 Sure has been a year that’s allowed us to think about what really matters & get back to our roots. As always, we look forward to your submissions 🥳💘🌟✨
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