Q&A: Weaving Through Nostalgia, Misty Mtn Talks “In the Deep End” & More
WITH NOSTALGIC LYRICISM AND NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTION — Misty Mtn’s music leaves listeners with an enchanting experience. The group consists of vocalist/songwriter Mo Trunzo and multi-instrumentalist Lucas Segall, who together intertwine profound storytelling with synth-pop productions. Their music is poetic, and, like imaginative poetry, listeners can correlate their personal experiences with their ambiguous lyricism, allowing Misty Mtn’s music to capture audiences that desire to relate to the intense and universal images that their songwriting depicts.
In their latest single, “In the Deep End,” themes of superficiality, loneliness, and intimacy are explored within the enchantingly haunting track. The ruminative nature of the song is beautifully captured through the imagery conveyed, such as the image of a birthday party with no attendees, resulting in the pondering of past connections and present abandonment. In addition, the vocals are exceptionally angelic, adding to the evocative nature of the song.
Throughout Misty Mtn’s music, their different interpretations and inspirations can be heard, which allows the listening experience to be unique and refreshing. Furthermore, they choose to explore the liberating path of allowing themselves to not be limited by one genre or even by one environment, which adds to the authenticity of their musical expression, their music reflecting their constant progressions and desires.
Listen to Misty Mtn’s captivating new single, “In the Deep End,” off their forthcoming sophomore EP coming this fall, and read their interview below to learn more about their inspirations, experiences, and plans for the future!
LUNA: Congrats on your upcoming single, “In the Deep End”! The lyricism is very profound. Was the inspiration for these lyrics based on a personal experience?
MISTY MTN: I think everyone — especially during the pandemic — can relate to the feeling of being abandoned or feeling like you’re too much for a friend and a partner, and we really wanted to explore that. The idea for this song came when we kept seeing a neighbor across the way next to their pool, in the same spot every day, in this amazing house, but they were always alone. And we thought about the meaning of friendship, and how superficial so much of our world has become and [we] let that inform the rest of the song.
LUNA: Are there any general themes and messages that you both wish to convey in your music in both your current music and future endeavors?
MISTY MTN: I think we’ve always wanted our music to feel nostalgic and personal. We want our listeners to be taken back to a moment in their lives. And we try to keep our music pretty ambiguous, because even Lucas and I have different interpretations of the meanings of our own songs, so we want our listeners to have that as well.
LUNA: What is the writing process like? Do you both focus on the lyrics first and then imagine the sound or vice versa?
MISTY MTN: Pretty much always some lyrics or feelings come first. We just talk about what we’ve been thinking about, what we’ve been reading, what we’ve been watching, and really see what the other person is most inspired by right now. If either of us have a twinkle in our eye when we talk about a certain subject, we say, “Okay, let's try to run with this idea and see what happens.” Then we’ll bring in some sounds in the form of guitar or piano chords and let that help inform the rest of the song.
LUNA: How does your environment influence your music?
MISTY MTN: I think it influenced our music a lot more in the beginning, but as we’ve become less rooted and more, “We’ll go where the wind takes us,” we’ve found ourselves taking inspiration from a lot more than just our immediate surroundings. We worked on this project in my hometown of Missoula, Montana, but weirdly a lot of the song ideas ended up coming from memories of when we were both living in Brooklyn. As far as getting in a creative mindset though, it was incredible to wake up to the natural splendor of Montana every day.
LUNA: What are some of your musical inspirations?
MISTY MTN: I think we can both agree that Fleetwood Mac and ABBA are big inspirations for us and conceptually for the project as a whole. Musically we have such different backgrounds — Lucas was into all sorts of more experimental stuff like Sigur Rós and Philip Glass, and I grew up writing songs from a young age idolizing Celine Dion, Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox, and Kate Bush. I think that’s part of what has made our collaboration so unusual and fun.
LUNA: What genres do you both intend for your music to enter into? Do you want to stick to one sound for the most part or would you want to explore other genres?
MISTY MTN: I think [I want] kind of, as I said earlier about this, “Go where the wind takes us” mentality — we’re sort of there with genre as well. The umbrella of pop music is so big these days it’s liberating to not be so pinned down by what instruments/sounds we use, and how things translate live. We definitely used to lose some sleep about how we’d fit into what scene, but now we’re pretty confident that anything we make is just going to sound like us.
LUNA: What has been inspiring you lately?
MISTY MTN: French New Wave movies and very very long walks. We’re going to be in Montana for a few more weeks before we go back to LA and we’re trying to savor every moment.
LUNA: A fun one: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
MISTY MTN: Honestly I think flying — I don’t love flying, but I love going places, so if I could be in control that would be cool. Lucas answered this question in about 0.5 seconds: “Telekinesis, no brainer.”
LUNA: What would you say are your next main steps in regards to music? What do you hope to do in the rest of 2021 and 2022?
MISTY MTN: We’ve really missed playing shows consistently and interacting with our fans in real life. So the next steps definitely all have to do with getting back on the road and sharing some of this new music live.
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