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Orlando based indie-rock duo SALES (Jordan Shih, Lauren Morgan) just pumped out a slew of infectious tracks, with the recent release of their debut self-titled EP. From beginning to end the EP is pure sonic goodness and it has us excited for the future of SALES, which is why GroundSounds caught up with them for an exclusive interview, check it out below!
For those just discovering SALES, how did you two come together to start making music?
We are from a very small suburb outside Orlando. Jordan and I met in High School Latin class. We sat right next to each other and hardly spoke until we were introduced during lunch through mutual friends. Having discovered similar interests, I went over to his place a lot. He showed me electronic music he was working on (even a rap from when he was 8 or 9), and we’ve been collaborating ever since.
What do you guys enjoy most about Orlando?
Orlando is home; I think we like that our moms are here. And we like Dong-A supermarket. We like all these tennis courts lying around.
What made you guys decide on the moniker SALES?
I brought up the name to Jordan because both of my parents are independent sales reps, on commission. I’ve grown-up with mountains of product in the garage, spilling over into the house. They are excellent sales people. I’m unsure, but most people abhor sales people, yea?
We definitely love that you guys went all out with a three-part live performance video series for some of your latest tracks, what inspired this project?
We’ve been wanting do a video for quite some time now and finally found someone who we could work with, Josef Lorenzo, an incredible film maker with both tenacity and vision. He presented us with the ambitious concept of this three-part performance in three different locations. He titled the project, Sales from 12 to 12, a play on, Cléo from 5 to 7, by Agnes Varda. We wanted to show ourselves to our fans, give them an idea of who we actually are, instead of a montage of my lips and our prettiest friends riding beach cruisers. I think we got that done.
Can you tell us about the creative and writing process for the track “getting it on?”
Jordan and I were just playing guitar together to a scratch drum track keeping the beat. The first vocal hook wiggled its way up out of my throat and soared across the bedroom. We tracked out the song immediately, around that hook and waited for another one to fly-out. The mixing on that song was a labor of love.
What musicians/bands are you guys currently listening to?
We listen to a lot of stuff up to 2012: UMO (Jordan is partial to their sophomore album), Beach House, and Melody’s Echo Chamber. We listen back to our peers, people we’ve gotten to play with: Cyberbully Mom Club, Hundred Waters, Alex G, Mitski, Adult Mom, Laney Jones and the Spirits.
Can you tell us about the inspiration for your track “renee?”
The whole story is on the third part of our video series, here. She was by all accounts a bright, fearless, person and she brought out the best in us– you don’t meet people like that everyday. So, titling the song “renee” is our hand at a missed connection. However, for me, the lyrics didn’t simmer-up overnight. They come from a place of intense, brooding and frustration, that predates our encounter with Renee.
You two will be venturing on a West Coast tour in early June, what can you reveal to us about it?
We are playing MFNW with a wonderful line-up– my Freshman year playlist. We will get brunch in Portland. We will also be going to the beach to touch the Pacific Ocean. This time, it’s a promise.
What do you guys enjoy most about being on the road?
We like meeting other musicians, but the biggest thing for us is going to a place we’ve never been before and being embraced by 2 to 200 people we’ve never met. Staying with fans has turned out to be one of our favorite parts. We stayed with a guy named Mac in Atlanta who took us out for Korean BBQ at 2am. We stayed with an amazing group of people and a Chihuahua in South Carolina. We love getting wild staying with Hunter in Brooklyn. Shari Heck of CBMC showed us the town in Philly and we stayed up all night playing music and categories. We made friends with acquaintances and ate burritos in Oakland, Joy and Mike.
I could go on for a while. We are grateful to everyone who opened their home to us.
What’s next for SALES, what can fans look forward to?
We are getting back to recording and are excited about releasing more tracks very soon in anticipation of the full length.
Stay in touch with SALES: FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD
