Lowertown are an experimental Indie Rock band hailing from Atlanta, Georgia that are based in New York. Since releasing their first EP in 2019, they have become one of the most interesting bands in the scene, mixing elements of folk, emo and grunge. They have been one of my favourite bands since I discovered them in 2019, so interviewing them was a complete dream and a wonderful experience. The band is led by the childhood friend duo of Avsha Weinburg Olivia Osby. They are completed with the addition of bassist Sean Henry (who also joins Olivia to form their other side project Child Star) and drummer Immanuel Pennington.
Firstly we met Sean where we spoke about touring, the new album and his other projects and solo music until we got to the questions I had prepared.
How do you decide what songs are for lowertown and which are for your other projects and what to keep as solo music?
Sean: Well it depends, for Lowertown they often come from us just jamming all together or if Olive and Avsha have been working on something they would like us to all be a part on. As for Childstar, Olivia and I live really close as we’re both based in New York, so we meet up all the time and find time to write stuff between just the two of us.
What movie Characters do you imagine yourselves as, and which characters do you imagine as listening to Lowertown
Sean – Looney Tunes & Ed, Edd and Edddy, any goofy cartoon characters really
Avsha – All of the evil ones from who framed roger rabbit, the toons and specifically the evil guy from who framed roger rabbit.
Olivia – Nooo I disagree, they aren’t evil just rascals, any rascals
Me: And as for yourselves?
Avsha – Harry Dean Stanton, from Paris Texas
Olivia – Howl, from Howl’s Moving Castle
What have been your favourite cities to tour in, in the UK –
Avsha – Leeds
Olivia – and Dublin for sure
Avsha – Definitely but Bristol has gotta be up there too, you guys have a special energy.
You’ve mentioned in the past your large backlog of unreleased songs, what separates those tracks from being released and would you ever consider releasing them?
Olivia: I mean of course there are ones that we just like more with stronger songwriting
Avsha: Usually it will go unreleased if we feel like we haven’t spent enough time on it
Olivia: Yeah, and honestly there are a lot of songs we really like, but we don’t have the time or that we really want to figure this one out and sometimes; songs are like puzzles and you need more pieces
So are there any songs you’ve sat on for a while that have stayed unreleased…
Olivia: Yes, there are some that are years old that we love, and we’ve been working on them for a while
Avsha: We focus so much on the cohesion of our albums that sometimes we can make a really awesome song but we can’t place it amongst the album because it doesn’t fit in. these songs which we love because they don’t fit thematically with the rest of the album how we’d want it.
Yeah and I get that because all of the albums are so distinct as someone whose been a fan since 2019, each album feels like a new era with a new story, new sound and art style while all seeming to fit so well into the lowertown image.
Olivia: We really try to make each album a distinct world.
Me: Exactly, and branching off a bit, Sean told me we might be seeing some more childstar soon
Olivia: Yes we’ve got something we’ve been sitting on for a whileee…
That’s amazing, I can’t wait to hear it. I just have one question that’s bugged me for a while. On badluck, I have always thought that you seemed to have sampled Hana by Asa-Chang & Junray, is that something you can confirm?
Olivia: Yes, wow! Well we love to sample with childstar
Avsha: Well they (Sean and Olivia) are both crate diggers.
This might be a bit dark to push on after such an amazing gig but, this album feels a lot darker certainly than the past two, has this been a form of catharsis for you or is this going to be a change in your music?
Olivia: I honestly feel like this album has the most lightness to it, in my opinion versus friends but this one also has a lot of contrast which I feel like gaping mouth is sort of from a place of sadness to me but then I love to lie is more anger a lot of it and I feel like this one is more of a balance. There’s a lot of darkness on the b-side but then on the a-side there is a lot of lightness
Avsha: Yes, lightness and excitedness but the second half flips that and gets really fucked up.
I find it similar to ‘Crucify Your Mind’ by Rodriguez, a lot of people only associate him with being sad and mopey.
Avsha: Yes I get that too but then again I think that’s more because of his backstory
Myself: Yes I find the same with JJ. Cale
Olivia: This next one (album), there’s a lot of happiness to it, it’s good. I’m trying to write more from a broader perspective. I feel like I used to use art just as an outlet for negative emotions but now I am just trying to make it an all encompassing thing.
At this point, Olivia and Avsha left as they needed to get their gear from the venue back into the tour van. Thank you very much to Lowertown for the gig, and answering my questions! It was great to chat and I’ll be seeing you soon!
Interview by Callum Preston
