How did you get your name? Does it have anything to do with Essex street in NYC?
To us, Essex means new beginnings. Immigrants coming to America often settled in the LES. There’s a tenement museum in the area that details many of their stories. Their stories talk about people who were coming to America looking for a new beginning.
When we read their stories we were both inspired and also found ourselves relating to their stories. We were both in places in our careers where we wanted to start again. That’s why we chose the name Essex to remind ourselves that it’s never too late to start again.
How long have you guys been producing (solo/together)? What inspired you to start the new project?
Between us we have about 12 years of production under our belts, but together we have been producing about 4 years now.
If you weren’t producers, what would you be doing with your lives?
Probably coming up with some creative homeless signs. Phil saw one recently in San Francisco that read, “anything green will help.” We’d probably be stealing those signs and using them for ourselves.
Who in the music industry would you most like to collab with?
That’s a tough question. We’re both inspired by so many different artists. Acts like Phantogram, Tycho, SG Lewis, St. Lucia, and Alt J, just to name a few.
Are there any vocalists you would like to work with?
There are definitely a handful of very talented vocalists we would love to work with in the future. On the female side; voices like Billie Eillish, Purity Ring, Chvrches, Daughters, London Grammar, Jasmine Thompson, The Japanese House, Maggie Rogers, Broods, Birdy etc… they are all making some incredible music. On the male vocal side of things artists like MNEK, Aquilo, Ben Howard, Lauv, James Blake… I think we could go on and on, there are some incredible vocalist/artists out there at the moment. We hope to work with people who inspire us, and vice versa.
So how has your inspiration changed over the years?
It’s actually stayed pretty consistent throughout the years. We definitely draw inspiration from many different aspects in life, whether it be from music, film, art or from someone. On the music side of things we have a very broad love and intake of music, between the two of us we find inspiration across most genres and really it comes down to the originality, the quality and then the overall delivery of that music.
What’s next for you in 2017? Any plans to release an EP/LP? Any tour dates or festival appearances coming up?
At the moment we are sitting on a ton of productions that we plan to continue releasing over the course of the rest of 2017. We focus on being an act that lets the music speak for itself, and with that music will come a live show that we are in the process of developing.
