Double Artist Interview pt. 2: Noisebaby
Reporting by Nathan Hausspiegel
Welcome to the second part of this two-part double artist interview! If you missed the first part where I interviewed Max Murgio ‘23 about his group elektor, you can read that by clicking here. In this part, Audrey Mills ‘23 joins Max to form Noisebaby, a frenetic electronic-pop outfit that declares themselves the “best stressed band” on campus. Want context for that claim? Read the interview to find out…
Before anything else - I wanna see if you guys are up for it - if you guys could say the same word in sync without communicating beforehand. You can take as long as you want.
Max: Okay.
[several seconds of silence]
Max: Door hinge.
Audrey: Popsicle. *laughs* We’re not very in sync.
*both laugh*
No?
Audrey: Yeah. I barely know him. He’s basically a stranger, we just meet up to work on stuff. He has a very abrasive personality.
*both laugh*
Max told me earlier, but how’d you two meet?
Audrey: Uh, we grew up on rival ice farms in Iceland, and we didn’t meet each other until we were teenagers even though we’re- we’re cousins, because our families were in this, like, feud, because, like, competing ice farms- it’s a very competitive market. Um, but then, we finally met each other in the middle of the ice farms and realized we both liked making music, so that was the one thing we could bond over. The only thing.
That’s kind of inspiring.
Audrey: Right? *laughs* I consider myself to be an inspiration.
That account differs significantly to what Max told me earlier.
Audrey: Well, he likes to lie.
*Max laughs*
Yeah?
Audrey: Yeah. What did he say?
He said that you two were in Music House together, and became friends through your love of making music.
Audrey: Well, we did live in Music House together. That is true.
Max: Yeah, but that’s later!
Audrey: But that’s just not where we grew up.
Max: Yeah, thank you.
Audrey: Like, that’s not where we met. We just- we did also live together.
Okay. Simply a semantic difference, then.
Max & Audrey: Yeah.
Really good to know, thank you. Audrey, because I talked to Max earlier about himself, I’d like to talk to you a little bit about yourself.
Audrey: Okay.
As a musician, well, Max told me earlier that you had no formal music training as a child-
Audrey: That’s actually false!
Max: That’s false?
Audrey: No, that is false. I just never learned to read music, or, like, music theory and stuff, but I took piano lessons for a little bit, I was just super bad at it. So that was my formal music training.
*Max laughs*
And I was a counselor at, like, a music camp in high school- this was all in Iceland, by the way. *laughs* Uh, but like, yeah, I would say I had the opportunity to learn music theory, but I was just a little bit stupid and it didn’t take, and now I’m trying to catch up.
That’s good.
Audrey: Yeah.
Were you into music before you took piano lessons?
Audrey: Yeah, I was makin’ up songs!
What age was that?
Audrey: …age…one? I don’t know! When can a person make noise?
Max: *softly* Baby.
[We here at Aural Wes would like to commend Max’s amazing joke in the line above.]
Audrey: I just- this is actually true, I had a speech impediment as a child. I don’t know if I was formally diagnosed with it, but no one could understand me, I basically just sounded like I was, like, talking in gibberish all the time. And because no one could already understand me, I just started makin’ sounds and music and singing and… yeah.
That’s good.
Audrey: Yeah. It helped me really find my core.
So, your original songwriting process was making sounds.
Audrey: Yeah.
Has that changed?
Audrey: No.
*both laugh*
I mean, the way I write songs is… *laughs* …like, something comes into my head and if I’m in a public place, I’m like, “Oh, I have to go to the bathroom!” *laughs* I go- this is also true- I go to the bathroom and I sing into my phone, and then when I get home I, like, put it on piano and add stuff to it, but it does still start as, like, making up sounds in my head.
That tracks with every musician I’ve known, for sure.
Audrey: Right? Voice Memos. Like I actually don’t know what I’d do without them.
Y’know, Apple makes an app like Voice Memos but specifically made for musicians. I forget what it’s called.
[editor’s note: The app was called Music Memos. It was discontinued in March of 2021.]
Max: Whaaat?
Audrey: I like Voice Memos.
*both laugh*
Yeah, I know! I feel like if I told that to any musician they would be like, “Nah. I don’t wanna switch.”
Audrey: Yeah.
I mean we’re on Voice Memos now, and I’m happy.
Audrey: Yeah, look at what you’re using.
Look at that! Fantastic.
Audrey: Yeah. Don’t be a hypocrite.
Yeah, exactly. So, now, when you two are together, does the songwriting process change? Do you have to alter it in either way? ‘Cause Max told me a little bit about his, too.
Audrey: Yeah, I used to truly not be able to write music in front of anyone, which was a big problem. Because it’s like, we would be trying to write songs collaboratively and I would just freeze up, and, like, have to go outside, or go off and do my own thing. Which is a little embarrassing. But then, just as we spent more time doing it, I finally began to be able to just write stuff spontaneously in the same room as [Max]. So that’s been a big step up.
Max?
Max: What was the question exactly?
*Audrey laughs*
Do you have to adapt your songwriting process when you’re working with each other?
Max: I mean, I think collaboration looks different every time, no matter who you’re doing it with, and, in that way, yeah, it does look different then if I’m alone, or if I’m with elektor, but it’s… it’s just adapted to our different strengths. And it’s always like that, I feel like. I dunno.
Audrey: Yeah.
What are your synergies, do you think? What do you two do especially well together in songwriting?
Audrey: Mmm. Our synergy.
Max: Synergy…
*both laugh*
Audrey: Could we circle back? I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding. Alright, what do we… I feel like we just, like, are super… different in terms of how we make music, but we have similar sensibilities. Like we just wanna make stuff that’s fun and weird and exciting. And I don’t know, I feel like I’m a lyrics and melody person, and it’s like, I will write chords and instrumentals and stuff sometimes, but I have the most fun when Max shows me an instrumental or chords he comes up with, ‘cause they’re just all absolutely insane and jazzy. And like, yeah, he has ideas and is able to do things that I never would’ve even thought existed, so that’s been super fun.
Max: I think Audrey’s been selling herself short with chords. I think you do chords in a way that I don’t know how to do and it’s more, I swear, it’s more classical music-y.
Audrey: *laughs* Maybe, maybe not.
Max: Like, I don’t know how to do that. And I’m also not… I’m not really a real jazz person at all, like, there are real jazz people-
Audrey: I said “jazzy”. *laughs*
Max: Yeah, I know, I know. But there are people that actually know how to, like, reharmonize and stuff. I feel like MIDI makes it so you can do really good voicings in a way that I couldn’t do with my hands. And honestly, I feel like in a way, computers can do things that humans can’t do.
Audrey: So true.
Max: I like to exploit that.
Audrey: Yeah.
Max: Because that’s the only way computer music can be different or actually, like, legit. ‘Cause if you’re just doing things that humans can do, why wouldn’t a human do it? It’s just kinda better vibes in general. No one wants to hear a computer talk.
Audrey: That’s beautiful.
*Max laughs*
We’re a very exploitative band. *laughs*
Max: Yeah, we exploit the… yeah.
*both laugh*
That’s not great. But, metaphorically, it is.
Audrey: Yeah.
Max told me earlier how his biggest and/or earliest inspirations were, like, Atlanta trap producers. I get the feeling that’s not the same for you.
Audrey: Why do you say that?
Or maybe it is! I don’t know!
Audrey: It’s not, but… *laughs*
Well, you sing. I don’t think they sing.
Audrey: Yeah. I mean, I feel like I listen to a variety of genres, but the music I listened to as a child was very limited, because for some reason, my parents would only play the Beatles, which I think stunted me in a lot of ways - like, y’know, love the Beatles, they’re good, but if you raise a child exclusively on that, that’s kind of like a weird experiment. It’s like raising a child in a room where everything is, like, yellow, and there’s no other color.
*both cracking up*
So I think it influenced me a lot - it was just the Beatles, and then this one reggae, uh, radio station, and that was it. But in middle school, all my friends were, like, really into Nirvana… *laughs* So I got really into Nirvana, and it was so silly, we would, like, celebrate Kurt Cobain’s birthday every year- I don’t know. I think I’ve branched out some since then. I like listening to classical music now, and rap, and hyperpop, and all these different sorts of things that have a lot more exciting production and, like, things going on. But yeah. That weird Beatles experiment was my origin.
And what would you cite as your inspirations now?
Audrey: Um… it’s really hard to narrow that down, ‘cause I feel like I have this bad habit of listening to individual songs instead of, like, full artists.
What are some songs?
Audrey: Some songs? Uh, lemme get out my phone. *laughs* I just- I will say, I really do like Weyes Blood. I didn’t start listening to her until people were like, “You should listen to Weyes Blood, ‘cause you would like it.” But now I feel like she’s gotten, like, incorporated into my psyche. Let’s look at my On Repeat. Um, yeah, this is fun, I’ve been listening to RENAISSANCE a lot… For some reason I got into this, like, Bruno Mars phase over the summer, that was fun. Jockstrap, oh my god, Jockstrap is incredible.
Max: We both like Jockstrap. We like Jockstrap.
Audrey: Yeah, I also love Kesha and Lady Gaga, and, like, pop pop. The poppy pop.
Max: Love pop Lady Gaga too.
Audrey: Yeah, yeah. Big pop.
Max: My first CD was Lady Gaga.
Audrey: Hell yeah.
Tight. How has it been since you released the album? ‘Cause I remember that last year… that was an event. In terms of campus music, you guys promoted yourselves nicely. It was really cool.
Audrey: It was really fun! Thanks.
Max: Thank you.
Audrey: Uh, I’ve been slacking on promotion ‘cause I haven’t been on Instagram in a few months.
That’s good.
Audrey: I guess. I don’t know, we’ve kinda been moving at a slower pace, ‘cause we really went hard on that album.
Max: Yeah.
Audrey: There were some all-nighters - like, I literally lived in Max’s house over the summer before it was released and, like, it was intense. And now, since then, I feel like we’ve been, like, people, with lives.
Max: Also I feel like we did- we were less experienced back then also.
Audrey: Yeah. And now we know how to work with each other.
Max: Yeah. We were less experienced, and also, like, how do you mix and master an album without paying any money? *laughs*
Audrey: Yeah. We ended up paying a little money. *laughs*
Max: We, we paid this guy-
Audrey: Andriy Panchenko! And Jay Bradley.
Max: Andriy Panchenko. He lived in Ukraine, he lived in Ukraine before the war and he… hopefully he’s okay, like, honestly, but um…
Audrey: We should reach out.
Shoutout.
Audrey: Shoutout Andriy Panchenko.
Max: Yeah. And he mixed three songs for us, right?
Audrey: Yeah. And then Abe mixed three also.
Max: No, Abe just mixed “Dollop of Love”.
Audrey: No no no, he did another, right?
Max: I don’t think. Maybe one more.
Audrey: Let’s just say he did more than “Dollop of Love” in case we’re selling him short.
Max: Yeah, say “and more”, just - I dunno.
Audrey: Yeah, yeah, and then we mixed the others. So I feel like there’s like-
Max: Oh, “bury urself alive”! He helped with that.
Audrey: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s, like, inconsistent volumes and mixing styles across the album… I dunno, I’m still really proud of it, songwriting-wise.
Max: Yeah, same.
Audrey: But now we’ve learned how to-
Max: ‘Cause we were experimenting! We were really experimenting- we didn’t know how to do it, really, yet. I feel way better about it now.
Audrey: Yeah, me too. Like, the next project we put out, people won’t have to turn up and down their headphones as they listen.
Max: Yeah, that’s the main goal.
I wasn’t sure if you guys were still working on stuff.
Audrey: Oh yeah. We’re not retired.
Max: We’re not retired!
Audrey: We’re just- I don’t know, we’ve been going so slowly that it’s kinda funny.
How is the new album sounding?
Audrey: Oh, yeah, it’s been… a slow but fun process.
Max: No, EP, EP.
An EP!
Audrey: Yeah.
Max: Three songs.
Audrey: Yeah. Do you wanna explain the vibe of it?
Max: Yeah, sure. We have three songs, they’re all a different vibe. I would say one is just, it- wait, how detailed should I… one’s like dreamy and, I think, electronic-y vibes, and just dreamy and really cool - and we made it really fast, but it was just an instant hit, in my opinion.
Audrey: Oh yeah. I was just singin’ into Max’s computer, without headphones- this is “Red Clouds”, right?
Max: Yeah. No, you did it with a mic, but it was just, like, a guitar amp mic.
Audrey: Oh, yeah.
Max: Y’know, like an SM57 - I think we’re gonna keep it probably. Like, maybe, yeah.
Audrey: Yeah. And then, “Waiting Room”, we’ve been working on this song “Waiting Room” for literally months. I’m super excited for it. But yeah, that one’s more energetic.
Max: That one’s more energetic and, like, fine-tuned, and just a great, well-written song, and it’s just… I really like it.
Audrey: Yes.
Max: And we have, I feel like, only a little bit more to go - we did the car test recently. And it worked.
Audrey: You gotta do the car test.
You gotta.
Audrey: And then, I’ve- I’ve never been more excited about a song than I am about “Father’s Day 2006”. We very quickly made this song called “Father’s Day 2006” that is, um, I can’t wait for people to hear it. I don’t know how much I should say about it, but it’s-
Max: It’s just good vibes.
Audrey: Yeah.
I was wondering, do you guys have a superlative about your band? Like, are you guys the best band on campus? Are you guys the worst band on campus? Are you-
Audrey: Are we a band?
I don’t know!
Audrey: That’s the real question!
Max: That’s the real question, is, are we a band?
Answer that. Are you a band?
Max: Are we a band, and then, the other question is… superlative, right? What’s a superlative?
Audrey: A superlative is, think of, like, senior superlatives. Like best dressed, ta na na na.
Are you guys the best dressed band?
Audrey: Yeah, I think we’re the best dressed band.
Max: Yeah, sure.
Audrey: *laughs* We’re the best stressed band, we’re very stressed.
Max: Yeah, we’re the best stressed.
Audrey: We’re the most neurotic band on campus.
Max: Okay, I’m with that.
That’s quotable.
Max: Nah, I’m with that, most neurotic band on campus.
Audrey: We really are, yeah.
Max: I like that, honestly. *laughs*
Audrey: The anxieties we’ve had throughout our time of knowing each other-
Max: Dude, I’m actually so down for most neurotic, if you’re down for that.
Audrey: Yeah, yeah.
For sure, for sure. Do you have any closing remarks or messages to anyone who reads this?
Audrey: Um…
Max: Music coming out in December.
Audrey: Even if it doesn’t come out this way on paper, just know that we were, like, very charismatic and cool during this interview. Just, imagine that.
*both laugh*
Max: And quote Audrey! Be like-
Audrey: Yeah, and we both have beautiful melodic speaking voices. So just, know that.
*both laugh*
Max: Melodic.
Listen to Noisebaby’s self-titled debut album below, and be on the lookout for more music from them coming out this month!
