LA sweethearts The Millennial Club have released a gorgeous new track today. “Coffee In The Morning” sees vocalist Andres Owens collaborate with Tori Romo for a heart-wrenching song about the hardships of love. Although the band is relatively new to releasing music, their debut EP She’s So Insane is a refined introduction to a group that has been playing together since 2016. “Coffee In The Morning” gives us a taste of what we can expect from their sophomore EP, due for release early next year.

In a previous interview you have said that your songs are snapshots of stages of your lives. What snapshot does “Coffee In The Morning” come from?

“Coffee In The Morning” is the stage of my life where I was deeply contemplating the struggle of love. Basically, I was constantly asking myself: “When is it worth it to go through that?” — that’s in essence what the song’s about; struggling through love when you feel you’ve found the right person.

I love what Tori Romo adds to the message and overall sound of “Coffee In The Morning.”How has this single and your previous collaboration with her on “If You Stay” influenced your musical process? Was “Coffee In The Morning” originally meant to be a duet/have these contrasting voices?

Having Tori on the track really doesn’t change the process much, but she definitely adds a lot to the song. it’s a bit more collaborative, of course, but the structure remains the same as our other tracks. When we wrote “Coffee In The Morning”, it always was with the understanding that we’d both be singing; I think it contextualizes the song in an appropriate way.

While both songs were primarily written by me, Tori really adds a whole new element to our soundscape. Tori is actually one of my closest and dearest friends — not to mention an amazing singer and songwriter. Almost every song I’ve written relates to love, relationships, and feelings in some shape or form, so to be able to have one of my best friends help truly bring out the intentions and emotions behind my work is absolutely incredible.

As you are gearing up for your second EP in 2020, how is the experience different from the release of She’s So Insane? What did you learn from that release that is helpful to you now?

It’s pretty wild because She’s So Insane has been in the making for years. Some of the tracks on that EP, including “She’s So Insane” and “love is so hard!”, were written in 2016 or so, yet it took us 2-3 years to actually release it. Our process of finalizing ideas has matured quite a bit and I’m excited to finish music at a faster pace.

One of our biggest learnings as songwriters and recording artists is that we should always expect to need more time than initially anticipated to create music. Creative revisions and edits aside, there’s an entire process when it comes to finishing the final product: songwriting, production, mixing, mastering, creating assets like artwork and music videos — all of that takes time, and we’ve learned that we need to give ourselves ample time to have a successful release.

You’ve branded your music as “California indie pop.” What influence do your CA roots and local scene have on your music?

Being born and raised in Southern California, it’s kinda hard to not let your surroundings influence you; it’s a destination/hub for so many artists and it truly feels like the place to be. California gives off an old-school yet new age vibe, all at once. I think that’s fitting for our sound; we have a lot of influence from the past but are altogether trying to create something people haven’t heard before.

Admittedly, a lot of our music does very much fit the “coastal drive” or “feel good / chill by the beach” vibes, but we also challenge ourselves to make it our own. Because all of us (Andres, Jake, Jared, and Tyler) were in jazz band together in high school, you can really hear how that time of our lives has influenced the music we make today. Not only that, but collectively, we have a very diverse and eclectic taste in music and are always experimenting with new sounds and instruments to incorporate into our recordings.

How much influence do you think a band’s genre has in the way someone processes their music? Where do you think your take on pop fits into the current musical landscape?

I think genre is honestly irrelevant; music is ever-changing, and as far as i’m concerned, genres have become largely obsolete. The idea of the pop genre has transformed so much over the last 50 years. What would be considered “pop” in the 70s versus today is drastically different. Hip-hop or country or electronic music or any other mainstream genres nowadays would have never been what it is today if it hadn’t been for radio. Not gonna lie, I listen to my fair share of Korean pop / R&B music as well and have newfound inspiration from these artists. It’s truly fascinating to see how much the spectrum of pop music is expanding.

That being said, there’s no debate that TMC’s music can be labeled as this “dreamy” indie pop genre, but it’s more than that. It’s also R&B sprinkled with jazzy and electronic elements. Even then, that still kinda puts us in a box — which no artists should be confined to. Our sound as TMC is growing and changing everyday as we continue to make music. We’re even surprised ourselves by the direction some of our newer songs we’ll be releasing in 2020 are heading. I guess you’ll just have to hear it for yourself next year, haha.

Wrapping up 2019 and looking ahead to 2020, what were each of your favorite albums from 2019? What release (or dream release) are you looking forward to in 2020?

Our 2019 favorites include:

-She’s So Insane EP by The Millennial Club (duh)

-Good at Falling by The Japanese House

-Everyday Life by Coldplay

-Crying In The Prettiest Places by No Rome.

2020 hopefuls:

-Second EP by The Millennial Club

-Notes on a Conditional Form by The 1975

-The new record by Bruno Major.

Last but not least, we’re most excited to release some of the new songs we’ve been working on this year — it’s going to be different from anything else we have out on Spotify, Apple Music, and all the other streaming platforms. And I know that sounds but exciting and sort of mysterious at the same time, but TMC that our fans have come to know still exists and will never go away. It’s not necessarily due to us evolving as musicians; really, we like to think of it more so as the world beginning to truly grasp and understand what our signature sound always has been as we continue to release more of our bodies of work.

Finally, I would love to give you an opportunity on our platform to talk about an issue, person or organization that you think needs more attention. Feel free to do so below!*

To me, the most apparent problem currently facing the artistic/music industry is simple: drugs. It’s sad that artists who really truly have a platform and voice won’t speak up and say anything other than “Rest in peace, legend” when a fellow artist — namely young up and coming artists — die from drug overdoses. It’s a shame; the impact their words carry could fundamentally transform the culture of the industry, yet no one is bold enough to say anything about it. Instead, it’s just accepted that this happens in this industry; it’s pathetic.

*(We’ve had artists discuss things like hearing protection, safe spaces at shows, even what’s going on at our southern border, so really, you can talk about anything! Or give an artist a shout-out! Or plug a charity!)

@themillenialclub

interview by Morgan Winston