Isaac Dunbar Takes Our Pop Quiz
office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
Stay informed on our latest news!
office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
Take a trip to Heartbreak County by reading office’s exclusive interview with Gia Woods below.
How did you first get started in music?
I started in music when I was around seven years old, not professionally, but that's how I got into music. I taught myself how to play guitar, and I was always involved in a music class throughout school, whether it was orchestra or choir. I ended up being in choir from sixth grade all the way up until 12th grade. Crazy enough, the choir class is how I ended up where I am right now. My class had a talent show where we would perform. It was my senior year, about three or four months before I had to decide whether I wanted to go to college or not. Someone in the crowd ended up really liking my voice and got my information and we ended up meeting up for coffee and they asked me if I wanted to do music professionally. I was like, 'Yeah, I definitely do, but I don't know where to start.' I just thought the only way to get there was something like American Idol. She told me, 'I would love to develop you and basically manage you.' She was also very new to the industry, but I could tell she was a hustler. So it was crazy cool. From that point on, we started working together and I was put into the studio through her. I think that was the universe telling me I need to keep going.
Who are your musical inspirations or people you grew up listening to?
I grew up listening to multiple different genres. Madonna, Radiohead, Green Day, Kylie Minogue. Those were all my favorite artists. I also loved Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. That was definitely more in my teenage years. I loved pop music, but then I really loved indie music, like Björk. That's because my sister also, thank god, had good taste in music. So whatever my sister listened to and played in her room, on her boombox, that's what I would listen to.
I know that your newest EP, Heartbreak County Volume 1, is written from the perspective of a Los Angeles native. Does your upbringing in LA influence your music and your sound a lot?
Oh my God, definitely. I think it's just because growing up in LA, you're constantly surrounded by art. I feel like everyone here is either moving here to do something in the creative space or they're born into it. So I think that I've always been very aware of what kind of music I like and what kind of music I gravitate toward. That definitely influenced having an ear for music. I was also just friends with a lot of arts kids, and especially also in my family. There are two musicians in the family, me and my cousin. He was also a big influence on the music scene in LA for me. I've always been paying attention since I was a kid, so it's just always been around me. I knew I was in the heart of the city that's on the top in the entertainment industry.
What would you say is the biggest stereotype that people perpetuate about LA?
Everyone thinks that Hollywood is this big landmark and that it's the place you come and visit and maybe get an Airbnb or a hotel. I also would say, Beverly Hills, I feel like everyone thinks it's the nicest place to stay. But there are actually way more nice streets and areas in LA that are more humble and cool people. There are so many other areas in LA that are actually really fun to visit. People just think of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Malibu. But to me, those are not the places. Honestly, sometimes I feel so alone in the city because I barely meet people on a daily basis that are from here. I'm like, 'Where are my LA people?' A lot of my friends from school are spread out and they're doing their own thing. So it's really wild to go out and be constantly in the mix of people. The first thing you ask someone is, 'Where are you from?' And I never get someone from LA. And if I do, I know them already.
What does it mean to you to be an emerging voice in the LGBTQIA+ community? How does that feel for you, knowing that you can put out music and there are people listening who are thinking, 'This is someone that I can relate to’?
It's definitely so surreal because representation was something I never felt like I had growing up. I never had someone to look up to. I thought there was something literally wrong with me. I thought, 'How come I have feelings towards a girl?' You know? I would always be really, really internal. So I think being able to be that representation for people is so amazing. I wish I had that growing up. I get so many DM's from people who listened to my first song, which was my coming out, saying, 'You changed my life,' or 'You are the reason I left my husband.' And I'm just a girl from LA. So it's definitely really crazy, but I think it's so important. If I can be a part of anyone's journey or a movement in society, that is my life fulfillment goal. I'm just here to be a part of that and hopefully help anyone who's going through a dark time in their life, in a family that's not accepting, or even coming from really rural areas. Because I'm in LA, so I'm in a whole different bubble, but I sometimes forget that there are places that are still anti-LGBTQ. But being a Persian queer, it still wasn't something I saw a lot growing up either. I had never come by one Persian queer person growing up. So being able to be a voice for those people too, in Iran, that's insane. At times you forget that your music is actually reaching people and it's doing something. But even to this day we still have some work to do. Sometimes it fucks with my mind that we're still on this subject. No one should care who the fuck someone's into. Why are people still living through other people's lives? I never understood why people care so much.
Right, that song you came out in was called “Only a Girl.” How does it feel to know that music helped you show the world such a big part of yourself?
(“Only a Girl”) was the first thing that I ever did where I was completely vulnerable, ever in my entire life. When I look back, there were moments where I was still kind of afraid to only be known as someone that was from that community. But now that I've grown up more, it's like, 'No, that that's who I am.' So of course I'm going to always be vulnerable and talk about my relationships and my personal life. And it's probably always going to be about a girl. I don't really think I can be any less vulnerable at this point. I think going full throttle with that was such a big thing for me because I really was a closeted gay who didn't even really have that many friends or anything. I was so quiet and shy growing up. So I think music has always been my only outlet in life. My parents didn't always ask me how I am or what's going on in my life. So music is the only way I can honestly express myself. I think that's why I have a natural inclination to really say it all in the music. A lot of people, they'll write a song and it'll be something that happened to them years ago, or they base it on a movie they saw or a dream they had. My stuff is always written about exactly what I'm going through at that moment. It's like my journal, honestly. Being vulnerable and honest has never been something I had to think about. But I make it fun too. I'll start a song with some emo guitar, and it'll go from that to something more crazy. I love making music that has really deep lyrics, but then the production behind it is upbeat. That's the cool thing about music, you can have multiple feelings.
In what ways does your newest EP diverge from your debut EP, Cut Season?
I feel like it's just so complete opposite. The first EP was more alternative and dark and it had a lot more guitar in it. Then I transitioned from that to dance music. I would say this new EP is a lot more dance, it's a lot brighter, but the lyrics are darker. I think that's always going to be something I'll carry through. My writing will always be on that spectrum of really happy to really emotional. Musically, I was influenced by different styles. The first EP was a lot more from my alternative background, again, growing up on Green Day and Radiohead. So I was pulling a lot from that. And then when I made this EP, I was re-listening to Madonna and Daft Punk, which goes back to all my different musical influences. I think that's why I wanted to transition to a different sound. And that's the thing, I'm always going to do that. I'm not married to one genre or one overall sound. I want each EP to be its own story. I love conceptual albums. I love when something has a whole deeper meaning behind it and I also love things that are just fun and spirited. All of my favorite artists, it's always conceptual, like Lady Gaga, every album she put out was, you know, a whole project. It's so thought out and there's such a vision and story behind it. I just get so inspired by that. So I think I'm always going to be experimenting with my sound and doing different things. The next EP, I'm hoping it's probably going to be a lot more like Heartbreak County Volume 1 — maybe a little bit darker — but who knows? It just depends on where I am.
What is your favorite song off of Heartbreak County Volume 1?
Mine always changes based on my mood, but right now I would say “Fame Kills.” I think that song is so on-point right now. When I think of October, I think of “Fame Kills.” I wanted to make sure I put out that song by October because that song always reminded me of Halloween. We referenced the producer, Kavinsky, and his entire soundtrack is super Halloween. And the meaning behind it too, it says a lot about the behind-the-scenes of fame.
The meaning that lies behind Heartbreak County Volume 1 is that if you can overcome the facade of Los Angeles, you can actually see the city and its people for what they are — you can even fall in love. What is your best advice when it comes to finding love or mending heartbreak?
I'm still figuring out the mending part. I would say finding love in the city — I think it's finding someone who doesn't take away from your life but only adds to your life. Because I've been in situations where it's been really hard to navigate a relationship while I'm trying to pursue my dreams. I have a busy schedule and I have a very big goal. Sometimes when you're in a relationship, I've noticed, they take away from your time or you end up missing out on so much life experience. And I think my biggest thing is, 'If it's broken, don't fix it.' If it's not working, don't spend your early years trying to fix a relationship. You're going to have more, you know? I think people get so fixated on these intense relationships in their younger years. You waste a lot of time and you forget that you're so young and you're going to meet people. You're going to have so much time to be in the right situation. So that's my biggest advice for finding love; it should be easy. And then heartbreak, I mean, I'm actually going through heartbreak right now, weirdly enough, while Heartbreak County just dropped. I manifest this shit I swear to God. Every single time a project comes out, I manifest a breakup. It's the weirdest thing. But the way I'm dealing with it and handling it is going to therapy. That's been really helping me and honestly talking to a million people until you're so sick and tired of the same person's name. Just get it out of your system. Because if you keep it [in your head] it's never really going to go away. Even when you think of trauma, the more you endure it, the more it's going to come back later in your adult years. So I let myself feel everything. Anytime I'm sad or upset, I'll cry it out or go on a drive. I love going on drives and listening to albums, like Coldplay or Billie Eilish's “Happier Than Ever” right now — I fucking love that song; it's the perfect breakup song. I also think journaling is the best way because you can look back on your journey. I'll go back to my journal entries and read about my old relationships and it's like 'Where was I? Of course this didn't work, this was the worst relationship ever!' I think it's also good to go back and read to see, 'What did I do that was wrong?' Because I think people always expect that it was your ex that fucked up. But I think relationships are kind of a mirror to see yourself too. Every time I date someone I'm learning more about myself. The best advice I've ever heard is you won't be ready until you're satisfied with yourself and you're in a place where you're confident — and I don't think you'll ever be fully confident in life; I think it's really hard — but I think until you're secure and at a place where you're not needing anything from a partner. I think a lot of times people date because all they crave is validation. Sometimes relationships are validation rather than real love. I've had my fair share of that, so that's my advice.
How do you plan to grow in your music and future releases?
I mean, I feel like it's always going to be going off of Cut Season and Heartbreak County. They both have exactly the sounds that I love. I love guitar, but I also love dance music — so I think blending that world a little bit more. I definitely want to keep getting more experimental because I think, if anything, right now in music, people are like accepting it. I want to experiment more and I think I'm doing a Heartbreak Volume 2; I feel like it's time for that. I basically already have all those songs ready to go, so it's now just continuing with Heartbreak Volume 1 and promoting that. I think I want to continue in the dance world. It makes me so happy even when I'm so sad. Usually whenever I go through a breakup, I'll go straight into the studio and I'll write a song that makes me feel good about the situation rather than being sad about it. And then later I write the sad songs, but the first initial moment is like a 'Fuck you' song, you know? That's the best feeling in the world.
Heartbreak County Volume 1 is now available on all streaming platforms.
Read below for office’s exclusive interview with Jarina de Marco, where we discuss multiculturalism, the journey that is motherhood, strip clubs, and more.
You are such a multifaceted artist because not only are you a talented singer, but you also take on all of your own songwriting, visual design, and video direction. When you first pursued music, did you always know you wanted to delve into other areas of the creative process?
As far as writing is concerned, I write for myself, but I also work with collaborators. I think that where I didn't think I was going to be so heavy-handed was in the visuals — even though, as a Virgo, I'm not surprised. Everything in art, in my opinion and my experience, has been collaborative. I think that's where the trick lies, in picking the right collaborators and having the instincts and the taste to be able to hone in. [It's about] having an amazing photographer that you can, together, with his or her or their creativity, be able to springboard into creating a beautiful world together. So I would say that I do have a hand on everything, but it's always with the help of very talented people too.
Since you sing in many different languages, your music is not constricted by cultural boundaries, because there are so many people who can identify with the things that you're putting out there. Did you grow up speaking a bunch of different languages?
I did. So I'm Dominican; I was born in the Dominican Republic to a Dominican mother and a Brazilian father. We moved to Brazil when I was about five or so. My parents are musicians as well and they had a band together for about 15 years. It was a Dominican-Brazilian jazz fusion band. So I got to travel with them as a tour baby, essentially. We lived in Brazil for a period of time because I wanted to explore Brazilian music and spend some time in the Amazon, because my mother was doing musical investigative work with tribes there and learning about their music. We ended up moving back to the Dominican Republic; my parents were very vocal in politics and are very politically leaning with their lyrics at times. They sang a song against the dictator of my country — who was a president — but he was really a dictator, and they sang it at a museum opening, in front of most of his government. We had to leave the country very soon after that because we were blacklisted and we were in danger. We were political refugees in Montreal for six years, which is how I learned French. I was about six by then. So I was Dominican, then all of a sudden I was Brazilian, and then I was from Montreal and French-Canadian. So I had already had the knack of adapting very quickly to my surroundings, and languages. By that point I already spoke Spanish, English, and Portuguese — because I went to an American kindergarten school. So I picked up French later on, had a huge identity crisis, because I felt like, 'Who am I? Where am I? What country do I belong to?' After the dictator passed away, my mother and father moved back to the Dominican Republic where we kind of resumed life. And I had another huge cultural shock where I rediscovered what it was to be Dominican, and Dominican music, and Dominican culture in general because I was at that point, French-Canadian. So that's how I picked up all my languages and I've weaved them in and out of my music. Portuguese, not as much, I use a lot more Portuguese harmonies and rhythms. I throw [in] a little French sometimes when I'm feeling sexy.
I’m sure growing up in many different cultural backgrounds could be a bit confusing at times. Do you feel that your personal identity has become strengthened through your music, as you can use it to show many different sides of yourself and your background?
Yeah, I mean, it also reminds me of the experience of the third or second-generation Latinx person living in America, or first-generation, who has been embedded in American culture. You've lived this dual life of being American and also being Latinx, or whatever other ethnicity you've come from. Anyone who has two places where they can draw culture from can kind of feel like 'in-betweeners.' But also what I've come to understand, later on in life, is that you kind of get to take from two very large fountains of culture. It's really an incredible position to be in. I honestly think multiculturalism is going to be the future in general. We're all going to be mixed up and hopefully, we'll create a better world because of it. Who knows what else we'll fight about, but that's another conversation. Multiculturalism in the end is just enriching and creating new culture by its biculturalism.
I feel like I identify with that on a deeper level. I come from a mixed background too, and you definitely feel caught in the middle sometimes. I think that with your music though, people can connect on that basis. Your sound gives me strong 70s disco vibes — very electric and infectious. Was that sort of electro-pop the natural sound you gravitated towards when you started making music?
When I first started making music, I was in love with Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, and Louis Armstrong. I'm talking about when I was seven years old. My parents were showing me all kinds of music, like world music and jazz, and I gravitated towards Billie and Chet specifically. That's kind of how I started digging into learning English. It was through music, through thinking 'What the hell are they saying?' So I really kept up my English because of jazz. From there I evolved, when I became a teenager, into liking disco-funk. I was in a band with seven boys called The Santo Domingo Funk Crew, which was so much fun and all of them were hot and I was in love with all of them. Anyway, I dabbled with that and then pop, and I think disco-funk and disco will always be a part of me. The music that I've done before these last few singles that I've put out has been very electronic and drum-driven. I have an album coming next year that is way softer; it's about love, which I haven't written about in years. I've been writing about self-assertion, being strong, and protest music. Never about a boy. So these last few singles, I started talking about love, sex, desire, being afraid of being in a relationship. The last single that I put out with Empress Of, called 'Vacío,' is about that fear you have right before something starts because you're putting all of your vulnerability on the table and it feels really uncomfortable, but then you take the plunge and you're in a relationship. I've done all of this music that has nothing to do with love, and all of a sudden I fell in love and I'm writing songs about love.
‘Vacío’ was recently released with Empress Of, and you two are good friends, right? How was it to collaborate on a song with a friend?
It was great! Lorely is a professional and she's such a beautiful writer and singer. I'm so impressed by her vocals. I wrote that song right before the pandemic hit last year, with AJ, who is an incredible producer. I kind of sat there forever without a second verse and throughout the pandemic, I kept thinking about it. I kept listening to that song over and over again, thinking, 'God, this needs someone else in it.' I wanted another flavor. So I asked Lorely, 'Girl, can you throw down some vocals in this?' She said, 'Hell yeah, I can,' and she loved the song. I'm really happy with how it turned out. She's a joy to work with. I'm a huge fan of hers too. So part of me was geeking out.
I want to talk about your music videos too. They’re all so colorful and full of life, but I love the ‘Knockout’ video because I just think it's so badass and empowering for womxn. Did you play a big role in the video direction with that video as well?
Well, that whole video is based on a true story. It was directed by Myrna Perez and she's also a good friend. She directed another video of mine, the 'Identity Crisis' one. I just gave her the story and she ran with it. I can tell you the story if you want?
I'd love to hear the story!
So years and years ago, when I lived in New York, my first husband and I, who we're still friends; he's a darling. We were in a recording studio somewhere in Midtown, and I got a text message. A very random one from a friend from high school that I hadn't seen since then. I hadn't seen this kid since we were 16. He wrote to me out of nowhere. It said something like, 'Hey, Jarina, I'm at Scores. I would love to see you, come hang out where we have a table.' And, you know, Scores is a famous strip club in New York. So I wrapped up my session and I was like, 'Let's just go down and say hi to my friend,' even though it was sort of random. So we went and when we got there, there was a table full of these Wall Street bros with popped collars and pink polos. It was disgusting. My friend had become a broker. So he's there with his work people; they're clearly coked out of their minds. I sit down and I'm like, 'Whoa, I feel like I just walked into a movie.' I turn around and there's a stripper who was walking around, probably looking for clients for a lap dance. I don't know if you've ever been to a strip club, but I feel like women that go to strip clubs — they talk to the women as if they're just women. I think we talked about her nails. It was just a normal conversation to deescalate whatever else was going on. One of the guys who was with my friend looked over to the stripper and said, 'Hey, fuckstick, come here.' I turned around to him and I said, 'What did you just call her?' And then he looked at me — he said, 'I'm not talking to you, sweetheart.' I was about to lose my shit on him. I looked over at him and said, 'I don't think it's necessary for you to speak to her that way.' He looked over to my husband and said something along the lines of 'Control your woman.' The waitress brought another cocktail to my husband, and the same guy grabbed it, chugged it, and then slammed it on the table as some weird macho move. Things escalated a bit after that; everything turned into slow motion. All the bouncers, all of a sudden, were just on top of us. My chair went backwards. My shoe flew onto the stage. Everyone was fighting like some sort of Western brawl. I'm on all fours crawling on the floor while everyone is fighting above me and punching each other. I get onto the stage where all the strippers had gathered; they handed me back my shoe. And as I'm looking up, I see that the bouncer has taken out the guy who was a problem and they ended up giving us a bottle of champagne because apparently, he had been harassing the women the entire time. So that's what the story of that song, and what the video was about.
Wow — talk about a story that wrote itself. What is your favorite video you've made so far?
I mean, they're all my little babies. I made one with a director named Maddie Deutch. I try to work with women. All of my videos have been with women pretty much. But we did this video where we baptized people in the church of No Fucks Given, which was the concept of the video. I was the priestess of the church of No Fucks Given — it's about just not giving a fuck anymore. The people who were in the church, they got baptized in this huge lavender pond. So the water was lavender and everyone was wearing lavender. That was a lot of fun. I loved making that video.
What is one message, if you could pinpoint something, that you want your listeners to take away from your music?
The upcoming music, for me, was just about being comfortable with the idea of being loved because I've been so fiercely independent. I haven't been single this entire time before I met my husband, but I have been trucking along in life and doing the thing and focusing on success and my career. When I met Alex, who now is the father of my child, it was a moment of softness. A moment of allowing someone to come in and be a part of your life and bring something to your life and not be taken over by a person, but share a life with someone that's a healthy, wonderful kind of love that I hadn't felt in a very, very long time. So yeah, that whole album was me making baby-making music — and then I actually made a baby. It worked! So if you don't want to get pregnant, don't listen to my songs. Or if you do, make sure that you wrap it up.
We talked about your upcoming album and you are also releasing a new single called, 'Pare De Sufrir', with Esty, but what is on your plate for the future?
More collaborations are coming up and that's super exciting. They're with two incredibly talented, very successful women and I'm so honored to be a part of it. I do a lot of music for soundtracks and movies — I just did a song for 'Fast and Furious.' So I feel like my life will always bring me these opportunities, hopefully. Obviously I'm directing my own videos, other people's videos, creative directing. I also have a series that I've developed about being pregnant, 'I'm Freaking Pregnant.' So I'm doing a second part of that, which is called, 'I Had a Freaking Baby Y'all,' because navigating motherhood and being an artist is a whole crazy thing. I wanted to deliver that information in a funny, relatable, super real way. I'm going to continue to do those things because I love doing them. So there's a lot in the future; I'm very happy about it.
"Vacío" is now available on all streaming platforms and "Pare de Sufrir" will be released on October 22nd.
From R&B to electronic alternative, Kelis's pen work and understanding of sound has brought multiple generations of people to the dancefloor. Kelis' later albums, 'Kelis was Here' from 2006, 'Flesh Tone' in 2010, and the 2014 album 'Food' show her evolution as a song-writer and artist.
Kelis' new single shows off her cadence with such decadent flavor. The producer of "Midnight Snacks," acclaimed producer FaNaTix, compliments Kelis' voice with this scoring. The track is a sleek, back to the basics instrumental that has elements of percussion, natural life, and baby gurgles to sweeten your listening expierence everytime. To go along with the track, Kelis released a music video directed by Adrienne Raquel that brings this alluring imagery to life. With varieties of palleted pinks and sweets, it sort of reminds you of "Milkshake" and how far Kelis has come.
Midnight Snacks is available on streaming platforms and be sure to check out the new music video. We look forward to seeing the journey of sound that Kelis takes us on.