Where are you currently?
Clef – Gibsons, BC, Canada, planet Earth
Dolly – Vancouver, B.C.
Lin – Sunshine Coast, BC
How did you first start playing music?
Clef – I’ve been playing for so long that I don’t remember! But I’ve always been involved in something, whether it’s high school jazz band, composing an indie film score, a neo-soul vibe project, an extemporal spectacle band, or Bae Baracus!
Dolly – Learning to play the tin whistle in school…
Lin – Playing recorder, violin and piano as a kid
What’s been happening recently?
Clef – Mostly baby-raising, tryna live in the moment.
Dolly – A long break in Dublin, Ireland, where I’m from. Been surrounded by lots of trad music, maybe that will come out in future writing.
Lin – Not much right now, just coming out the other side of the holiday break, with the kids home from school (more local Covid measures) against the same intense backdrop that ended 2021…<grimace>
You’ll be releasing a remix and video of your single ‘Flex’ on Jan 14, what originally influenced the sound and songwriting for Flex?
Dolly – Being disconnected from people during the pandemic (and before, to be honest). Frustration at trying to communicate online and how it takes away the human element. People communicate much differently when they have to look into each other’s eyes, rather than from behind a screen. That sincere message is delivered in a slight tongue in cheek wrapper, as you can see from the video.
Clef – I think it was a tongue-in-cheek approach but I’ve learned that nothing serious comes out of taking yourself too seriously.
Lin – We wrote & recorded our album in a weekend last summer, and wanted some songs with an element of fun & danceability, in anticipation of live shows and people needing to let off steam. A couple of the songs had a nod to old piano-house and the basis for Flex also has a retro vibe. For some reason, it made me think of the 90s Berlin scene (no idea why as I’d never even been there) but Dolly had lived in Germany and we decided to try a ‘persona’ to deliver the message, which we thought worked really well for the track.
Why did you decide to remix Flex?
Dolly – It’s the clubbiest song we’ve done so far, it cries out for remixing.
Lin – Yeah, this is one of our faster songs at 125bpm and I wanted to do a moody half-time kind of approach as a b-side
How did you approach the remix process?
Dolly – For my part, I added more primal vocal sounds and swirls to add another layer
Clef – Shout out to Lin for remix! I just blipped and blooped on the remix 
Lin – Like all our tracks, this came together super fast and I threw it down in a couple of hours. Dolly sent some additional vocal parts and Clef sent some of his inimitable OP1 work… Our approach as a band is to not overthink things nor obsess over details, which I think is one reason why we have so much fun creating together.
What influenced the video concept?
Dolly – We agreed that if we were going to sing about flexing, the video needed to be fun and funny, kitsch and campy. Like “Physical” by Olivia Newton John.
Clef – I think that the concept for the video was pretty much there from the jump, what remained to be seen was how we’d pull off a concept as ambitious as that, and I gotta say, I am amazed by the outcome, I think this video is hilarious!
Lin – this has been a tough couple of years for everyone, and we just wanted to lighten things up a bit and keep things fun. Also, knowing that we were going to release in January, where traditionally people think about working out, it felt like this was the right route. The original concept had a whole cast of extras and a massive nightclub scene, but ya know, lack of budget, time and a pandemic scuppered that 🙂
Where and when did you film and who did you work with?
Lin – Massive thanks to Gibsons CrossFit for letting us have freedom to play in their amazing gym! And also to Tallulah for shooting and directing us. I edited the video and the team at LyricVids.Com in Toronto did some colour correction and VFX to give it added sparkle.
What did you find most rewarding and challenging whilst creating the video?
Clef – From my end the process was really easy and I was just excited to be there, but it felt like a good time all around and energy at the set was super positive and exciting. The difficulty for me was getting there in the cold, straight from a bartending shift.
Dolly – Rewarding: getting to perform and be silly in a CrossFit gym with a great group of people! Challenging: finding a time we were all available..
Lin – I’m not a video editor, but I’ve cut most of our videos out of necessity, so that presents some challenges but that said I’m really happy with how this turned out. The most rewarding thing was having 3 hours in this amazing gym, going in with not much of a plan, but just having the freedom to play! I’ve kept myself pretty isolated through the pandemic so it was amazing hanging with Dolly, Clef and Tallulah and letting loose a bit 🙂
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Dolly – Róisín Murphy and Fontaines D.C.
Clef – My buddy got me on the latest Yves Tumor LP from 2020 and WHOAMEMY
Lin – I’m loving Shad’s latest album ‘Tao’ and Little Simz ‘S.I.M.B.I.’
What do you like to do away from music?
Clef – Music is like religion for me so it’s hard to say I could do anything “away” from music but there are other things I’d like to do around music, especially in the technology domain. I’m very interested in how tech-driven solutions could give more control to artists in the production and distribution of their work and how to implement my IT knowledge into a musical space.
Dolly – Riding my motorcycle and my bicycle.
Lin – Growing vegetables without the use of chemicals.
What’s planned for 2022?
Dolly – Live performances, hopefully!
Clef – It’s gonna be a crazy year, a lot of things need to work out to make it tenable or else I’m gonna have to get off this planet!
Lin – Really hoping for us to play some live shows and to bring the fun vibe of Bae to some clubs and festivals later this year.
Lin – Pizza or Curry… I love being in the woods of British Columbia. Pizza or curry in the woods would be a magical thing, in fact that’s a pretty achievable goal for 2022.
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