Backstage At The Tropicana<\/em> \u2014 an ethereal, timeless, and glamorous ode to bygone eras, infused with modern lyricism, and delivered in a way only Ms. Bond could. With visuals that evoke a Hawaiian honeymoon \u2014 think tropical flowers, big bold blonde hair, and bright retro fits \u2014 each track reflects someone fully embracing life and experience. Talking with Bond, it\u2019s clear she practices what she preaches\u2026 or in this case, sings.<\/p>\nThis includes an impromptu trip to Paris that led to one of her biggest hits, the viral love-enbued slow-burner, \u201c<\/em>Summer Song.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cI ended up getting to Paris and had a meeting with JB,\u201d she says, explaining that she DMed Jean-Beno\u00eet Dunckel, one half of the French electronic duo Air, after being inspired by the score for Sofia Coppola\u2019s Virgin Suicides<\/em>. \u201cI was looking at their tour schedule. I had to fly back, and we made Summer Song<\/em>. That was another crazy experience. That\u2019s how that song came about.\u201d<\/p>\nSo what is Backstage At The Tropicana<\/em> about? Bond admits, \u201cI don\u2019t really know. That\u2019s for the people to decide.\u201d But she can point to which songs best capture her vision.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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\u201cSkintight Jeans” \u2014 we recorded it with Jules [Apollinaire], Billy Walsh, and Sky Devin,\u201d she says of the sonically lush, ’80s-inspired electro-indie track, where she purrs, \u201cI wanna wear you like skin-tight jeans.\u201d \u201cWe had just returned from some wild desert adventures. When you work with people that closely, it\u2019s hard to set boundaries. But we love making music together, so why stop? We turned my living room into a giant bed \u2014 Liv\u2019s mattress, all of us sprawled out, making music. That day we had a session with Billy. I was hesitant because Jules told me Billy thought I was a little crazy when we make music \u2014 which is true. I said, \u2018You want weird? I\u2019ll do weird.\u2019 So we did the session on my mattress. At first, I didn\u2019t take it seriously because I was annoyed. We were jamming on the floor, and I was like, \u2018I hate electronic music.\u2019 Then Jules started humming the chorus, and we all bounced off each other \u2014 Liv included. That\u2019s how we created this really cool chorus. Billy used to be a ballerina, so he was dancing. And he has grills. He\u2019s a ballerina with grills. I have my own coming, but I keep chipping my teeth, so I\u2019m scared they won\u2019t fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another track, \u201c<\/em>Orlando,\u201d<\/em> draws inspiration from the Florida tourist town. Bond echoes, \u201cI wanna know what love is,\u201d then whispers emphatically, \u201cOh my god, I love Orlando.\u201d \u201cWe had our friend Toni over. She spends a lot of time in Orlando and talks about it constantly. I started secretly recording her. I\u2019d only been once as a kid, but it sounded like a wonderful place. I wanted to romanticize that in the song. It\u2019s also a little about boarding school,\u201d she adds, reflecting on a \u201cmagical\u201d New York City upbringing.<\/p>\nWe also dive into \u201c<\/em>Moviestar,\u201d<\/em> a thrilling ABBA-style cinematic disco track, where Bond\u2019s bell-like vocals yearn over \u201cjust another man in the universe.\u201d \u201cThat was a crazy song. We made it in an hour in the desert. It was a beautiful moment with Jules and Liv,\u201d she smiles.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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Bond\u2019s ability to inhabit different time periods comes naturally \u2014 something she\u2019s been doing since childhood, picking up different personas at each school she attended. \u201cI\u2019ve never been very structured,\u201d she says. \u201cThings that turned me on were less cool than what others liked. In high school, I wanted to be popular. I went to four different schools, so that wasn\u2019t always possible. I got to reinvent myself at each place and meet all kinds of people. I\u2019ve always been restless, and that\u2019s where the craziness comes from. If it were the \u201960s, I wouldn\u2019t be as into music or creativity. I get inspired by things I don\u2019t see as much. Fans like that. They\u2019re smarter than we give them credit for. They\u2019re engaged, and I saw an opening to create something beautiful for them. Audiences were ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Different personas aside, right now Bond is feeling like herself \u2014 free and inspired. \u201cI understand how I want to be portrayed in my music,\u201d she says. \u201cWhether that\u2019s the soundscape, the lyrics, or the chords. I\u2019m impulsive with whatever hits my brain. You know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Photography: <\/em>Pilot Lee, Kirt Barnet<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PAPER\u2019s on a video call with Remy Bond, and we\u2019re getting distracted. To be fair, there\u2019s a lot to talk about \u2014 shroom trips, visual worlds, and a recent trip to Japan that involved missing a wedding and chasing a swan boat. (\u201cWe were getting kicked out of everywhere,\u201d her sister Olivia tells me with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7034,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033\/revisions\/7034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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