Juniors Grace Menninger and Natalie Roth have been making ambient music since their sophomore year as a creative outlet. Ambient music is a unique combination of sounds put together to convey certain feelings.
Q: Why did you start making ambient music?
G: “I saw how other artists made ambient music, and I was like, hey, if they can do it, I can do it. Making music has always been a dream of mine, but I can’t play instruments.”
N: “Ambient music is very accessible for people who don’t know what they’re doing in terms of playing instruments, I tried to learn guitar but I only learned the intro to ‘Applause’ by Lady Gaga.”
Q: Where do you find your inspiration for your music?
G: “Brian Eno for sure, he’s like the father of ambient music, also Aphex Twin. He took what Brian Eno did and modernized and popularized it.”
N: “We are like Grimes, she made her entire album called ‘Oblivion’ on GarageBand.”
Q: What kind of programs do you use to create your music?
G: “We use GarageBand, Audacity and EMMS.”
N: “We make everything as cheaply as we possibly can, it’s more fun like that.”
Q: What is the process of creating a new song like?
G: “First we collect samples and field recordings. Those are sounds that we hear and like and will eventually incorporate into a song. My favorite is when you’re at the plaza or something and there’s a preacher just going [crazy], I love [crazy] preachers.”
N: “The typical structure of one of our songs is field recordings with drone underneath. Drone is a long, sustained chord.”
Q: How many people listen to your music?
G: “Our bandcamp account has 570 plays total, ‘Birdstep’ and ‘Communist Daughter’ are the most played.”
N: “My personal favorites are ‘Hymnal 1’, ‘Hymnal 2’ and ‘Birdstep’.”