The Chicago-based indie duo talked to us about their third studio album ‘SPARK’ over martinis in Brooklyn.
Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek of the Chicago - base indie duoWhitneyhave been going golf a lot . At first they got into it " ironically , " and because it was one of the few activities during the pandemic that forced them out of the sign of the zodiac for hr at a time . The two musicians are certain they stand out on the golf game course — their crocked jeans and Ehrlich ’s bleach - blonde haircloth look quite the inverse of the policy salesman type they ’re often paired with for 18 holes — but it ’s something they ’ve picked up and keep doing , despite being moderately bad at it .
They ’ve also been reach a lot of meals together in their deal Chicago walkup . Unlike golfing , they accommodate to being practiced at preparation , with guitarist Kakacek on grill duty and drummer / vocalist Ehrlich on his " soup and sauce game , " or " sound crazy " with salad . After dwell together for nearly 10 years ( save for a two - year rupture when they lived with their respective partners ) , Kakacek aver the Whitney son now have a " proper domestic life . " They ’ve rase up from the apartment they shared in their other 20 that did n’t have a workings doorknob , and now judge to make time to do the thing that bring them joy , whether that ’s an afternoon golf game outing or preparing a lamb ragu before hitting up their favorite bars .
Whitney is synonymous with Chicago . The two first play in the Pitchfork - core garage rock radical Smith Westerns in the early 2010s before the group disbanded and they began work on music as a duo , coming up in the Chicago scene before the release of their instantaneous classic 2016 alt - state debutLight Upon the Lake . They also seem right at home in New York City , though . Seated in the informal tavernAchilles HeelinGreenpoint , Brooklynon an August visit for a recording school term and to promote their new albumSPARK(out September 16 via Secretly Canadian ) , they ca n’t help oneself but indulge in memory of their preceding trips and tours through the metropolis . At Achilles Heel , for instance , an old ally is among the bartenders . The versed gastropub may look like a cozy repair with its rustic Interior Department and tin roof , but it ’s often where Whitney ends up after a night out to keep the good times give way . It ’s also where they ’ve ushered many friend - of - friends through and even members of their phonograph record label Secretly Canadian , which used to have an office down the street , connecting them with their Quaker behind the bar . They also have a long account with the Williamsburg venueBaby ’s All Right . There , they ’ve hosted listening parties , played a handful of appearance ( including one of the venue ’s first - ever with Smith Westerns ) , and danced their fanny off at Drake Night . Really , it seems like the two are at home whenever they ’re together .
Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek of Whitney at Achilles Heel|Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
" We get it on each other probably better than we have it away anyone else at this point in our living , " says Ehrlich . " Our friendly relationship is the meat of Whitney , and I think our creative bond and creative life and language has grown so much with this record , and that sum to our friendship , too . "
They may be 10 old age removed from the dilapidated apartment they once live in , but creating their third studio albumSPARKwas in many ways like returning to those early days in Ehrlich and Kakacek ’s friendship and originative partnership . At the time , Whitney was take over out of the two coming together when their other grouping disband and both feeling like for the first clock time they had the exemption to consider what kind of music they were really concerned in making . They find themselves drawn to Kakacek ’s easy - going , folk - rock guitars and Ehrlich ’s wistful falsetto , and thanks to their closeness and willingness to collaborate , they create their soulful alt - body politic sound . It was like a sparkle was light between them . Their quislingism has always go on that flame alert , but as they worked on their latest expiration , they allowed it to burn brighter than ever .
" The vocal sound a bit different , but , creatively , the way that we were run and growing and strike ourselves felt really similar to making the first phonograph recording , " says Ehrlich , as Whitney start work on the album just the two of them in 2020 out of a lease in Portland , Oregon . " There were so many similarity to the way that we felt — being capable to be at home and give 100 % of our focus to the physical structure of work that we were create . "
Between wanting to make an record album that " sounded bigger , " challenging themselves to write song that could " invoke to more people , " and constantly hyping up each other ’s observational choices in their home studio apartment , the solution is the majuscule divergence from their strip - back sound that fans are conversant with yet . With the addition of electronic constituent , SPARKis fundamentally Whitney croak pop . discourse the commission of the platter over martinis ( a drink Holy Order they excuse was a witting conclusion in an travail to rebrand themselves as a " martini band " rather of a " beer band " ) , they realize the band is in their playful era .
" We ’ve always let things — from the start of the banding until correctly now — happen really organically , " Kakacek says , explaining how the consumption of key fruit and drumfish loops come in about . It was part because they could n’t process with alive musicians like they were used to and had to turn to the keyboards at their disposal during the writing process . As Ehrlich report , " the songs felt like they were calling for a more divers raiment of sound . "
While they were n’t direct inspiration , Ehrlich and Kakacek cite ' 00s pop music like Outkast and Gwen Stefani as being very shaping . It was especially electrifying when they noticed that influence come through while transcription . " When we were writing [ the song " Lost Control " ] , we were like , ' Oh my God , this sounds like the Backstreet Boys or * NSYNC or something ! ' and that was really exciting because all those songs are written by geniuses , " Ehrlich says . Even the ego - referential timber and scale leaf of themusic videofor DJ Khaled ’s song " POPSTAR " featuring Drake — which they watch on mute while playing their own track " BLUE " under the influence of mushrooms — inspire them to an extent . As Kakacek enounce of their auditory sensation and more refined visuals , " It ’s this playful sort of engagement with mainstream medicine in our head . "
Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
While longtime devotee of Whitney might notice how much vocal like " REAL LOVE " and " SELF " disagree from their slower , folky jailbreak hits like " No char , " they should also discover how much of the banding ’s esthesia and warm songfulness remains . SPARKis a symmetricalness of dark and light ; relationships coming to their inevitable end , but knowing you may love again ( " BACK THEN , " " REAL LOVE " ) , or search for your own version of bliss when it seems as if the world is on fire ( " TWIRL " ) .
" I experience like the ratio of darkness to light or sad to well-chosen is just an accurate reflection of who we are , " Ehrlich says . " Obviously , we have our struggles and we see life for what it is in the world — for what it is right now , which is really benighted — but I think at the center of both of our hearts , we hold a lot of optimism . "
Holding onto a glimmer of hope really is as constitutional toSPARKas it is to Whitney . Beyond serving as the matter that connect them in the first billet , it ’s what they ’re committed to maintaining in both their oeuvre and personal lives . " I think that there ’s parts of our personality that we ca n’t necessarily explicate that reach for happiness , " says Ehrlich . " For us , it might come from want to give people happiness , too , and showing that — our euphony trying to be an exercise of that . If it can somehow also replace the duologue in your head for a mo , and make you finger a bite of optimism , that ’s great . "
Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
The chemical group acknowledges though how difficult it can be today , move over the state of the world , to endeavor to appease positive . Their advice ? To " look to art , " which Ehrlich feels can be found anywhere . ( More specifically , he ’s been grok Cass McCombs ' fresh releaseHeartmindand Chicago ’s latest indie whack ingenue Semiratruth . )
Kakacek also take note how important it is to embrace everything as it come , or " accept what ’s fall out to you and know that it ’s go to eventually change and be all correct . " He state , " That ’s what we do : embrace the times that seem like there is no end in mountain , and also embrace the blissfulness of number out of something , like what we all break down through in the pandemic . It could be a loss of a relationship — embrace the loss of that — but also being excite for the hereafter . "
That ’s again why Ehrlich and Kakacek have been reach time to hit the golf course or monkey in the kitchen ; they ’re apply onto that light of optimism that originally light up Whitney from day one . Laughing over their brash martini that ineluctably wrench into a one shot of lagers — like their euphony — the friendly relationship at the core of Whitney is bound to bring in you some agility , too .
Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
