Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with 12XPretty

LA-based duo 12XPretty continues to push the envelope with their revolutionary sound. Comprised of vocalist Remy Remy and keyboardist/beatmaker Danny Import, 12XPretty is redefining what we know about pop music with their seductive lyricism, modern production, and refreshing and unapologetic concepts.

Already this year, they’ve released an infectious new single called “Caliphornia” and we spoke to them about it!

PC: How did you discover your passion for music?
Danny: I guess in high school, being introduced to Nine Inch Nails. I’ve never really heard anything like that. I didn’t know you could use computers and machines in that way. I thought to myself, I could do that.

Remy Remy: I’ve always been the weirdo at the party with wine spooning the speaker in the corner. I’d spend the whole evening there. But I’m an f*cking writer. I’ve been scratching in notebooks since I was ten years old. Music can exorcise demons and the right words can split the universe in two.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Remy Remy: By not giving a f*ck. Trusting that what comes out at this moment, is gospel, even if it sounds like hell. This mentality has probably been the biggest game-changer in my creative career.

PC: How did this partnership form?
Remy Remy: I wanted to learn keys so Danny Import, a local hip-hop producer, offered to teach me. He never did. [laughs] Instead, we made a hip-hop record together. The record was never released but evolved into the 12XPretty project and Danny and I have been connected ever since.

PC: Tell us about your new single, “Caliphornia.” What inspired the track?
Danny: I wanted to create an atmosphere of discomfort and anxiety. The repetition of those chord progressions provides a false sense of security as the listener adjusts. It starts to feel safe. It conditions them to remain in a trance. The ending where everything changes is an illusion providing false hope.

Remy Remy: Danny’s soundtrack wrote the story. I heard the track and immediately saw the whole thing. I saw a woman, homeless, digging for cigarette butts in an ashtray outside of a Hollywood nightclub. She was beautiful and completely broken. This is her story. Sometimes you notice one flower and then realize the field is full of them: This woman unveiled a background hum, the sound of a city digesting generations of beautiful brokens. I looked down and saw it chewing on my foot.

Everybody was telling me to “just go be yourself” but who the f*ck is that? I’m smart enough to know that my identity is bullshit but not smart enough to just accept it and move on. The song is about not knowing who you are and learning to love yourself anyway.

PC: This year, you’ll be releasing your self-titled debut album. What can you tell us about it?
Remy Remy: This album is dark as f*ck. You think you know how dark it is and then you lean in and find out it’s even darker. It’s an album that wrote it itself. Zero direction or intention. Spill that blood, release those shadows, see what comes of it. Enjoy.

PC: If you had to choose one song off the album that best encompasses you both as artists, what would it be and why?
Remy Remy: Probably “Caliphornia.” It’s dark and dystopian with a hint of synthetic hope. It feels like our insides, entrails on a plate with a side of strawberry ice cream.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Remy Remy: I think people would be surprised by how little is on my playlist. I listen to one album at a time for weeks on end. What’s on there now? Blonde by Frank Ocean.

PC: First album you bought?
Remy Remy: Dangerous by Michael Jackson

PC: First concert you attended?
Remy Remy: Snow…a licky boom boom down.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Remy Remy: 22, A Million by Bon Iver. The album proved that robots can make humans cry. You don’t need an acoustic guitar and a trembling voice to rip hearts out of chests, synths and multi-layered vocal fx can expose and connect as well.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Remy Remy: A steam and smoke-filled hotel bathroom. I can’t see the faces of the seven audience members that squeezed in there with me.

PC: A must-have on the road?
Remy Remy: Video camera and notebook.

To keep up with 12XPretty, follow them on Twitter and Instagram .