Sorry

Photography by Sam Hiscox. Interview by Heather Hawke.

Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen – along with drummer Lincoln Barrett, bassist Campbell Baum and, lately, keys player Marco Pini – have been amongst London’s music scene since they first formed under the name Fish in 2016. At first, Asha and Louis wrote their songs meticulously, chord-by-chord on guitar, but after coming into the full-band ensemble, they soon began writing as a quartet.  Over the last couple of years, they’ve been introducing electronic elements to their songwriting, as well as writing from home more often instead of together with the whole band, which is apparent on the band’s newest release, 925. 925 is Sorry’s debut album, but it is by no means their first musical outpouring. The album follows a series of numerous singles and mixtapes they’ve released over the years to experiment with their diverse influences.

As a band who’s very immersed with their accompanying visuals, they started making videos as a way to have fun while promoting their mixtapes, now creating the artwork is more a way for them to make sense of the songs.

Interview with Asha Lorenz

Hi! So, things are pretty sensitive/stressful right now in the world…As a musician/creative, how are you feeling? How has it changed your plans and how are you coping with all of this going on?

It’s pretty weird times! Scary and hopeful too! Well we were supposed to be playing shows following the album but that’s been postponed. I suppose we’ve just been trying to do some new writing. But I’ve found it quite difficult to be that productive, so when we’re not able to write, just try to listen to new music and read.

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What music did you grow up to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up? 

I have quite a lot of cousins on my mum’s side of the family, which are Jewish – and some of the family lived downstairs and at the Jewish holidays and ceremonies after dinner we would play songs on the guitar and sing along. It was very joyful, and I learnt my first songs there – my favorites were Brown Eyed Girl, American Pie and Leaving On A Jet Plane. My sister had guitar lessons, and I admired her, so I got them. I had a few guitar lessons with a funny man called Germano, we mostly played Beatles songs. I didn’t really learn theory which I’m kinda sad about now, but was too impatient. But I kind of like not knowing how to play things in too much of a taught manner because then you come up with your own knack and once you learn something in a certain way you can’t unlearn it.

Let’s talk about your formative years. What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? Were there posers on your wall when you were growing up? 

I saw a folk artist called Danny Schimdt at the Green Note in Camden when I was really young, and I fell in love with his album Parables and Primes – it was just him playing solo, but it was the memorable gig and had a big impact on me. I had Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix and Pink Floyd on my wall though.

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / getting recommendations from a certain friend)? Who were some of the artists you first found and then were always on the lookout for? 

I’d usually go on YouTube and find songs and then burn CDs for my friends for their birthdays. When I really liked someone I’d always make them mixes. Me and my friend Mac had similar music tastes, she showed me lots of music and I showed her some stuff too. Soundcloud was also a big part of finding music and a place to put out music for me and Louis. Like the emo vibes on Soundcloud as well.

What’s the band’s songwriting/creative process like? Are you always writing? Was there a specific moment when work on 925 began? Or does the line between the writing for the mixtapes / single’s sort of blur?  

The mixtapes are more songs that me and Louis did at home, demos that have been around for a while. We are constantly making little tunes at home, we have a lot of songs that weren’t album material or maybe just couldn’t develop enough. But they still felt worthy and relative, so we put them on the mixtape.

925 has a mix of more live songs that we have played as a band for a while and then newer ones that me and Louis had written and produced at home. We wanted it to be a balance.

Did you have any parts of the tracks off of 925 (whether it be lyrics, beats, harmonies) around the time of Home Demo/ns Vol I, or Vol II, or before? 

Yeah, we did – like Snakes and Ode To Boy we revamped from the mixtapes. Most of them have been around for a while apart from Right Round The Clock, In Unison, Wolf and Heather which were the last ones we wrote.

What was the writing process like for 925? Where were you at physically, mentally when you wrote them? Was there an event or a specific timeframe where a large chunk of the lyricism came out?

Some of the songs like Perfect and More were the first songs that we ever played really as a band. On some songs, I write the lyrics and then we develop it into a song – sometimes we start the writing together centered around maybe a lyric or an idea. The time frame they were written was quite long. Even though some songs have lots of time between them, they are all about being young – hopefully they work together.

How long were you working on 925? How much did you, and the album, evolve in that time?

About 7 months on the actual tracks for the album 925 but it was a long process to know how we wanted to do it, a bit of trial and error.

As this was your debut full length, especially since your sound has shifted a bit, what mindset did you have going into the creating / recording process? Did you feel any sort of limitations when writing or recording this album? Are there any interesting stories about the writing of the lyrics and/or the recordings?  

We recorded and produced most parts first at home – we knew that we wanted a good blend of home recorded and studio sound and sometimes a recording sounds best on the first take. Or, has more character than something recorded in a studio. James Dring was who we produced it with and he was really on the same page as us, he liked the samples and just used what sounded best.

What was your favorite part about the writing / album creation process? 

It’s a really good feeling when the recording matches up with how you have been imagining the song for so long.

When and how did the album title 925 come about in the album creation process? What is the significance of the title? 

It’s kind of taken from a Rock n Roll Star line which is “your pure silver 925” – we thought that it was a good abstract metaphor for stamping youth as being pure but also not perfect. 925 is like the lowest silver mark – it’s just made the cut. I like the idea of the songs being like emotions, thoughts or feelings that you kind of wear on your sleeve. And everyone has their own collections of ideas they accumulate about the world when they’re young, and they will always be a part of who you are.

I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so the last couple years how has it felt as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then how to / if you want to creatively release it to the public?

It’s annoying when you have to think about how to do things the right way all the time, or most impressive way – or do this or that for social media because that’s the thing that will work. I find it hard to focus on those things – I think if you’re making good stuff and stay true to your own set of rules in some way the right people or the people you intended to find will find you.

On that topic, how much energy do you put into the visuals (music videos, press images, artwork) that accompany your music? Do you feel like the art that accompanies one’s music is more / less important than it used to be? How do you feel like social media impacts the intention behind all of this? 

Yes, I think it’s important to have control over the imagery because it really helps the songs, or the world you’re trying to show, propel. Me and Louis are always thinking about the songs as colors as well so it’s nice when the video incorporates the color.

What is your perspective on how you want to be represented throughout your band’s visuals (press photos, music videos, album artwork)? 

Just want the imagery to cohere to the music. Like to put symbols or images that have been in the songs in the cover art.

How important is it to you for the art that accompanies your music to represent the sound and the lyrics? Do you aim for a conversation between the two, or are you more interested in an aesthetically cool package? 

Yeah, it’s a conversation between the two, I think it’s important for our music but it’s not crucial for everyone.

How do you recalibrate before getting on stage? How do you get in the correct mindset?

Usually have a drink! I usually get nervous, so I pace around to prepare.