Introducing: The Lovelines

The Lovelines are brother and sister duo Todd Goings and Tessa D. Despite the name, their new single Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower is a soulful, acid jazz referencing summer bop of a tune. We spoke to Todd about the track and the intriguing concept behind the band.

First up, could you tell us a bit about the people behind The Lovelines?

‘Tessa D,’ my half-sister, is the singer. I write the music and words, record the instruments, and produce the music. The music is mixed with Wilderfox Studio, and it’s mastered with Matt Bishop. That’s The Lovelines ‘team,’ I guess.

What inspires you to write music?

For this project, since our debut sounded like a lounge band covering a jazz standard, and The Lovelines sounded like the name of the lounge act that would perform it, I imagine I’m writing for that fictional lounge band called The Lovelines with my sister acting as the Chanteuse. It’s a good writing tool. The idea of writing for a fictional band, like The Spiders from Mars or The Lonely Hearts Club Band is a fun songwriting project.

Who or what would you say has had the most influence on your music?

The sound of our debut Strange Kind Of Love is the sound we’ll be following, so it’s important to note its origin, I guess. I like to listen to my local jazz radio station WUCF 89.9. On jazz radio, you hear bands performing rendition after rendition of what’s known as ‘standards.’ Classic compositions that bands cover, you know. I wanted to write a song that sounded like an old-fashioned jazz ‘standard’ my sister and I were covering. It’s not a cover, but it’s written with the intention of sounding like a cover. It’s our faux jazz standard (haha). Our faux lounge act debut.

What has been your most enjoyable musical experience up to now?

I was in an old-fashioned rock and roll band in N.Y.C before I returned to my hometown of Orlando, FL. Performing live for strangers in N.Y.C. clubs was fun. It’s a tough crowd, so you get good. We were a good band, I think. I didn’t like having the role of singer, but I miss writing for and performing in a live outfit.

The Lovelines is a recording band. My sister lives in Berlin, DE and I live in Orlando, FL so performing isn’t an option for The Lovelines. I think The Lovelines would be a good live band, too. The live act would be us performing as that fictional lounge band, made real, you know? That being said, who knows what the future holds.

Is being a brother and sister an important element in your creative process?

It’s become integral. It’s like I was painting a picture and my sister picked up a brush and added the stroke of color it needed.  Now, it’s our painting. I didn’t know my sister would sing Strange Kind Of Love when I wrote it. I used to sing that song with my band in N.Y.C. circa 2016. Now, I can’t imagine that song without her low, soulful voice. People don’t know this, but I have to rerecord the original demos I sing like 5-7 half-steps down because of how low she sings. The intention is the frame her voice with the music, not the music with her voice.

If you could support anyone, who would it be and why?

My local music Store, The Guitar Factory, in Orlando, FL. It’s a luthier/amp repair store. If you’re a musician in Orlando, support them.

Is there any song or artist you keep going back to for pure listening pleasure?

You know that Santo & Johnny song Sleep Walk? It’s that song you hear in dream/vacation sequences in movies, it’s one of those famous songs you know but you don’t know the name of it. (I didn’t and I am bowled over by this. – Mark) Well, that’s the name of it, you’re welcome. I listen to that song on repeat.

What other bands or musicians do you feel we need to be checking out right now?

I listen to old music, I guess. Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and Stan Getz are the kings of music, to me. I’m a hopeless romantic, what can I do (haha).  Also, you wouldn’t know it from listening to our little band, but I like New Wave music, too. Joy Division/New Order: Celebration, Age of Consent, Temptation, Bizarre Love-Triangle, Love Will Tear Us Apart, songs like that, you know.

It’s a different sound, they’re super sloppy recordings in musician/engineering terms, but it’s a sound that’s just as romantic as those Jobim, Gilberto, Getz songs, I think. I like a good love-lost song, that’s a potent emotion. The only girl I ever loved, I couldn’t make her love me, that’s probably the reason I like music like that. TMI (haha)?

Was there a specific inspiration or incident behind Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower?

No, the phrase Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower popped into my head, it’s a strange form of magic, I think. I had to double-check it wasn’t the title of a song or a movie I was subconsciously remembering. Like all our songs, a phrase will pop into my head and then my job is to write verses that justify singing the phrase.

Again, it’s a backwards process but I was a Lit Major; it’s like a backwards literary puzzle writing like that. It’s fun (haha). It’s like writing the last sentence of a novel, then having to work out how you can end the novel on that sentence. In terms of the meaning, I like songs that are free to interoperate. There’s an art to not saying too much, I think. Is it a song above love or is it a song about a literal flower? Is it a song about pessimism, or is it a song about perversion?

What’s up next for The Lovelines in terms of music, gigs, videos…?

We have a full The Lovelines LP written and recorded, we plan on releasing it single-to-single over the course of 2022-2023! We do want to thank you for the support, AnalogueTrash. Rock and roll.

You can also listen to Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower on Deezer and Apple Music. Head over to the duo’s Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram socials to keep up with news and new music from The Lovelines.