Marian Hill is embracing their title as the sexiest band of 2016
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Do a quick Google search of Marian Hill and you'll have to sift through hundreds upon hundreds of articles dubbing the pop duo the "sexiest band" of this year. And trust us, they're not wrong. The group, made up of production artist Jeremy Lloyd and vocalist Samantha Gongol, have been creating one of the most unique sounds in modern music. Infusing electronic beats, improvisational jazz and Gongol's sultry vocals, Marian Hill has created a sound that's entirely unique. It hasn't gone unnoticed.
They've since amassed a cult following and have been taking their talents around the major festival circuit, including Bonnaroo and their most recent appearance at Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival. Showcasing their latest work, "ACT ONE." Marian Hill played to a packed performance at Outside Lands.
But maybe the most impressive part about their performance isn't about the numbers of attendees themselves, but how many listeners take away a sense of empowerment from both their live sets and recorded tracks. As Jeremy Lloyd notes, "...we've been writing music to make people feel good about themselves and feel sexy, and I hope that when people say the music is sexy, that's what they're talking about." And at the end of the day, there's almost no music that can parallel songs which make people feel better about themselves.
We sat down with Marian Hill at this year's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival to talk about their title as the "sexiest band," how they first fell in love with music, and more!
This feature is a part of #KanvasLive, an interactive, cross-platform content series brought to life on the Kanvas app and AOL.com. See more on coverage here.
How is Outside Lands treating you so far?
Jeremy Lloyd: It's funny because we knew we were one of the first acts on today at 12:45. We didn't know how many people would show up and it was fine, we were preparing ourselves. But we had a huge crowd and it kept growing as we were playing. Somebody said we had over 6,000 people. It was really exciting.
What makes this festival so different than any other one you've played?
Jeremy Lloyd: We love San Francisco.
Samantha Gongol: And they've been great to us from day one.
Jeremy Lloyd: It was the first city we played in where people were singing along. It's always been really special to us and we feel grateful to be here too. You get varying degree of fan presence in crowds at these different festivals, and here there was a solid fan presence so it felt really good. Also there are amazing trees in this park!
Samantha Gongol: It's so green! It's beautiful.
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Take me way back -- what was your first musical memory?
Jeremy Lloyd: This isn't a memory because I don't remember it, but my parents swear that I asked them if I could learn violin when I was four and a half. Both my parents are musicians and they met at an opera class. My dad is a choral director and composer and my mom sings in the church choir. I was always growing up with people playing piano and it was all around me. I think it's almost like it was my life in a lot of ways which made me not think of it as a career early on, just because it was such a presence. It was always there and it was where I ended up.
Samantha Gongol: My parents are not that musical. But I think my earliest musical memory -- is kind of embarrassing -- but in preschool I sang "Home on the Range" around the house. My dad heard me and said, "Oh, maybe our kid can sing!"
You both studied music in a more traditional capacity in college -- how did that shape how you create songs now?
Jeremy Lloyd: I took a lot of classes in musical theater composition where we were rigorously studying songwriting and analyzing songs. I also took theory courses and I think that for me, that's always in my mind when I'm writing. A lot of the fun for me in writing Marian Hill songs is trying to write pop songs that hold up to a really high standard, which have really tight well-written lyrics that all make sense. Also finding cool harmonic moments in the tracks. I'm always really glad I have that broader background.
Samantha Gongol: I studied Music Business at NYU and I liked the program. I think it's something you can really learn from experience, but it definitely gave me the insight into the industry as a whole. I didn't want to study music; I wanted it to still be free and I didn't want to be graded on my music ability. I think it gave me a bigger appreciation for the music industry as a whole.
What did your creative process look like for your most recent album "ACT ONE"? How did those songs come to life from start to finish?
Jeremy Lloyd: It came out of writing "Sway." We didn't stop writing; we just were in a pretty steady process from singing our record deal and having a studio to work in. We were always writing and trying to broaden Marian Hill. For both of us, the idea was going wherever we could go and finding all the difference subjects we could cover and ways our styles could change. The earliest song we wrote was in the summer of 2015, but most of the songs we wrote were in February 2015 and the end of that summer.
Samantha Gongol: I think for "Sway" between God and One Time I think it was a blessing and curse to have two popular songs. We just couldn't keep doing that and doing the same formula for an entire album even though people really loved it. We needed to take the time to discover a slightly different approach and to really expand.
Obviously your music can't be confined to one genre. Do you think creating your music through the lens of a certain genre is inhibiting or beneficial to your creative process?
Jeremy Lloyd: We don't think about it to be honest. I think genre is a thing that needs to exist for people to find music they like. But as someone making music, I try not to think about it because for us it's about making things that sounds really good. And early on we were a little strung on trying to make the Marian Hill sound and once we got more and more writing together and I got more comfortable producing -- "Whiskey" was the best song I've ever produced by like a mile so I had a lot of catching up to do -- but then we realized that when we write together, it's going to sound like Marian Hill. It's going to sound congruent with what we do, so we just wrote stuff that we like.
What has it been like for you both to be called one of the sexiest new bands?
Jeremy Lloyd: I'm always very proud of it. Production-wise I think it's a high compliment to the songwriting and sounds. Obviously we've known from the beginning that Sam has a very sexy voice. We started with "Whiskey" and that was the template.
Samantha Gongol: That was where I stopped! Just kidding. It's a compliment though when people come up to us and say, "Is it weird to say that we have sex to your music?" At first we were taken aback, but we love that. That's not why we write it, but it's a nice compliment. It's great.
Jeremy Lloyd: I also think that from the beginning, we've been writing music to make people feel good about themselves and feel sexy, and I hope that when people say the music is sexy, that's what they're talking about. It's about an empowering sexy. The singer is always empowered in our songs; she's never an object.
What is the one piece of advice you wish you had received before entering the music industry?
Samantha Gongol: Oh man! Such a good question, but such a difficult answer.
Jeremy Lloyd: Let your managers handle it.
Samantha Gongol: And have a good lawyer! And I always love to say trust in yourself but also it's important to surround yourself with a select few with whom you can put your trust in. A lot gets thrown at you and you might you think you know the best way to approach something when that's not the case. Simultaneously, you need to trust yourself and if something doesn't feel right it's probably not.
For more on this year's Outside Lands Festival, watch the video below!
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