Jen chats to Villas about their new Music video, their writing process and much more!

VILLAS are Miel and D’Ari, a classic romance built on the abandonment of convention.

Both were immersed in Toronto’s creative circles when they stumbled into a life change. Faced with an offer they couldn’t refuse, they traded everything in for an isolated farm in rural Prince Edward County. The house had no front door, no plumbing, kitchen or bathrooms, and was inhabited by birds and raccoons on arrival. They called it their “villa”. The villa was to be a lawless place, where every move they made was theirs and theirs alone. They vowed that here, they would “sing loud, fight loud and fuck loud”. However, they came to realize that when there is nothing to distract you from yourself, all will be revealed.

Having spent most of their lives in various music projects, they assembled a home studio and began to musically chronicle their unusual lives, their choices and their incredible capacity for uncertainty. They wrote of the challenges of monogamy, the weight of isolation and facing outside expectations. Miel and D’Ari explored the gaps between the life we want to live, the life we are asked to live and the life we choose to live.

VILLAS is an electronic duo exuding edgy R&B swagger and confidence, while delivering contemporary pop melodies.

“Medicine”, VILLAS’ first EP dropping May 20th 2016, was co-produced by D’Ari at the farmhouse and Jake Birch working from Brooklyn, Toronto and from his new studio in rural Montana. Medicine’s sonic tapestry was then masterfully mixed by Jay Paul Bicknell (Grammy and Oscar nominated for The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness) at Interscope Studios in Los Angeles. Co-written with online collaborators from Atlanta, Chicago and Israel, Medicine has the feel of an intimate and difficult conversation, that somehow seems familiar and worldly.

 

Hi Miel & D’Ari, hope this finds you well. I found your bio to be very interesting. So you two as a couple basically moved to an abandoned farmhouse in the country. The house had no front door, no plumbing, kitchen or bathrooms, and was inhabited by birds and raccoons on arrival. You called it your villa. Loads of silly questions come to mind, like what did you do first to make the farmhouse livable? Front door? Tell us the first time you walked into the house, did you have to get the birds and raccoons out first? Any funny stories you can share?

Yes, front door was definitely first, but after that it was definitely putting a bathroom in! There were no toilets or a shower at the time. Also no kitchen. Having just moved from downtown Toronto, we didn’t know much about building or renovating anything, but D’Ari was determined that he could build us a shower in a week. Three months later, it was finally done. We were actually bathing in buckets for those three months. During our first year we had a lot of bats fly into the house. At first we could call our 15-year-old country neighbour over to help with them, but eventually we got a ‘bat-catching’ system down.

Do you think that the move was necessary to allow you to get creative and write your songs?

Well, we’ve always written songs, and the move was so sudden that I don’t really think we thought about it as a means to an end like that. However, getting out of the city created a lot of space – physically, mentally and spiritually. When you’re in an urban environment you don’t really see how little space you have – you’re never truly alone, and there are many more distractions. Even light and noise pollution can contribute to taking up space in your brain. When we first moved there, I think I had a lot of questions about how we’d make anything work. The house needed a lot of love, and we did all the renovations ourselves. On top of that, when you live in the country, so much more of your time goes into responding to nature – we have 11 acres – that consumes a lot of energy. Cutting lawns, pruning trees, growing food, tying things down when there’s wind storms, shoveling out your front door in the winter – that all eats up time, but is part of the reality and romance of living here. There were definitely times when we felt like we were more strapped for time living here, then when we were in the city. However, the experience living here is so real and raw. Solitude forces you to confront yourself, as does manual labour and working through something that’s challenging (renovating a house). It forces you to get really, really honest with yourself. In that sense, the move definitely created these songs. It brought so many things to the surface that likely could’ve remained in hiding forever in an urban place. Now that our renovations are complete, it’s definitely an easier process. We were able to build a home studio here, and as a result have an easier time prioritizing creativity.

Do you ever wonder what might have happened if you had not made that move?

I do! Sometimes I think about the people we were in Toronto, and the paths that we were on creatively. I think, honestly, I probably wouldn’t be playing music anymore if I was living there. Don’t get me wrong, I love Toronto, and it’s seriously blowing up right now. But, there are a lot of things that make it hard to truly make a living as an artist there – even just cost of living, and space! We had to pay for rehearsal spaces and parking and rent, and studio time etc. It all just adds up so quickly, that you end up having to work three jobs in addition to creating just to get by. Moving here, allowed us to look at our art and trajectory in a really objective and analytical way. It forced us to ask ourselves tough questions about authenticity. It made us get real about what we loved about making art, and what we could let go of.

You both had musical backgrounds prior to your move, firstly, what were they? Secondly how did you two originally meet?

We were both involved in singer/songwriter folk-rock projects prior to this. We met backstage at the Molson Ampitheatre in Toronto, where D’Ari was chatting with Woody Harrelson, and Miel had just got off a plane from the Sahara Desert.

How difficult is it to be in a band with only two members and you are romantically involved? With no one else to take your side? I can imagine some arguments occur!

It has its ups and downs. Understandably, when you live in the middle of nowhere with your partner, and live/work together all day everyday, things can come up. It’s amazing that we still want to hang out with each other as much as we do! We’re fortunate that we’re each other’s best friend, and creative support. We write really well together, and some of our best times together are when we’re in the studio creating. Ironically, some of the worst times together are also in the studio. Sometimes, when your producer is also your partner, it can be triggering, and hard to hear criticism or feedback as constructive instead of emotional. Writing and recording these EP’s was a pretty tumultuous experience. I was battling with a lot of anxiety and depression, so there were a lot of times that weren’t easy. We’re lucky that we have a really strong base as friends and partners, that we feel like we can handle just about anything at this point.

On April 15th you dropped a track called Life Jacket. I really like this song, it is catchy and stays in my head. Is this song written by personal experience?

It was written about personal experience. Basically all of our songs are. We tend to write a lot about relationships and personal journey because it’s what’s true to us. When this song was written, I was in the height of my struggles with mental illness. When one person in a relationship is struggling, it’s easy to feel like a real fuck-up. This song was written about that. So much to talk about this song!

Can you explain the writing process?

The process is varied. Sometimes we write from an existing beat that one of our collaborator producers has sent us. Sometimes, we find a great beat on YouTube. Sometimes we pick up our guitars or a keyboard and a drum machine and write that way. Typically, Miel will write topline ideas and lyrical ideas, and then we workshop them together. D’Ari is an amazing arranger, and will pick out the hookiest parts and place them where he thinks they should go. From there, we collaborate until the finished product is complete.

There are so many great lyrics in this song. I love ‘Because my fantasy is easier than life’ and ‘My mind is fast but my body is too slow.’ There are so many relatable lyrics in this song. How has the song been received in the US?

It was just released – so no one really knows about it yet!

I read a post on your facebook that said that you chopped veggies for ten hours for a music video. Was that for real?

Yes! Funnily enough, the chopping veggies scene didn’t even make the cut. The video is for a song called “Fuckin Round on You’, which is all about the reality that all of us (in relationships) think about other people in our heads at some point. The video uses a montage of cheesy stock videos to play as the backdrop of conventional romance behind this deeply honest song. The video was just released actually – you can watch it on our website (www.officialvillas.com) or on YouTube. We make a cameo as one of the couples. You’ll have to watch for us!

I really like your positivity in your facebook post. Your new years one was Followed by dream chasing of the very large variety. May you all catch what you’re chasing. Is there one of you that does the facebook posting or is that something that you do together?

I (Miel) do most of the social media posting. I actually haven’t posted on Facebook a lot recently – I prefer Instagram and Twitter personally. (@mielanddari)

What is next for Villas? Is there any shows that you have planned?

We actually haven’t played live yet! Our first shows are taking place in Prince Edward County this summer at a great venue here called The Hayloft. We wanted to make the incredible place we live part of the experience of seeing us play, so city and country fans alike will have to make the trek here. Our first show is on July 22nd at The Hayloft. Other than that, we have a lot of great things in the works – more music videos coming, performances, collaborations, and most importantly – music!

Thanks guys, Jen

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