Q&A: Duo Sonnymoon talks inspirations, sound evolution and upcoming JazzReggae Festival performance

UCLA’s annual JazzReggae Festival will return to campus this weekend. Daily Bruin’s Rebecca Chen spoke with Anna Wise and Dane Orr of Sonnymoon about their musical inspirations, what people can expect from the show and how their sound has changed from previous albums.

Daily Bruin: Where do you draw your musical inspiration?
Dane Orr: We definitely draw a lot of inspiration from … the awe that comes from how small we are in comparison to the world today. “¦ And as people who incorporate electronics in our music, we feel it’s also our responsibility to make sure that we become as deep into nature as we are into the electronic side of things. The further we take the one side, we have to make sure we take it just as far in the other direction.

DB: Why did you decide to perform at JazzReggae? How do you feel about the upcoming concert?
Anna Wise: Everything that JazzReggae is and represents, and the people that have played before us “¦ it’s an honor to even be considered to be a part of it.
DO: Seeing the past year’s lineup, it was always something that was kind of like, “Oh, that would be really cool to be a part of at some point.” And we are lucky enough to be on it this year.

DB: What can people expect from the show?
DO: We’re trying to expand our boundaries a little. We used to only perform as a duo “¦ and as experimental as we could get it, it was still pretty rigid. “¦ (This) Sunday, we are beginning a new chapter in Sonnymoon, which is having a drummer and another multi-instrumentalist, so instead of a duo, it’s going to be a quartet. There’s going to be some sitar, a little bit of saxophone in there; we’re just continuing to add more musical elements to expand the Sonnymoon universe.

DB: How is your new album different from your previous works, “Golden Age” and “Blast Off”?
AW: We are older and just different people. We’re developing as people and as musicians, and that is apparent in our new music. The older projects, before putting out anything, we didn’t really have a sense of what our material was. “¦ Hearing our older songs and seeing them in the packaged format that they are, we realized what we could develop upon, or what we could do in a new way. We look at the old stuff to inspire the new.

DB: Do you have a favorite track on the new album?
AW: I really like “∞,” which is a track that features our multi-instrumentalist/sitarist, Tyler Randall. I love that track. “¦ (The songs) all take on new meaning ’cause we recorded them pretty soon after we had written them. We just went on tour a couple weeks ago “¦ and while on the tour, the songs take on a whole new life of their own, and we realize new arrangements. I’m constantly reaching for new ways to express whatever the original meaning was.

DB: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
DO: I would say, write as much music as you can. So many people focus on performing nowadays “¦ but people are always playing older compositions and constantly playing other peoples’ music. Transitioning into where we are now, one of the biggest differences was everyone has their own material. So I think that’s a big switch for young musicians, when you go from just playing other peoples’ stuff to writing your own. … It’s kind of a big stepping-stone.
AW: To me, being a musician isn’t just about the music ““ the performing, or the recording or the writing. It has to do with who you are as a person and how you live your life, the sorts of decisions that you’re making. And whether you like it or not, you are going to represent yourself through your actions and whatever you choose to release to the world. “¦ I think it’s important to work on yourself as much as you work on your music ““ if not more, because the two balance each other out.

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