An Interview With The Indie Rock/Electronic LA-Based Trio, I, US AND WE!

Meet the LA-based trio called I, Us & We described as an indie rock and electronic band. On November 14th, they released their EP, “Ceremonies.”

I, Us & We has played venues all over Los Angeles including the notable Troubadour, Satellite, Peppermint Club, The Hi-Hat, Moscow at Bordeners, Sayers Club, The Echo and The Lost Knight; with features and rave reviews from The Deli: Los Angeles, Speak into My Goodeye, Obscure Sound, The Owl Mag and more, it’s clear this band’s hypnotic sound is captivating audiences.

Connect with I, Us & We: 

Facebook | Website | Instagram | Twitter  | EPK

Learn more about I, Us & We in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time for this All Access interview! Where does this interview you two today?

Right now the three of us are at our studio.

Is there music playing in the background?

Actually, we have some Depeche Mode playing.

What is it?

Depeche Mode “Sister of  Night”

What is one song that you are all loving right now?

Childish Gambino “Redbone.”

What is a song that you disagree about loving right now? 

Creed’s Anthology. 

How did this group first come to be?

We’re all brothers.  Over the years we wrote music and performed together, so there was a natural progression to it.  For this project we just started writing songs, playing with sounds, experimenting with the thought of us singing and from there I, Us, & We was born.

Can you recall the moment when you all thought you could be in a band together?

Haha, we can’t recall the exact moment.  But no matter what musical projects we were doing separately, the end goal was always to be in a project together.

Was it hard to come up with a name that you could all agree on?

Not really, it was something everybody took a liking to quickly.

How did you come up with your band name? 

We were all having a long winded discussion about society, culture, it’s issues, etc.  And at a certain point, somebody was talking about how movements start with a singular person or person’s idea, then spreads from there.  From that the name I, Us, & We was born.

How do you think this band has been influenced by the city you are from? 

Honestly, I think the way our city has influenced is it provided us with the ability to be outside the bubble or hustle and bustle of LA or New York.  Being able to be free from distractions, outside of the noise and just focus on creating in the moment.

How did that particular music scene affect you all?

The music scene here has not affected us.

How does 2017 compare to last year?

We haven’t been around too long, but 2017 has been a banner year for us.  We signed to Little Assembly and just released our EP Ceremonies.  Lots of things happening behind the scenes, but everything seems to be getting better and better.

What all are you most excited about for 2018?

Touring, more music.  Really just finding ways to push our art and creative content forward.

Will any of you make New Year’s Resolutions?  

I’m sure we likely will, but nobody has any specifically quite yet.

Let’s about your newest single “Tryst.” Where did the inspiration for it come from?

Lyrically it came from a place of being in a one sided relationship.  We were all in really weird places when this EP was written.  We were all going through some difficult times on a personal level.  But ‘Tryst’ was written from the perspective of being the “controller” in the situation, as opposed to the “controlled.”  I think in the end we were probably in a place of wanting to be in control and feeling the need to have some semblance of that.  That’s a cool thing about music, is exploring other possibilities and other perspectives and “realities.”

How do you think it prepared people for your also recently released EP, “Ceremonies”?

I think it properly wets their beak for what’s to come on the EP.  We worked hard to have a diverse sound on the record, but we think ‘Tryst’ is a great introduction to our sound.

What was it like putting “Ceremonies” together? Were there any unexpected challenges or surprises? 

It was stressful.  We wrote the whole EP in about two weeks, with the exception of “22.” The EP had quite a few challenges, time crunches, sonic issues.  With these songs we tried to perfect everything down to the smallest detail, and whenever you’re trying to achieve that, there’s bound to be problems, a time crunch just further compounds those problems.

While this may be difficult to answer, where do you think you are all happiest- on stage performing, in the studio recording or elsewhere? 

Musically it goes in stages.  Sometimes it’s being creative in the studio, sometimes it’s playing live.  As far as outside of music, we all have things we enjoy doing.

You have performed a ton all over Los Angeles so I am curious to know what is your favorite venue here?

Really love Troubadour.  We’ve played some great venues, but Troubadour is just special to us.

What have some of your favorite shows here?

We opened for Vancouver Sleep Clinic there.  It was pretty great.

What makes for an ideal show for this band?  

Great sound.  Great crowd.  It’s pretty simple for us.

Do you have any other touring plans to end the year with? 

Nothing yet as of this point.

Where can people see you perform live next? 

We should have some news really soon.  Just finalizing some details.

We are living in a crazy and at times rough world right now so I am curious how you think being in this band gives you the most joy in life today?  

We are living in a crazy world, but music is universal.  Hopefully our music can affect people in a positive way.  We take joy in meeting people that connect with what we have worked so hard on.

Do you think that new music being created today is going to reflect this difficult time? 

For a few artist yes.  For most, no.

Who are some of your favorite artists right now? 

James Blake, Bon Iver, Other Lives, Kendrick Lamar, Kiiara, Josh Pan.

Who would you love to work with in the future?

Nigel Godrich.

What would be a dream collaboration for this group?

Kendrick Lamar, Bon Iver or James Blake.

What do you hope is the message of your music? 

Themes in our songs are more macro, as opposed to micro.  We hope people connect with songs and draw parallels to their own lives.

What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

 We hope people listen to our music and can get some relief of whatever they are going through at that time and just enjoy the moment.