 Credit: Henry Diltz United through music and matrimony, indie folk rock duo Desi and Cody will release their sophomore effort, Yes, This Is Killing Us, October 12th. The eleven-song collection highlights Desi’s ethereal vocals, Cody’s stellar guitar playing and the couple’s sun drenched harmonies. The duo describes their new album as “a dark comedy” as it sonically manifests a refreshing homage to classic 60’s femme fatales with chamber pop, baroque textures, and vibrant horns transforming their Okie roots into the realm of futuristic folk. Here, Desi and Cody thoughtfully answer their Essential 8 and talk in depth about the album, Cain's Ballroom, Jack White, and more! Did you have a musical mentor? If so, who was it and how did they influence you? I had so many. I was lucky. My father is the main one. He was always playing and listening to great music and quizzing me on who played what instrument and stuff like that. Also, my Uncle Mike who showed me my first Chords. My Dad and Uncles had a band in the 70’s... with these brothers named Brad and Greg Smith. “The Smith Brothers.” They still play sometimes and I occasionally I’ll jump up on stage with them. Also, my High School Band Director Rod Clark. He was a Jazz Guy and taught me about playing behind the beat. - Cody I had many influences growing up and always sang. I remember watching old movies with actresses like Judy Garland and Doris Day with my cousin Destiny, afterward we would turn the fireplace or any elevated “stage” like area into our opportunity to entertain! My sister introduced me to The Beatles, Patsy Cline and just so many other amazing artist. My father would amaze me with his voice just goofing around the house singing Freddy Mercury or Zeppelin! So in a way I kinda sum those experiences up to mentoring but when it really gets down to the very definition, I’d have to say my mentor has been Cody. Over the years he has helped me find my voice, and transformed my thoughts into songs and taught me how to live and breath music! -Desi Is there a story behind your album’s title? It’s kinda a joke. It’s real dramatic... ‘Yes, This is Killing Us.’ It has to do with the music business and being married to your band mate. It’s amazing... but it can definitely be trying to say the least. The road can be a tough place. In reality, we love it... and in fact... in all my years of touring in bands, Desi is the easiest for me to get along with on the road. It’s from a lyric on the last song on the album... which resolves with “What was once killing us now makes us feel so alive.” The musician lifestyle is a love/hate relationship, but in the end it’s all I think I could ever do and be happy. - Cody Well I think it’s kinda become a laughing matter but really a lot of the songs came from a period in our lives that seem like a blur. You ever have those times when it just pours? You just keep running and the water keeps rising? That’s where we were for awhile. After experiencing the loss of loved ones and a series of various traumatic events, daily life started to feel impossible and pointless. So we ran for awhile. We avoided what was going on inside by immersing ourselves into being “musicians”. We partied with fans and fellow musicians. We celebrated at night and nursed hangovers during the day. When reality and anxiety became too much we’d escape again. Somehow even at our lowest we had moments of clarity and we saw each other. Thank god we still had each other and we both knew something had to give. Recording the album was really therapeutic for me and I can recall us looking back on it all while considering titles. Cody joked and said “Let’s call it ‘Yes.... this is Killing us” and laughed. It made perfect sense to me ha! Now that the storm had passed we could have a good laugh! -Desi  Why did you choose to anchor the album with the songs you did?
We wanted something a little more experimental than we have done in the past. Our friend Michael Taub calls it ‘Futuristic Folk.’ Haha... it’s mainly because we used a lot of synthesizers and other instruments that we haven’t really tried out yet. We ended up making an album that sounds more like Psychedelic Pop than Folk. There are actually 5 songs that we cut from the initial sessions at Fellowship Hall in Little Rock. They are much more earthy and rootsy than what ended up on the record. We will probably release them next spring. - Cody We actually had 16 songs recorded but when it came to creating an album these 11 seemed to take a direction that made sense together! We were both inspired with sounds we had heard on the “Stranger Things” series. I can recall both of looking at each other moments into the series and saying, “wooooaaaahhhhh dude let’s get some sounds like this!” It turned the project around and excited us! -Desi Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? Sometimes it’s just a conversation Desi and I have. I am usually the one putting ideas into song, but she just has the most amazing ideas all the time about life, love, and magic... it just works. Now that she’s started writing on her own I may be out of a job!! As far as arrangement and melodies go... A lot of time it’s film... for instance... the synth sounds were an after thought. We had already recorded the songs live to 24 track 2” tape. Just a band in a room with mics. What we had was great, but we still needed to add the finishing touches. Around that time is when we started watching that show ‘Stranger Things.’ It reminded me of my childhood and I busted out this old Casio SK1 Keyboard I had in the 80’s. Found out Beck, Portishead, and some of our other favorite bands had actually used this little child’s keyboard. It’s kind of an anomaly. You can hear it predominantly on “Wicked Game,” “Elija’s Song,” “Misunderstanding,” and on the opening track “It’s Our Thing.” I feel like it brought a childlike undertone to all the adult themes that were kinda dominating the album. We wanted the album to be dark, but have a light at the end of the tunnel. - Cody Cody is the real songwriter between us. When I write it’s few and far between. It’s more of something that just flows out when it does happen. Lol often times I’m in the shower and I’ll get an idea. I’m not sure why the shower is inspiring to me ha but I’m just being honest here. Cody has a way of writing things that I had no way of expressing before the song was written. If that makes any sense. I’ll stumble with my words and try to piece my thoughts together and a few days later he’s playing a new tune that says it all but beautifully! I don’t know how he does it. I have written one full song (Rehearse the Lines) that I felt brave enough to share and he insisted it be on the album. The other songs I have moments of co-writing but I can really only speak to the one song on the matter of inspiration. —Desi Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination? Everything. Some of the album is about our experiences touring and recording. Some songs are about our relationship. One song, “Elija’s Song” I wrote for my best friend’s son. A song like “Mind is Gone” is just completely esoteric... and was inspired by the film “Metropolis.” - Cody Hmmm I’d say personal experience and observations for sure! That’s where I’m at right now. I think that’s why I’m pretty private about my writing. It’s almost more like journaling for me.- Desi Who would you love to collaborate with? Jack White. He’s been spending a lot of time here in Tulsa, and he was a big influence on me when I was just had just graduated high school. I graduated in the year 2000. (yes I’m old) At the time it was all Rap Rock and boy bands... then my older brother gave me the album De Stijl. It gave me hope, haha. Also, his guitar sound was raw and I always kinda took the same approach to the instrument. I even use an old Silvertone amp like his... my friend had it before we heard the white stripes. It sounds amazing... he sold it to me, and it wasn’t long after that I found out it was the “Jack White amp.” - Cody I would have to say Stevie Nicks! When I was a child any time my mom was sad I’d turn on Stevie and dance around in shawls trying lift her spirits. I have memories of my mom driving us home across the country between Oregon and Oklahoma with my four other siblings, a moma cat and kittens listening to “Rumours” on repeat. I almost got to meet her at SXSW a few years back and I was so sick over it I actually was slightly relieved when it didn’t happen. Hahah! She has always seemed like this mythical creature. I recently got to see her at the BOK in Tulsa OK. She was pure light and absolutely magical! To be one person standing there amongst thousands and feel as if she was just chatting with you and singing some songs was unreal! I would looooooove to collaborate with her. -Desi What’s your favorite venue and why? Cain’s Ballroom. Been watching shows there since 1994. Cake was the first show I saw there but the most memorable was Foo Fighters... 1997. I was 15 and the dude from Nirvana was 10 feet away from me haha. It’s a small and historic building. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys put it on the map and there’s a kinda reverence for that. I’ve seen bands like Wilco and The Punch Brothers cover Bob Wills there. Bands change their set list for that room. It’s a respect thing. I’ve had the good fortune of playing there a handful of times. That place is magic... it’s like “ok so the Sex Pistols AND Bob Dylan have stood here.” - Cody Cain’s Ballroom hands down! Something about that place! -Desi Do you have a favorite gift from a fan? Yes, it was a wedding gift. A photo of us playing on stage at Cain’s. When they ripped up the old hardwood floors and put in new ones my friends Dave and Sandy Morrow bought some of the leftover wood and framed the photo with it. Like... we have a piece of Cain’s Balroom hanging on our wall. It’s very special to us. - Cody Oh my gosh Yes that framed photo is something I will forever cherish. Its of us with our band playing the Cain’s stage. I believe it was taken by our friend Casey Hanson and packaged so beautifully in a frame made from the original Cain’s ballroom floor by our friends Sandy and Dave Marrow as a wedding gift! But oh there are some really cool gifts we have received that I am just amazed by. Our friend Chris created a beautiful drumhead for us with our owls on it. Oh and one time this super sweet kid named Landon gave me his four leaf clover! I was like, what that is so lucky!!! I still have it. It was the first and only in the flesh four leaf clover I had ever seen! -Desi Find Desi and Cody Online! Website: http://www.desiandcody.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Desi-and-Cody/266446392719 Twitter: https://twitter.com/desiandcody Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desiandcody/
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