Indie/Electronic Duo Retrolux is here today to bring listeners a vivacious performance! Consisting of members Anna James and Maynard Shaye, Retrolux is a complete DIY duo. Anna provides the vocals, and Maynard produces the entirety of their tracks. Collectively, Retrolux offers a spunky take on the indie/electronic genre category. Their tracks primarily leave us feeling spirited, buzzed, and in a rejuvenated mood. This goes for their recent track, "Pity Party", in which we felt like the track gave a buoyant ambiance.
The beat that Maynard created for "Pity Party" was constructed in a way that easily matches the light and airy tone of Anna's voice. The single follows along with a specific storyline that offers up a variety of themes, such as deceit, control, and a sense of determination. Retrolux's track "Pity Party" feels very bubbly in its execution, which makes the delivery of the track's intrinsic message more facile. There's a strong electronic presence, which mainly stems from the mixing of the track, as well as indie elements that reside in the vocals. "Pity Party" is the kind of track you'd find yourself listening to on an easy breezy day, and we're currently soaking up all of the song's eccentric benefits.
Check out the track "Pity Party" by Retrolux, here.
Hey, Retrolux! Congratulations on the debut of your single "Pity Party"! How did the two of you go about creating this particular single? How much collaboration went on for the overall construction of "Pity Party"?
I live in Toronto, and Shaye lives in New York. I wrote “Pity Party,” after getting in a fight with someone. It fell together fast and was a great release of emotions. Then, I recorded scratch vocals and sent them over to Shaye. He came up with a draft of the beat, and it escalated from there.
What kind of overall feeling and/or message did you want to impart to your listeners with your song "Pity Party"? Do you feel that Retrolux focuses on integrating a prominent takeaway message within the music?
Absolutely. This song is an anthem for anyone who is a victim of emotional abuse and manipulation from a loved one. It’s about putting your foot down, taking your power back, and setting boundaries to protect yourself from further damage.
As a duo where both members reside in different countries, do you find there to be any prominent challenges regarding the construction of Retrolux's music?! How do you go about ensuring effective communication for the cohesive formation of your music and sound?
Ugh yes, 100%. We used to live right down the street from each other, so living in two different countries has definitely created some challenges for us. Playing shows takes way more planning. We can’t feed off of each other’s ideas as interactively as we’d like to. However, our living situations are just what’s best for both of us at this point in time. We definitely take advantage of modern technology, though. We try to have FaceTime sessions every week, and we set goals to hold each other accountable.
What kind of strategy do you feel Retrolux has regarding the integration to the Indie/Electronic music scene? What kind of elements do you both feel you're bringing to the category, and do you feel that you're aiding in the transformation of the category itself, with your sound?
When I write for Retrolux, it’s much different than writing for my solo, acoustic project. I try to write lyrics and a melody that people can dance and relate to. Shaye is an amazing producer. His music has developed so much over the past few years, and he’s very creative with his samples. The biggest thing that sets us apart is that we create our music videos ourselves. Shaye and I will come up with a concept, film it, and then Shaye will spend hours editing. He wears many hats. I guess we are aiding the genre a bit with our sound because we aren’t your cookie-cutter indie electronic band. We are a little more DIY, so maybe that might encourage more people to just go for it lol.
What can we expect to see from you throughout 2020?
Currently, we are focusing on just releasing singles and then creating music videos for them. We like to view each song as a whole project, so we add visuals to strengthen it and tell a story. So yeah, singles and correlating videos, haha.