Q&A: Caroline Loveglow Provides a No-Skip LP with 'Strawberry'
WE HAVE FATE TO THANK FOR CAROLINE LOVEGLOW - the electronic pop artist is the newest on George Clanton’s and Lindsey French’s vaporwave-focused music label, 100% Electronica. Out of the label’s roster, which includes prominent vaporwave artists like Equip and Windows 96, Caroline Loveglow is a standout artist in terms of style and sound. Loveglow may be a newcomer, but Clanton surely signed her for a good reason.
After submitting a demo to Clanton that was eventually played on his livestream in front of thousands of people, Loveglow got signed almost instantaneously. This new label came in just as Loveglow was about to independently release her own music for the first time, as if something in the universe shifted to make it happen. However, it wasn’t only luck– Loveglow’s talent and influence shines through on her new album, Strawberry.
Loveglow’s first LP offers an impressive no-skips tracklist that is far from the nuanced vaporwave genre. Instead, Strawberry gives its audience a fresh take on electronic pop. The lead single and Track 1, “Patience Etc…,” is reminiscent of early 2000s ambience like Moby’s “Porcelain,” whereas the album’s second single “Happy Happy” manifests itself like The Cure’s love child. Each song feels aesthetically atmospheric, but the emotional lyrics make it tangible to any open ear. The riffs are inspired and each composition that Loveglow crafts is thoughtful and fulfilling. With inspirations anywhere from Radiohead to Taylor Swift to her own melancholy, Loveglow is able to take the mundane and turn it into something astronomical. Loveglow ‘s music is able to tap into our deepest emotions that couldn’t be reached any other way.
Read about Loveglow talk Brian Eno, her origin story and her new album Strawberry below.
LUNA: First of all, Caroline Loveglow is a sick name. Is that your real last name?
LOVEGLOW: No, I actually used to have a band that was just called Loveglow. Before that it was “Caroline” the band… it was actually George [Clanton]’s idea to use Loveglow instead of my real last name.
LUNA: Is Caroline Loveglow more like a persona for you, then?
LOVEGLOW: Yeah, I think so… it’s also kind of like a safety blanket in a way. Because I’m not using my real name, I get to be detached from it a bit, which is nice.
LUNA: What did your old band sound like?
LOVEGLOW: The first one was when it was just “Caroline” the band. It was me and a bunch of guys from my high school. I wasn't really comfortable speaking up for myself yet, even though I knew exactly what I wanted to hear. I hadn't really gotten to production or anything. So, it ended up being kind of like a pop punk [band]... I played with them as “Caroline” the band and then Loveglow for like two or three years. Before that, it was just acoustic music at open mics, like every week, which was kind of just like, I don't know, a mix of Elliott Smith, Phoebe Bridgers, and Taylor Swift.
LUNA: How were your open mic days?
LOVEGLOW: I think that saved me. I swear to God. I started doing it when I was 13. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. I didn't really know anybody there, or it's like the people that you knew you'd only see them there, and then you'd all go live their separate lives. It was like a weird escape. I would try to write something before the week, and then Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, play that song that I'd written, usually just two songs. And just around San Diego. That's really what I did for five years.
There's something about that scene, if you could call it a scene, because it really is so intimate and really special.
LUNA: How did you end up getting signed to 100% Electronica?
LOVEGLOW: I found George's music in January of 2020. [I] just thought he was phenomenal. Basically, I started watching his live stream every Thursday… they have this thing where you could send in a demo, and every single week there was listen to different demos. I was always like, “I'm not gonna do that.” I would be nervous if he hated it or something. Finally, I was getting so crazy, like stir-crazy during lockdown and stuff, where I was just like, okay, like, fuck it, I'm gonna send it. Also, if you send them in, like, you don't know if they're going to be picked. So he randomly chose mine and played it on the stream…I was so excited. I was literally running around my house with my computer, showing my brother, my family, because this is such a big deal to me.
After that, George messaged me on Instagram and said, because I had mentioned in the stream that I was gonna release it a week later, he gave me this whole layout of like a release… then about a week later, he messaged me again and said, “We can't stop listening to that song,” [basically] if [I] want to get on a call with [them]. That made me just explode. They said they wanted to sign me and helped me build, you know, my project. The music was already finished too, which was incredible.
LUNA: It sounds like perfect timing, because everything was finished at that point.
LOVEGLOW: Yeah, exactly. I was sitting on those songs for a pretty long time because I made them in 2019. So yeah, it was like a full year of not doing anything with those songs, just because I felt weird with the pandemic. It really was perfect timing, I think.
LUNA: What was the demo you ended up sending him? Did you guys end up changing it up after that?
LOVEGLOW: It was the first single, “Patience Etc…”. I mean it wasn’t even technically a “demo,” because it was basically done… they just threw everything they had into like this person who had zero followers and no Spotify account, like sitting in their bed.
LUNA: How did it feel to get signed so quickly?
LOVEGLOW: It was unbelievable, because I thought that I would be like one of those artists who would never be on a label or something. But because I was such a huge fan of everything they were doing and I'd seen… I thought it would have been the number one choice for me over anybody. Nobody would have even approached me, but… *laughs* Yeah, it just feels unreal.
LUNA: You seem to have a pretty strong rock background. What drew you into the electronic genre?
LOVEGLOW: I think [it was] because I don't produce conventionally, like just kind of messing around until I find something. And because I listened to so many different genres. At the time, I was really into Kanye and his beats and got really into Mark Ronson and his production, and I think electronic influences from Radiohead, just in terms of glitching and stuff.
I also just love pop music. The song Zenosyne came because I wanted to make a really disgusting guitar tone, like Billy Corgan or something from Smashing Pumpkins, and then strip it back to just being pop, you know? I think it's just genuinely just a mix of a lot of things I listened to and not really having an end goal with a song when I start it. It is kind of like a genre chaos.
LUNA: Would you describe yourself as an electronic pop artist?
LOVEGLOW: You know, it's funny, I never knew how to label my music until I started to see how other people did, which really helped me inform what it even is. I've seen people call it alternative pop or, you know, electronic-influenced pop. But also, each song is so different. I'm not sure. I think I would say… electronic indie pop hip hop? *laughs*
LUNA: Well, if you were to mash a bunch of words together into one phrase that describes yourself, what would you say?
LOVEGLOW: I would say it is green… honey… and a little bit of depression. With hope!
LUNA: You list Brian Eno as one of your greatest influences. How did you find out about him? How does he influence you?
LOVEGLOW: I found out about Brian Eno from my stepdad. He told me all about Brian when I was in high school. I didn't really get it, the ambient music, until [I was] maybe 19 or 20. But I just learned so many things about him and how everything [he does] is unconventional.
I've read this thing too. It's kind of a side note, but his music is now being used in hospitals and in baby delivery rooms because he's developed this like specific tone in a song that has been scientifically proven to release positive chemicals and make you feel happy. So they're starting to integrate that music into delivery rooms so that the first feeling a baby would have when they come out of the womb is this kind of feeling of calm and serenity, which I thought was incredible.
Something I didn't get when I was younger was, why would you use one note for 45 seconds? And now I get it, which is maybe there's nothing to get, but maybe it just makes you feel something.
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