Q&A: Death Valley Girls Launch New Album ‘Islands in the Sky’ Into the Cosmos
CHANNELING MUSIC FROM THE COSMIC BEINGS — Death Valley Girl’s latest offering, Islands in the Sky, catapults listeners across the stars. Bonnie Bloomgarden, Patty Schemel, Larry Schemel, and Rachel Orosco have been composing tunes together since 2013, and 10 years later their music continues to excite old and new fans alike.Their first release since 2020, the LA–based band continues to create symphonic psych-pop, garage rock that filters through eardrums as hazily as smoke in a hazy venue.
With eclectic influences from across time, Death Valley Girls truly sound like something that is out of this world. “Sunday” captures the teetering feeling experienced when you are on the precipice of change for the better. Every negative emotion comes to the forefront and you are left wanting to be alone while the vocals melodically chant that you “gotta move on.” In “What Are the Odds,” they boldly sing, “We are living in a simulated world / And we are simulated girls.” Given the technological advancements and hyper surveillance of the digital age, Islands in the Sky’s timely themes are poignant criticisms of social insecurities.
Death Valley Girls is currently on the UK/EU leg of their tour, but lead singer Bloomgarden graciously sat down with Luna ahead of their latest LP release. Keep reading below to learn more about the album and what lies ahead for the band.
LUNA: Hello everybody! Welcome to today and thank you for taking the time to chat with us about your new album! Where does this album begin for you?
BLOOMGARDEN: (Laughs) Sounds like you have heard the podcast before, thank you!! The origin for the record essentially starts Halloween 2020! I became sick, from Oct. 2020 to around May 2021. I had a fever and had to sleep 20 hours a day. I would wake up every few hours with this message to “take care of the island” — I had no idea what that meant! After going to tons of different doctors and not getting any better, I was put on a medicine that I was allergic to and I almost died. It hurt so badly, and it made me realize I needed to look beyond medicine and these doctors. (Not always, but for this ailment medicine was not working.)
I went to our friend Laura Ellis, a multimodality healer in LA — she helped me learn to heal myself in a bunch of ways, but one of the most remarkable things that happened is she told me I had been a channel over many lifetimes, and that recently I had been a jazz singer. When I went back home to rest, I started to realize if I could figure out which jazz singer I was in my past life, I could listen to myself sing! And then I realized: Holy shit! I can write a record now for my future self! And that is where the album begins for me.
LUNA: Unsurprisingly, given the album’s name, there are a lot of references to the sky and celestial bodies. What was the inspiration behind this?
BLOOMGARDEN: Since we want our future selves to know to listen to this, we left little messages and symbols all over it that we believe every incarnation of our souls will be drawn to. Dog Star/Sirius has come up a lot during the channeling of this record, and the Arcturians and Pleiadians. Maybe they will guide us to this album later — I don’t know!
LUNA: Your albums continue to get more symphonic and orchestral as they progress. Has your writing/composition process changed as you’ve worked together over time, and was there anything new that you tried during the recording of this album?
BLOOMGARDEN: This is the first record that we actually didn’t think at all about the music. We were focused entirely on sending a message to our future selves. I was so sick for so long, and I feel that it was an illness caused by spiritual and emotional blockage. I believe I had stored pain and trauma from when I was a child, and instead of processing it and releasing it I stored it and numbed it, and carried it around with me my whole life. When we stopped playing because of COVID, I lost my energy release, and I think like a poison it started to destroy my body. Once I realized that, I started this healing journey. This record is a message to my future self to not stuff feelings and emotions, to not numb and medicate them, to not feel alone or isolate. To love myself, be kind to myself, and not live in shame or fear. These songs are for everyone to not have to learn these lessons the hard way, even future me!
LUNA: How does that translate into your live performances?
BLOOMGARDEN: When it comes to live performances, I did have to change a lot. This journey taught me I can’t drink alcohol, or rather, taking away the ability to escape discomfort isn’t good for me — I need to feel everything that happens for the time being so I can learn how to feel, that it’s safe, and that feelings pass. So live shows can be a bit tricky since I’m very shy and have relied on alcohol my whole professional life. But the stats are looking good! It’s getting way better and more fun to have to be present, while also trying to have an out of body experience on stage.
LUNA: How has tour been going, and how do you pass the time while on tour in between shows?
BLOOMGARDEN: Tour has been so fun! It really is the most magical adventure. We live like monks. Taking ultimate care of the body and the mind, our only job is to be strong and healthy — it’s like being an athlete. I don’t eat up to five hours before we play — I have to play hungry. I like the discipline of tour. Since the highway is super loud, and then you are in a loud club all night, we like the van quiet. For reading, napping, and listening to stories.
LUNA: Your new music video for “Magic Powers” places you in an 8-bit world where you need to watch out for mushrooms and forest wizards. You are constantly losing your life to various situations and creatures until the magic mage gifts you some red platforms to continue down the golden road. How did this concept come together?
BLOOMGARDEN: Sammy made up the whole video. I think we had been playing around with this since, what are the odds that this may not be a totally actually simulated world, but there is something goofy and video game-esque going on! I think I just kinda had the idea for the chorus that life is about tons of failure, missteps, mistakes, and obstacles, but once you’re on the other side of them you realize those things are what helped you gain your magic powers. All the struggle and strife was actually just training you. I think Sammy did a great job making that concept visual :)
LUNA: Can we look forward to more episodes of the Death Valley Girls Podcast when you return home? Any future guest hints that you can share?
BLOOMGARDEN: Oh yes! I have a few really good ones coming up! Lots of experts in strange fields. Thanks for asking! One of the upcoming episodes is with Beth Pratt — she was the LA Mountain Lion, P22’s advocate. She’s a wild life advocate and environmental leader. She said something that has been blowing my mind: animals have an innate sense of how to take care of themselves on this almost mystical level. Whether it’s from evolution or learned from their parents, they know exactly what to do because they are perfectly in touch with the earth and how she changes. I know that’s pretty basic, but it made me realize that if I want to become more in tune with psychic abilities or better at channeling music and art, I need to quiet what’s internally in me [that’s] not of me and focus on the lessons of nature outside of me. Animals are so cool — there’s so much to learn from them!
LUNA: What songs are you most excited for people to hear?
BLOOMGARDEN: Oh wow! I’m just really excited for everyone to finally hear the whole record. I’m so happy that they’re gonna catch up with us on the journey, and we can move forward together and see where we go. And maybe someone has some answers to what the island is — we still don’t know what the island in the sky is!
Islands in the Sky is out Friday, 2/24. See Death Valley Girls on tour now: https://suicidesqueeze.net/tour/
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weekly tunes playlist has been updated! new tracks from @furtradeband, @pecqband, @garryfool & more! check it out! https://t.co/ToFU0R6YGo
