Q&A: Sylvan Esso-Inspired Duo Not the Ending Releases Their Debut Self-Titled EP
THE NEWEST ELECTRONIC POP DUO — Not the Ending is composed of vocalist Julia Segal and producer Matt Francisco. Inspired by The Japanese House and Sylvan Esso, their debut EP, Not the Ending, is an instinct-driven collection of songs that fuse acapella and house elements.
In our conversation with the pair, they tune in from their respective sides of the coast: Segal sits in her living room in Manhattan, while Francisco sits between his audio equipment in Los Angeles.
Upon first impression, the two seem to have more differences than similarities. Francisco’s solo music, Without the San, is a dance and techno project; Segal makes singer-songwriter acoustic ballads. Both grew up in the same small town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, which formed their musical backgrounds (theater and chorus for Segal, drum and band for Francisco). Though this is what sets them the most apart, it’s also the reason they were pulled toward each other.
The EP’s singles, “Give It Time (Fading)” and “Breakdown (Wake Me),” are contemplative and, despite their simple composition, feel bigger than themselves. Segal’s vocals shine through on songs such as “Home” and “Wander,” clearly inspired by her own influences of Caroline Polachek and Maggie Rogers.
Not the Ending is the result of studio experimentation after Segal and Francisco reconnected during a fateful weekend in LA. Read our interview with Not the Ending below as they talk about their friendship and the creation of their EP.
LUNA: You lead the EP with singles “Give It Time (Fading)” and “Breakdown (Wake Me).” What can you tell me about the other songs on the EP?
FRANCISCO: The other three are us experimenting with different types of feelings and emotions… It very much feels like an exploration of, how many different directions can we take this in? What if we did a song where all we did was play one synth part and [Julia sings] over the top of it? What does that sound like? If we put no drums in it at all and just let it be more of an ambient thing, what would that sound like? What if we made a really cool groove that goes throughout the whole song and it’s very steady — what would that be like? It was very much driven by curiosity and wanting to try different things.
SEGAL: There are these other moments when [I] just lock into something that I had no idea I could even sing or do. I remember Matt would be like, “Do that again!” I’d be like, “I can’t, I don’t know if I can…” That was such a unique experience. I created that melody in my head but I don’t know what it is anymore. Or, I created that melody, but now I have this three-layer harmony that just emerged in my brain to do on top of it. It was really freeing in ways I had never felt before, writing-wise.
LUNA: Your bio says that you knew each other in high school. When did you guys meet?
SEGAL: Our meet-cute was in a middle school band called In Tune.
FRANCISCO: Oh my god, yeah!
SEGAL: I feel like we were always in similar circles in middle school and high school. Matt was in band, I was in chorus. I did theater, he did audio stuff. In middle school we played in this band that was the headliner at the talent show, McCarthy-Idol. Our iconic performance was the Veteran’s Day assembly. Were you part of that one?
FRANCISCO: I don’t think I was, because I was only in the first one because I was filling in for someone else.
LUNA: That’s so iconic. What kind of band was this?
FRANCISCO: It was a legit band. Our friend Laura’s dad, he was in bands and had all sorts of instruments and stuff. Their house had this whole room that was kind of like a rehearsal space. Her dad would always coordinate putting together this band to play for certain things. It was really cute.
LUNA: Did you guys continue doing music into high school?
FRANCISCO: We both continued doing music super hard, but in different areas. I was very into marching band — I was big into drumline, and I was a section leader. I was in every single band thing you could do in high school.
SEGAL: [I was] basically the equivalent of that, but for singing. Chorus, a ton of theater, musical theater, the acapella groups — which are a very competitive, intense thing at our high school.
LUNA: Was school a big part of your musical journeys when you were younger? Or did it start outside of school?
FRANCISCO: It started outside for me. I started taking drum lessons when I was really, really young. I think I was eight. My uncle was a drummer and he gifted me a drum set for my birthday… I think I took one drum lesson and he was like, “Do you want a drum set?” and I was like, “Okay!”
SEGAL: My parents used to joke that literally at two years old I’d be walking around our swim club singing to whatever, to whoever. I feel like it’s hard to even pinpoint when that happened. It was always a part of me, which sounds cheesy, but it’s just the truth, honestly.
We had this amazing program at our school that … really allowed students to flourish and take up multiple opportunities. And two, the community that it built and the friendships formed… It’s rare to have both those things together growing up. Matt and I have talked about this, but our small town in Massachusetts totally gave us that launching pad for the rest of music exploration in life and beyond.
LUNA: Your bio says you guys reconnected after high school. Tell me a little bit about that after-school experience you guys had.
FRANCISCO: In high school, we were involved in very similar things and we had a lot of mutual friends, but we didn’t necessarily hang out outside of school.
SEGAL: We didn’t have our own one-on-one friendship.
FRANCISCO: When we went to college, we weren’t really in touch at all. I guess it was last year. April, right? Julia got booked for a gig in LA. I saw that she was coming to LA and my main job … is photography. I’ve been wanting to work with more and more artists. I was like, “Julia, we need to hang out. I’m so happy that you’re doing music and you’re coming out here and playing a show. Let’s get together, I’ll take pictures of you or we’ll make music or something.” That’s how we reconnected.
SEGAL: It was January! I remember you saying, like, if you have the time when you’re here, you should come over and we can just play around and make something.
FRANCISCO: I had just started my own DJ project. I was trying to reach out to vocalists and stuff. I mean, you were really the only person who I [reached out to]. It would be a really good experience to get to work with someone like you and learn how you write songs. You were doing such cool, soft, singer-songwriter type stuff, and that’s kind of where I fall short. I have production skills but I’m not the best songwriter.
SEGAL: It was this magical collaboration. From that first session I was like, “Woah, this is gonna work.” “Give It Time (Fading),” we literally wrote that whole song in a three-hour session from scratch, from nothing. I had never had that experience before.
I just started writing music and releasing music that year. My only experience was writing with my piano and then working with the producer who I worked with in Brooklyn to build out arrangements. I had never just been in a session with someone else.
FRANCISCO: I remember having multiple attempts of trying to work with someone and it not really clicking like that. It was always like… I had already written some sort of backing track and they would try and write over the top of it. It was never like, “Let’s take the time to start something completely fresh and completely new and see where we end up.”
LUNA: How is your dynamic now that you guys have spent some time making music with each other?
SEGAL: I feel like we’ve gotten so, so close. It’s really special. I feel like we tell each other everything. We’re not just talking about the songs, we go on about just… That’s been one of the most fun parts about working with [Matt].
FRANCISCO: It’s so funny, we’ll have phone calls every few weeks just to [see] where [we are] on stuff. It always ends up being a two-hour call because the first 45 minutes are just us talking about the tea. Me and Julia have always pursued music, and it’s literally because of music that we were drawn back together.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
