Matthew: Okay, so we'll do this as quick as possible.
Emily: No problem. Okay, wait, can I interview you?
Matthew: If you'd like.
Emily: Where are you from originally?
Matthew: I'm from Davenport, the Quad Cities, but I live closer to Maquoketa now.
Emily: And you do photography, like, as your main thing?
Matthew: Yeah, pretty much. I do a lot of, like, Art Gallery stuff and shows more so than this.
Emily: But that's cool.
Paige: Can I ask you one more question? In Davenport, there was that, like, what was it, where people will come and record
Matthew: Daytrotter. Raccoon Motel is kind of keeping that alive, like it's still Sean Moeller doing it. But it's different, for sure. Okay, so just introductions. Who are you? Where are you from? and How long have you been playing?
Emily: We are Two Runner we're from Nevada City, California. We are a duo. And we are Emily Rose and Paige Anderson. And we both grew up in our tiny town in Nevada City. There’s about 3000 people that live there in this mining town.
Matthew: Northern California?
Paige: Yeah.
Matthew: As an artist myself, I know sometimes there's not really an answer to it, other than you didn't have any other thing you wanted to do. But what got you into music originally?
Emily: I feel like that's exactly what happened to both of us, we kind of both saw a really clear path, like separately of each other, and both really pursued that path. When we finally did meet, because we didn't know each other for a really long time in this tiny town, and when we finally did meet, it was pretty clear that that was this common goal between us, and so that works really, really well, especially when you're in a band together, when you're living together in a van, and when you're actually a business together. So on all fronts, it actually really helps that the goal is, like, pretty clear.
Matthew: What inspires you on a daily basis, either musically or outside of music?
Emily: Oh, let's see all sorts of things. Life
Paige: Truly, life, that's my only answer
Matthew: So is a lot of your stuff actually autobiographical?
Paige: All of it is pretty much, yeah.
Emily: Paige is the songwriter of the group, the sole songwriter
Matthew: When it comes to songwriting, do you actually, do you spend more time intending to, sit down and come up with stuff, or is it more it comes organically?
Paige: it depends, um, like, for this most recent record, I knew that I had to write a bunch of stuff, and so I would force myself to sit down, because it's hard to write when we're on tour. Yeah, I, like, have no space for it in my brain or anything. Yes, I have to be really like private to myself and tuned in.
Emily: No Time away from Emily. No, it's true, though. It's true.
Paige: Literally, anybody. I have to isolate myself if I'm writing songs, yeah. Like, it's a really intense process for me, and I'll go through so many emotional waves while I'm writing to where it's like, oh shit, this is a really sad song, and I'm really depressed, like, all day long, and it's a very, like, raw experience to, curate a song out of your brain and experiences and body. But then when I'm done with that, I'll come to Emily and we'll, like, Emily will work on the musical aspect of it, and we'll come together and, like, build this beautiful thing. That's like, I just love it so much. I love it.
Matthew: I think it shows while you guys are playing, like, last year, when you played, there were a lot of comments afterwards where it was like, I mean, everybody gets into it here, but, you really seemed like you were having fun.
Emily: Oh yeah. Totally we do every time, and if we're not, then something is gravely wrong
Matthew: When it comes to codfish, what I mean? Obviously it's a barn in the middle of nowhere. But what else makes it stand out from other venues or places that you play?
Emily: This feels a lot like where we both grew up in that tiny town in northern California where people are free spirits, and it just happened that way. You know, everybody just started like that, and kind of became that. It's kind of a lot of the origination of, like the original, Grateful Dead, old hippies that lived there and have always been there. So we grew up around that like just no inhibitions. So when we come to a place like this, in a place where maybe your outside perspective is that it's not this, yeah, you are shocked. You are shocked into oblivion, but it feels so good, because this feels like home to us. Yeah this place is really, really special, and we felt that from the moment that we got here last time. And so it's like a place that we, like, really looked forward to.
Matthew: I'm sure, definitely a different spot, I mean, compared to where I'm sure you're playing venues normally
Emily: Yeah. And we are country bumpkins. So this is like, very, very, very, perfect. Yeah.
Matthew: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received from another musician or that you give to a musician?
Paige: Gillian Welch once told me that this is a hard journey, but if you love it it'll fulfill your life. And that's stuck with me. That changed my whole entire I was like, “I'm doing music.” Yeah, I don't know. What about you?
Emily: From the flip side of that, I am a music teacher, and my favorite students to teach are kids and like, very beginner adults or kids, whatever. And I think what I love to tell them is just that there are no rules. There are no rules. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't matter. Just do what you do, what feels good. That's what is right.
Matthew: Good Answer. What new bands or musicians have you been listening to that you think people need to know about?
Paige: I’m such a nerd about this..such a dweeb about this. Okay, first of all, Watch House has a new album that is just beautiful, like when you really get into it and really listen to it, it's just, it's a freaking masterpiece. But also, there's this band called Haute and Freddy, like, haute couture and Freddie. And they're a synth pop band, like, very reminiscent of, like, 80’s synth pop like Gary Neuman pipeline straight to 2025, freaking amazing. They have probably four songs out right now, and they're blowing up, and they’re somebody to look out for. It's so not our type of music, but it's so hype. It's so good.
Matthew: Other than, I mean, codfish is obviously a place. Are there any other venues that you guys haven't played that would be like the top of the list of where you want to go?
Both: Red Rocks
Paige: Yeah. I mean, obviously, because Emily and I are such nature people, and just the aspect of like, being in a rock formation, playing to a huge crowd is, like, really beautiful to both of us.
Emily: It'd be really fun, because we're a little bit unhinged on stage. It would be really fun to be like, kind of unhinged at Red Rocks. I think that would be sick.
Matthew: Kind of similar. If you could play with any other musician, who would you choose?
Paige: I feel like we've played with everybody that we want to play with, except, like, I mean, yeah, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, but they, announced that they don't have openers So, but it'd be really cool to play with them someday.
Emily: “Hint Hint”
Paige: Yeah, I don't know there's so many amazing people that we look up to, but we're so lucky that we've been able to tour with a lot of our heroes. And Emily and I both wake up every day and have so much gratitude for the life that we're living. And, yeah, it's so amazing. We're so grateful.
Matthew: All right, last question. What else do you have planned for this year? Like, anything that you want people to know about?
Paige: Let's see, we're finishing this tour with WatchHouse, and then we have another tour with them in August. It'll be more East Coast. We're playing, Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City with Elephant Revival.
Matthew: Oh, cool, yeah, they were here last year
Emily: We played that! So they're a dream band to play with also, but, um, yeah, Red Butte, Red Rocks, like, that's pretty, that's close, right?
Paige: Oh yeah, we're finishing our new album, our new full-length album.
Emily: Europe.
Paige: Oh yeah, we're going to Europe for the first time
Matthew: That's exciting
Paige: With Alela Diane, who is also from Nevada City. She was born and raised in Nevada City, and she moved to Portland, Oregon, but she's really big in the folk scene, and she's doing a European tour, and invited us on and we’re so excited.
Emily: It’s our first time!
