(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Imagine finding your path and the kindred spirits to travel it with at age 14 or 15. That's what happened to this talented trio.
GIGI REECE: My name is Gigi, and my pronouns are they/them.
PENELOPE LOWENSTEIN: My name is Penelope, and I use she/her pronouns.
NORA CHENG: My name is Nora, and I use she/her pronouns.
RASCOE: Gigi Reece, Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein all grew up in Chicago. They kind of knew each other through a music program, the School of Rock. That's where they learned the basics and played cover songs. But Penelope says it was performing their own song at an open-mic night where the band started to find a voice.
LOWENSTEIN: The first time Nora and I ever played under the name Horsegirl was on my 15th birthday at this place called the Old Town School of Folk Music's teen open-mic. And we played "Sea Life Sandwich Boy." Gigi was there in the audience, but I didn't even know them yet.
RASCOE: It wasn't long before music fans and record execs knew Horsegirl. The band put their first album out, including a studio-quality version of the song they played at that open-mic.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SEA LIFE SANDWICH BOY")
HORSEGIRL: (Singing) Blonde cartoons and in the empty rooms...
RASCOE: Now in their early 20s, the threesome has moved to New York City for college and other pursuits, you know, like putting out their second album called "Phonetics On And On" and making music that is just so them.
Is there a song on this new project that you feel like really represents the Horsegirl sound?
REECE: That's hard. I mean, maybe I would say "2468."
(SOUNDBITE OF HORSEGIRL SONG, "2468")
RASCOE: Is that, like, a violin or a fiddle? Is there a violin player in the group?
LOWENSTEIN: Ugh. No. It is a violin. That was an instrument that none of us had ever touched before, really. But we had access to that in the studio, and we had cultivated a very exploratory, playful atmosphere.
REECE: And it's a bunch of tracks of Nora playing the violin, but she was not holding it right. I think Penelope was holding it for Nora as Nora, like, bowed it. So it was a very janky setup.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "2468")
HORSEGIRL: (Singing) Two, 4, 6, 8. They walk in twos (vocalizing). They walk in twos.
RASCOE: But when you got this song together to sound like what you wanted it to sound like, what are you going for here? Is it the lyrics? Is it the sound?
LOWENSTEIN: Well, on this song, we had the idea when we set out to write it of taking the song that a little girl would sing to herself just mindlessly walking down the street and the twists and turns that a song has when you're just kind of naturally inventing something and turning it into, like, a really playful rock song. And so it was more about that kind of playful spirit than it is about anything. And repetition - how when something is repetitive, little changes become so powerful.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "2468")
HORSEGIRL: (Vocalizing).
RASCOE: How did being from Chicago and coming up as a band there shape what you do as musicians?
LOWENSTEIN: Looking back, I realize how lucky we are. Going to shows was a big, really formative part of our years as teenagers together. And the city's always had a really strong DIY culture. And as teenagers, it felt really possible to start a band.
RASCOE: How did you manage to stand out? Is it kind of competition for attention or...
REECE: I honestly feel like we rejected a lot of what other people were doing.
LOWENSTEIN: Definitely.
REECE: We really wanted to be so loud and kind of wow everybody a little bit. So I think that there is a motivating factor of, like, we need to make something that doesn't sound like everything else that is around us right now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHERE'D YOU GO?")
HORSEGIRL: (Singing) Where'd you go? Far, far, far away. Where'd you go? Far, far, far away. Where'd you go? Far, far, far away. Where'd you go? Ooh, far, far. If all the welders in the world took this pipe and made it right again, oh...
RASCOE: You worked together through really pivotal times, you know, being a teenager, early 20s. How have you supported each other through times of change and growth, plus the pressures of being in a band?
LOWENSTEIN: We found each other in high school and felt like nobody else understood us in the same way. And it really - sorry, I'm struggling a little. It really comes from just a deep love for each other, and we've really taught each other how to support a friend and how to show up for a friend. As teenagers, it was a little bit like, do I hug my friend when she's crying? And now it's kind of like, immediately we know, like, if there's something wrong, we're there. We're only getting closer and only understanding each other more.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JULIE")
HORSEGIRL: (Singing) Julie (vocalizing).
RASCOE: And one of those songs that seems more emotional is "Julie." What feeling were you trying to capture with this song?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JULIE")
HORSEGIRL: (Singing) We have so many mistakes to make.
REECE: It was written shortly after moving to New York and that time in someone's life - starting college, feeling so, so excited for everything that you have ahead of you but also feeling terrified about it. That being coupled with feelings of love and all those emotions - it's very intense.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JULIE")
HORSEGIRL: (Singing) I'll think of you.
RASCOE: Your band is called Horsegirl. The music industry does love to put artists into boxes. Do you ever get that label, girl band, thrown at you?
CHENG: When we were younger, I certainly felt that way. We weren't necessarily in control of our image in a lot of ways. We would just, like, show up to a show as kids with guitars. I really felt like the girl band thing was projected on us with a whole connotation that didn't necessarily feel connected to the music we were making. But now, I actually feel people understand our bands, and the femininity of our band is understood in all the ways that I would like it to be understood and not projected onto us in unfair ways most of the time. But, I mean, of course, it still happens all the time (laughter).
LOWENSTEIN: We have never thought of ourselves that way.
CHENG: We all just needed someone to play with, but I feel thankful it was the two of them.
LOWENSTEIN: Yes, agreed. And I think if there is a boy in our band...
CHENG: It would be less fun.
REECE: Yeah, it'd be less fun.
RASCOE: That's Gigi Reece, Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng of the band Horsegirl. Their new album, "Phonetics On And On," is out now. Thank you so much.
LOWENSTEIN: Thank you.
REECE: Thank you.
LOWENSTEIN: Thank you.
CHENG: Yeah, thank you.
RASCOE: You blend so nicely.
(LAUGHTER)
REECE: It's all that singing together.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWITCH OVER")
HORSEGIRL: (Singing) Say, say, say, say what you wanted to say. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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