We met Colorado dream-pop duo Little Trips just a few months ago and haven’t stopped listening to their music since.
Not only are the songs atmospheric and perfect for winding down, but these two guys genuinely seemed like fun people to be around. They clearly don’t take things too seriously and seem to be making the most of every moment.
If I had to give you a one sentence summary of Little Trips it would be this: Take the vibes from Gorillaz, Interpol and Flaming Lips and put them in a blender.
I was pretty drawn in by the first track I listened to, “Midmorning Train to Amsterdam” and immediately had questions. Is the guy in the spacesuit (in the music video) a third band member? Did they purposely make their music pair so well with cannabis?
Jason and Greg took some time to answer those questions and more to celebrate the release of their debut album, Downhill to Paradise:
Nick Teal: Have you lived in Colorado your whole life? Do you feel like having more access to nature helps you stay creative?
Jason: “The window in my studio looks out at the mountains, which is pretty helpful when I’m struggling with something. You can get so trapped in your head when working out musical parts. I’ll often set up mics so that I’m looking out the window while recording, watching cars go by or the sun go down. Puts a good feeling in your chest.”
Greg: “Nature is a great way to clear your head. For me, the most inspired creative moments arrive when my mind goes blank and an idea appears out of the blue. I sometimes take the scenery for granted as a Colorado native but it’s good to remind myself how dope it actually is.”
NT: When did you two meet and were there any music projects before Little Trips?
J: “I met Greg years ago through an anonymous Craigslist ad. I was lucky to survive.”
G: “I was pretty set on abducting Jason during our initial meetup but I discovered he could hold a tune so I let him off the hook. In the time since, we’ve created theme music for podcasts together and started writing songs as Little Trips. Craigslists is probably gonna hit us up for royalties once this album blows up.”
NT: What were some of your earliest musical influences?
J: “The first CD I burned featured Crazy Frog (Axel F), The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Charlie Daniels), I Want Candy (Aaron Carter), and Piano Man (Billy Joel). My taste has not improved.”
G: “The first album I ever played back to front a million times was as a 7 year old spinning the Whitney Houston Bodyguard soundtrack on CD. I still ride hard for Whitney. I can also confirm Jason has somewhat questionable taste (Billy Joel sucks, Aaron Carter’s “I Want Candy” goes hard IMO.)”
NT: Are there any cover songs you’d like to do in the future?
J: “I’m honestly just waiting for an invite to a Neil Young tribute band. In the meantime, there’s about 160 Radiohead songs I’d cover anytime.”
G: “We’ve been kicking around the idea of covering an old Everly Brothers song which would be sick. Unrelatedly, when I’m home alone with my dog I usually sing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin” to him. He thinks I wrote it so I’m a legend in his little eyes.”
NT: I like the fact that neither of you has one set role in the group. How do you decide who plays what instrument on a certain track? Does it just happen naturally?
J: “There’s often more recorded parts in our songs than hands available to play them. We arrange for shows based on what serves a song the most; sometimes that means Greg is hands-free and able to do sweet moves onstage. Sometimes it means Greg’s playing guitar/key parts I wrote or vice versa. Not to sound lofty, but it’s all about the song, maaaan.”
G: “In the studio this happens naturally and we start moving on ideas quickly. Even if only one of us is playing an instrument in the moment, the other person jumps into producer mode and dials in tones while coaching the performance. The goal is to take any ego trips of “I’m the guitarist so I need to rip the solo” out of the equation.”
NT: In my opinion, this album is the perfect thing to listen to while on hallucinogens. Did they perhaps play any role in the creation of the record?
J: “I’ve tasted shrooms, but didn’t inhale.”
G: “I’m not saying you should turn off your mind and float downstream while listening to Little Trips, but I’m not, NOT saying that either.”
NT: How did the band’s mascot, Larry Fury, come to be?
G: “Larry Fury sort of crashed into our studio one day. Larry is an inter-dimensional space traveler and he claims that his ship picked up a signal of our song “Orange & Foggy” while he cruised through the cosmos. He followed the sound to Earth and busted his craft in the atmosphere like a space noob. He’s been sleeping on an air mattress in the studio ever since while he “waits for the mothership.” Larry is a real cheeky bastard and somehow convinced us to put him on the album cover and run our Twitter. We even put him on the guest list at our gigs. He’s nice to all the people at the show but throws major shade our way. What gives, dude?”
NT: Who are a few independent bands/artists you’ve been into lately?
J: “In our local scene, Neoma is doing dope dream pop. I’ve also been really obsessed with Cut Worms recently–he’s a Brooklyn based songwriter that’s retro and jangly and just full of earworms.”
G: “I’ve been bumping the new Wild Pink album a ton this year. It’s a great album to sink into during hazy late nights. The Armand Hammer record that Alchemist produced has also been on heavy rotation.”
NT: Do you have any advice for someone new to making music?
J: “If I could, I would tell younger Jason to spend way less time on band social media and do… well, pretty much anything else instead. The best web presence can’t help if the music doesn’t grab people.”
G: “If an extraterrestrial crashes their ship into your studio, don’t let them in. Especially if they claim to like your beats.”
Stream Little Trips debut album, Downhill to Paradise:
Watch their most recent video for the track “In The Margins”:
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