Start Listening To: Palm Friends

The blissful sounds of beautiful nonsense.

Imagine 90s high-school-based series with an actual depth starring Snail Mail. You get Palm Friends. Minneapolis-based band, probably named when daydreaming of hotter times. They made moody indie rock, a perfect soundtrack to both outer and inner trips. Dropping soon their new EP ‘The Delivery’, they went all our exploring big themes of self-discovery and time. Somehow, Palm Friends manage to make those heavy emotional chunks easily digestible and even more enjoyable.

Today, we talk to them about the process of writing the EP, bonding over left-handedness and post-sadness satisfaction.

Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

Jesse: We’re Palm Friends from Minneapolis, MN. We make sort of moody indie rock, very guitar based. People seem to say we sound like Snail Mail, which is flattering.

How are you feeling about the release of your new EP ‘The Delivery’?

Jesse: Feels amazing! There were a couple times I wasn’t sure it would come out, especially with the pandemic. I had a real vision of how it should look and sound and we came pretty damn close. It’s an odd time to release music but people’s reactions have been great.

Can you describe some of the themes behind your new EP?

Shawnna: I’d say two big themes of the project are self-discovery and time. Time is an intangible, empty thing, but has so much symbolic power to us that it produces some of modern life’s most legendary feelings - being frustrated with how we spent our day, productivity, nostalgia, living up to your childhood vision of your adult self, anxieties of aging, wonder of the future - I think the EP is soaked in this beautiful nonsense.

There’s an optimistic nature to your EP. Was that your intention when you were writing it?

Shawnna: Writing songs of sadness and frustration that end with a pessimistic conclusion are very satisfying for me in the moment, to express that and get it out of me, but in retrospect they’re never the songs I truly want to share with the world. There’s value to that kind of songwriting no doubt, but being an optimistic person in general, when I put out that energy it always seems kinda narrow and unwise when I take a step back from it.

How has New York influenced your music?

Jesse: I wrote a good bit of our first EP when I lived there and thought those songs had kind of dried up, but Hidden Perks musically started there. The first time it was played live was in a very short-lived band called Porta Walkman that the venue mistakenly wrote as Pablo Workman.

How do you produce your music?

Jesse: Each time feels a little different, but for this one the writing process took a lot longer than normal, which benefited us in the long run. Typically we all have a pretty good amount of input on how it should sound. Ben Etter who mixed and mastered it also really was able to bring a lot of ideas sonically that we wouldn’t have thought of, especially on a song like Quarter Century.

Can you tell us more about your songwriting process?

Jesse: I literally always have the title first. So I pick from probably 100 pre-written titles that fit the feel. I wouldn’t say I’m very prolific, so for me it’s a lot of patience.

Shawnna: For the most part these songs began with Jesse sending me a riff, I would write over them and add another riff, and we’d bring it to Will and Jon. It was a pretty remote collaboration, mostly due to the fact that I have a deep requirement to write only when I’m totally alone. Jesse’s a much more collaborative person than me and is very patient in that regard.

Can you tell us something interesting about your band that doesn’t have anything to do with music? 

Jesse: Shawnna and I are both left-handed. We discovered this while bowling.

If your music were a film or TV show which would it be?

Jesse: I’m picturing a high school drama where everyone is impossibly handsome and in their early 30’s. Palm Friends Academy. These handsome adults only listen to Palm Friends and we’re the only band that comes to town and plays the only venue, which will be called Still Listening.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s important to you?

Jesse: Last Splash by The Breeders. I played it on a CD player on the bus in junior high. It’s pretty fresh every time I play it, and it’s such a beautiful mix of rough and sweet sounding songs. Not a filler to be had on that one.

What do you hate right now? 

Jesse: It’s quite cold here in Minneapolis, and my very lovely 2007 Toyota Yaris refuses to start. I can’t say I blame her.

What do you love right now?

Jesse: I’ve been listening to a lot of The Beach Boys, Broadcast and Daft Punk which has been refreshing. I’m reading Chaos by Tom O’Neill and I can’t put it down.

What comes next in the Palm Friends story?

Jesse: What a question. If only we knew! I had a vision the other day of perhaps a moody synth song. But I’ve learned to be surprised by what comes up with this group.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Jesse: Our label, Forged Artifacts, is a treasure trove of amazing bands. Highly recommend checking out FA crew if you like Palm Friends.