Formula Indie Sessions : Interview with Couvo
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
I have a very distinct memory of the first time I heard Something Corporate. They were the original band that inspired me to get into music. It was the summer going into fourth grade, and we were on vacation in Hampton Beach. For people who don’t know what Hampton Beach is–think of Coney Island, except New England. My brother was in his hotel room, blasting Punk Rock Princess, and somehow, that combination of pop punk power chords, piano rock, and the kind of overdramatic romantic lyricism only an angsty, horny teenager can write, all fused together into a sonic concoction that absolutely rewired the way my 9-year-old brain worked.
That’s where it started. After that, I became obsessed with Something Corporate’s catalog. There were these recurring themes of love and loss and nostalgia that, for better or worse, deeply shaped the way I thought about how a song should operate.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
Once I heard Something Corporate, I was off to the races. I immediately started trying to write songs. Were they terrible ones at first? Maybe. But in the act of writing, I think I found the thing I was supposed to chase.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Couvo started as me trying to make sense of my life in Brooklyn—rent anxiety, big feelings, small apartments, growing up too slowly, growing up too fast. It became a place where I could blend storytelling with this gritty-but-cinematic indie rock sound I’ve always loved.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
I usually say: nostalgia rock meets weird, reverbed-out guitars. Or Springsteen if he moved to Bushwick and had student loans. Emotional, spacious, sometimes funny, sometimes devastating—like a coming-of-age movie about someone a little too old to be coming of age.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Man, there are too many of these things to count. I’m always learning something new every day that completely changes my perspective of music-making. It’s always a process, and every record I put out is just a snapshot into my thoughts and feelings at that time, as my tastes evolve. The only constant is: every week, I’m always writing new songs.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Just my acoustic guitar and a piano! That’s how it starts. If the song works stripped down, I know it’ll work anywhere.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Dijon’s new album has been on repeat for me ever since it came out. He’s a really influential artist for me (as he is for most indie artists right now). Besides that, it’s been a lot of electronic music. Ninajirachi’s new album is fantastic. And I listen to Headache’s debut pretty much daily. That record is permanently imprinted on my brain.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Everything I write is a mirror. Maybe not of the world as it is, but of how it looks to me. I want to capture the little, mundane details of our daily experiences that add up to a life. Everything I write is always trying to capture some truth about what it means to be alive, right here, right now, in this day and age.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
At the end of the day, the whole point of art is communicating emotion. I hope when people hear my music, they feel less alone, that they recognize themselves in the lyrics or the mood or the imagery. And I hope it makes them feel like someone else is noticing all the same small, beautiful, and sometimes overwhelming things that they are.
