AFTERxCLASS Interview
Spencer Arjang and Milly Shapiro come together to create their unique indie band, AFTERxCLASS. Lucky for us they were able to take the time to do a short interview with us! Enjoy!
Your friendship started in 7th grade, a very awkward grade for some (especially me). What are some changes you see in each other from that preteen age to the adults you are now? What stayed the same?
Milly: ahh don’t know about what changes specifically but we’ve both definitely have grown up a bunch. I would say that Spencer is really tall which is rude because I used to be like one inch taller than him but Spencer’s always been a very nice person and that’s always been the same.
Spencer: awwww <3 Milly has really come into her own and has become so much more confident in what she does. In our dynamic, she really takes the reins and motivates me to get work done. Milly has always been really passionate about what she does, whether it’s making movies or working on songs, and she always gives her 100%. That’s something that I don’t think will ever change!!
How’d you initially meet in seventh grade? Was it a pencil borrow, a shared class, a random grouping?
Spencer: Milly was sitting alone at the lunch table and so I sat next to her and we had lunch together. I didn’t really know anybody else and Milly seemed pretty cool and we were friends ever since.
Milly: yeah I basically had no friends and was too scared to make any but then Spencer just showed up and now we’ve been friends for about 7 years.
This group’s first release was in the midst of COVID and you both are still continuing through it. Was the band a result of COVID or was it an already planned dream?
Milly: Basically Spencer always wanted to start a band called the flaming potatoes and as we got older I started getting more into writing music and when I showed Spencer he liked it and we basically decided to do it because we like working together and we kind of fill in each other’s deficits.
Spencer: I remember the exact day milly asked me to make a band, I was visiting her right before she started classes at NYU, and she said hey let’s make a band. I was like shoot ok! And she said “no Spencer, seriously. I seriously want to start a band.” and i was like OK LETS DO IT and here we are.
Do you think your band will have slight changes after COVID? It feels as if we’re almost to the end of it.
Milly: I feel like it will! We definitely want to start doing some live shows and that’s something we are currently working on as it’s very different recording something in someone’s closet to singing our songs on a stage but it would be tons of fun!
You both have a one of a kind style, with your music and your fashion choice, it makes a unique pairing. Where do you find your inspiration for your music (lyrics, presence, beat)? Where do you find your inspiration for your style (icons, trends, ideas)?
Milly: I really love clothing as a way to express myself and im not sure if I have any specific style icons but i definitely take a lot of inspiration from cartoons and tiktok. As for music I started writing because of the music in adventure time and love bands like Beach Bunny, Francis forever and Mitski.
Spencer: I wear pajamas because they are comfy.
What is a usual music session like between the two?
Spencer: Milly will come in with a song, and we’ll have a plan to record it. We’ll play it together through a few times and feel out how it’ll sound, and I work on getting the right vibe through the chords on the guitar. I then lay down guitar, drums, and some lead guitar parts if they jump out before moving on to vocals. I shove milly in my closet, make some obligatory “Milly’s back in the closet” jokes, and she gets to work. We spend several hours recording the main vocals, going line by line until we get a take that we’re satisfied with. Then we take off the headphones and listen to every take together until we get the best takes. We repeat the same process with background vocals, then it’s my turn to sit with the song. I’ll mix the song for weeks, adding different instruments, sometimes adding in small solo sections or instrument breaks, keeping milly up to date the whole time.
Milly: I usually write songs at 3 in the morning and will send spencer fairly unhinged voice memos of what i’m writing and then when we have the time we record and i get locked in a closet to record vocals lol
Have you ever used zoom for a musical session? (If so, does that affect the music?)
Milly: I’m not sure if we have ever used zoom specifically but sense spencer is in boston and im in nyc most of the time we do a lot of pre planning on the phone and figure out the rest in person.
Spencer: I’ve worked with other musicians on zoom, it’s pretty annoying, but not impossible. It makes the exchange of ideas more time consuming, which is critical when making music. Expressing ideas as fast as possible is really helpful when trying to catch the magic.
Are live shows on your plate?
Milly: Most definitely! Its something we really want to do and are constantly working towards if we have a live show we will post about it on our social media’s you can find us basically anywhere at: AFTERxCLASS
I took a look at your Spotify bio and it’s so fun and personal. Do you think it’s important for an artist to be personal?
Milly: I think it really depends on the artist I know for us everything we do is very personal. Some lines in our songs literally come out of my diary so it’s very close to my heart and we started the band for fun not really expecting it to go anywhere and when it did we were very excited that people loved our music as much as we do!
What future projects do you think 2022 will bring you?
Spencer: We are working on an EP that we both think will have some of our best songs yet. We are making all the songs summery and they all fit with the vibe of Honey
Milly: Yep we’ve definitely got some things that we are working on and we are very excited! SO BE SURE TO LOOK OUT FOR SOME COOL STUFF!
What do you have to say about this year?
Milly: I think we’ve both done some amazing things this year and it definitely was not easy but it made us a lot closer and I’m excited to see where the next year takes us!
Spencer: We are so happy that so many people listened to our music!! We have so much support for our first song and we will forever be grateful to everyone who’s streamed our songs.
Some artists have the fear of being categorized. Do you fear your band will get categorized?
Milly: I’m not really afraid of it, we kinda just do whatever we are feeling at the moment and have fun with it!
Last but not least a totally random question. Do you sleep with background noise?
Milly: I don’t sleep lol
Spencer: Personally, no.
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