Meet Strawberry Launch

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Strawberry Launch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Strawberry, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Listening to music every day inspires me – if I hear something I really like, especially something new that I haven’t heard before, it motivates me to make music that I love. I also think it helps that we meet up and rehearse a couple times a week, even when we don’t have a show coming up, because it keeps everyone in check to practice, and just being in a musical environment can help spark creativity.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Strawberry Launch is a pop rock band, est. November of 2018 after lead singer, Riiza, cold-called guitarist, Matrianna Gahol, hoping she would want to start a band with a complete stranger. Together, they added Abby Flicker on bass, Taylor Hurt on keyboard and Benjy Berkowitz on drums. Their debut EP (released in August 2021) quickly gained praise from Under the Radar, Rolling Stone India and Atwood Magazine, saying of the bands EP, “Strawberry Launch cast a wide net, embracing astral synths and guitar tones, big pop harmonies and melodies, and cathartic chorus crescendos that amount to massive simultaneous releases of emotion and music”. The group has built a devoted following in New York City, sharing the stage with heavy hitters Beach Bunny, Hot Flash Heat Wave, Small Crush and Similar Kind. The group will be presenting their sophomore EP in 2024 under Trash Casual Records.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Having live experience before recording out music was monumental in our music journey. Getting used to playing to an audience and playing together helped us hone in our sound, and how we like to work together.

2. Creating a safe space for creativity. We really try to create a space where everyones ideas are heard and everyone opinion is equal. Weve always acted as a democracy!

3. Understanding music technology. Getting acquainted all the roles in music, beyond what you see onstage, is so important! Learning about sound design, how the mechanics of our instruments work, and understanding the studio process has helped us have more control over our records.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
In the past year, our mindset has really changed when it comes to how we treat Strawberry Launch. The first few years we were together, this was really just a hobby for us, but now our band has really been a top priority for everyone. We’ve achieved a lot of great success in 2023 because we’ve made our art a priority.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Athena Merry, Steph Nardi, Isabelle Fama, Hannah Gini

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