CONVERSATION // algae dust & hennen

The new split tape by algae dust and hennen is a bifold debut for two new songwriting projects spearheaded by members of two notable St. Louis rock bands, Frankie Valet and Shady Bug. Released last month by It Takes Time Records, algae dust // hennen is a delicate and boutique record with a sense of exploration and a thoughtful density of sound, as each songwriter takes a turn carrying her songs over the finish line alone for the first time, together.

Hullabaloo caught up with algae dust’s Alison Setilli (she/her) and hennen’s Hannah Rainey (she/her) to talk about songs, sounds, rooms, and splits.

o o o

Al – what aspect of Hannah’s side of the split do you feel like compliments yours best? Hannah, what about Al’s?

a: I think Hannah’s side is catchier than mine which I think is really cool. There’s parts of it that are more similar to my side, like the parts where the vocals are more buried and just slow and winding as opposed to some of the more pitchy, cute vocal parts. And a lot of the water-type sounds! Not like literal water but like… watery. 

h: I use the telephone effect on my vocals, which sounds like I’m underwater or something. 

a: Yeah, exactly. I think I have some literal water, but Hannah has some, like, metaphorical water. 

h: Yeah! I think there’s some stark difference and really similar aspects to them, but we each kind of experimented with form and instrumentation and I think they’re both really interesting to listen to in that way.

a: Yeah, I like that neither of them are really like standard-feeling song structures. 

Had either of you put out anything under either these names before?

h: No!

a: No, we had not. 

h: Al, do you think you’ll keep doing this project or keep recording?

a: I hope so! Right now I’m trying to learn how to mix more. But I think I’ll get back into writing songs at some point too.

h: Because I’m kind of, like, trying to decide – I keep writing these songs but then i’m like “I want them to be Shady Bug songs. Wait! Should they be hennen songs?” Like, I can’t decide creatively what to do sometimes. 

a: Yeah, it’s hard to draw that line.

h: I think I want to keep doing it. And keep doing both. 

a: Well, I feel like there’s definite merits and positives to your songs, at least over, like, the live show you play. There’s definitely cool things about what you did solo that Shady Bug doesn’t do.

h: Thank you!

What was something in the songwriting or in the arrangement or production that you were excited to be able to explore in these new projects? 

h: I was excited to just arrange a complete song on my own which I had never done. I’ve usually just worked with my bandmates to, like, write the basslines or the drum parts. But on this I had complete control over all the drums and the bass and the keyboard, and I kind of mixed it – I had help mixing it – so that was really exciting for me to get to do that, to have that independence for kind of the first time. I mean, I’ve done solo stuff before but it was just guitar and vocals.

a: Yeah, I totally agree, I think there were tons of things where I had, like, freedom for the first time. Not that I had tried before! Like I could have done this at any point! But it was really cool to make things up as I went because I’ve definitely never done that before. Playing with a band, you kind of just work things out and then they’re decided, so it’s fun to just wing it more often. Sometimes I would record one thing and then just, like, fit it into a song over time, and stuff like that where I definitely wouldn’t have been doing that working with other people. 

Was that more in the production and arrangement side of it or did it all happen at once?

a: Yeah, it really happened at once because I just did not know where I was going with it so I kind of just started recording things one day. A lot of the time I would have, like, one part or sometimes even no parts and I would just start recording. So it was definitely way before the song was actually, like “written” completely. 

You both contribute songwriting in your other bands – what’s the main difference in that process in going from Shady Bug to hennen or Frankie Valet to algae dust other than just maybe the lack of people? 

h: I was just thinking, when Al was talking about how she layered stuff onto everything as you went with each song- that’s kind of how I did mine, which I definitely don’t do with Shady Bug. With Shady Bug I have to come in with, like, the form or, like, the riff or whatever. But with this project I kind of just recorded as I went, recorded as I thought of things. so some of the songs took, like, four months to make and some of them took, like, two days to make, you know. So it’s way different than Shady Bug.

And you did it all on GarageBand, like, the iOS version, right?

h: Yeah, on my phone!

a: That seems so hard cuz it’s so tiny!

h: It is really tiny. And I did some keyboard on my phone for some of the songs and I literally was going like this (mimes typing one finger at a time) like chords like that, with two fingers. I also played basslines with my fingers for some of the songs. 

a: Oh my god!

It’s probably at least better than using, like, “musical typing” on the computer keyboard though right? Like, if you’re a keyboard player it must be more intuitive to have a touch surface. 

a: That’s true, yeah! I did a lot of synth parts on the computer and you have to, like, switch from one corner to the other. Horrible!

Al, how did you record yours? Did you go to a studio?

a: No (laughs) I kind of DI-ed everything and just put it on my computer. 

(editor note – DI / direct injection just means you’re plugging an instrument directly into a recording interface rather than an amplifier) 

So both sides are really purely like “bedroom pop.”

a: Yeah, definitely. 

h: Yeah, I think that’s why they go so well together, because you can kind of tell that we both just did them by ourselves in our room, you know? Very personal vibe. 

Can you each describe the room you made them in?

a: It’s a part of my bedroom that’s, like, my living-room-bedroom. And I have a very comfy orange striped couch and a tiny coffee table that I use as a desk! 

h: I have moved since then, but I had this apartment that was really old, like built in like 1890 or something, and I was on the third story. And I had this little tiny tray table that had my laptop and my phone and guitar, and my roommate let me borrow his Line 6 amp. (laughs)

One of the “Spider” ones?

h: Yes!! I even used some effects on it because that was funny. But yeah, I had a nice view of the neighborhood because I was up so high. 

Over how long a period of time did you each write your side of the record?

a: Oh yeah, I was going to say – when Hannah was saying all of her songs were written in really different periods of time, I was like hm, that’s actually something I didn’t do, and how our processes really differ. Because I totally just moved from one to the next. I pretty much finished one before starting another song. 

h: A few of them, “zero expectations” and “lizard,” I had written before the pandemic, and I kind of just recorded them to bring to Shady Bug to be like “this is what I want the song to sound like.” But then on “zero expectations” I kind of went crazy with it later and added a bunch of stuff so the Shady Bug version sounds completely different. And the Shady Bug “lizard” version sounds pretty different too. 

a: Yeah, they all sound different! 

Those aren’t out, right? The Shady Bug versions of those songs? 

h: No! Yeah, so those songs – we actually did tour with them but we never got to record them and we’re, like, in between drummers right now so we’re not recording any time soon. But I think we will record them. So there’ll be some type of like “lizard 2” in the future.

And what do you think is really different about how – if you had to encapsulate what the Shady Bug version is going to sound like compared to this? 

h: I would say the Shady Bug version is just way more dynamic because we, like, pedal-stomp a lot more and have a live drummer and I also have another guitar player who plays really wild guitar riffs that are kind of like dissonant and, like, swirling, and whirling. That’s a really fun part about Shady Bug is that there’s two guitars that are really different. 

When you were writing guitar parts on this did you have that guitarist in your head when you were thinking of ideas?

h: Definitely during the pandemic when I was writing by myself I wasn’t thinking about that person, I just really wanted to write what I thought would sound good. But actually now that I’m thinking about it, “zero expectations” I actually tried to write a part for Tom, and it’s like this weird keyboard line but I kept it in there and it sounds really cool. 

Especially with you both kind of approaching these songs so fluidly, kind of building onto them – what’s something that indicates to you that it’s finished? What’s something a song is doing, or like, feeling like where you go “okay this is done”?

a: I feel like there were definitely lots of times where I felt like a song could have been done but something just felt weird or wrong about it. I usually had to add a part entirely just to make it feel less awkward, I guess, in structure. And I would have to be like, why does this feel awkward? What sounds wrong? And sometimes it was super hard to figure out. And that’s something that is way harder about not writing a song beforehand. 

What about you Hannah?

h: I kind of have a unique situation where I have a twin sister, and I usually send her stuff and I’m like “what do you think?” and she’s like “that’s amazing!” and I’m like “okay cool!” and that’s kind of an indicator for me if it’s finished or not. But she’s really biased. So maybe I shouldn’t rely on her!

a: Maybe you just need validation though, and that’s okay too.

h: Yeah, I do! Because even, like the “frog bby” song —  I recorded it maybe like a week before I was supposed to be done recording, and I was like “I don’t know if I’m going to put this on the EP” and then Delia was like “no, that song is amazing! You have to use it.” 

Do you and your twin write together ever?

h: Yes! We had a band – we’ve been playing music together since we were, like, 15. And yeah, you should look it up, it’s called Dubb Nubb. D-U-B-B – space – N-U-B-B.

So you have a fair enough working relationship that you can bounce ideas off of her.

h: Yeah, like we write music together so I trust her, but she’s still, like, my biggest fan, so. (laughs) 

So, in your first time getting to sort of oversee the production and arrangement process more holistically for the first time here, what’s each of your favorite individual “sound” on the record?

a: Mmm. Probably either the end of “circular,” there’s like a little twangy guitar situation where it’s like (mimicking a guitar, laughing). Or the synths on “grasp.” 

h: Uh. Ooh! I don’t know if you noticed this but at the end of “frog bby” I added some frog croakings at the end. And I literally had my phone out and just pressed play on a YouTube video of frogs and recorded it and put it on the song.

At what point did you guys know that this was going to be a split release?

h: Wasn’t it, like, October or something? or September?

a: Yeah, it was probably, like, September. 

Were the sides written at that point or were they still kind of being finalized?

a: I had tried to mix it first but I think at that point I had sent it to a friend to mix it. So I was pretty much just waiting on that, pretty much done.

h: I was still recording. I had, like, seven songs that I had to, like polish up for it. But the idea was so cool and so awesome that I was like “we have to do this! I have to finish this.” 

So they’re basically two complete EPs on their own that were paired up together? 

a: Yeah, they definitely weren’t written to go with each other if that’s what you mean. 

h: We found out that we were both doing this after the fact, you know? Like, “oh, we’re both recording music in our rooms? That’s so cool!”

a: Yeah. especially when no one was seeing anyone that I knew. I didn’t see anyone for like, three months at the beginning. And then at the end of that, we were both like “oh, we both did that? that’s so weird.” (laughs)

h: Yeah. and Mickey [co-founder of It Takes Time Records] was so pumped about it. They were like “what if… we just put them both on a tape?”

a: (laughs) I was like, “yeah!!” I was happy to do it because… I mean, like, I thought everything Hannah had made before that point was really good. So I was like, “why would I not?” And also, I feel like it’s a really really good place for us both to be to do a split because, like, we didn’t have any following individually because we hadn’t put anything out. So it was like a perfect idea to me.

h: Also, I think, like, our bands have different – different people know our bands, like there’s like a Shady Bug following and a Frankie Valet following so i feel like maybe we gain new followers. 

How did you guys first meet? 

h: Well, we can’t really remember. 

a: I feel like i’ve only really known Hannah for maybe two years? But I remember sitting like one foot away from her when she played a Dubb Nubb set at KWUR radio, where I used to be an exec. But we didn’t know each other at all! I just think it’s funny to look back on that – must’ve been like ?? 2017? 

h: I don’t think we were ever officially introduced!! But we definitely were in the same circle for a long time before we actually became friends. That’s just how it goes in the St. Louis scene. I think I knew who you were, I knew you were a KWUR person. So I thought it was so cool when you joined Frankie, and I didn’t know that you played music and I was so excited. 

a: I literally didn’t!

Wait, you’ve been learning on the fly in Frankie?

a: Well, I joined Frankie right after I started playing bass. So I basically learned to do that. Like, I didn’t play music before that at all.

h: Well, don’t you play violin?

a: I played violin when I was a kid, that’s true. But I never had played in a band. 

So when did you pick up guitar and bass?

a: I started bass at the beginning of 2018 and then joined Frankie because Jack was basically just, like, tired of playing bass and I was friends with them. And that was May or June of 2018. 

Did you play guitar prior to that?

a: No, I just started with guitar. I still can barely play guitar. That’s part of what I do too, is I just paste together guitar parts because I, like, still am just not very practiced.

h: I think that’s so cool that you, like, had guitar on this album and you’ve never played guitar in any band! It’s so awesome.

Hannah, how long have you been playing for?

h: Well, I started playing classical guitar when I was ten. And I actually had studied classical guitar for my major in college. So, like, very classically trained. and then I did Dubb Nubb, which was folk music, and did some solo stuff in college, but Shady Bug was like my first band. Which is crazy, like, I didn’t play with an amp and an electric guitar until I was, like, 24 in Shady Bug.

Did you buy one just for it?

h: Yeah, I bought a strat just for my band. 

The one thing I wanted to leave with was to ask you both, what’s your favorite or at least the most memorable split release you can think of?

h: Oh, can I show you?

Yeah, I would love to see!

a: Yeah, I can’t remember,  I like- need to look up the name of this.

h: Where is it? Oh, here it is.

h: So there’s this band in St. Louis that I really love called Glued, and before Glued happened, the two people in Glued did a split – fragile farm and whsky gngr – so it’s this cool local split that happened in, like, 2016 or something. It’s on a cool local label called Float Away, Dangling. 

a: I don’t know if y’all have heard of these bands. but Loone and Paper Bee is definitely the first split that I ever listened to. I remember not really conceptualizing that it was a split because I didn’t even really know what that was at the time.

o o o

This interview has been edited for clarity; algae dust // hennen is available now on cassette and digitally via It Takes Time Records.