TPL: Moody Joody Tour Diary

Featuring coverage from:

February 12th 2025 - Nicole Cummings: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

February 18th 2025 - Wendy Davis: Chicago, IL @ House of Blues

February 26th 2025 - Vanessa Solis: Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater

March 1st 2025 - Sara Rosenthal: San Diego, CA @ The Observatory

March 12th 2025 - Carolyn Lederach: Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore

March 13th 2025 - Samantha Davidson: Boston, MA @ Citizens House Of Blues

The Photo Ladies: You've been on tour with ARIZONA since February. What is one of your favorite memories from meeting fans and being on the road?

Kayla Hall: In Nashville, there were these 2 little girls that came running up to the merch booth with rainbow dresses on and it was their first concert. They were dancing and having the best time. It was so cute. A lot of fans made us bracelets on the road, too, which is so sweet! 

Kaitie Forbes: I second Kayla. The bracelets, art, little gifts, and thoughtful words mean the world to us. It's also so fun to see how many different types of people our music is resonating with. It helps us bring our art into perspective.

Andrew Pacheco: It still blows my mind that people are actually listening to us. I've put out so much music since I was a kid that no one ever heard so to get to meet fans and hear their stories about how our songs have soundtracked their lives will never get old and still feels surreal to me. People on this tour asked for handwritten lyrics so they could get them tattooed. It's such an honor that anybody would care that much about our songs to even think about wanting them permanently on their bodies. 

TPL: You've been making music for 5 years now. If you could go back and talk to your 2020 selves, what advice would you give them, or what would you want them to know about your careers?

KH: Trust the process, take some things a little less seriously at times, remember the hard work will pay off, and invest in better vocal health products and practices.

KF: Don't overthink it. Trust the music that's being made, be patient, work hard, and be consistent. It will pay off. 

TPL: Your newest single, "Talk Me Down," is full of candid lyricism, addictive chanting moments, and anthemic melodies. You released it with a playful and vintage anti-Valentine's Day aesthetic on February 26. What is the story behind the song and its imagery?

KH: "Talk Me Down" was born from a place of feminine rage coming off of a very in-between part of a relationship where I knew that my anger was valid and I needed a place to express that in words. We decided to announce the song on Valentine's Day and knew we wanted to do a shoot at this vintage shop in Nashville that Kaitie found called Mirror Mirror, which was where the imagery and idea to do the heart backdrop was created.

KF: As a Taurus Sun and Aries moon, I need a safe space to express my reactive anger. A song felt most appropriate for that. I loved the juxtaposition of a 'fuck you' song paired with feminine hearts and colors. It felt like an ode to both the rage-y and dainty sides of womanhood. 

TPL: You've spoken about how the branding element of crossing out your eyes started as a method of anonymity and helped you form an alter-ego of sorts. In this era, you transitioned to using stars to cover your eyes, which perfectly matches the EP and songs like "Ground Control." How has the meaning behind these symbols evolved as you continue to make music? 

KH: So actually, Luke Rogers, the graphic designer and photographer for the Dream Girl EP and "Talk Me Down" cover art, was the one who initially tried out the stars on the art. Kaitie and I resisted it a bit at first, but the more we sat with it, we were like, 'wait a minute, this is actually really a cool idea and concept Luke came up with and very fitting for Dream Girl!' I think we went with one of his original designs for the cover of Dream Girl. Having that push in a new creative direction might spark further inspiration with how we choose to do some of the branding moving forward.

TPL: Do you see it as an extension of the EP, or could it be the start of a new project and direction? 

KH: We didn't necessarily write "Talk Me Down" with the intention of it being part of a project or the album. We knew we wanted to put something new out we could also perform on tour. It did come about very organically and does feel like, in a way, it stands on its own somewhere between the EP and the album, but you never know; as things develop and progress moving forward, it could land on a project.

TPL: Dream Girl is a beautiful collection of alternative pop-rock songs that explore themes of self-discovery and navigating relationships in the modern age. Tracks like "Ground Control" and "Dream Girl" conquer what it feels like to be put on a pedestal and seen as a mystery, while tracks like "El Camino High" romanticize those concepts. What was the inspiration for these songs and their sounds?

KH: "Dream Girl," also being the EP title, sort of encapsulates an overarching message for the EP that aligns with our ethos as a band. We wanted to explore all of the different sides of womanhood and owning our humanness through all of their highs and lows, ups and downs, light and dark moments. "Ground Control" touches on the burn-out feelings of chasing the dream and the sometimes longing to dissociate and escape from the side hustles, reality, and the madness of it all. "El Camino High," on a lighter note, is a song about romanticizing the past & captures a feeling of nostalgia. We wanted to be able to create a space through the EP where you get a little bit of the best of all worlds - some of those concepts being more lighthearted and some being on the darker side.  

AP: When it comes to production and sounds, I'm generally focused on what the lyrics are saying and how the narrative makes me feel. Just as the EP explores different lyrical themes, the sonic space follows that. I think of a project like a movie where each song is a scene, and it's the production's job to show you where that particular scene is taking place. "El Camino High," for example, is a song about looking back and romanticizing something, so it takes place in this dreamier reverb nostalgic space. "Velvet Connection," on the other hand, is fun and flirty and is telling you these chaotic moments as they're unfolding, so there's a little more urgency and punchiness in the vibe sonically. I'm just kind of making these choices subconsciously as I'm letting the story and the feelings dictate the direction.