Start Listening To: Sweet Dreams Nadine

How Minnesota's magical sessions transformed their new album.

Consisting of Nadia Hulett, Julian Fader, and Carlos Hernandez, the trio has embarked on a sonic journey that has seen them evolve as artists and collaborators. In this Q&A session, Nadia Hulett sheds light on the band's transformation, their creative process, and the introspective themes woven into their latest album, aptly titled "Sweet Dreams Nadine." With their whimsical yet profound compositions, the group invites listeners to delve into their world of playful nostalgia and poignant introspection. Join us as we explore the inspirations, aspirations, and artistic growth of Sweet Dreams Nadine.

Can you tell us more about the meaning behind the name "Sweet Dreams Nadine" and why you decided to change the band's name?

One day during the spring of 2022, “Sweet Dreams Nadine” dropped in while I was on a walk. It felt like an answer to a question I had been stewing on. Enduring the pandemic and years between our last album, I needed a palette cleanse. Changing the name was one way to do that. The name “Nadine” on its own, in its close proximity to my own name, Nadia, pronounced Nay-dia, irked me in a way that was no longer sitting right. Something in my own ego and identity couldn’t relax in it even if the similarity of names was an intentional choice in the beginning. “Sweet Dreams Nadine” felt like a release from all that.

How does the collaborative process work within the band, and how has it evolved from your previous album "oh my" to your new album?

We each have our own musical identity, and together we find a meet in the middle like in a venn diagram. The main difference between the process of the two albums is that in the first I had come to them with about half the songs nearly constructed and some of them entirely so. I wrote on my own and with friends before meeting Julian and Carlos, and before I came into their studio I asked if they would be willing to collaborate, and so we did. Our 2nd album was about all of writing together from the ground up. It was new to start that way for us, so we just improvised a lot of material in our first writing session in Wainscott, Long Island and continued writing meet-ups for the next year or so until it was time to alchemize in the studio. A major similarity between the process of the 2 records is the studio as the main connecting and shifting force of the song…from sketches and ideas to whole songs.

Can you walk us through the recording process for your new album, from the initial improvisation sessions to the final product?

Each song played out in a different way. The three of us are open to really seeing which direction a song should go in and often it takes some time for the form to really come into place. Initially, perhaps I had a few vocal lines, a melody, a certain character, or voice that inspired the song to move forward. There were often instrumental fragments or more fully formed ideas that allowed the lyrics to take shape. There were times where we were all together in the room with the most humble of recording and instrument set ups, just playing off of each other and seeing what worked. I feel like on this album, there was much more of an equal collaboration, that we enjoyed making this music together and that we really started to become a band - Sweet Dreams Nadine, together. Improvisation made way for compositions and we allowed ourselves to fine tune the songs as the recording process continued. A lot of the songs really became finalized in the mixing process, sometimes removing layers and sometimes realizing what was needed.

How would you describe the overall sound and themes of your new album "Sweet Dreams Nadine”?

Playful, dreamy, wistful, cinematic, simple, complex, layered, horny, achey, happy, sad.

How has your approach to songwriting changed from your previous album to your new album?

We are more of a band at this point than we were during the first album. We have always been open to each other’s ideas, but now it feels like we able to create together as a unit. There’s natural shorthand and understanding about “whose turn it is” or when to tag out or in.

How important is the visual component in your music, such as the cover art for "Sweet Dreams Nadine"?

I think visually as I write and listen to the songs. I see whole music videos, little movies or pictures. I find it very difficult to execute the visual side of things though. There’s more collaboration involved as I haven’t created the cover art myself, but I recently directed and co-created 2 of the videos for this release, Weird Love and Painted Blue, with my collaborator Emily Fontana, and that was empowering. It made me feel like I had more of the visual storytelling within my power, whereas in the videos with the first release, I felt at the mercy to other people's editing process and style. My dream is to get more of a language and skill set in visual storytelling, so that I can curate more of the elements as a whole together.

Can you discuss the inspiration behind the song "Weird Love" and the decision to make Hernandez and Fader characters in the song?

I came across the phrase “weird love” on an instagram post of one of my exes with one of his exes, and I wrote it down immediately. I love the goofy picture of the two of them, and I knew the phrase would make a great song title and concept. The song I wrote ended up being a sigh about that relationship and quippy thoughts on the state of my romantic life at the time. When Carlos heard the title, he quickly envisioned the hook and melody for the chorus. We combined forces to create a sort of playful, game show sound to create an altered state. The commentary came naturally as an improvisation as I recorded the final vocals.

What was the biggest challenge you faced during the making of "Sweet Dreams Nadine"?

Trying to regain our momentum to finish the record after the pandemic.

How do you think your music has evolved since you first started making music together as a band?

We met each other in the studio and our friendship has grown and formed through our collaboration over time. As we have gotten to know each other better over time, we have been able to understand what each of us can bring to the music. We are able to work with each other’s strengths and also push each other beyond what we expected. I think when we began, our relationship was just to support the music, but now after all of these years working together, our friendship and experiences together are what is driving this project. It seems to keep getting more and more collaborative over time.

Can you talk about the role that improvisation plays in your music-making process?

In some ways all of our compositions began as improvisations, sometimes I will have a vocal line or a melody that inspires the arrangement or sometimes I will hear an instrumental that Carlos or Julian take off with and I connect the dots for a new melody. It often takes time working with the song for me to find the story inside out from my point of view as a driving force of the storytelling with my voice and narration.

Our label head Michael put our process succinctly in the bio:

Improvisatory in nature, the Sweet Dreams Nadine sessions exuded reverence for the recording process. First, in a cabin on Long Island, each member set up a station, Hernandez with a MIDI keyboard, Fader with drum loops/samples, and Hulett with a microphone for improvising melodies and lyrics. The next session took place in Malmo, Minnesota, on lake Mille Lacs, which introduced piano to the recordings and is where most of the songs began taking shape. These sessions were then expounded upon at Carlos and Julian’s studio, Gravesend Recordings, where the broader sonic landscape came together and final vocals were committed to.

Can you discuss the decision to incorporate piano into your recordings during your session in Minnesota?

Actually that session in Minnesota was just me and Carlos, and it was very intentional to utilize just the piano and voice. Around that time we had a desire to make a piano + voice focused album, and so in my head that session was possibly about beginning that, but I think Carlos had in mind to mine whatever came from those sessions for the album we were currently writing. And that came true. Most of the songs from the session made it to this album, but some in fact are unfinished, and under explored. We went up to my best friend’s family cabin at the end of winter and brought a midi keyboard and mic and just wanted to hone those 2 instruments together as a base. Doing that is generally an important foundational aspect of our process, we just happened to really make the separated space for it in Minnesota.

What do you hope listeners take away from your new album?

Maybe I hope that it will stir an awareness of one’s own sensitives…everything is so fragile and shifting in our experience on this planet. That can be so difficult to metabolize. How about some sensitivity around that.

Can you tell us more about the themes of love, self, and longing that are present throughout your music?

Honestly, not in this moment, no. These are big topics that I'm always drifting in and out of focus with, always wanting to explore and understand better.

What are your future plans as a band, and what can fans expect from you in the coming months?

We are really wanting to make more music and discover all of the different ways the three of us can inspire and create together. Each song we have written has expanded the possibility of what this project is and I think we are all excited to see where that can go. We have some new songs in the works and we are hoping to perform live together more as our schedules allow. The desire is intentional weekends around the east coast, southeast, and the midwest. Of course we hope to make it to the UK and EU when the time is right.

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are just starting out?

Go with your gut.

Work with other people.

Full immersion.