MANILA, Philippines – Sometime in 2017, A – who had been working as a producer and writer at the time – met V, an artist, through his roommate. When A managed to catch one of V’s gigs live, it was a moment of pure awe.
“She was an incredible artist. I got to go see one of her live shows in Venice. I was just mind blown about the discipline, her voice, work ethic, the commitment to [wanting] to be great. And at the time, I was reimagining my artistry, who I was as an artist, as a writer, as a producer,” A told Rappler.
A and V would later become known as Emotional Oranges, a Los Angeles-based music duo now touted for their electrifying alternative R&B sound. After they started putting out their own releases as a pair in 2019, everything took off from there.
“And I think the best of both worlds, that marriage, has created something that I’m really proud of,” A added.
Eventually, the duo’s music reached the ears of listeners way outside of the US – including those in the Philippines.
Ahead of their long-awaited Manila debut last August 23, Rappler was able to sit down with A and V for an exclusive interview, where the pair shared about their music influences, creative processes, and the success of their hit single, “West Coast Love.”
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Why “Emotional Oranges”? Why did you decide on that name?
V: We both are both fans of Frank Ocean. That was kind of one of the things we definitely connected with. But then just in general, the orange itself and what it represents – the layers and how you have to peel back the skin to get to the juicy center that still has layers within layers, I think it represents the two of us.
Who are the artists or music acts that you think have helped shape your current sound as Emotional Oranges?
V: Janet Jackson because of her effortlessness to storytell through her voice. Her movement really kind of inspires us on stage and off stage. Her melodies are so catchy but then she also performs them with such power and strength, and especially as a woman, I feel I can really connect with her.
A: I’m gonna go with Sade, which most people assume is just one person, but it’s really a band, a British band. She embodies elegance and grace to me and has the warmest tone vocal tone of any artist in my lifetime. I think you just feel warm and fuzzy listening to her and they write records about love that I can relate to, about forgiving yourself, [and] about longing for a relationship. There’s a lot of really great writing that Sade doesn’t get the credit for that I feel like she and they deserve.
Your latest single is “HOT OUTSIDE” alongside Anycia. How did the collaboration happen?
V: The record was written before we discussed her being on it. We were talking about being hot and sticky, especially for me, in New York, when it’s summertime, it’s disgusting. It’s kind of different than on the West Coast. It’s humid. We were talking about a story and a scene, and then the song kind of developed through that. A had a connection with Anycia’s manager, we reached out, and she was like, “Yeah.” At that point I freaked out.
A and V: She was a big fan of ours, too, which is cool. The reason why I even hit up her manager was because I saw her tweet about us. She really wanted to work with us. I was like, “This can’t be real. Is this real?” Her manager was like, “Yeah, she loves you guys. Send over a record that you want me to play for her.” At that point, we had already written “HOT OUTSIDE.”
emotional oranges X nene 😉
— ANYCIA (@princesspopthat) February 29, 2024
Speaking of singles, your most popular track is “West Coast Love.” How did the song come to be?
V: We probably have different stories of this song because it has very different levels to it. The first level, A produced the track, and then we sent it to our engineer. And one day, I forgot which song we were already recording, but our engineer was like, “Do you want to freestyle over this one track?”
I kind of just went in and I just freestyled some stuff. I called it something completely different in the freestyle, too. I think I called it “Third Grade Love.” And then I left the studio, and I forgot about it. I guess A had heard it in a different time, taken that, rearranged the vocals, and then was like, “Hey, you did this record. We need to write this. This is actually really, really good.”
A: She’s spot on. We do this thing where we run through songs and we’ll just do gibberish melodies and then we’ll take that, we’ll sit down, and go, “Okay this fits really well as a free chorus, that fits really well as a second verse, vibe-wise.” She came back, and we talked about West Side Story. We were inspired by this idea. There was a love story happening. Musically, she came from the East Coast, came to LA, I kind of rediscovered my love for my artistry through this group. And that’s what the song is about. Our childhood, coming up in our respective parts of the world.
I’m also curious to hear about your creative process. How does it usually go for you guys when you have a song on the way?
V: It’s different every time. We do this game where he will not play me any song at all. He won’t even let me hear it. He’ll just put me in the booth, then he’ll play it for me, and the first thing that comes out melodically, whatever it is, that’s where we’ll start. And he’s like Dr. Frankenstein, genius-wise. He hears it, and he’s like, “This is the hook, this is a verse, that is a bridge,” and then we go in and dive in.
A: It’s fun. I feel like what resonates for me as a fan is, you remember the first time you heard your favorite song, so it’s really nice to play something for someone and capture their initial reaction to it, especially when you already know what she’s into, so I know what to play for V in a specific mood to get what I need from it. But there’s a lot of ways that we create.
V: Sometimes it’s storytelling first, then melodies. Sometimes, it’s just melodies. Sometimes, we’ll just sit there and hear a guitar and loop it, and then we’ll really create an entire song just basically with that.
You guys have been a musical duo for several years now. Let’s backtrack a little. From your first year together up to now, do you think anything’s changed with the way you do your music?
V: It feels effortless now. I feel like in the beginning it took a little bit longer to reach flow state. I think when you’re in a session with someone that you don’t know, it takes a couple conversations to break walls and just to understand each other. Now, we know each other so well that we can get in a room and be in a flow state, and within five minutes, we can write a song.
A: It’s pretty accurate. I’ve been working with V pretty consistently for almost six years now. I think just like any relationship, it gets deeper. You understand each other better. You learn how to support each other more. And what you need in the beginning is going to be very different from what you need now.
Without giving too much away, is there that you guys are working on that fans can anticipate in the future? Can you drop some hints?
A and V: We have a lot of songs that we are getting ready to release. We’re just fine tuning things. 2025 is gonna be fun. We’re very excited. – Rappler.com