Just in time for NYC-based Bunny X to drop “Night Moves,” a hot new single from their upcoming album, Love on a High Floor, the duo of Abigail Gordon and Jenny Bates have had a fruitful exchange with Vehlinggo. In this Q&A we did recently, we talk about their lineup change, making music during trying times, their tour plans, and the state of live shows in general. We also tease some upcoming releases (including the album coming via Aztec Records in August) and engage in some general fun music talk.
(Editor’s Notes: The interview’s been edited slightly to match Vehlinggo’s house style and clarity. Vehlinggo interviews occur through a variety of means, including Zoom, phone, in person, and over email. This interview’s method was the latter.)
Vehlinggo: What’s making you happy right now and why?
Abbi: Honestly? With the current state of the world being…well…the current state of the world, being able to rely on music to inspire and soothe has been a balm for my heart and something I have leaned on heavily, especially over the past few years. I’m sure anyone reading this can relate! Having said that, it has truly been incredible to continue to be able to work with our longtime producer and good friend Gosteffects on album number three and with my bestie Jenny Bates, who graciously joined the project after my BFF and founding Bunny X member Mary Hanley developed some health issues over the past few years and was unable to continue on with the project.
We did get lucky enough to have Mary lend some beautiful backing vocals on “One Touch” (with SelloRekt/LA Dreams), which came out in March. This record has definitely been a long time coming, as some of the tracks were written and/or recorded two to three years ago. So to now finally have the first few singles out (i.e., “One Touch,” “True Confession” and “Night Moves”) with more on the way soon — not to mention the album! — is really bringing me joy.
Jenny: Any time I get to create music, content, or just spend time with my Bunny, Abbi, that makes me incredibly happy. Since we are releasing new music from the upcoming album regularly, we have been spending a lot of time together. She’s truly my best friend and she lights up every room she enters. The response to the new single releases is also thrilling me. It has been so positive, we can’t wait for everyone to hear the whole album…in August!
What’s challenging you right now and why?
Abbi: I’d say time. Time has really become a hot commodity these days, as it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to come by. I worked on our past two albums, Young & In Love and Love Minus 80, during the height of COVID-19 and the immediate aftermath of it before life as we know it had fully “resumed,” and had a lot more quiet time and flexibility during those years. So it was a bit easier to manage and balance my creative life with my professional one. Now, with everything seemingly even busier than it was pre-COVID (how is that even possible?!) I find myself having a harder time stamina-wise to balance everything. Now, these are first-world problems to be sure and I’m lucky as hell that this is even something I get the opportunity to complain about, but it’s the honest truth, I guess. Again, I’m sure many others can relate.
On a much more serious and personal note, it’s been a difficult time with regard to Mary’s health issues. It has not been an easy time, even though it may look that way on social media. As we all know, there is always more to the story than the reels and stories would have us believe. I will say that I am grateful for all the years we got to do music together and perform together and I’m very proud of the body of work we created during the many years she was active in the project. I’m grateful to all the great producers and collaborators we worked with over those years as well; with a special shout out to Conrad Kaneshiro, who is largely responsible for our early Italo Disco sound and material. He is our OG Disco Pagan Boy.
Jenny: I adore the synthwave community here in NYC. The resounding sentiment about us continues to be how welcoming it is to everyone. It’s also encouraging that we are starting to see younger audience members finding this music and coming to our live shows. But we have got to compel more of the younger generation(s) to want to get out and invest in the live music scene. More and more venues are struggling to stay alive and we cannot let live music slip away. And while they’re there…they need to feel free to shake their groove thangs! Live performances feed off of the energy of the audience and vice versa. We love to see you having a good time. As Bunny X would say, “We Demand Fun!”
“More and more venues are struggling to stay alive and we cannot let live music slip away.”
Do you have any new/new-ish projects out you’d like to mention? If so, what are they?
Abbi: Oh yes indeed. As Jenny and I have been sharing over the past several months on the socials, we have been rolling out our officewave project and plan to release an 11-track album in August on Aztec Records, who partnered with us on our last two albums (and several one off singles). We’ve already put out three new singles with two more slated for release in June and July and are very excited to be working yet again with our longtime collaborator SelloRekt/LA Dreams, as well as Don Dellpiero, both of whom also joined us in collabs for our previous two records. We haven’t formally announced this yet, but we are thrilled to share that we also got a chance to collaborate with The Lightning Kids on a track coming out on June 12 called “Lovers.” This one is a slow retrowave ballad that is full of yearning and heartache (our fave!) and this one is also a collab with SelloRekt/LA Dreams (but of course!).
Jenny: Our new album! We are also in the middle of editing a music video for our last single that will hit in July called “Even If We Don’t Talk,” filmed by the magical Alice Teeple. We’ve performed the song live in both NYC and on tour in Richmond (so folks have had a sneak peek/listen). It’s giving early Madonna/Tiffany vibes and it was the last song to be added to the album. In fact, we were done with the album until Abbi came into the studio with a sheepish look in her eyes hoping we wouldn’t clobber her when she said she had a new song she wanted to add. When we (Abbi, me and our producer Gosteffects/John Bourke) listened to it, we knew we had to comp and record it that day! It’s a bop!
A similar question to above, but — what are you currently working on and what’s coming up that fans can anticipate?
Abbi: Well, in addition to our upcoming officewave album, we also just shot a video for one of the upcoming singles, “Even If We Don’t Talk.” We filmed it in multiple locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn and it’s by far our most ambitious music video to date, so we hope folks will like it! We certainly had a lot of fun filming it… and were joined by several friends who kindly served as our extras and let us pay them back in only pizza and hugs, so that was much appreciated. Watch out for a cameo by Gosteffects 😉
Jenny: We are working on planning our album release show, and hoping to do a tour in the fall. Outside of Bunny X, I’m also in another synthwave band — Diamond Field with Andy Diamond — and we are about to go into the recording studio to cut a new song. I also have a little side dream project that I just recorded last weekend with Andrea Sicco, formerly of Twin Guns, currently of The Disappearing Act and Movie Movie, at the iconic Sear Sound. That will be coming out soon.
What’s your hope for the rest of the year?
Abbi: Well, after working on this album off and on for the last three years, we do hope people will enjoy the songs, the video and the aesthetics and world-building we worked hard to create. It’s been such a pleasure working hand-in-hand with Jenny and being able to now perform some of the new songs at our shows and see how people experience them has been a blast. We plan to keep adding more and more new material to our set lists and are looking to do a mini East Coast tour later on in the fall. Our next show is on Friday, June 19, at Wonderville in Brooklyn, so if anyone’s in the area, please come by! Otherwise, maybe we’ll be able to come to a city near you later on in the year.
Jenny: We can’t wait for you to hear our album! It’s very Wall Street/Working Girl Office/Retrowave themed. And… it’s actually a concept album! We will reveal that narrative as we get closer to the release date. (I work on Broadway, how can we not have a full story behind my first album with Bunny X‽) Also, we welcome you to come to any of our upcoming shows. Abbi and I would love to see you there.
