Diandra Interviews Valley: Sucks To See You Doing Better

In Sucks To See You Doing Better, Valley approaches a very real truth; it sucks to see a jerk succeed. There is nothing more painful than seeing a toxic ex or an old bully do really well for themselves while your life is in a total slump. Now, of course, things get better and what goes up must come down, but, for a good while, it really stinks. Luckily, this EP does not. Out October 23, it is fun and cathartic, which stems from the fact that Valley is a group of really good friends. Who better to vent with about your bad days than with the friends who give you good ones? Thus, in our interview, drummer Karah and guitarist Mickey, discuss how the music they make together helps them feel better about the goals that don’t always pan out. 

Diandra: What is one stigma about mental health you wish would go away, and what is your favorite mantra you could turn in a song theme?

Mickey: Great question, something that does need to be destigmatized is the thought that struggling with mental health means you’re weak. I know people who hold it in and carry it their whole life because they think that they’ll be considered weak if they talk about it, but talking about mental health takes a lot more courage than holding it in. So really people that can deal with their mental health and get help are the strong ones.
Valley – hiccup (Official Video)

Diandra: What are the little things you most appreciate about life, especially during the pandemic?

Karah: The simplicity of going for walks without your phone, what it was like to hug people.

Diandra: Singing to songs of love and human connection, what is one truth about love you find is universal?

Karah: Listening and paying attention is the best way to show someone love.

Diandra: What is one song from the upcoming EP that really brought you a newfound clarity about a situation or insecurity? How So?

Karah: I think “BE THE ONE” really hits hard when I step back and listen to the lyrics from a third party listener’s perspective. It’s the sentiment that taking the blame for something even if it was a two way street won’t kill you but just make you stronger if you can just be the bigger person sometimes.
Valley – homebody (Lyric Video)

Diandra: To you, what is the hardest, most confusing part about falling in love and breaking up?

Mickey: Not knowing what music to listen to because you attach all of the music that you listen to together to that person, so it’s almost like you need to find an entirely new library of music. It’s actually one of the best times in life to find new music, because you become so deeply attached to every lyric.

Diandra: What is a movie or tv show you would love to transfer into a concept album? Why and how so?

Mickey: Forest Gump for sure, there’s so many sections in that film it would be like Jesus of Suburbia!

Diandra: If you could attribute each member with a tv or book character, which would they be and why?

Mickey: Rob is ‘Where’s Waldo’ because he’s tall, wears stripes, and we never know where he disappears to! I’m T.J Detweiler from Recess because I dress similar and I’m always down for an adventure. Alex is every cartoon character in the world because he’s a pro voice actor. Karah is Monica from Friends because she’s’ a clean freak.

Diandra: How do you feel this EP differentiates from your previous work while also feeling similar?

Mickey: The pop became ‘poppier’ the folk became ‘folkier,’ and we really honed in on only putting in the song what is completely necessary. Our musical tastes have really broadened since ‘MAYBE’ so there’s lots of experimenting with a bunch of genres, but it all leads back to the ‘classic Valley sound’.
Valley – BE THE ONE (Audio)

Diandra: You have said you wanted more of a chill vibe for this EP. What inspired the desire for “chill,” and what are the things you do to chill?

Karah: We wanted to hone in on songwriting first and production second this time around, we focused on the story of the song in a less coded way, and were a lot more honest with ourselves during the writing process.

Diandra: What inspired the title, “Sucks To See You Doing Better?”

Karah: When we wrote this EP we were going through a bit of a transitional period in our lives, we just finished a North American tour and were in L.A writing every single day. We were experiencing so many emotions from the past year and writing this EP gave us the chance to stop and reflect for the first time on everything we had been through. We found that a lot of the things we were feeling were not permanent feelings but surface level emotions that certain scenarios made us feel: like the feeling of defeat when your ex comes into the Starbucks you work at, pulling up in a Tesla on their way to their corner office job, and you’re still living at home working for minimum-wage. It’s the dark side of comparison that we all feel from time to time, and the pressure we put on ourselves to be somewhere in life we’re not. You’ll get there, just remember that. But for now it kinda just sucked to see you doing so much better than me.
Valley – sucks to see you doing better (Lyric Video)

Diandra: What are 5 facts about Valley that you say, “if you don’t know this, you don’t know us.”

Karah: We all met when we were double booked at a studio, we produce our own music in our home studio, we currently live in Toronto, our favourite food, collectively, is the almond pancakes at Hugo’s in L.A, and we are all best friends.

Diandra: What do you most love about each other, and what Fleetwood Mac song would you dedicate to that love?

Karah: I think the thing we love most about each other is that we are all on the same wavelength when it comes to music making. It’s so easy for us to be creative together. Sometimes, we don’t even need to talk, we just ‘know’. A Fleetwood Mac song that we could dedicate to this would defs have to be “Everywhere” because that was the first song we recorded together.

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