Bread & Butter, the new single by Alex Kinsey and iLana Armida, is all about good vibes. The beat is lighthearted and whimsical, the lyrics sexy and nostalgic. It gives the feel that two people had a ton of fun making this track…and they did.
When I sat down for an interview with Alex and iLana, I knew off the bat these two could make stellar music together and they loved doing it.
After watching what they referred to as “The Music Video Before The Music Video” – filmed in their studio by themselves and edited by iLana herself – I wanted to be right next to them grooving to the song.
The two share great chemistry as well as a funky studio they dance around in the music video. The artwork in the studio was created by Alex and iLana’s friends and family, paying tribute to their loved ones while still shooting a fun-filled video.
In the era of disco music and pop funk revival, Bread & Butter is exactly what the world needs right now. Alex and iLana said it best:
“People just wanna dance.”
The one word that comes to mind when I hear this song is groovy. It’s low-stress in a high-stress time, reminding us that music can make the world feel a bit easier.
This isn’t the first time Alex and iLana have worked together. In fact, the couple has been writing together for almost five years now. They’re looking forward to a tour in Europe soon, and potentially releasing some more music together.
From their years of working together, the two shared that they’re often influenced by each other’s music. They’ve found creative ways to mix their sounds and see what works and what doesn’t over time.
With help from their collaborator, Eric Straub, they drew up an Indie-funk, bass-driven bop. Starting with the beat, they kept writing contradicting melodies that somehow meshed and turned into the Bread & Butter I (and you should) know and love.
When asked about future collaborations – something fans have been yearning for after hearing Bread & Butter – the focus was on the present. The pair have written multiple tracks together, all unreleased.
There are several versions of a song they perform live, but they argue the unreleased studio version is better than the live.
If there’s anything I want, it’s that I want to hear it.
Whether it be from his time in the X-Factor winning duo Alex & Sierra, his band BoTalks, or his more recent solo releases, chances are you’re heard from Alex Kinsey. Kinsey released music with Sarah Hyland, and finally confirmed to me that Harry Styles indeed wrote songs for him and Sierra back in the day.
“The real difference between now and 2019 is that I’m making music I would want to listen to,” Alex shares with me.
You can tell how proud of this single they are – and they should be.
iLana Armida has an incredible talent for writing, shown through nothing short of her GRAMMY nomination for writing on Doja Cat’s Planet Her album. She can do it all: R&B, pop, disco, you name it.
iLana and Alex pull inspiration from everything while on the road. Voice memos and random bits in their Notes app are how they keep ideas fresh, but it’s the experiences that give them ideas. While touring in Europe, the two share they ideally want to take time to write. Maybe in the Alps, maybe with others.
When they get home to the studio is where it all comes together. They’re able to use their shared space to process their ideas and create magic like Bread & Butter.
In the future, iLana and Alex gave polarizing answers about genres they’d like to experiment with. Today, they shared that music doesn’t have to fit one genre, giving examples of Rihanna and Doja Cat. iLana ultimately would like to write a purely R&B EP, while Alex wants to play around with DJ turntables and live music.
Their two different styles somehow blend together perfectly in their new single. It gives us hope that artists are having fun with their music, and it makes us want to dance our problems away, too. The future looks bright for Alex and iLana.
Listen to Alex and iLana’s new single, Bread & Butter, here:
