PRYVT On Their Second Album, ‘BACK TO REALITY’

The duo discusses how playing live has changed their approach to creating songs

After dropping their first album before ever playing it to a crowd, PRYVT is changing their tune a bit this time. The indie pop duo, made of Hanuel (singer, guitarist) and JT (guitarist, producer), formed their second album, BACK TO REALITY with a bigger stage presence in mind. The dreamy sound from their first album remains, without a doubt; this new project is also full of airy, sweet vocals and building, spiraling guitar over echoey high-hats. But this time, with singles like “PALETTE” and “NEXT TO ME, AGAIN,” and now B-sides like “ANGEL” and “WITHER& DIE,” the two are taking bigger swings.

With the album ranging from soft and sweet tracks — though often punctuated by explosive moments within them — to jazzy outros and more indie rock jams, PRYVT have spread their wings. Pleaser spoke with the band to see just what spurred these sonic moves, how the two co-create, what it’s like writing and collaborating on multi-lingual track lists and more.

Pleaser: You guys have this very dreamy kind of vibe. What inspired that sound?

Hanuel: With this album, there were a lot of things we tried to do different from our first album and be experimental with everything. But I think the main focus was that we want to make it sound good live and in venues. So then with that in mind, a lot of songs are in a way very spaciously sounding. But also in general, we tend to like that cinematic feel with our songs.

In what ways exactly did live performing change the way that you approached your songwriting or your producing? How did it influence the specific choices you would make differently on this album versus the last one?

JT: For this one, we made this while we were on the road opening for some bigger artists. We went on three tours pretty much last year. So seeing them live and then looking back on ourselves and saying, “What can we do to emulate that and bring a better show to everyone?” That's what we wanted to bring on this album. We really wanted to make it fit in a venue and make it sound like an experience.

What was the most fun part of making this album?

H: I would have to say when we made our title track, “BACK TO REALITY,” that was a big moment for me. And I was like, oh, this is going to be the one. And that kind of set the direction of this album.

JT: I have to go with that one too. Without that one, there wouldn't be this album.

What inspired that to become the title track — what was different about that song?

H: Just the overall how it was written and the sounds that we put together was very the direction that we want to go from our last album. So then, when we made that, it was in a day-ish, kind of. It's a feeling that we had when we made it and we were just listening back and we're like, yeah, I think this is the one.

JT: We made that one after a road trip or something. At the end of the day, we just decided to get in Sam's studio and then make a song, and then that's how that one came to be.

Are you one of those bands that writes 100 songs and pares it down, or are fine tuning as you go and not stopping until it's right?

JT: Originally, the tracklist was totally different. We had a whole bunch of songs, but we kind of redid it after the tour. Even now we have a stockpile of songs that we're sitting on.

What's the oldest song that made it onto this tracklist?

H: “ANGEL.” That song was actually supposed to be for the first album, but I don't know, I had a moment and I was like, “I don't like this song” back then. And I came back to it when we were starting to write the second album. I was like, actually, this is not bad. [laughs] So yeah, that's how that happened. It's almost two years now since we made that song. 

JT: That was before PRYVT, too, actually. 

H: That was like one of those songs I just made randomly with JT and we were like, oh, this is fine. It was just hard to put it in the first album because it was so grand, the feeling of that song.

Were there any songs that ended up on the track list that were a surprise, that maybe got pulled or you made really last minute?

H: Last minute was definitely “MAYBE I’M RIGHT.”

JT: Even “NEXT TO ME, AGAIN.” We spent the most time on that one. We couldn't figure that out for the longest time.

H: Yeah, that was the hard one. It's definitely like those songs that are more memorable because it did take a long time.

What was that process like?

H: I was traveling alone in Korea for a bit. I just was writing songs and I sent it to JT, and then we had a demo ready within a week-ish. But then the fine tuning took a good couple of months because we're like, “Do we want to add another hook, do we want to take it out?” It was just constant back and forth. But it turned out pretty well, and so I think that time was pretty necessary.

What are each of your favorite songs off the album?

H: I'll have to say “HOW WAS YOUR DAY” is my top right now because the song is very personal. I think the little outro is probably something that is so fun to play live. When we were practicing, we were like, “This is gonna be so hard live,” and we're pretty hyped.

JT: For me, oh, man, it's either that one or “PALETTE,” too, that one's just a fun one. We made that on a whim, too. We were just hanging out and we just made it within that same day. We weren't even supposed to do music, we were just chilling.

You guys have gone from a couple mixed language lyrics to “NOON” being a fully Korean song. I would love to know what that changes about your process?

H: I grew up speaking Korean, so when I think of things or I read things or listen to things, the translation happens in my head. So then just knowing that, I wanted to write a full on Korean song and see what I could do. I was reading a lot of Korean books and [watching] movies and a lot of that stuff, so I had a lot of things I wanted to try to write about, and I guess that was that opportunity for me. So then I sent it to JT, but obviously he had no idea what I was saying, [laughs] but he said it sounded good.

How did that change the production? You're just going based on emotion, or are you translating and going off lyrical content?

JT: The base of that one, this idea was very solid. So my thought process was just expanding on that. And I didn't know what he was saying. I just felt like, oh, that section sounds like a hook, so let's make that the hook. That's a verse, so make it a verse. And then we go back together and fix it up.

Do you feel like your audience has different experiences when they're hearing music, maybe that they don't understand, or hearing a song for the very first time?

H: That's the one thing I really look forward to when we drop songs, is the different reactions and different way our fans take in the music. For example, maybe I wrote a song about a breakup or something like that, but to some people, it portrays to them as a love song or a falling in love song, which was very crazy to me at first. But I think just seeing those kinds of reactions definitely helped me change my perspective on songwriting and what to expect when the songs come out, and not to be too narrow minded about it.

What would you want someone who's never listened to PRYVT before to know about you guys or your songs?

H: I think our songs are pretty relatable, the way we write it, the way we produce it or try to make people feel. Because as much as being different is nice, having something that everyone can relate to is very important when songwriting.

To be honest, we're both very introverted. With that in mind, our songs kind of do represent that pretty well. It's like that shyness or, you know, just not being so out there, in a way. “PALETTE” is basically about that — being shy and meeting someone. And then within the songs we can kind of show who we are as not just artists, but just people in general.

What's the ideal condition to listen to this album for the first time?

H: If you're talking about the full album, I would say it'd have to be at a sunset, because the sunset is pretty enough for our brightest songs to feel dreamy and very in the moment. But then when the sun sets, our slower songs, and I guess our sadder songs, they would hit different, too.