‘Somehow’ instantly begins luring us in with the soft chirping of nighttime crickets, white noise and a wash of smooth synths.

The pervasing running eighth notes and echoey, minimalist percussion set the stage for a gossamer layering of vocals.

“I hear the sound of the car crash
Intersecting forcefully”

I’d never heard such a spacious, lush song speak of something so destructive as a car crash- Until I heard ‘Somehow’. ‘Somehow’ is idyllic yet painful, elysian and golden. And Actually’s lyrics are so life-like that we can almost taste them on our tongues.

“I taste buttercream icing
Every wedding cake’s for 3….
Not unlike that before us
We join a holy trinity”

Amidst the echoing bass drums and flourishing electronic tones, there is a disturbance. After the singer speaks of a precious kiss, we slip through a portal into a much heavier oom-pah beat. “Somehow” crescendos in and out as effortlessly as a fern frond might blow in the wind. Next, the instrumentation clears out and leaves the two voices with vocoder exposed. Again, we come back to the theme of the car crash.

As we crescendo into the final chorus, the music begins weaving in and out, knitting together the final lines:

“Now I’ve gone too far
Cuz that wasn’t me, wasn’t me…

‘Somehow’ is an evocative song shrouded in mystery and dualism.

“When you meet a fork in the road of your life, there is a brief moment that almost exists outside of time and space where you justify which path you will take. This song is about one of those moments. “ -And Actually

Which moment in your life was the fork in the road that you speak of? What is a car crash, or something else?

Forks in the road seem to be a universal experience at all scales of being: individual, family, community. Just like surprising tragic events happen in an instant and change the course of one’s life, so can unexpected collisions exploding into something stunning and beautiful. The car crash is a comparison, a perspective, and a metaphor. You can’t always see them coming, but either way, it changes everything. The fork in our road is timeless, it’s happened before and it’ll happen again. In our case, this is a song about forbidden love and deciding to commit.

What was the first line you wrote of ‘Somehow’?

The first line was actually the first line of the song: I hear the sound of a car crash intersecting forcefully.

What do you mean by the line “Every wedding cake’s for 3?” Is some sort of betrayal going on here, or does this lyric have spiritual significance?

The answer is both and…

It’s honestly playful, ironic, and deeply serious all at the same time. It’s an acknowledgement of the traditional and ceremonial agreement made with Spirit and two individuals bound in marriage. It’s also an acknowledgement of experiencing spiritual agreements being bound in truth – regardless of who is making them.

If you could perform in any country and on any stage, where would it be?

Any stage in any country…playing music in naturally beautiful sounding spaces is a shared dream. Red Rocks in Colorado, the Caverns in Tennessee. Where nature, beauty and music put on a show. Any stage in any country. Perhaps less about where but more about creating music with friends. Performing for people with open minds and spirits, who can appreciate the magic happening when artists connect on stage, sharing that with listeners. A lot of the beauty from a performance comes back to the stage from the audience actually. Memorable shared experiences can be found while playing around a campfire all the way to big venues. The where doesn’t matter as long as the magic is allowed to flourish.

If you weren’t a musician, what other type of artist would you be?

1. If I wasn’t a musician, I don’t think I would be an artist. Music is core to my being in creation, business, and building a life in it and with it.

2. I would make with my hands – jewelry, sewing, clothing, piecing outfits together is something I love to do. I don’t do it from any background or knowledge of fashion as an art/ industry. I don’t really know what I’m doing, but it’s enjoyable and expressive.

3. I’ve always had a deep appreciation and draw to woodworking. Could that be why I’m drawn to the acoustic bass? Working with an organic material, using my hands, being creative, sculpting and building something beautiful and functional.

Do you plan on releasing And Actually music videos in the future?

We think so! The visuals for Somehow are inspired and created by Jason Ting, a digital artist who animates with code. I wouldn’t expect a narrative video from And Actually that tells a physical story. Something more abstract to evoke and amplify the emotion though, yes absolutely.

What was the first musician instrument you ever played, and how does it impact the way you think about music?

(Collectively, our first instruments were piano, violin, and cello/bass.)

1. Cello/ Bass: My father is a life-long musician as well and as such, collected many instruments through the years. When I was a young boy, he would let me peruse all of his toys and see what I could make of them. Some of the earliest experiments involved a recorder, trumpet, euphonium, ukulele, and the piano in the living room. It wasn’t until I saw my first orchestral concert that I noticed the bass violin and I was instantly drawn in. They started me on cello but I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the big beautiful piece of wood I would grow to love and call my own. The act of playing the bass fits me and my personality, helping to ground the music while supporting melodies and harmonies. Being a part of a rhythm section to help drive and cultivate emotions is where it’s at!

2. Piano: There is so much a piano can do. Melodies, chords, percussion, arrangement, so much. For me, the passing of notes and changing chords moving from one place to another, thinking in terms of transitions, sticks with me while writing.

3. Violin: Though the violin was the first instrument learned, it’s not the lens through which I write. If anything it might have served as an anti-lens in that it’s a beautiful instrument that’s tough to write pop or rock music with. I found creative freedom writing and producing on a computer.

What does the triple silhouette piece/ profile picture on your social media signify?

And Actually is a happy accident. We are musicians who came together to challenge ourselves writing songs, with no real goal in mind. We think….we ended up writing about intimate experiences of universal truths. You’ll be the judge of that. Anyway, when we decided to actually release these songs, we found more freedom of expression and more honesty when presenting anonymously. It feels less buried in the pressure of personality. There’s a lot of thought energy that can go into what looks good versus what sounds good, and we hope to direct that energy more towards the music in a fun way. It’s the three of us, yes…but what about the songs?!

And Actually Facebook / Instagram