OOOEY GOOEY are...?
We (oooey gooey) are Vic and Seth Simmons. We're a husband and wife songwriting and producing duo. We met while studying in Australia 11 years ago. We currently work and live in South Carolina, USA. We have one child and are expecting another this Christmas (!!). oooey gooey is a collaborative effort. We both write and sing and play, and Seth handles the production/mixing.
The name came to us after watching a video recipe for chocolate chip cookies on youtube. We love cooking and spending time in the kitchen together, and had gone back and forth about potential names for too long so we decided to just stick with "oooey gooey".
U F Os
"It's Friday" und das bedeutet natürlich Release Day. Heute zu "Gast" OOOEY GOOEY, ein etwas ungewöhnlicher Name für eine Band (mehr dazu gibt's im nachfolgenden Interview), die Namensgebung ist jedoch sehr treffend da sie sich im Experimental Genre bewegen. Experimental liegt sicher nicht jedem Hörer, darf auch so sein und es soll ja nicht jeder dasselbe hören. Das Genre sorgt aber vor allem immer wieder in den Bereichen Arrangement, Sounds oder auch Vocals für positive Überraschungen.
Mit "U F Os" ist es wieder an der Zeit eine solche Überraschung vorzustellen. Interessant dabei die Entstehung der Sounds, aus mehreren verschiedenen Audio-Samples wurden "Instrumente geformt", sprich auf unterschiedliche Art und Weise bearbeitet um sie als Instrumente verwenden zu können.
Die Inspiration dafür lieferte Seths Interesse an UFOs, Vic legte noch einen Hook über das Thema drauf und so hat man diese Idee umgesetzt bzw. zu einem Song verarbeitet. "U F Os" by OOOEY GOOEY where Experimental meets Electro to sound Alternative.
Q&A
Who inspired you to make music in general?
We both come from relatively non-musical families. Though we come from different backgrounds, both of us have memories of singing and enjoying music at very young ages.
Vic was always singing around the house as a young girl and her mother put her in school and church choir from the age of 5. Seth was also in church choir as a young child.
We both took piano and guitar lessons growing up. Obviously as we got older there are a whole host of different artists and bands that we loved.
Music was just always something we were drawn to, and making music almost became inevitable.
...and especially to the song "U F Os"?
In 2016-17 Seth got super interested in UFO lore. A couple years later Vic spontaneously sang a hook about UFOs. We took a voice memo of it, and it eventually became the song.
The track has a great experimental touch, how much time did you spend to find the right sounds?
There were a couple iterations of this song before the finished product. We think of our music as experimental, because that's literally what it is in most cases.
For "U F Os" we used several different audio samples and processed them all in different ways to use them as instruments.
It's a good example of us learning a technique and applying it to what we were making at the time.
What is your creative process like?
Our process varies based on the song. In general we will usually get an idea for a melody or hear a new song and start developing it with voice memos on our phones or a quick demo on the computer. For this project we produced a few of the tracks first and filled in the lyric and melody after. But then for others it might be the opposite. It really just depends.
When do you decide that a song is ready for a release?
In December of 2020 we decided we were going to release an album and we gave ourselves a year to work on it. So self-imposed deadlines help! But the song tells you when it's done. It's kind of a feeling that you have and this inaudible voice says "yeah, that feels good".
What's your most useful talent besides music?
Seth grew up doing art and is a pretty good painter and artist. Vic likes to make clothes and sew from time to time. We like to garden and grow our own food.
What was the first ever Pop/Rock/Electro ... song you listened to or remember on?
The first pop I think either of us encountered was probably Britney Spears. In the 90s they had these things called "Hit Clips" which came with these chips that had a hit song on them.
Early 90s before either of us had CD players. Just the radio and Hit Clips. Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys.
What do you prefer, a live gig or a studio session?
We haven't done any gigs, but we both grew up playing and singing music in church. Seth was in a couple bands growing up and Vic was in a band in Australia.
There's nothing like playing music with other people for other people, but the process of writing and producing a song is also very energizing. Making something out of nothing is a magical experience.
What’s next for you?
We're putting the finishing touches on our album which will come out very soon! And then we will start on the next one. Excited to write more songs.
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