Pen Pin
Jeni Magaña and Emily Moore discuss their darkly playful new single, the creative chemistry that grew from touring with Mitski, and the four-year journey behind their debut album PONY UP!
Just in time for Halloween, Los Angeles indie-pop duo Pen Pin arrive with “Vampire,” a darkly playful new single that turns the imagery of fangs and nocturnal creatures into something unexpectedly tender. Written by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeni Magaña and Emily Moore, the track is less interested in the traditional menace of its title than in the feeling of having someone firmly in your corner, a person you can call after a terrible day and know will understand. The duo’s hazy, sun-soaked sound draws from vintage pop, indie rock and breezy California atmospheres, creating music that feels equally at home by a Palm Desert pool at dusk or on the darker side of the night. Magaña and Moore first met while touring with Mitski, where an immediate friendship and creative chemistry eventually grew into Pen Pin, a project built around their shared musical instincts and an unusually generous collaborative process. Both bring extensive experience as performers, writers and multi-instrumentalists, having worked with artists including Mitski, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Charli xcx, Gracie Abrams and others, but Pen Pin gives them a space to follow their own ideas without worrying too much about convention. Their forthcoming debut album, PONY UP!, grew out of that freedom, with the pair writing, recording and producing much of the material themselves while embracing the limitations and possibilities of a genuinely DIY project.
Released October 20, “Vampire” is another glimpse into an album that has taken a much longer and more personal journey than the duo originally expected. What began as an explosive creative collaboration developed over four years, shaped not only by friendship and artistic experimentation but also by the difficult realities of life, including Emily’s breast cancer diagnosis. In the following interview, Pen Pin talk about the strange origins of their friendship, the “yes and” philosophy behind their songwriting, the creative possibilities of DIY music, their influences and touring experiences, and how PONY UP! ultimately became a record about friendship, resilience, love and the relationships that make life feel a little less frightening.
“Vampire” has a dark title, but the song is actually about feeling safe with someone who loves you and is always on your side. How did this contrast between darkness and emotional security inspire the song?
I don’t think of “dark” as a negative quality. Sure, vampires are a bit spooky (or sparkly, depending on your fiction of choice) but I bet they want love just like anyone else! Seriously, though, the point of the song to me is that everyone possesses some qualities society may deem to be undesirable. In this case maybe having pointy teeth and being awake at night. But love isn’t society! Not only can we make adjustments in the relationship for one another, these qualities might be what we love about our person.
The song also touches on the idea of having someone you can call after a difficult or frustrating experience. How much do your personal relationships and everyday experiences find their way into your songwriting?
Generally we both write enough that we would run out of material if we stuck to our own personal relationships and every day experiences. I would say maybe three or four songs on the record are directly about one thing. But I also think that the lens we use to view the world is absolutely colored by our life experiences and relationships. And in that sense 100 percent of that gets into everything. Even if the narrative is viewed through someone else’s perspective, our empathy is only available to us as we have learned through our life experiences. For example, Dishes is the first song on our record. And it isn’t literally about dishes, it’s probably more accurately described as a song about how inspiration and fun can sometimes seem so at odds with life and responsibility. But the song really started because I (Jeni) HATE doing the dishes.
You met while touring with Mitski. What was your first impression of each other, and when did you realize that there was a strong creative connection between you?
Honestly, I was afraid of Jeni when I first met her. I interacted with her for the first time on a zoom call for the new members of Mitski’s band and she popped up on screen in a giant parka. I knew she lived in LA and I just couldn’t figure this enigma out. Why the parka? It’s funny now because Jeni is the most sensitive, caring and open soul you’ll ever meet but at the time I think I was scared that she was going to be too cool for me. Once we met in real life, all bets were off. We clicked right away. The other band members assumed we had known each other for years. It was pretty cute actually.
How did Pen Pin develop from a friendship between two touring musicians into a musical project with its own identity and sound?
We pretty immediately had so much fun working together. But I think what proved to us that we should be a band is what makes any relationship deep: commitment and follow through. At some point we realized we were getting so excited by each other’s ideas that we’d be rushing to the computer to track something on what was sent. We both have tons of experience jamming with friends or playing one off shows or writing with different people. What makes pen pin work is that we keep showing up for each other and choosing to prioritize this type of creative endeavor even when we both have millions of other things happening.
Your music has been described as dreamy, hazy and retro, with the atmosphere of a Palm Desert afternoon turning into dusk. How would you describe the sound of Pen Pin in your own words?
Light pop bops. We had a lot of fun making this music and we’re hoping that translates to it sounding like a fun time. I also like to think of our music as pure creative expression. It opens a lot of doors when you’re not too precious about the outcome of a song and respect each other enough to just run with each other’s ideas.
What are some records, artists or musical experiences that have had the greatest influence on the way you make music?
Jeni and I overlap on a lot of what we like but we also have very distinctive personal tastes as well. I think this mix is what makes pen pin something special. It’s not something either of us could have created on our own. We have a playlist called “Pen Pinspiration” that we created for our current go to listens. Some of the artists that make an appearance are Phoenix, Julia Jacklin, Fiona Apple, Harry Styles and Spoon. Currently, we’re both really into Slow Pulp.
You both have substantial experience performing with other artists, including Mitski, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and others. What have you learned from working alongside artists at that level?
One thing that is cool to know is that these people are TALENTED and yet they are still working SO hard. It takes so much work and thoughtfulness and courage to be the front person. Also at the end of the day it isn’t actually one type of person that becomes famous. It’s nice to know that you can be yourself and still have success reaching the people you want to reach.
Pen Pin is very much a DIY project, with the two of you playing many of the instruments and producing the music yourselves. What do you enjoy about doing so much of the creative work yourselves?
Pen pin loves DIY! I feel like I should first mention that this is also what we do professionally, so producing and recording the music wasn’t necessarily the DIY part. Most of the other parts of putting out a record (photos, videos, release schedules, booking shows etc) we simply do because budget is something we have to be conscious of, as I’m sure all other indie artists can relate. I do feel like we have taken this concept and really embraced it, though. Because yes we have to do so much ourselves but it also means we get to push ourselves and come up with ideas we think are fun and no one is going to rain on our parade! Why not make a monster out of cardboard and rope your very tall friend into playing “The Boredom”!? I think it’s really a case of sometimes limits do encourage creativity.
When you write together, how does the creative process usually begin? Does one of you bring a song idea, or do songs tend to emerge through playing together?
We live sort of far from each other, so generally the songs get pieced together one idea at a time. We call it our “yes and” project because basically an idea gets thrown out there and then the other person does what they hear with it. Honestly it’s such a fun way to work. And we ended up with so many songs that were finished or almost finished that we were able to cherry pick what we thought should make it onto the record.
How do you think your personalities influence the music you make together? Is there something about your friendship that listeners can hear in the songs?
We are like a musical version of opposites attract. The way we each come to think of producing and songwriting is so different, but in a way where the final product becomes more whole than the sum of our individual parts. The key to that is probably that we each have so much respect for the other person and their musical talent, and want to preserve what we think is so cool about what the other person does. You can definitely hear that in the songs, especially if you have listened to each of our solo projects at all previously.
Your debut album PONY UP! is coming soon. What kind of journey does the album take the listener on, and are there sides of Pen Pin on the album that haven’t yet been revealed by the singles?
I think Pony Up has taken us on a journey actually! We didn’t set out to make a record over the course of 4 years. Quite the opposite, we did a major chunk of the writing, recording and producing within the first year of meeting. It was such an explosive creative spark and we were set to release quickly. However, I (Emily) was diagnosed with breast cancer in the second year of us knowing each other and as much as I didn’t want to slow down, we had to. I was just so thankful for Jeni and her incredible patience, support and friendship during that time. Looking back, the album is so clearly about friendship and the important relationships in our lives. The album explores the different emotions, moods, and stages that are part of all our lives. As far as a new side to pen pin, we have a ballad I’m excited for the world to hear and a song with more folk roots that I love.
If you could go back and give your younger selves one piece of advice about becoming musicians and artists, what would you tell yourselves?
We recently played Daisy Chain Fest with Mitski and because that festival was so powerful and had such a great impact on us both, I think this question has been on our mind a lot lately. I would tell our younger selves to do, try and play with everything you can. There is absolutely no reason to talk yourself out of something creative. It was hard for me to break the bad habits I thought protected me early on. I would make sure our little selves would understand that you don’t have to be good at something right away and that the journey in learning a new skill is going to be the part that you remember for the rest of your life. It’s okay not to know what you’re doing and do it anyway.
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