Interview: Lovina Falls details indie art-rock appeal, releases new single and video, reflects on past

Written By Neil Shumate, OOTB Publications

The piano-synth driven and ominous layered instrumentation aura of Lovina Falls takes listeners to another galaxy alongside the likes of Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Carina Round, Kate Bush and Sharon Van Etten.

Boston’s Lovina Falls is an indie art-rock pop project founded and led by ex-Mistle Thrush singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Valerie Forgione, whose lighthearted tender alto vocals stand out as soothing, yet pessimistic.

Following her 2023 debut solo album Calculating the Angle of our Descent, Lovina Falls has now recently released a new single on which Forgione delivers the vocals, piano, synths, loops and sounds for the track, with Todd Demma on drums, Matthew Klain on bass, Brenden Cobb on guitar and David Minehan supplies the synare.

Fresh from releasing the latest single and video for “Ellery Way” (following the single "Tragedy") and performing a sold-out show in Cambridge, Mass. at The Sinclair with Chameleons, Lovina Falls’ Forgione discusses her new single, her art and music interests, past projects, challenges in the industry and much more in this OOTB interview.

Joan Hathaway (director, producer, cinematographer, photographer) brings out all the cinematic glory in the new video for “Ellery Way,” and she did so with your videos for “Vaulted” and “On Your Side” as well. How would you say this video directly reflects the song “Ellery Way” itself?

The song is about peace amongst chaos. It's about feeling safe and calm in the company of others regardless of what might be happening outside of that space. And as the song progresses, there is the realization that this sanctuary is almost essential as a means of self preservation.

Joan did a remarkable job translating the concept into film. It begins with the two main characters enjoying each other's company as the world around them begins to crumble, then slowly culminates into the realization that without one another it would be unendurable. There are also a few incredibly subtle moments on the faces of the main characters as this realization unfolds. Sand represents time, water represents sanctuary, and fire represents chaos.

Watch the video for “Ellery Way”

When was the first time you fell in love with music and told yourself this is who you are and this is what you want to do (and what was it)?

I think the earliest I can remember is being 5, and having my first record. It was an old 7-inch of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” with “A Day in the Life” as the b-side. It might have been my mom’s. I would sit in my closet with my stuffed animals and my turntable, playing the b-side over and over again. I loved the part where it spaced out into a minor key. It's like it just connected with something inside of me.

How would you say Lovina Falls differs from Mistle Thrush?

Mistle Thrush was a true collaboration. We wrote and workshopped the songs, fine tuned them live, and recorded the finished versions. It was an amazing and rewarding experience, creating music like that. Every song has a piece of each of us in it.

When I started writing as Lovina Falls, it was just me. I had been writing a lot of soundtrack music after Mistle Thrush went on hiatus, and I was really missing singing and the songwriting process. Songs would happen when I was supposed to be writing something else for a play or podcast. I found I was getting more and more distracted, and realized it was time to return. So it's sort of completely backwards from the Mistle Thrush approach. I recorded everything, and then convinced some incredibly talented friends to join me in interpreting the songs for live performance.

And what inspired you to return?

There is much more to do.

Who are some of your main influences — musically, lyrically, visually (and why)?

Hmm. The musical influence has always been a tough question to answer. So I'm afraid I am going to sound vague. I spent 10 years working in a record store, as a DJ on WZBC, and in a band, so everything and anything is an influence. I am influenced by sounds, really. I like to write a melody off of an unusual pattern, a hum, a tone, or a crunchy rhythm made from machines. I love soundtracks, and music that accompanies a visual experience. I love art, science, math, and how things are made. I love the unusual, the magical, and the incredible; the geometry of how Glenn Gould plays piano, the space of Max Richter, the meter of ee cummings, and the lines of Egon Schiele.

Being in the music industry since 1993, what’s been the biggest struggle you’ve faced as an artist and how have you overcome or persevered through that?

Well, at the time, the industry was a very male dominated business. And it was kind of gross. Women really had to work hard and put up with a lot to be taken seriously. Thank god for the guys in the band. They kept things balanced.

Mistle Thrush was also an act that at the time was difficult to classify. We were not genre specific, and not pop enough to really fit in. We kept at it and did manage to leap a few hefty hurdles over time. But after a decade, it wore us down a bit, and I think that's why we just… paused.

I suppose Lovina Falls may fall into that “hard to define” area as well, but there are so many more ways to connect with people now than in the late-’90s and aughts. I am optimistic at finding our niche.

What are your next plans and goals?

I am heading back into the studio next week to finish some new songs. Depending on how things go, I hope to have another release this fall or mid-winter.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for doing what you do supporting independent and local music! It's because of folks like you that art can survive. And thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to share a bit about Lovina Falls.

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