INTERVIEW: I WANT TO KNOW WHALE SONGZ FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE

It was the middle of July, and New York City summer was in full swing. The air was thick with a humidity that promised an evening storm, and the heat was oppressive, slicking every inch of my skin with sweat as my favorite photographer (and best friend) Sam Schucker and I made the ten minute trek from the L Train Halsey stop to Stone Circle Theater. The weather was miserable, yes, and our commute from my apartment had been treacherous (anyone who’s ever had to transfer from the 1/2/3 to the L train at 14th street knows it’s the longest walk in the world), but our spirits were high, because we were on our way to see Whale Songz.

If you know me at all – if we’re friends or we work together, or even if you just follow me on Instagram – you know I love Whale Songz, the folk-pop duo comprised of indie singer/songwriters Olivia Barton and Annika Bennett. I found Olivia’s music in 2023, when I saw her open for Lizzy McAlpine at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, then spent that whole summer listening to her sophomore album “This Is A Good Sign.” At some point I signed up for her email list, where she sends little life updates and musings and would talk about writing music with her friend Annika. In the Spring of 2025, I signed up to take songwriting lessons with Olivia and have been lucky enough to work with her ever since. Being the fan that I am, when Whale Songz released their first ep, aptly titled Whale Songz, Vol. 1, on June 20th, 2025, I tuned in immediately. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Whale Songz – which, according to a Whale Songz Instagram post, was born out of Annika and Olivia’s shared need “to reclaim [their] relationship with music and stop with the pressure of needing to be successful and just create together and do it [them]selves” –  is the kind of band that a girl like me (sucker for tight harmonies, listens to queer music like her life depends on it, thinks the meaning of life is making art with your friends, etc.) dreams about. While I didn’t know Annika’s music before Whale Songz (don’t worry, I am now very familiar), if I had and you had told me that she and Olivia were releasing music together, I probably would have burst into tears. 

When I first listened to their second ep (Whale Songz, Vol. 2, which came out this past May), I really did burst into tears– every single song is a platonic love song, an ode to friendship and the joys and heartbreaks it brings. All of this is to say, when the Whale Songz tour was announced, I was first in line to get tickets for the New York show that they would soon be playing at the Stone Circle Theater in Ridgewood, Queens, on July 15th, 2026. Which brings me back to that hot, humid afternoon and the evening that followed.

The day’s fun began when Sam and I arrived to find Annika and Olivia standing beside their rented gray sedan. The venue wasn’t quite ready for them yet, so after saying our hellos, we decided to grab something to eat. As we waited for our acai bowls at a restaurant nearby, Annika inspected the jewelry they had for sale and decided to read our fortunes by randomly pulling rings for each of us and assigning them meaning. According to her, I have a positive romantic shift in the near future (she said an engagement, but I know myself and my partner too well to think that will be happening any time soon) and Sam will experience the end of a major part of their life and enter a new stage (which, honestly, made a lot of sense, given that Sam was about to leave New York and move to Philadelphia). Olivia, on the other hand, was going to attend a carnival or fair and have fun on one of the rides – a seemingly random prediction, until our walk back to Stone Circle Theater, where we passed what looked to be some sort of carnival ride being packed up for transportation. As we made our way back to the venue, we remarked upon the absurdity and accuracy of Annika’s predictions, cracked jokes, and pondered the dangers of ordering fruit and veggie based meals during the height of the cyclospora outbreak. At the end of our walk, we were able to go inside the venue, where we sat on the stage while we each ate our food and I began the interview.

Brooks: How did you guys meet? 


Olivia: I was an Internet fan of Annika's, and Annika didn't know I existed, until I slid into her DMs and forced [her] to meet me… And then we hung out a few times, and then, like, the third time we hung out, I suggested that we go away together for a weekend to write music together, and then the rest is history. 


Annika: Yeah, that’s the artistically licensed version of it, but, yeah… I was going to say that I knew who you were, because our friend Molly had shown me your music, had shown me [the song] “Cartwheel.” 
So, to my memory, we had a mutual fandom thing going. And then we hung out a couple times, but I just don't remember the first time we ever hung out, because I felt like I already knew you. 

Brooks: What year was that? Do you know? 

Annika: Oh, 2024?

Olivia: It was like two years ago

Brooks: Wow. 
Yeah. That's crazy

And it is, at least in my opinion, crazy. Watching Olivia and Annika interact and knowing the music they make together, I never would have guessed that they had known each other for any fewer than five years. And while I’m sure this is in part due to the sense that they already knew each other when they first met, I think it’s also a testament to their shared generosity of spirit and self.  It’s a generosity that quietly makes itself known throughout the day, beginning with their offer to let us sit in their air-conditioned car to escape the heat at the start of our time together, then continuing when they try to delay playing “Elton & John” so that an audience member’s friend (who was delayed on the way there) can be present for the song. It’s also evident in the way that they continue to answer my (sometimes ridiculous) questions throughout the rest of our interview with openness, humor, and wisdom.

Brooks: How did you go from hanging and writing songs together to being Whale Songz? 

Olivia: There was no transition. 
I mean... When we hung out for real, for real, the first time –

Annika: Like, went away and wrote songs together – 
 

Olivia: By the end of that weekend, where we wrote all of Vol. 1… We weren't like, “Oh, we're gonna put all these songs out” after [just those] three days. But we were, like, “Actually, we kind of like this.” It became Whale Songz kind of immediately. 

Annika: It happened so naturally. Like, I don't remember
 us having the feeling of making decisions. It kind of just unfolded. 

Brooks: That's beautiful. 

And here’s where my absolute love (and, perhaps, obsession) with Whale Songz becomes clear, and I begin talking about aspects of Whale Songz that only a somewhat crazed fan or very prepared interviewer would know.

Brooks: Don't you guys go... I don't know, I remember this from an email. Don't you guys go pet sit at someone's house? 


Olivia: Yeah, that's that weekend that we [went away together]. 

Annika: We did it twice. 


Olivia: Oh, yeah, we did… 
Across two different weekends, we wrote Vol. 1 at someone's house. And then, Vol. 2, we wrote at our houses while we were having sleepovers. Then we recorded it at Leith's house in Winnipeg during a week-long sleepover. 

For the uninitiated, Leith Ross is another incredibly talented singer/songwriter, whom I actually interviewed them last Fall, during which we discussed the genius of Whale Songz and Leith’s decision to have Annika and Olivia open for them on some of the dates of their “I Can See The Future” Tour. You can read that piece here.

Once Leith is mentioned, the conversation takes a turn as Sam shares that Leith, now a friend of theirs, was “the only reason why [Sam] picked up a camera” and started working in concert photography. We all talk about how incredibly kind Leith is, and Annika mentions that “[she] was scared of Leith when [they] first met,” because she thought Leith was “too nice.” After getting to know Leith, however, Annika says she learned that Leith isn’t “nice in that way where they can't dig in.” Olivia adds that Leith is a deeply genuine person, and then Annika turns to my phone, where I am recording the interview, and speaks directly to Leith – via, I suppose, the conduit that this piece provides.

Annika: We love you, Leith!
 Leith, if you're seeing this, if you're hearing this... Leith… 

Olivia: We love you!

Annika: We love you. Somebody print this out and mail it to Leith. 

For context, Leith Ross is currently having a year without smart screens (no smart phone, no tv, no Nintendo Switch, etc.) and therefore will not be able to access this article online. They aren’t even using streaming services to listen to music, a fact that inspired Whale Songz to burn CDs of their EPs, which they now sell at their merch table.

Annika: [We were] like, “Oh, Leith can't hear this online.” 

Olivia:
 So, Annika made one to send to Leith, and she was just like, “Wait, should we just make CDs?”

Brooks: That's awesome… So, [although you said it didn’t feel like you made any decisions when starting this project,] one decision that you did make is to name your band Whale Songz with a Z. And I'm wondering how that came about. 

Annika: It was all Olivia's idea, and she pressured me about it. [She] was relentlessly, like, “this has to be the name. 
I love it so much, I believe in it, and it's not a joke to me.” And I was, like, “Fine. If you insist.”

Olivia: I cannot believe you… [Annika] is saying this because I hate the name Whale Songz. 
And she's making fun of me… [But,] when [Annika was] saying that [she feels] like we didn't make any decisions, I was thinking [that] I do not remember at all – at all – the conversation about the term Whale Songz. 
Like, I remember nothing. I know what it means, and we’ll tell you, but I don't remember making the decision to make that the name. 

Annika: We first decided to name the EP Whale Songz, and then people just started calling us Whale Songsz 

Olivia: I don't even remember deciding to name the EP Whale Songz. 

Annika: Yeah, me neither. 

Olivia: But, Whale Songz means –you can go ahead and fact check us on this, 'cause – 

Annika: I was about to say, let's never fact check it for the rest of our lives – 

Please note: Out of respect for this request (and also because I really like the idea), I have not fact-checked the information that Olivia shared with me about whales, which you are about to read. You should feel free to do your own research into the subject, but I think what matters about the fact, at least in this instance, is that it feels true, regardless of whether or not it actually is. Anyways, here’s what Olivia told me about whales.

Olivia: Whales are born with a single tone or melody that they sing – a certain song, if you will. It's the same from when they're born to when they die… And so we were just talking about the metaphor of that with our songs, [the idea] that, basically, we're just trying to say the same thing over and over and say it better and better over [the course of] our lives. There's kind of one thing we're trying to communicate.  

Brooks: Do you think you know what it is you're trying to say? 
Like, if you had to put it [into a few words]. I mean, obviously it's in the songs… 

Olivia: This is the one time I will own having some sort of spirituality. I genuinely think it's an energy. I don't think there's any language or genre or anything to it. I think it's genuinely just a feeling of physical energy that you're portraying with your songs. 

Annika: It’s like the way that you feel in your body... There's a [feeling] in my chest [that I feel all the time,] and when I really write a song, [I feel it in the song.]

Olivia: And then the song has that in it, and then other people are feeling it… But it could be about anything. 

Annika: I'm just thinking, if our songs are the manifestation of how we feel in our bodies, Bruno Mars must be having a fucking amazing time on Earth. 

Olivia: I was just talking about [Bruno Mars] the other day. [A friend of a friend] was [talking about loving his music and saying,] “I'm not ashamed. I love Bruno Mars, and I play Bruno Mars in the coffee shop [where I work,] and other people think I'm lame, and I don't care. 
I love Bruno Mars.” And I thought, “I haven't heard anyone talk about him in a while.” And honestly, like, hell yeah! 
Love what you love. Also, he's groovy as fuck! But I just hadn't thought about him in years [before that conversation], and I can't believe you just [brought him up again.] 

Annika: Did I ever tell you that I saw Pitbull?

Olivia: No.

Annika: I never told you this? I saw Pitbull at the Hollywood Bowl, like, three weeks ago. 


Olivia: Three weeks ago? And you didn't tell me? 


Sam: Was that the show where he broke the record with the bald caps? 

Annika: I have no idea, but there were a lot of bald caps. 


Olivia: I have no idea what you're talking about. 

Brooks: People wear bald caps to Pitbull shows.

Olivia: Why? 

Sam and Brooks: 'Cause he's bald. 


Sam: The Guinness Book of World Records gave him a big-ass plaque, presented it to him, saying, “You broke the world record for the amount of people at an event wearing a bald cap.”

Olivia: No, you're joking. 

Sam was not, in fact, joking. You can read about the record-breaking bald caps here.

Olivia: I would so much rather get that Guinness record than the one Harry Styles just got [for longest residency by a musician at Wembley Stadium in a single run].

Sam: [Apparently there were] 22,000 people in bald caps.


Olivia: No fucking, you're fucking with me right now… Make this the headline of this interview… Let’s keep the interview going, but that is amazing.

Annika: Pitbull was euphoric. Because the thing with him is that you don't even know all the songs that he's on. But you just know when you hear them, because you’ve danced to every single one of them at a club. They're all bangers, and Pitbull has a heart of gold… [The show] was so sweet and genuine, and he's just loving it, and then he built a school in Miami, he’s doing all this amazing work, genuinely helping the world. And [he’s doing that with money from] music made for partying.

It’s safe to say that I had absolutely zero expectation that we would talk about Pitbull in this interview, but I’m enjoying it, so I follow the conversation for a moment longer until I attempt to bring us all back to our original conversation.

Brooks: Okay, so that's how you guys came to be Whale Songz… 


Annika: [The fact that we] got to Pitbull and that’s where we started…

Sam: I mean, all the greats: Whale Songz, Bruno Mars, Pitbull…

Brooks: I mean, this interview is really great because I also just get to ask questions that I personally have, such as – speaking of the greats – why is [the fourth song on Whale Songz, Vol. 1, which never mentions Elton John] called “Elton & John?” 

Olivia: Because it's about Elton John and John Lennon. 

Annika: Okay. But no -

Olivia: Well, that's what “Elton & John”
[means] –

Annika: Oh, yeah, sure. Elton John and John Lennon. You know the line [in the song] that says, “We're in the part of the memoir before it all works out?” 

Olivia: That’s her fucking bio [on social media].

Brooks: It’s true.

Annika: So, I’d just read Elton John’s memoir… And he talks about his friendship with John Lennon. And then, obviously, John Lennon was killed, and at the end of the book, there was some line that was just talking about missing his friend, John. 
And there was – at least, I perceived – a sadness at the end of the book, and it just made me think about how he's someone who's done everything you could ever want to do. But he has so much reverence for the days where he was doing it versus… having the goal be to have done all these things. It's like, no, the doing it is what's so sick. 


Brooks: Well, thank you for answering that burning question of mine... When I started writing down what questions I wanted to ask you guys, the first question I wrote down was, “Who is the number one Whale Songz fan and why is it me?” And then the second question I wrote was, “Do you guys like my [custom Whale Songz] shirt?”

Olivia: Okay. The answer to the first one is... Because you're the only person with a Whale Songz lyric in your bio. 
The only one. So, not only are you the number one Whales Songz fan, I think you're the only real Whales Songz fan. 

Brooks: Yep, and no one else has this shirt [because it is a custom Whale Songz shirt that my girlfriend designed herself and got me for my birthday.] 


Olivia: No one else has that shirt. 

Annika: You don’t know about the bio. 

Olivia: Oh yeah, that’s true. You think there's someone else that has a Whale Songz lyric as their bio? 


Annika: I can hope 

Sam: Brooks is kind of like a Mormon for Whale Songz. 

Olivia: Yeah.

Brooks: I'm like a missionary.

Like I said, if I know you at all, you’ve probably seen me raving about Whale Songz. I am so deeply inspired by their work and their commitment to being in complete control of the project; they have done everything from production to making ticket links all by themselves. Whale Songz isn’t the only reason that one of my best friends and I decided to start a band together last summer (stream Fresh Fruits!), but they were (and continue to be) a huge influence. I love every single song they’ve released together, but this direct line of inspiration is why their song “Cast Iron,” which is about their friendship and artistic collaboration, is so dear to me. The hook of the song is a repeated line of “I want to know you for the rest of my life,” but my favorite lyrics are the ones so insanely specific that only Annika and Olivia could have written them – lyrics like “shitting with the door wide open” and “giving coffee to a cricket.” The meaning of the latter, however, has always been a bit unclear to me, which inspires my next query.

 Brooks: Okay, “ ‘Like giving coffee to a cricket.’ Hey, what?” is what the question says. 

Olivia: Go ahead, Annika

Annika: Because... 
a cricket chirps all the time. 
And then imagine if you gave it coffee. It's already up all night chirping. [If you gave it coffee,] it would just go absolutely crazy. That's what we're like. 

Brooks: 
Like, you guys both already have a lot to say, and then you get together [and have even more to say]?

Olivia : It's like saying, but also singing, because then the next line is... “Filling the page, making it rhyme.” 
So it's kind of like, “we're just singing and making up songs all night” It’s like, for us, being together is like caffeine. 

Brooks: That’s beautiful. What are your favorite songs of each other's?

Olivia: Well, originally, my favorite song
of Annika's was the entirety of the ROOM EP. I fell in love with her EP called ROOM,
 but right now, my favorite is “I Used To Want” because it says everything. You, [Annika,] actually said everything in one song… “Life gets hard, and enough goes wrong, and you see the hill you're fucking dying on?” Fuck!

Brooks: “ I wish it didn't take so fucking long.”

Olivia and Brooks: 
“To start living?” 

Brooks: Goddamn! 

Olivia: So that's my favorite. 


Brooks: Beautiful. Good choice. 

Annika: Thanks… So, the first songs I loved from Olivia Barton were “Cartwheel” and “I Love You Just For Trying.” I can't pick one because “I Love You Just For Trying” is not my favorite, but it is the one that I probably have cried to the most. 
And I think that my favorite to send someone that doesn't know your music is “Kissing In Public.”
 You know what I listened to recently that I loved? “My First House.” I don’t think I can pick a favorite.

Olivia: That's okay! Next question!

Brooks: What do you listen to to get pumped up if you don't want to listen to your own music, and therefore cannot listen to “Power, Sex, Dreams?”

I just have to say… if you haven’t listened to Power, Sex, Dreams by Annika Bennett, you must give it a try, particularly if you’re a young woman in her twenties. It’s become my go-to song for getting out of a funk. It’s also become my go-to song for when I’m in a great mood and want to celebrate that! Finish reading this piece, and then go stream it. I’m serious. 


Olivia: Great question. I can't tell you how many people have found [Annika] through me and texted me saying, “What the fuck is this ‘Power, Sex, Dream’ song?” Like, in the best way. 

Annika: I never play that song live… That is so funny

Olivia: I love some Michelle Branch. And, um... Charlie XCX. 


Annika: We forgot to listen to Charli in the car. 

Olivia: Fuck. It's ‘cause we talk too much. 


Brooks: And you love some Justin Bieber. 

Olivia: Oh, I love Justin Bieber

Annika: What is my pump up music? 
Charlie XCX or sometimes, like, Steely Dan? 

Olivia: Oh, fuck, yeah. Wait, that should have been mine. 


Annika: We can share.

Olivia. Okay. Those are the two wolves [inside of us].

Annika: There's two wolves, and there's a house cat, which is our own music. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Brooks: 
That's beautiful. One last question I want to ask is what is your favorite thing about working with each other? 


Annika: That we laugh all the time. 

Olivia: Yeah. You love to laugh. 


Annika: Who doesn't? 

Oliva: Everyone loves to laugh, but you love to laugh. That's your love language. 


Annika: Yes, it is. 

Olivia: But you laugh with a lot of people, so what do you like about me [specifically]? 


Annika: About laughing with you?

Olivia: No, about working with [me]. 

Annika: Well, I think the fact that we're working, we're doing work things, but we're laughing the whole time. 
Is there literally anything better? No.

Olivia: Yeah, okay, you're kind of right. 

Annika: But do you mean, what do I love about working with you in the nitty gritty? 


Olivia: Sure. 

Annika: I like that our work ethics feel pretty matched. 

Olivia: Oh my God, yeah, they actually feel so matched.

Annika: Like, it doesn't feel like either one of us is overly controlling or lazy. We both work hard and we both... 

Olivia: Let things slide. 

Annika: Let things slide. 
Yeah. 

Olivia: I totally agree with you, Annika. 
What I like about working with you is that you make me a better songwriter. You push me to make it better. 
And I love when we [do] what happened last night, where I just made my way into your bed, and we just... 

Annika:
 And we just laughed? 

Olivia: Chatted it up and laughed. 

Annika: Me too. 


Olivia: And then we fell asleep. Did you know that? I think that's the first time it's ever happened.. 

Annika: We have sleepovers!

Olivia:
 Yes, but when [two people] sleep in the same bed, you always fall asleep next to each other. 
This is the first time we've been hanging out in a bed talking until we literally both fell asleep. And then I woke up, and I was like, “Are you sleeping?” And you were like, “Yeah”. 
And I was like, “Bye.” And I went into my room and went to sleep. It was the best. 
I've never done that with anyone. 

Annika: Right, like, especially on a... like, we're on a “work trip.”
Air quotes. 

Now, this is the part of an interview where I would usually ask someone about their “personal soap box,” something that they believe in and want people to know about, whether large or small. Given that our conversation has spanned so much, however, I feel like they have both already stood on multiple soapboxes and told the world what they believed in. They’ve shared their love for each other, their excitement about Pitbull, and their belief that the doing of something is more valuable than the having done it. So instead, I ask them if there is anything else they want to bring up, regardless of its relation to the rest of the interview.

Brooks: Are there any last things you want to tell the people?

Olivia: 
I want to tell the people to listen to the Matt Damon episode of Amy Poehler's podcast... It's not fancy or funny, I just think they're both incredibly fucking good at what they do, and I love listening to people talk about their art form in a really nitty gritty way. And they talk about filmmaking and comedy and stuff in a way that [made me think], “These are fucking genius people.” 
So shoutout Matt Damon. He's great. How about you, Annika? 


Annika: What do I wanna tell people? Um... 
Just share Whale Songz with your 100 closest friends.

Olivia: I thought we were-

Annika: I’m kidding. 

Olivia: Oh. 

Annika: 100 closest friends? 


Olivia: No, but you can't have yours be Whale Songz related. I just told them all to go check out Matt Damon. 

Annika: Okay, scratch that. 
I can just tell them anything… Oh my God. You know what we realized yesterday? Some fish don't have homes. 

Olivia: That is one of the things we talked about while falling asleep. 


Annika: Some fish, in the deep ocean – where is their house? They're just gonna swim around forever… Isn't it actually pretty sad that there's so many fish in the ocean that just keep moving forever and ever [and don’t have homes]? 


Olivia: That's not sad if they don't want one.

Annika: But what if they just want to curl up and not feel in danger? 
They never get that. That sucks!

Olivia:
 We were talking about the fish in the deep, deep, deep sea. And as we were falling asleep last night, I said, “Annika, they're there right now.” And she was like... 


Annika: Like, right now, there's a fish down there that I bet, if you told him about a bed and a house –

Olivia: No, I think you’re so wrong –

Annika: But a fish version, a fish version – If you told [a fish] about a little rock he could curl up next to,
he'd be like, “Are you kidding me?” 

Sam: I'm sure there's rocks down there. 

Brooks: Or some coral.

Annika: No, not in the deep ocean, because there are a lot of fish that –

Olivia: [That] don't live on the floor [of the ocean]. 

Sam: There's a lot of middle. 

Annika: There is so much middle. So much middle. What if they just want to rest?

Sam: A nice way to think about it is that they don't really experience it as dark, because they make their own light. 

Olivia: Yes. 


Sam: So, there are ups and downs of there being so much middle. 


Olivia: Okay, I have to poop now. 

Brooks: Okay, have fun. 

Olivia: You can put that in [the interview] too. 


And with that, the interview is over. It ends in the same way the day began, with Annika and Olivia sharing so much of themselves, seemingly completely comfortable. The rest of the night continues that way as Sam and I cry watching them soundcheck, then meet up with our respective partners and our friend Hayley (the other half of my band, the Olivia to my Annika) to sit and watch the concert and cry some more. The show feels less like a performance and more like a bunch of friends, consisting of both the audience and the people on stage, hanging out. Even when their set is over, Olivia and Annika stay for what must be close to an hour, hugging fans and listening to what near-strangers tell them with the same care that they listen to each other. 

In my (deeply biased, but also deeply informed) opinion, it is this willingness to give and receive in equal measure, this openness and groundedness, that makes Whale Songz and the surrounding community so special. It’s why I recognize a girl in the crowd as a customer at my day job, with whom I once had a long conversation about Whale Songz when she complimented my work playlist. It’s why, in the days following the show, I start regularly messaging with people who I met in the audience. It’s why I want to know them for the rest of my life, and it’s why their music makes my friends and I cry so much; there is power in watching these women make beautiful art from their beautiful friendship and do it exactly the way they want to. Annika and Olivia may not have intended to name themselves Whale Songz, but given the way their shared melody travels across oceans to resonate with their audience, given the fact that whales are deeply powerful and deeply communal creatures (blue whales are the largest creature on Earth and still choose not to swim alone!), it certainly seems fitting to me.

I have hope that, one day, my friends and I will be the ones making art together in exactly the ways we want to. It’s a process that I know will take a long time, but I can feel it beginning as I work on pieces like this one with Sam and write songs with Hayley. And until these seeds of dreams come to their full fruition, I have Whale Songz to listen to. I get to know that Annika and Olivia are talking about Pitbull and falling asleep in each other’s beds and making some of the best music I have ever heard and, in doing so, are showing me just how much is possible. I get to know that for the rest of my life.

Connect with Whale Songz here!

Words by Brooks Gillespie

Photos by Sam Schucker