We were lucky to catch up with Galalee Wright & Jesse Hatten recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Galalee Wright &, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In a small town that really cherishes folk, bluegrass and a man with a guitar–growing into our sound and not knowing how we fit into this very specific community was a challenge. Exploring and becoming who we are has been a weirdly public journey and because of this we have faced our fair share of scrutiny and judgment. Between our many hair colors, body mods, clothing choice phases and alternatively expressive outward style/sound we don’t fit into the typical northern Minnesota mold. While we were always aware of this we still chose to continue the uphill climb of presenting our genuine selves. Although we showcase what we have heard described as a confident or intimidating exterior-inside we have always been very soft, sensitive and hyper aware. This concoction of things has always made stage performance extremely daunting but our drive to create and share the music that we produce reigns most important. Our first performance was in 2010 as 9 year olds at a cafe/meetinghouse. Growing up surrounded by acoustic folk and songwriting we embraced live piano and harmony following the current and style of the local scene. This was welcomed and easy to swallow for community members and it didn’t hurt that we were endearing and young. After several years of cafe and festival performance we took a many year break to soul search and find our sound. During the covid shutdowns of 2020 we found ourselves in a pod with ample idle time. This lull was the space that we needed to launch into a new iteration of what we are capable of creating with music. Melding technology and song for the first time was life-changing, we were suddenly able to construct soundscapes with the dramatic cinematic impact we had only ever dreamed of. Because of the raw and vulnerable nature of our past performance style we had stopped imagining performance for ourselves altogether, however with the immersive qualities of what we had begun to produce, the desire to perform started to creep in once again. It took us two years to gather the courage to more seriously consider taking on the stage. Almost as if the universe heard our curiosities, we were presented with an opportunity to perform at a show that seemed very aligned with our creative vision. This show was playing with all senses, making unique customized performance environments such as flash-image projection, surreal atmospheric lighting and an interactive art show fever dream. The audience for an event like this took to our weirdness like moths to a flame. This opened our eyes to an entirely new group of listeners who sunk into the vibe without looking back. Not only had we faced a build up of roughly 9 years of crippling performance anxiety but we had been able to pull off and portray something we had envisioned and it had landed!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are embalmingEva, a moody experience/synth/harmony duo. Born and raised in Northern MN by two musically inclined families. While being immersed in music and talent from a young age we have paved our own way to reach this very authentically “us” expression of experience and sound. We have both endured grief and hardships throughout our lives and this is the glue that binds the two of us together. Music has been the heart of our relationship since day one and has continued to be an incredible coping outlet for the last 16 years. While our art has changed shape over the years the therapy of it has remained. In our lyrics we touch on a plethora of hard hitting and relatable topics that we have had personal experiences with. Our goal is to have listeners captivated by not only the overall feel of the songs but upon further listening feel as though they know us to our very core. Hopefully this can also push them to process their own experiences through the words and reach a greater self understanding. We have learned to thrive in the uncomfortable, point out the painful and encourage ultimate authenticity in our audiences.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

We were under the impression that in order for our music to be a “success” that we would need to put a lot of the control in other hands. That in order to record, produce and release we would need to look outside of ourselves and that we were incapable of creating success on our own. Even now we face criticism and backhanded comments that allude to us not properly fitting into the general idea of how to create a brand/produce. We often find ourselves having to defend our methods and reassure (often men) that we in fact don’t need their help with the things that make us passionate. This is an ongoing lesson we are continuing to feel empowered within and fight. Another lesson and reality we have become aware of is the pressures of being in the public eye. As fulfilling as it is to perform and showcase our music to an audience it also comes with its many fears and battles. Facing the harsh realities of insecurity that come with being authentic and vulnerable on stage has -at some points- consumed us. It’s not easy being filmed from every angle, hearing our voices through phone speakers and wondering if what we’re doing or sounding like is “good enough”. Overcoming the hyper-critical aspects of ourselves instilled at a young age has been a learning curve, especially entering the music industry as women. These lessons aren’t fully unlearned and overcoming them will be lifelong but we consider ourselves very willing to learn indefinitely.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For us, we have chosen to pursue having regular jobs to be able to sustain financial stability as well as keeping our art sacred/as far from job-like as possible. We have never been money motivated in our craft and feel compelled to keep our passion alive. The most meaningful moments so far have been conversations we have had following shows that highlight the impact we have had on viewers/listeners of all ages and walks of life. We connected with a young female drummer, encouraged her to continue her interest, and told her about our process & our independence. She was in a music program that we were also in when we were her age which made this moment even more special. We have had feedback that our words inspire change in relationships, feelings of nostalgia and a deeper sense of self. One listener connected with the story of a particular song enough to feel drawn to get a tattoo of the lyrics as an eternal reminder of what that lyric symbolizes. Hearing what our audience takes away from what we do is incredibly fulfilling and extremely rewarding. It surprises us every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://embalmingeva.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embalmingeva/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@embalmingEva
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/64pAAC2AxxqymZMZiHItuA

Image Credits

1st photo with the heart taken by Henriette Blade
Spotlight photo taken by Catherine Karakas
Head holding photo taken by Henriette Blade
Goat photo taken by Marcel Hones
Grape photo taken by Liv Johnson
Blue performance photo taken by Jocelyn Pihlaja