Dear Humans is an electronic soul duo consisting of producer Corey Epstein and vocalist + songwriter Alex Who?. Originally from Colorado, Epstein has been a musician and producer for over 20 years and in March 2018 he launched NCTRNL Recorcds which has quickly established itself as one of LA’s top deep house labels.

Alex Who? Is a Dutch-Tanzanian singer and songwriter. After graduating from the Amsterdam school for performing arts she starred in various Dutch television series and films before her demo caught the attention of Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic records. That triggered her move to the states, getting signed by Empire Records and releasing two EPs in the past few years.

Over the coming months Dear Humans will be releasing several more singles, with an EP slated for later in the year. Ahead of the release of their next single, Blinded, we caught up with them for a Little Talk.

WWD: Hi guys – welcome to WWD. Where in the world do we find you today?

We are currently based in Los Angeles, dreaming about summers in Europe.

WWD: Can you tell us a bit about your backgrounds, how you got into music in the first place and what you’ve done in your careers before forming Dear Humans?

We started about a year and half ago.  Alex was an actress in Holland after finishing Theatre School and has played in television series, theatre shows and movies before making the full switch to music. She travelled the world living in various countries like Holland, England, Turkey, Cambodia before ending up in New york, reeled in by Atlantic Records. Two years later she was signed by Empire records and released her first solo album with them called “This is Who”.

Corey grew up playing bluegrass music with his dad. First guitar, then a bit of mandolin as well. His brother bought turntables when I was about 11 and he exposed me to dance music really early on. By the time I was 15, he was lying and saying he was 18 to start DJing in some clubs in Denver. Took a break from electronic music for a bit and really got into production about 7 years ago. He really liked where the music was going in terms from melodic techno vis a vis Solomun + 1 at Pacha, beach sets in Tulum, and sunrises at Mayan Warrior. Now he’s 35, and I’m trying to invest almost all of his time into music.

WWD: Tell us about how you met, and what you wanted to achieve with Dear Humans before you started?

 A few years ago we met in Tulum when Alex Who? was performing and Corey who had been DJing and producing for many years prior heard word he should make his way down to the beach. Yet it wasn’t until years later when Alex was released from her record deal that our first session happened. Right there in that first session is when Dear Humans was born. We immediately clicked musically and started developing a live performance act and our 1st songs.

WWD: Your last single Fire was a protest song in support of the BLM movement… what do you think the music industry could and should be doing to support this cause?

Actually It wasn’t necessarily a support for the black lives matter movement specifically, although we do support it!

Fire is a track about revolution. We feel Art like all music should be a reflection of the times we live in. That is how FIRE came to exist. The youth are the ones leading the revolution which is why we open up with “teacher say what’s happening here? Teach me cause this sh*t aint clear”. Most revolution songs are dated and we wanted to create a song to the beat of today’s drum. The music industry especially is very heavily influenced by black culture, in fact its foundations are built upon black culture.  The very apparent social injustice could definitely be helped by a shift in ownership of music. More black and female music execs, more ownership of the music that stays with the artists instead of large predominantly white owned companies are first steps to take in the right direction.

WWD: Electronic music rarely has that much of a political message – certainly in comparison to a genre like hip-hop. Is that something you’d like to see change?

Music like any other art form should be a reflection of the times we live in. When you look back on moments in time where the most interesting music was made i has always been when there was something to fight or speak up for.  If there was ever a time to speak up it would be now. We truly believe that’s a responsibility we all have.

That been said. Every artist has complete freedom of expression. We would never be in a position to tell other people what their music should be about. There’s so much of it out there. Something for everyone

WWD: What was the music you grew up listening to. And how do you feel that affected your outlook on life, if at all?

Alex: The music I grew up with is really diverse. From Nina simone to Tribe called quest, from Vivaldi to Erykah Badu to Cream. That diversity in taste has definitely effected the wide range of music we make with Dear Humans as well.

Corey: Grew up with a lot of acoustic music, some early 90s hip hop and r&b, later was into punk and metal and then dance music came into my life around 1998. I’m also into a lot of jazz, classical, rock, r&b, funk, and Alex has really introduced me to a whole new palette of sounds and artists.

WWD: Is there one thing that defines a Dear Humans production? Or is that putting too much of a restriction on your creative process?

I would have to say purpose. We always want to give people some food for thought if you really dig into any of our tracks. That goes for all of our music, not just the ballads. Songs that contain a sense of unity and elevation have always been our favorite music to rave to.

WWD: Tell us about your upcoming single, Blinded. It’s quite different to Fire – to us at least. Is this more ‘typical’ of what we can expect from you?

Well when you go back to our catalog of music, it would be fire that’s more of an exception in this case than Blinded. Fire was actually the first song we ever did together. We are continuously trying to reinvent ourselves though so it would be safer to suggest to expect the unexpected.

WWD: Why is live performance such an important part of what you do?

It’s one of the best parts. The process of making music is a very secluded one and you don’t know what the effect is on people until you get that response. Energy doesn’t lie.. other than that we both love travelling a lot. that’s maybe what we’re missing the most right now!

WWD: What else do you have coming up over the rest of the year?

Well we will keep on making music. Religiously. It all really depends on this pandemic and how it will evolve. We cannot wait to start playing shows again, and by the time that that happens again we’ll be ready.

WWD: Finally, what’s been the single or album you’ve listened to most this year so far? 

We’ve both been obsessed with the band Sault. They came out with two albums called 5 and 7 last year and are a complete mystery. That doesn’t really happen anymore. We know everything about artist now, the mystery is gone. Also there isn’t a week that goes by without us listening to Ali Faka Toure. African roots is something we always seem to return to.