LA Music Review | Art, stories and advice
Fresh and totally inspiring!
Hi Ginkgo Balboa, welcome to LA Music Review! Tell us a little bit about you and your music?
We are an indie alt-pop duo based in Los Angeles.
We like to refer to our music as “pandemic music,” because we were mastering our first songs in the early months of 2020, but now that the pandemic is in its twilight, it can be called “post-pandemic music.” A lot has changed in those few years since Ginkgo Balboa’s inception.
Congrats on the release! What was your inspiration when you were writing this project?
Released July 28, 2023. “Helena Troy” is loosely inspired by the story of Helen of Troy, which is told about a prostitute – but we play with the perspective of a “john.” The song is our latest single, and is featured on our new EP Balloon Duty, which, as a whole, has a few origins of inspiration. Since we initially formed, there have been a slew of songs that, for lack of a better descriptor, didn’t fit the cut. Usually, that was because it didn’t fit with the sound we were going for. We started to gather a backstock of all these really good songs and riffs that, in order for them to work, would have to be refined and prodded.
We didn’t think it was fair to us to sit on all this good music that we worked so hard on, only to never have it see the light of day. That’s what Balloon Duty is, in a nutshell. That doesn’t mean that all of these tunes are old tunes. “Helena Troy”, for example, was written in the summer of 2022, and far later than some of our songs that have yet to be released. And as for the others on the EP, they have evolved from their initial forms.
What lessons would you like to impart with your audience?
Definitely learned a lot of patience. But seriously, don’t be afraid to lean into that.
When there’s something that you’re extremely passionate about, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Can perfection be achieved with just one guy? Probably not. It’s nice to have more than one brain weigh in.
Start streaming “Helena Troy” here:
What is your favorite part of this body of work?
We just can’t wait to play Balloon Duty live, as a collective. There’s no favorite, as they’re all jigsaw puzzle pieces of the same greater works.
Once the writing process is complete, it’s just a waiting game before we can bring that to the rest of the band and actually hear these songs performed in real time. Sometimes, we’re not even sure if we have to be on stage for that. We just want to hear someone playing the songs! It doesn’t seem real until the work in the studio carries over to the stage.
Also, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention a rather underrated aspect of this project, and that is the cover art. We did that all ourselves, with a ragtag team, and that’s been part of our DIY appeal from day one. We imagine the clown as entertainment but the overall ambience of the image seems melancholy. The name “Balloon Duty” fits into the whole scheme of the imagery because there are no balloons anywhere in the image. There is a clown and what we are to assume is an empty tank of ehem “helium.” This symbolized that there’s something missing. Here is a clown, who’s only job was to supply the entertainment and, somehow failed at that. It’s sort of a nod to broken promises, and disappointments. In many ways, this relates to the songs on the EP.
Future releases? Upcoming events?
After Balloon Duty, we plan on getting back to the drawing board.
We already have about 8 more ideas down the pike. Some of those we will probably give more attention than others, but we always have material to sift through. A fan once coined the phrase Gink Balbs Nation, as a name for our follower base. We buy into that enthusiasm, and it’s things like that motivating us to keep on churning the idea mill. Who’s to say what’s to come!
Connect with Ginkgo Balboa:
