Wigs are iconic in fashion, films, and the everyday for millions of people that love to look good without the hassle of normal hair or simply as an aesthetic tool for their dream look. In fact, Yahoo Finance state that the The Hair Wigs and Extensions market size was worth around US$ 6.48 billion in 2022. That makes it a massive market in the US alone.
From blonde to brunette colors, a great wig will change the way you feel about yourself and way people perceive you. In this guide, we’ll be looking at the typical wig costs that can range from a mere $20 to a mighty $500, the range of wigs we found will be perfect for you and hopefully will aid you in finding the perfect solution for your daily life.
Affordable Wigs
Being on a budget will help you establish a preferred style and while the quality might not be top notch you’ll still get a good deal. A cheap wig can cost as low as $20 but you will notice that tight budget within the results it will produce. We’d recommend always saving up to get a better wig if you can, but temporary cheap wig options are not a bad shout if you’re looking for a quick solution without shilling out hundreds of dollars.
Here are some example costs of affordable wigs:
Lace frontal wig – $40
Luxe lace wig – $50
Curtain Bang Lite Wig – $22
Real Hair Wigs
Human hair wigs like UNice pre-cut lace front wigs are a superb way to establish an authentic look that is inseparable from normal hair without the pain of maintaining the normal hair. Real hair wigs are pricier than cheap budget wigs but they do deliver on things like quality, style, application and aesthetics (a true natural look). You simply can’t go wrong with real hair wigs.
Quick Glueless Lace Water Wave Invisible Knots Wig – $139
Frontal Super Secure Water Wave Pre-Everything Wig – $159
Final Thoughts
Choosing the correct wig for your comes down to many things including budget, quality, and aesthetics. We hope our swift guide will help you decide on your buying decision when buying a wig online or in-person.
We always recommend trying out a few different looks and seeing what fits best. Ask your friends or family to give you some ideas too, they might know you better than yourself especially when it comes to combining or creating looks.
Remember, while budget-friendly wigs are great because they are affordable, they won’t have the high-quality of the real hair wigs which are simply unmatched when it comes to finish and look. The durability aspect of a real hair wig should also be recognised. If you buy cheap, you may pay twice, which will make it economically a bad decision. So, save your money and go with a real hair wig to make the best decision of your life!
As you arrive in a new country to pursue your dreams of higher education, you are likely feeling excited and looking forward to the new experiences that lie ahead. Between getting ready and making adjustments, getting enough health insurance is an important thing for international students to think about. In this article, you will explore why having health insurance is vital for international students.
Reasons Why International Students Need Health Insurance
Financial Protection
In many countries, the cost of health care can be very high, especially for emergencies, stays in the hospital, or visits with specialists. Having health insurance for international students ensures they can access necessary medical care without worrying about the cost. Depending on the policy, it pays for things like doctor visits, prescription drugs, diagnostic tests, and surgeries.
Legal Requirements
As a condition of their visa, many countries and schools require students to have adequate health insurance. This makes sure that students can get medical care during their stay and can handle any emergencies that may come up.
If a student does not have health insurance, it could affect their visa status and their ability to go to school.
Access to Quality Healthcare
Many insurance companies have networks of doctors and hospitals that they work with, which makes it easier for students to get medical help when they need it. This access to quality healthcare supports students in managing their health proactively and addressing any medical concerns promptly.
Challenges Without Health Insurance
High Healthcare Costs
If someone does not have health insurance, they have to pay for their own medical bills, which can be very expensive. Healthcare costs, such as doctor visits, hospitalizations, surgeries, and prescription medications, add up quickly and may result in financial strain or debt.
Without insurance to negotiate lower rates or cover expenses, individuals may delay seeking necessary medical care, compromising their health in the long run.
Limited Access to Healthcare
Anyone who does not have health insurance might have trouble getting medical care. Some healthcare providers may require upfront payment or refuse treatment to uninsured patients. This lack of access can delay diagnosis and treatment for medical conditions, leading to worsened health outcomes.
Aside from that, uninsured individuals may rely on emergency rooms for primary care, contributing to overcrowding and longer wait times in hospitals.
Legal and Administrative Issues
Without valid health coverage, individuals may face penalties, fines, or legal consequences. Immigration authorities may require proof of health insurance for visa approval or renewal, and failure to comply could result in visa denial or deportation.
Administratively, managing healthcare expenses without insurance can be complex. Billing and payment issues, disputes over medical charges, and navigating healthcare bureaucracy become more challenging without insurance coverage.
Prioritize Obtaining Adequate Health Insurance
Investing in your health today will not only mitigate potential risks but also empower you to fully embrace and thrive in your educational experience. So, stay healthy, stay informed, and enjoy your journey as an international student.
Picture how happy someone will be when they open a beautifully made group greeting card full of sweet notes from coworkers or friends. The way the card looks adds a lot to this special moment, turning it from just a message into a keepsake that will be remembered.
If you know what steps to take, getting to this level of beauty and cohesiveness can be fun and rewarding. Here are six best tips to help you create a stunning group greeting card that will be cherished by its recipient.
1. Choose a Consistent Theme
Start by picking a consistent theme for your group greeting card. This could be based on the occasion, like birthdays or holidays, or a specific style, like vintage or modern.
Having a theme helps everything look cohesive and tied together. It guides your choices for colors, images, and decorations, making the card look well-planned and attractive.
2. Select High-Quality Materials
Using high-quality materials can make a big difference in how your card looks and feels. Choose sturdy cardstock or thick paper for the card base.
High-quality materials not only look better but also feel better in the hands of the recipient. This attention to quality shows that you put effort and care into making the card, which adds to its overall appeal.
3. Opt for a Balanced Color Scheme
A balanced color scheme makes your card visually pleasing. Pick a few colors that go well together and stick with them throughout the card.
Avoid using too many colors, which can make the card look chaotic. Instead, use complementary or harmonious colors to create a cohesive and attractive look. This makes the card look professional and thoughtfully designed.
4. Use High-Quality Images and Graphics
High-quality images and graphics can significantly enhance the look of your greeting card. Whether you’re using photos, illustrations, or patterns, make sure they are clear and high-resolution. However, blurry or pixelated images can make the card look cheap. Using crisp, high-quality visuals ensures that the card looks polished and appealing.
5. Experiment with Unique Folding and Cutting Techniques
Adding unique folding or cutting techniques can make your card stand out. Try different folds, like a pop-up or accordion fold, to add dimension and interest.
You can also use die-cuts or cutouts to create interesting shapes and designs. These creative touches make the card more engaging and fun, adding a special element that sets it apart.
6. Proofread and Double-Check Details
Before finalizing your greeting card, make sure to proofread and double-check all details. Check for spelling and grammatical errors, ensuring that all text is correct. Look over any names, dates, and messages to ensure they are accurate. Attention to detail shows that you care about the card’s quality and the recipient’s experience.
Make Meaningful Connections Today
Whether you choose traditional paper cards or opt for electronic group greeting cards, every detail contributes to a memorable and meaningful greeting. So, embrace your creativity, pay attention to the details, and make meaningful connections today with beautifully crafted group greeting cards that leave a lasting impression.
If it is raining hard, your stormwater pits will help keep your yard from flooding and runoff under control. For stormwater pits to keep working well and protect your property and the environment from water damage and pollution, they need to be properly maintained.
Proper maintenance of stormwater pits involves more than just occasional cleaning. In this article, you will explore six essential tips for maintaining stormwater pits that will help you uphold their effectiveness and longevity.
1. Regular Inspection
Regular inspections are crucial for ensuring stormwater pits function effectively. Inspect pits at least twice a year, ideally before and after the rainy season. Look for signs of damage, cracks, or erosion around the pit.
Check the grate covers and ensure they are secure and free from damage. Inspections help identify issues early, preventing costly repairs and ensuring the pit operates efficiently during heavy rainfall.
2. Clearing Debris
Clearing debris from stormwater pits is essential to prevent clogging and maintain proper drainage. Remove leaves, twigs, litter, and sediment that accumulate on the grate covers and inside the pit.
Debris can block water flow, leading to localized flooding or overflow during storms. Use appropriate tools like rakes or vacuum equipment to clear debris effectively. Regular maintenance keeps the pit clear and allows it to function optimally during rainfall.
3. Checking for Blockages
Check for blockages within stormwater pits to ensure uninterrupted water flow. Inspect pipes, inlet/outlet channels, and internal chambers for any obstructions caused by debris, sediment buildup, or vegetation growth.
Blockages can impede water movement, causing backups and potential flooding in surrounding areas. If needed, use a flashlight to inspect interior areas and remove any blockages carefully. Consider flushing the pit with water to dislodge stubborn debris.
4. Monitoring Water Levels
Regularly monitor water levels in stormwater pits to ensure they don’t exceed capacity during heavy rains. High water levels indicate the pit may not be draining properly or could be blocked.
Use water level indicators or observe during rain events to check for any signs of overflowing. Maintaining optimal water levels helps prevent flooding and ensures the pit functions effectively in managing stormwater runoff.
5. Inspecting for Structural Damage
Inspect stormwater pits for structural damage to maintain their integrity and functionality. Look for cracks, erosion, or signs of wear on pit walls, floors, and surrounding structures.
Structural damage can compromise the pit’s ability to contain water or lead to leaks that affect nearby areas. Repair any identified damage promptly using suitable materials and techniques to prevent further deterioration.
6. Preventing Sediment Build-Up
Sediment can accumulate over time, reducing the pit’s storage volume and clogging drainage systems. To keep debris from getting into the pit, put in sediment traps or filters. With the right tools, clean the pit floor regularly and remove any sediment that is there. Take steps to stop erosion in the areas around the property to keep sediment from building up.
Ensure Optimal Performance of Your Stormwater Pits
By following these best practices for maintaining stormwater pits, you can ensure their optimal performance and longevity. So, keep your stormwater pits in top condition to protect your property and the environment.
The dining table is often the centerpiece of a home, where family and friends gather to share meals, conversations, and memories. Choosing the right size dining table for your space is essential for both functionality and aesthetics.
Whether you have a spacious dining room or a cozy breakfast nook, selecting a table that fits well and suits your needs can enhance the overall look and feel of your home. This guide will explore some essential tips on how to pick the right size dining table for your space.
1. Measure Your Space
Before you start shopping for dining tables, measure your dining area to determine how much space you have available. Consider the length, width, and height of the room, as well as any architectural features like windows, doors, or alcoves that may affect the layout. Be sure to leave enough clearance around the table for chairs to be pulled out comfortably and for people to move around freely.
2. Consider the Shape of Your Room
The shape of your dining room can influence the size and shape of the dining table you choose. For square or rectangular rooms, a similarly shaped table often works best, maximizing seating capacity and visual harmony. In long, narrow rooms, consider a rectangular or oval table to complement the space and create a balanced look. Round tables are versatile and work well in smaller or square rooms, providing a cozy, intimate dining experience.
3. Determine Seating Capacity
Consider how many people you typically need to seat at your dining table on a regular basis. This will help you determine the appropriate size of the table and ensure that everyone has enough space to dine comfortably. As a general rule of thumb, allow at least 24 inches of width per person for elbow room. For rectangular tables, a good guideline is to add 12 inches to the length for each additional person you want to seat.
4. Factor in Table Shape and Size
The shape and size of the dining table play a crucial role in determining its suitability for your space. Rectangular tables are classic and versatile, offering ample seating and accommodating larger gatherings. Square tables are ideal for smaller rooms or intimate settings, while round tables promote conversation and social interaction. Choose a table size that fits comfortably within your dining area without overwhelming the space or making it feel cramped.
5. Allow for Clearance
Ensure that there is enough clearance around the dining table for people to move freely and pull out chairs without obstruction. Allow at least 36 inches of clearance between the table and any walls or furniture to create a comfortable flow of traffic. If your dining area is part of an open-plan layout, consider the overall circulation and sightlines to other areas of the room.
6. Consider Extension Options
If you occasionally entertain large groups or host family gatherings, consider a dining table with extension leaves or expandable features. Extension tables offer flexibility and versatility, allowing you to adjust the size of the table to accommodate more guests when needed. Keep in mind the additional space required to expand the table and ensure that your dining area can accommodate the extended size comfortably.
7. Think About Proportions and Visual Balance
When selecting a dining table, consider the overall proportions and visual balance of your space. Choose a table size that complements the scale of the room and other furniture pieces. Too big of a table might overtake the room, and too little of a table can seem out of place. Aim for a harmonious balance between the table size and the surrounding elements to create a cohesive and inviting dining area.
8. Test Out Different Options
Before making a final decision, consider testing out different table sizes and shapes to see how they fit within your space. Use masking tape or cardboard cutouts to create mock-ups of the table dimensions on the floor, allowing you to visualize the layout and determine the best fit. Take into account factors like ease of movement, seating capacity, and overall aesthetics when evaluating each option.
9. Think Long-Term
Investing in a dining table is a long-term decision, so consider your future needs and lifestyle when making your selection. Choose a table that can accommodate your evolving family size, entertaining habits, and design preferences. Opt for durable materials and timeless styles that will stand the test of time and adapt to changing trends and tastes.
10. Personalize Your Choice
Ultimately, the right size dining table for your space is one that reflects your personal style, meets your functional needs, and enhances the overall ambiance of your home. Choose a table that you love and that complements your decor aesthetic, whether it’s rustic farmhouse, modern minimalist, or traditional elegance. Personalize your choice with finishes, materials, and design details that resonate with your lifestyle and preferences. Check The Hairpin Leg Company to learn more tips.
Select the Right Size Dining Table
Selecting the right size dining table for your space requires careful consideration of factors like room dimensions, seating capacity, table shape, and clearance requirements. By measuring your space, determining seating needs, considering table proportions, and testing out different options, you can find a dining table that fits seamlessly into your home and enhances your dining experience.
Safety at work is more than just following the rules. It’s about creating a culture where everyone is vigilant and proactive in preventing accidents and injuries.
Whether you’re an employer aiming to reduce incidents or an employee wanting to stay safe, these practical tips for workplace safety are fundamental to achieving a secure workplace.
1. Always Report Unsafe Conditions
Reporting unsafe conditions is crucial to workplace safety. If you see something dangerous, like a spill on the floor or faulty equipment, tell your supervisor right away.
This helps prevent accidents before they happen. Never assume someone else will report it. By being proactive, you contribute to a safer work environment for everyone.
2. Keep a Clean Workstation
A clean workstation reduces the risk of accidents. Keep your area tidy by organizing tools, papers, and equipment. Make sure pathways are clear to avoid tripping hazards. Regularly clean up spills and dispose of waste properly. A neat workspace also improves productivity and helps you focus better on your tasks. For those working in outdoor areas, maintaining safety might also involve measures like a fence rental Austin to ensure that the workspace is secure from unauthorized access and hazards.
3. Wear Protective Equipment
Always wear the necessary protective equipment for your job. This might include gloves, goggles, helmets, or earplugs. Protective gear shields you from potential hazards and reduces the risk of injury.
Check that your gear fits well and is in good shape. Don’t ignore safety guidelines, even if the equipment seems uncomfortable or inconvenient.
4. Take Breaks
Taking regular breaks is important for your health and safety. Breaks help you stay alert and reduce the risk of accidents caused by fatigue.
Use your breaks to rest, stretch, and hydrate. This can improve your focus and productivity when you return to work.
5. Don’t Skip Steps
Follow all safety procedures and don’t skip steps, even if you’re in a hurry. Shortcuts can lead to accidents and injuries. Each step in a process is there to ensure safety and efficiency. Take your time to do things right, double-checking your work as needed. This attention to detail helps prevent mistakes and keeps everyone safe.
6. Stay Up to Date with New Procedures or Protocols
Workplaces often update their safety procedures and protocols. Stay informed about any changes by attending training sessions and reading updates.
Understanding the latest safety measures ensures you’re using the best practices to stay safe. If you’re unsure about a new procedure, ask questions to clarify and ensure you’re following it correctly.
7. Maintain Proper Posture
Maintaining proper posture is key to avoiding injuries, especially for jobs that involve sitting or repetitive motions. Sit up straight, keep your feet flat on the ground, and adjust your chair and computer screen to eye level.
For lifting tasks, bend your knees and keep your back straight to avoid strain. Good posture helps prevent back pain and other musculoskeletal issues.
8. Offer Guidance to New Employees
Helping new employees understand safety procedures is important for maintaining a safe workplace. Share your knowledge and experience with them, showing them the correct ways to perform tasks. Encourage them to ask questions and report any unsafe conditions. Being a mentor helps create a culture of safety and ensures everyone follows best practices.
Prioritize Workplace Safety Today
Workplace safety is a shared responsibility that significantly impacts the well-being of every employee and the overall success of your organization. By implementing and adhering to these essential safety tips, you create a secure and productive work environment where everyone can thrive.
ICP-MS, or Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, is a well-known method for analysing elements that can measure elements in a wide range of data with high accuracy and sensitivity.
This blog will go into the fundamentals of ICP-MS, including how it works, what it can be used for, and how important it is in scientific study and analytical methods.
Basic Principles of ICP-MS
ICP-MS, or Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, is a strong way to find and measure trace elements in samples. Because it is so accurate and sensitive, it is the best choice for testing the environment, drugs, and food safety.
Sample Ionization Using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP)
Inductively coupled plasma is what makes ICP-MS work. It turns a material into ions. Small droplets of the sample, which is usually a liquid, are released into the plasma. A radiofrequency coil makes plasma that gets to about 10,000 K. This makes the atoms in the sample ionise, or change into positively charged ions.
Ion Measurement Using Mass Spectrometry (MS)
The sample ions go into the mass analyzer after they have been charged. The MS part sorts these ions by m/z, which is the ratio of their mass to charge. This sorting makes it possible to measure and identify the sample’s parts correctly. Because it has a high precision and sensitivity, the mass spectrometer can find trace elements that are present in very small amounts.
Direct Measurement of Ions vs. Optical Emission
What makes ICP-MS and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) different is how they find things. The ICP-OES analyses the light that heated atoms and ions in the plasma give off, while the ICP-MS analyses the ions themselves. ICP-MS is much more sensitive and can find elements in lower amounts because it uses a direct measurement method.
Advantages of Direct Ion Measurement
ICP-MS’s direct ion measurement cuts down on possible interference and makes the readings more accurate. Optical emission can be messed up by things like overlapping spectra. The mass spectrometer’s accurate mass-to-charge ratio determination makes these problems less likely, which means the data is more dependable.
Components of an ICP-MS Instrument
A technique called Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) can find and measure small elements in samples. Knowing what its main parts are can help you understand how sensitive and accurate it is.
Ion Source (ICP)
In ICP-MS, the negatively charged plasma is what gives off the ions. A radiofrequency field makes the plasma, and the sample, which is usually a liquid, is sprayed into it. At about 10,000 K, the plasma turns the atoms in the sample into positively charged ions.
Mass Spectrometer
The mass spectrometer, which is usually a scanning quadrupole mass filter, sorts ions by the ratio of their mass to charge (m/z). This sorting makes it possible to accurately name and measure the parts in the sample.
Detector
There are detectors that measure the ions that go through the mass spectrometer. It keeps track of how many ions there are at each mass-to-charge ratio, which lets you figure out what elements are in the sample.
Additional Components
Vacuum Pump and Vacuum Interface
The mass spectrometer is kept at a low pressure by a vacuum pump. Ions from the high-pressure plasma can move quickly to the low-pressure mass spectrometer thanks to the vacuum contact.
Electrostatic Ion Lenses
Ion lenses that are charged with electricity focus and move plasma ions through the mass spectrometer. These lenses make it easier for ions to pass through and lessen their loss, which makes the device more sensitive.
Applications of ICP-MS
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is very useful for finding small elements very accurately, which shows how widely it can be used in science.
Biomedical Implications and Clinical Relevance
Scientists and doctors use ICP-MS to find out about trace elements and heavy metals in biological data. It helps find diseases, check on nutrition, and learn about harmful exposures.
Environmental Monitoring
ICP-MS is an important tool for environmental tracking because it can analyse samples of soil, water, and air. It keeps an eye on waste, checks the health of the environment, and makes sure that rules are followed.
Food Safety
In the food business, ICP-MS finds contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, and additives. This makes sure that the food is safe and that rules are followed.
Geochemistry
Geochemists use ICP-MS to look at rocks, minerals, and sediments and learn more about how the Earth works and how to handle its natural resources.
Materials Science
ICP-MS checks the purity and makeup of materials, which makes sure they are of good quality and helps the creation of new materials for many fields.
Unveil the Power of ICP-MS
In conclusion, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is an important tool for analysing elements with unmatched accuracy and sensitivity. Its important part in scientific progress is shown by the many ways it is used in biomedical research, environmental monitoring, food safety, geochemistry, and materials science.
Researchers are still working on ICP-MS to learn more about trace elements and heavy metals. This is because ICP-MS is important for diagnosing diseases, making sure food and the environment are safe, learning how geology works, and making materials better. If you’re interested, you can learn more about ICP-MS and see how it can be used for elemental research.
An arthritis diagnosis can often mean reduced mobility and pain. Everyday activities may become difficult to perform. While anti-inflammatory medicines, such as NSAIDS, are a good treatment option, don’t overlook the benefits of physical therapy. In consultation with your doctor, find a licensed physical therapist to improve your quality of life.
Simple PT Insights for Arthritis Relief
Physical therapy’s primary job is to improve mobility. When arthritis becomes so painful that simple movement becomes difficult, it’s time to call a PT. Your therapist may set goals for you such as:
Maintaining or improving your fitness level
Increasing strength
Keeping your ability to perform your daily routine
Restoring the use of joints by improving their mobility
Physical therapy Durham NC will likely include instruction in treatments you can perform at home. You can learn how to use hot and cold compresses correctly and stretches or gentle exercises you can do on your own.
You and your PT together will set a goal. It may be stretching your arms above your head or preparing to run a 5K. Then your therapist will determine the exercises you need to achieve that goal. They will create a plan for you that unfolds over several weeks or months. Periodic visits with your physical therapist allow for adjustments to the plan as you progress.
Quick & Easy Arthritis Relief
When arthritis pain strikes, there are steps you can do to gain relief. Talk to your medical provider about your specific situation. Not every arthritis sufferer endures the same kind of pain.
Try these at-home remedies that often help with stiff and sore joints.
Perform gentle stretches.
Move your joints. Do some moderate, low-impact exercise.
Take over-the-counter medications. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are popular.
Alternate hot and cold compresses on the sore joint.
Book a session with a massage therapist or acupuncture specialist.
In addition, for long-term relief, adjust your diet. A diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins and low in sugar and fat has been shown to improve arthritis pain. Physical therapy Palm Desert can educate you about the appropriate diet for your symptoms.
Prevention Is the Best Cure
As always, it’s a good idea to take care of your body before it falls apart. Studies have proven that high-impact activities, a poor diet, and obesity can lead to the onset or worsening of arthritis. Inherited genes can also play a role. If your parents, grandparents, or siblings have arthritis, it increases your chances as well.
Concerned that arthritis may be in your future? Consult with your doctor about changes you can make now. If you already have arthritis, these same changes can slow it down and ease the severity.
Don’t suffer in silence. If your joints are aching and your life has been impacted, speak to your doctor about physical therapy today. With an exercise regimen designed for you and your needs, you can begin to reclaim your life. Enjoy better mobility. Experience more of what life has to offer. Call a PT and get started.
Rope chains are renowned for their complex, woven appearance, and the first examples and representations of their creation date back thousands of years to the Babylonians and Egyptians. Now available in various textures, thicknesses, and lengths, rope chains are made by entwining precious metals like gold and silver to mimic braided rope—a classic design that is both ancient and contemporary.
During the 20th century, rope chains surged in popularity, notably during the Art Deco and Hollywood glamour periods. Sported by various male celebrities and icons of their time, the rope chain, an ancient relic of the past, soared into its timeless status. In the modern era, due to the advent of new materials and techniques, the rope chain has found, again, its rival.
Layering rope chains is a great way to freshen up your style and transform a simple outfit into something personal, contemporary, and expressive. However simple it may appear, layering necklaces is a delicate affair and should be done with precision, or else you may risk cheapening your vibe with tackiness. In this guide, you’ll be taught how to master the art of layering rope chains for a modern, masculine and trendy look.
Choosing Suitable Rope Chains
Before layering rope chains, it is essential to select the right pieces. By considering the entire ensemble, you can play around with all the different types of chains and how best to balance them when layering.
Length: Choose chains of varying lengths to create dimension, visual intrigue, and depth. Popular lengths for men include:
18 inches: Sits at the base of the neck, suitable for subtly.
20 inches: Rests just by the collarbone, which is a typical size for a relaxed yet noticeable style.
22 inches: This chain length hangs around mid-chest and is ideal for layering with shorter chains.
Thickness: Pair thicker rope chains with thinner ones to create balance and avoid cluttering your layers. Varying thickness is key to creating equilibrium and preventing an overly encumbered look.
Metal Type: It’s important to note that mixing metals is usually avoided when assembling a cohesive look. However, if the objective is to fashion a fit with a modern edge that is a little less conventional, mixing metal types is the way to go. Ensure metals complement each other and align with your overall style for maximum effect.
How to Get the Ideal Layered Look
Ultimately, the goal is to create a layered effect that appears effortless and intentional. To layer rope chains to achieve a modern look, you’ll need to follow these four simple steps:
Focal Point: You want a centrepiece—one chain; it should ideally be your favourite piece and may even have a pendant. Your choice of focal chain could be the thickest or longest chain.
Complimentary sizes: Add complementary chains of varying lengths and thickness to enhance rather than overpower your selected centrepiece.
Balance and Proportions: Pay close attention to how your chains fit together. You want to consider balance and proportions to avoid tangling. Each chain should stand out and complement the others, creating harmony.
Layering styles: Don’t be perturbed by layering various styles and textures. Adding classic designs with more intricate rope chains gives your layering dimension and depth.
Diverse Styling Tips for Different Occasions
Overlayed rope chains can be styled, mixed and matched for any occasion, from casual outings to formal events. Here’s how to tailor your layered chains appropriately:
Casual Vibe: Pair a simple t-shirt or a henley with a combo of short to mid-length chains for a relaxed, everyday look. A thicker rope chain can complement a thinner one to add subtle detail.
Formal Events: Don’t hesitate to make a statement with layered chains. Wear a rope chain with a suitable pendant and another chain that matches the occasion, along with a well-fitted jacket or a tailored sartorial shirt.
Workplace Fit: In a formal setting, it would be preferable to keep your layering minimal. To prevent too flashy designs, keep the lengths and thicknesses of the chains moderate; thinner rope chains are ideal for subtlety.
Maintaining Your Rope Chains
Regular cleaning: Depending on the material used to make your chains, you may need specialised solutions. Cheaper, impure metals are reactive to water, so it’s recommended that your chains be non-reactive and have at least a coating of PVD to prolong their durability or, ideally, both. A mild soap and warm water solution can help rid your chains of built-up dirt, but it’s important not to use harsh chemicals or abrasive materials during the cleaning process.
Correct Storage: Chains should be stored separately to avoid tangling, knotting, and inevitably scratching due to incorrect storage. Using a jewellery box with different compartments or hanging them on hooks can extend the life of your chains. Properly storing your chains can keep the metal pristine, ensuring they always look their best.
Conclusion:
Men’s rope chains can be overlayed in multiple ways to add a modern and stylish touch. You can craft an edgy, sophisticated, and contemporary combination by combining metal types, selecting thicknesses, and paying close attention to proportions and balances.
Experimenting with different styles of rope chains is the key to fully understanding your style and what works best for you. Layering expresses your chosen aesthetic, whether you prefer a minimalist approach with just a duo of chains or a bolder look with multiple layers or pendants. Ultimately, the choice is yours. The possibilities are endless–you can reinvent your style by layering rope chains in many different ways.
Loma started out in 2016 as a collaborative project between Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record. The trio recorded their self-titled debut LP at Cross Record’s home studio in the tiny town of Dripping Springs, Texas and released it through Shearwater’s label Sub Pop in early 2018. Its follow-up, the darker, more expansive, and gorgeously haunting Don’t Shy Away, arrived in 2020; the album’s creation was galvanized by the endorsement of Brian Eno, who ended up contributing synths, drum programming, and production to the final track, ‘Homing’.
Following its release, Loma’s members were scattered around the globe: Cross, a UK citizen, moved to Dorset, Meiburg went to Germany to research a book, and Duszynski stayed in central Texas. Sessions were spread across these locations, but it wasn’t until the group reconvened in the UK, in the stone house where Cross works as an end-of-life doula, that the record found its sense of direction – and, just as importantly for a group that makes ample use of their environment, place. How Will I Live Without a Body?, which takes its title from an AI trained on Laurie Anderson work, is a knotty, breathtaking album about a sort of entangled aloneness – one that skirts the boundaries between body, earth, and soul, lost hearts and human connection, dead and new life. Partly because they are rarely a band that’s playing in a room together, and partly because of the magic that happens when they do, Loma’s sound reaches beyond the live setting rather than trying to replicate it. “This is how it starts to move again,” Cross sings, and then it unfolds, seemingly without end.
We caught up with Loma for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight series to talk about the long journey behind their new album, how they settle into a groove, their memories of recording, and more. It’s the first time they’ve all talked in at least a couple months, they tell me, and the first image on my screen is of Cross holding her baby, Zola.
What’s your headspace like with the release of the album coming up? Does it feel different compared to Don’t Shy Away?
Emily Cross: I kind of black out a lot of the time, and I don’t remember anything that happened. [laughs] To me, it kind of feels the same – maybe this one is a little more prominent in my mind, just because there were a lot of things that happened and we worked on it in different sceneries. The last leg of it, that I was involved with physically, was being here in England, and it was really memorable to me. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the most recent one, but this record in particular felt like a lot of stuff happened. Like, I came and got COVID and was trapped in the trailer for 10 days. Then we were trapped in the ice and snow in the house. And I had a panic attack while driving – Dan was in the passenger seat and I was driving, and we were trying to go up this hill, and it was icy.
Dan Duszynski: I remember that.
EC: I had a straight-up panic attack. I freaked out.
Jonathan Meiburg: Yeah, the car starting to slide back down the hill.
DD: We had to slowly let it slide down backwards.
EC: But looking back, it really wasn’t a big deal. I don’t know why I was freaking out so much. We were not in danger at all.
DD: We were all probably tired.
JM: To me, this record, the fact that it got finished at all was unbelievable, given all the things that had to happen. Emily, I think the last thing I thing you and I worked on was when we were in Berlin, working on the mixes with Theo [Karon].
EC: Oh, yeah, true.
JM: And it just went through so many iterations. Songs came, and songs we thought weren’t going to make it did, and songs we thought were going to make it didn’t. It was one of the most difficult projects to finish I’ve ever worked on.
DD: With any record, especially in this band, I just have the feeling of walking the path backwards, looking at the wake of all the things we went through, the scraps and the destruction, but then I get further away from it and I’m like, “Oh, that wasn’t that bad. That was fine.”
Take me back to the wake of releasing Don’t Shy Away. You’re living in different continents, and you’re maybe not sure how to go about working on a new record. Were there many false starts?
DD: We kind of have a process. Since this is our third record, at this point, we just trust that whatever’s happening is the way. So we set aside time, and whatever anyone brings to the table, we just honor that and see where it takes us. Even though we’ve all been in different places, I think we trust our creative relationship enough to just test it in all these different ways and see what it can handle. So, rather than saying false starts, I think it’s just intentional setting of time – not knowing what’s gonna happen but believing in the process.
JM: For the most part, we don’t come in with anything developed. The very first Loma record was like that because I just went down to Texas with some time blocked out. I think I had half a song written and just went, “Here’s the time. We’re here. We should make some things.” I feel like the baseline for what the band is was set in that first record, because I played instruments I wasn’t very good at playing – Dan let me play drums for a long time before telling me that he was a drummer. Working with Emily, I’d never written for someone else to sing before, and that’s a strange thing because you have to project yourself into a different head. Emily, I don’t know if you feel this way, but I always think of the character that you inhabit in these records as sort of not exactly you. It’s like a projection that we’re all working on together, to the point that even Emily’s voice is a little bit altered so that it doesn’t sound exactly like her regular voice. There’s sort of a composite character we’re all working towards in the process of making the songs.
When we started this record, the first session was probably just me and Dan in Texas trying to come up with some places. You know, if you don’t know where to start, start anywhere. We just started making some stuff…
DD: We call it wool gathering.
JM: Yeah, wool gathering. Some of the songs that ended up on the record started there. I think some of the early ones were ‘Broken Doorbell’, ‘How It Starts’. The first song was part of a song Emily originally made for that birdsong compilation. We took Emily’s track that she’d recorded with her vocals and guitars, stripped everything out except for the vocal, and then Dan and I built another song around it.
EC: That’s a tradition at this point.
JM: Yeah, the first song on the Loma records is always a song that Emily wrote.
The final track, ‘Turnaround’,also sounds like it came about in an organic way.Was that one of the last ones, or did it come up early?
JM: That was an early demo that I think I recorded at home in Florida. I had half a song there, and Emily really liked that one. We tried several times to record it, and we never got a version that we liked. Finally, we recorded that in Berlin –
DD: You guys did that without me over there.
JM: Yeah, in the little tiny mix room we were in in Berlin, which was just a shoebox of a room. I played guitar, and Emily sang – I remember Emily was singing so quietly that I could not hear her over the guitar, which I was not playing very loud. But then we did that one take and thought, “Oh, that’s actually kind of good.” That was the last one we recorded for the album, but it was one of the earliest ones to appear.
You mentioned Emily’s voice and the ways you alter it throughout the record. Emily, how does what Jonathan said about your voice reflecting a collective character resonate with you? Jonathan used the word projection – what is that projection of?
EC: I don’t think I have a clear picture of who Loma lady is. I just know that she’s different from me. She would do things slightly differently than I would. But she still has aspects of my personality because there are things that I definitely have opinions about that I won’t budge on, and that’s definitely coming from me. But I think it’s just about her living within the Loma world, and we usually have a pretty clear picture of what that world is. That’s not to say we don’t have disagreements and different opinions, because we definitely do. But I think it’s more about Loma lady fitting into the Loma world than a clear picture of a character that she is. She doesn’t really have an identity to me. She’s just kind of this ethereal… I don’t know, what do you think, guys?
JM: I think there’s almost always a moment in the songs when we’re working on them where we go, “Okay, this sounds like Loma now.” We kind of know it when we hear it, and often it’s not like that at the beginning. Once the vocal is in, we can start to tell whether it’s going to be that or not. But what the boundaries of that are, I’m not really very clear on.
EC: I just know what she would do. And sometimes it’s not what I would do, but it’s what she would do, and I’m okay with it.
JM: That’s a good way of saying it. Part of why I wanted to do this in the first place was, back when Cross Record was touring with Shearwater, I just loved watching these guys play. I loved the sounds they were making. It was so interesting, so deep, so textured, and kind of mysterious. I was like, “How are they doing this?” Because you don’t always watch the opening bands every night when you’re on tour. After a few nights, you kind of get the point. But with them, I just wanted to watch them every single night. I thought, “Boy, it would be really fun to have a band with these guys where I don’t get what I want all the time. What would it be like if I wasn’t actually steering always?” My tendency is to want to grab the wheel, and it’s a blessing to not be able to do that, and to not get what I want sometimes.
DD: Yeah, I’ve definitely embraced that too. The whole band has been a process of me easing up on what I want to control. It’s been a really nice thing, actually. We’re all fairly strong-willed and opinionated, but there’s a three-person voting system, so if you’re outvoted, there’s nothing you can do about it.
JM: Either you all agree or it’s two against one, there’s no way to have a tie. And almost every configuration of that happens, too. It will be me and Emily versus Dan, me and Dan versus Emily, Emily and Dan versus me.
DD: It’s not really predictable either. I always think I know what you guys want, and then often I’m wrong. My batting average is pretty low on what you actually want. So, it’s just nice to let the thing steer itself and trust these guys. We’ve all had to let a lot of stuff go along the way.
I’m curious if your perspective on this has changed since the beginning,but can you talk about your shared language as a group? Is it something latch onto for the entirety of the project, or is it something that has to continuously regenerate?
JM: Emily, why did it start to work when we were in Dorset?
EC: I don’t know, actually.
JM: Was it just that we were forced together, and we had to make decisions together all of a sudden?
EM: No, I don’t think so. I mean, we were snowed in together, I guess.
If I could twist that question a bit first: What didn’t work about working remotely?
DD: The feedback part of it is really difficult when we’re all just trying to give each other notes through Zoom or whatever. Something about being in the same space, that immediacy of exchanging ideas is hard to replicate.
EC: Especially with the time zones, for me at least. It’s difficult to all be in the same mindset in the morning versus nighttime. It’s just easier when we’re all together in the morning or in the night.
JM: It’s also hard to explain often why you like or don’t like something, because you tend to have these very visceral reactions. You hear a track and you feel disgust, or you’re like, “We have to keep that.” There are these very extreme reactions, which are often not really what’s necessary or even helpful. There’s a lot of the water sloshing around in the bathtub before it finally calms down. Before we went to the UK, we had a lot of tracks, but it felt kind of heavy overall. There were a few that we weren’t sure what to do about them, or if they were worth all the effort we put into them. You get into the sunk cost fallacy, where you’ve worked for a long time on a track, and therefore you feel like you must finish it because you’ve worked on it for so long.
EC: I don’t think I have that.
JM: What do you mean?
DD: You’re just like…
EM: “Throw it away.” But I think I’m a little bit too quick sometimes, admittedly.
Emily, did bringing the record closer to your new home oryour day jobhave a palpable effect on the way it flowed?
EC: I think it’s just exciting, because Loma is a band that utilizes the natural environment or our environment in general more than maybe the average band. I think that reinvigorated things for me. We had never worked on a record together in a different place other than Texas, so for me, it was a little bit more exciting. Plus, yeah, we were at my home, and it was pretty exciting. We had a cute little routine. We’d go to this coffee shop in the morning and then drive this really beautiful coastal road. It was just a different energy and different routine. It was cold and dark; it wasn’t hot and bright. But it came with challenges. The center where we were at my work was really cold.
JM: Yeah, we had space heaters going, and we were still wearing our coats and hats and stuff.
EM: Yeah, it was actually uncomfortable. In that way, it was not as chill and more moody, maybe.
JM: Also, the floor in there is pitched so that the back of the room is higher than the front of the room, so when you’re sitting, you’re sitting kind of at an angle. It felt like we were going to fall off the edge of the record if we didn’t really try to hold on to it. [laughs]
EC: Yeah, the room wasn’t made for making a record.
JM: It sounded good, though. And then there was that chapel up on the hill. One day we went up there with our recording gear and did backing vocals and reamped a couple of things through the natural reverb of that place. I don’t know how much that really affected the overall sound of the record so much, but when I think of the record, I think of that room, climbing this big hill to get up there. Hill walkers looked in there like, “What are these people doing?” [laughs] And we’re just singing to no one in this ruin.
DD: I think it just illustrates that we’re willing to go to certain lengths just to see how much texture or depth we can get into the sounds themselves. We maybe didn’t use a ton of stuff from the chapel, but a lot of the more expansive group vocal moments, we did it again in the chapel, we did it in the small space – we just push when we’re trying to find how much we can get out of these sounds. I always like that about this project. If there’s a way to explore something further and we haven’t done it, and we know that we can, we sort of have to go there.
JM: While we were there, we went to Chesil Beach. It’s a long, long beach, and the size of the rocks in the sand changes as you go from one end to the other. It’s fine sand at one end, and boulders at the other. We were at a place where they were all pebbles, dunes made out of pebbles, and the waves crashing through them made this amazing sound. I was recording with my little field recorder and was really excited about this sound. We brought it back and put it in the track at the end of ‘Broken Doorbell’, and then I realized that I had set it on the shittiest, worst resolution to record.
EC: I liked it.
JM: It was like, you could hear the digital compression. I was like, “I gotta go back and redo it.” And Emily said, “No, let’s lean into that. What if it’s like you’re watching that in a crappy VHS camcorder video from long ago?” So we were like, “Alright, we’ll go for that.” Then we did some things to it to make it sound even more like that.
There are a lot of little moments like that, but another that comes to mind is in ‘A Steady Mind’. I can’t quite tell what the voice is saying in that field recording, but it feels intentional.
JM:: Before we explain what that is, how did it make you feel to hear that sound?
It definitely added a kind of human layer to the song, but it’s still mysterious.
DD: That’s great.
JM: That was exactly what we needed there. The song seemed a little bit mechanical or rote, or more forced than some of the other ones. We were trying to think, “What do we put here? You don’t play a solo there.” So Emily, what was that thing?
EC: When I moved here to England, I got a landline phone so people could call me at my house. And I also got an answering machine. The idea was that if people had questions about death and dying, they could call this number. People would call this number at my house with questions about death and dying, and I would just answer the phone and talk to them about it. I had an answering machine that I got off eBay, and it came with tapes in it already that were used by people in the nineties, maybe. We saved all the files from that answering machine. It was answering machine messages about football practices, Christmas dinners, doctors’ appointments. And that’s what the was, just a chunk of that.
It’s not a field recording, but there’s this other moment in ‘Unbraiding’, after that line about catching the light, where you build this expansive, layered instrumental section that feels like a direct evocation of that lyric.
JM: Bless you! [laughs] We tried so hard to make that happen, and I think Dan might still be suffering some PTSD from mixing that song. We mixed that song so many times.
DD: I like getting pushed to the absolute limits in this band. I hate it sometimes when it’s happening, but afterwards…
JM: [laughs] You don’t like it at the time.
DD: Sometimes I get so pissed off and I hate both of you guys, but I love you so much that I’m happy later. I learn so much, and we get pushed so far and do so many things. I’m working in the studio all the time, I make records for people. I think you actually did an interview with Good Looks – I just made that record [Lived Here for a While] with those guys. So I’ve got my thing, I kind of do it my normal way. But these clowns push me way outside of that and make me work so hard, and we come up with really great stuff because of it. That song in particular – there’s always a point in the record, for me, and I think for you guys too, where it’s almost impossible to even listen to the thing. You feel so defeated. And often, I find that the songs where we make it through to the other side, you carry that experience with you and that helps you get to the end of it. But to really still love the song, you have to go through that.
JM: In that song, actually, some of the string parts were recycled from the Shearwater record that Dan and I did before this. We took some of those parts, edited them, and put them into this song. But then we had the very same player [Dina Maccabee] who played those parts overdub on it, so she’s playing with a track of herself playing on another record. [laughs] We got the whole thing together that way.
‘Arrhythmia’ has some of my favorite drumming on the record, but I think all the songs are rhythmically distinct. I’d love for you to talk about how you settle into a groove. Does it always feel intuitive, or do you sometimes have to go against your natural instinct?
DD: I think you’re right, if I go through them in my mind, they all are different. That one in particular was based around a phone recording that Jonathan took in Germany. What was that again?
JS: That was a Brazilian ensemble at a street festival. I tracked them down and got their permission to use the sample.
Right, I noticed that in the credits.
JM: Maracatú Nation Stern der Elbe – the German-Brazilian drumming ensemble!
DD: [laughs] I love that.
JM: They were so funny. That song was odd because we made up the track on the spur of the moment, because Emily was sick.
DD: Oh, that was a COVID session track.
JM: Yeah, Emily was sick, and not just sick but couldn’t do anything. We ran the mic cables out to the trailer so she could record in the trailer, but Emily was just down for the count. Dan and I were sitting there looking at each other, like, “We have to do something.” We made a loop of that rhythm, and I started playing piano along with it.
DD: [dogs barking] I’ll mute this, sorry.
JM: That’s a Loma moment right there, because those are the dogs that appear on every single Loma record. We have a rule that if the dogs make it into the recording, they have to stay, no matter where they are, so there are moments in all of our stuff where the dogs pop up. So… I was playing along with the first song, and it didn’t really work. But I started playing similar chords over the drum loop for this other thing that was just a sketch, and that eventually developed into the form of that song. And then we gave it to Emily in her trailer. I don’t know if it was in the middle of the night or what, but you sang into your laptop the vocal for that song.
DD: Sort of nasally, sick vocals.
JM: But some of that vocal is in the track. Then we took that, and I worked on some more lyrics for it and kept some of Emily’s lyrics. That was probably the purest co-write that me and Emily have ever had on a song. I think the first line, originally, was, “Is it dumb how I feel every day?” [laughs] But that’s the kind of choice – Emily, you’ll write whatever is on your mind, whatever the hell it is.
EC: Yeah, no shame.
JM:: And then you had “In the mountains…” The moment I heard that, I was like, “We’re keeping that, that’s great,” and kind of built the song around that moment. But then, for the percussion, Dan and I overdubbed some percussion things to beef up the sound of this phone recording. In England, we did another percussion overdub, these metal lampshades – was it you, Dan?
DD: I think you played those.
JM: Oh, that’s right. I had just two brushes, and I was hitting these lampshades with the brushes. For some reason, that was the cherry on top of the percussion section.
‘I Swallowed a Stone’ is a song that I feel like could be punctuated with a lot more anxiety, but the groove is actually strangely comforting. There’s a line about tumbling, but it’s a very slow tumbling, and it’s more of a simmer than a boil.
EC: For me, that was a really stressful one, in a good way. Jonathan, you came to me with the song, and I loved the lyrics. I don’t think we changed very much about it. A lot of times, I’ll try to sing to a track, but I feel like Jonathan had a very clear idea of how this vocal should be over it. It was structured, but wans’t, and the timing was on, but it wasn’t. It was this weird dance we were doing. We would just sit there and practice it together like ten times. It was a very mysterious one for me because I didn’t fully understand the timing or attitude of it; I felt like I was trying to get at something that Jonathan wanted, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. He kept trying to explain it to me and I just wasn’t really getting it, so I would randomly try different things. [laughs] Eventually, we just played it together so much. The idea was kind of to live together and then record that, but if we played it now, I don’t think it would be the same as the recording. It’s just those slippery ones that are more about feeling and response to each other than some of the tracks.
JM: And you can actually hear in the track some of the older vocal takes. There are little things where it bled into the microphone, and then some bits cut out, so sometimes lines echo that are other lines.
EC: It’s a collage-y song.
JM: A lot of work went into that one. I felt very strongly about it, but I also wasn’t sure if it was anything. And Dan, I think it’s fair to say, hated it. [laughs]
DD: I really did. It wasn’t until we got the vocal that we liked with it. Once Emily had that performance and I heard it back, I was like, “Oh, yeah, this is great.” There was a point where it clearly shifted for me. I resisted it very hard. I was just like, “What’s happening? This is so boring.” I’m a more impatient listener, I think, than these guys.
EC: Well, you just like things to be happening.
DD: Yeah, I want everything spoon-fed to me, and I want all the candy all the time.
EC: Yeah, that’s not far off base.
DD: I’m relaxing a little bit.
EC: I get what you’re saying because it is kind of like a noodle-y song. It’s slow. I saw the vision, but it was easy to not be able to see the vision. What I liked about it initially was that it felt spooky. It felt really kind of scary to me. If something seems scary or spooky to me, I just think it’s good automatically, and I love it.
DD: There’s a loneliness to that feeling – it somehow rides the edge of, “Am I alone here?” Then it’s like, “Oh, no, there’s my friend. He’s way over there.”
JM: I feel like it’s a happy story. It doesn’t sound like a happy store, but if you look at the lyrics, it really kind of is. It’s this very isolated person who actually has a moment of contact with another person. It’s very intense, but there’s always that doubt underneath it, too. That might be my favorite one on the record.
The word “endlessly” comes up twice on the record, once in relation to dreams and then to a melody. Are you all drawn to this idea of a vision running on a loop or a song having no end?
JM: This is why I love fade-outs, because you can sort of imagine that the song just keeps going forever.
DD: We often talk a lot about all of our songs creating a place you want to be. A lot of the time, the tracks will start off way longer because we’re just trying to see how long we can stay somewhere. We don’t really know where the endpoint is. It kind of gets focused down, but it’s more about trying to capture a feeling. It’s always a dance of how long we want to be there, or how long we want to force other people to be there.
JM: You really lose sight of the whole picture when working on a song. You’ll be working on the same 15 seconds for a long time, and it’s like you just shrink down and get tinier and tinier, while the song gets bigger and bigger around you. You completely forget that you haven’t paid any attention to the first 30 seconds of the song. It’s hard to put yourself in the place of a person who’s listening to it for the first time.
You experience time differently, and I guess that’s a theme on the record too.
JM: It is. I mean, I don’t think anything ever really ends.
DD: It’s the Arthur Russell thing, too: a song’s never done. It’s just kind of like, “This is how it is now.
JM: You just stop working on it for a while. Emily, do you feel that way when you’re working on a drawing or…?
EM: I mean, at the moment, time is just not real at all to me, so I don’t know how to answer that.
JM: Because you’re sleeping a couple of hours at a time?
EC: Everything is just… I can’t explain it. My brain is just different now. Yeah, sleep, hormones… Looking at baby and seeing my face in baby’s face. It’s just all very weird. I guess I always kind of feel like that, but now more than ever.
I don’t know if you are in the process of creating now or if it’s in your mind at all, but how do you think that might affect making any kind of art?
EC: I have no idea. I guess we’ll find out. I don’t know if it will affect it very much or a lot. My time is more limited now, so maybe it will change in the way that everything is just concentrated more. But I sure think about drawing and painting and making music a lot. So maybe I’ll just think about things a lot more before I do them. Maybe they’ll crystallize within me before I actually do them, because usually, I just do them without thinking very much.
JM: One thing I’ve noticed about records is that often when I’m done with them and I come back to them later, I realize that they somehow predicted the future in my own life in some way. I don’t think it’s magical; I think it’s just that your subconscious is aware of things before your conscious mind is. Since you’re often working from your subconscious, it’s not surprising that it’ll send you messages. In this record, ‘Turnaround’, the line “Kid, make your own mess,” that was before Zola was even an idea.
Are there any other parts on the record that feel kind of spooky or prophetic to you?
EC: Haven’t swallowed a stone yet… You never know.
JM: Well, Dan identified the title of the record. I don’t want to make too much of this because it isn’t a huge part of the record, but there was the lines that we got from Laurie Anderson’s AI. One of them was, “How will I live without a body?” which is such a funny thing for an AI to come up with. Dan suggested it, I think kind of as a joke, and I was like, “Wait a minute.” Because that really felt like it encapsulated what the whole process was like, trying to create this thing that was not just a band playing in a room, going to extraordinary lengths to make it manifest. That line was sort of sitting there waiting for us the whole time, because ‘Affinity’ was one of the earlier songs that we did. Just like on the first record, the cover of that record had been sitting on the wall the whole time we were making the record. We were trying to figure out what to do with the cover, and we turned around like, “Hey, you’ve been here the whole time!” A lot of things when you’re making any piece of art are things that you’ve noticed that were just already there. You just hadn’t tuned into their frequency quite yet.
EC: Were you going to say about Lisa [Cline] doing the art?
JM: Oh, I forgot about that!
EC: Well, same thing, she made that before the title, right?
JM: Yeah, we were asking Lisa, the cover artist, to make an album cover. She did a couple of different tries, and then she made this one with this floating head. She didn’t know that was the title of the record!
It’s funny how those things – an actual artist and an AI trained on Laurie Anderson’s work – that live outside of the organism of the band somehow end up feeding into it. I understand it’s not a huge part of the record, but I am curious what the thinking was around working with this AI, and whether you were all on the same page about what you were going to keep from it.
DD: It’s just one song, right?
JM: There are lines in ‘How It Starts’ and ‘Affinity’. I was working with Laurie on this other project, and she was showing me this AI. I could just send it a picture, and it would respond with a poem. So I took a picture of a thing I was working on in my book – it was this guy from Antarctica in the 1960s with his beard full of ice, and another picture that I can’t remember, but it came back with these two poems. These poems had these neat lines in them, and when I was fishing for lyrics, I just looked back at them and thought, “There’s something in these couple of lines that really suggest something to me.” So they went into the songs and stayed there. But I didn’t have any intention of making it a part of the record when I did it; it was just an off-the-cuff thing with Laurie at the time. Then I asked her if it was okay to use this, and she said, “Yeah, sure.”
I know you don’t have plans for touring right now, but is being in the same room and playing together again something that’s on your mind or that you’re looking forward to?
DD: We don’t know in the future when that may be, but as with all the Loma processes, we kinda just respond to the way it’s unfolding. I think if and when the time comes, we’ll embrace it.
EC: Well said.
JM: I think we could have a bangin’ set. It’d be so good.
DD: Yeah, we have two records now that we haven’t toured, so we got a lot of tunes.
JM: We can have an amazing setlist. But it does take an awful lot of energy and time and money to get a band on the road now, so we’ll have to see if the stars align.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
