Lauv and Troye Sivan have given us the perfect Valentine’s Day gift with this dreamy nostalgia-seeped music video for ‘i’m so tired…’ and it really has us in our feelings. V had a chat with Lauv and Troye Sivan last week to discuss their latest single, ‘i’m so tired…’ which is now sitting pretty at Spotify’s top 25 spot and is the perfect Valentine’s day bop. The two got together before their Fallon performance to talk about how the anti-love song came about, writing, collaboration and inspiration.

How did you guys first meet?

Lauv: I think we met for the first time after we were like playing this show together, I think it was San Diego.

Troye: Yeah it was San Diego but I think actually it was at the rehearsal stage before then.

Lauv: Oh yeah that’s right, we were both rehearsing. I forget what you were rehearsing for, I was rehearsing for my World Tour.

Troye: Yeah I don’t know what I was rehearsing for. I just remember hearing ‘I Like Me Better’ playing in the next room and being like fuck I love that song.

How did the writing process for the song initially start?

Troye: Basically I have wanted to write for other artists for a long time. It’s been a dream of mine and I just was a big fan and everything. The session got set up and I was just super excited to go in and try and write a song with Ari for his project. And then we wrote a song that was like fine. It was like cool. But it wasn’t anything insane. Then Ari at the end of the day was like “Oh can I play you guys this one idea that we started.” And I was like yeah sure. And he played the chorus of ‘i’m so tired…’ and I freaked out like I was being disgusting about it. I was like dude this song is so fucking huge. You don’t even know I was going really really apeshit about it. And I’ve been in sessions before where I tried to write for other people and accidentally hijacked the session and I really didn’t want to do that because that’s a terrible thing to do as a co-writer. So I was like you know I would love to work on this with you. I don’t have to as well, like whatever you guys want to do I’m down to do it. And I was so excited when Ari was like lets write the verses and see what happens. So we wrote the verse and a bridge and then after that it was like do you wanna sing on it too? And I was equally so so so happy. So I went in and packed my vocal and then the song was done.

Lauv: Yeah that was a fun day.

So this all kind of happened in one day?

Lauv: A lot of it happened in one day. But I think you came back and then we were working on the production and that’s when Oscar got involved because I know Oscar had worked on some of your stuff. And then you just called him and then he came over and we started working on the production and all that, it was really a cool process.

Tell me a little bit more about working with Oscar Görres and what that collaborative process is like?

Troye: For me it was when I first started working with him, he’s just like my my dream pop producer. He’s so chill, so nice and has this crazy attention to detail but at the same time is really fast and can totally zoom out and see the big picture of the song from the beginning. So the second time I came over to track my vocal on the song, Ari was like playing with production ideas and there was a bunch of different directions that we could go. We felt like we had all of the pop and it was like all there. It was just about kind of now figuring out its structure and painting this picture through the song, so it feels like it’s glowing and every pause feels exciting and the arrangement needed some tweaking. So I was like you know if this was just my thing, I know exactly the person that I would go to and that’s Oscar – should I see he’s around kind of thing – and so it was late at night and I called him and he happened to be in L.A. at the time. He just packed up his stuff at the studio and came over to Ari’s house and started working on the song and did exactly what I hoped he would do and thought he would do. And yet really made it like move.

Lauv: And then me and Oscar also – I was playing the show in London. And then one day we literally set up in a hotel before the show to work on production more.No it is awesome because like you know a lot of my very first stuff I put out like I produced 100% myself but it’s been fun on some of the newer stuff to bring in some other like co-producers and Oscar is fucking incredible.

Do you have specific steps you take to begin the writing process?

Lauv: It’s usually like just trying to find the best way to get out of my own way cause I find myself thinking too much about what song I want to write. A lot of times I just quickly overthink it and then it just doesn’t feel amazing. So a lot of times I have to jump around, it’s like super normal for me to jump from idea to idea and then something comes out and just feels different you know? That was kind of the case when I was originally working on the chorus for ‘i’m so tired…’. I’d been hanging out with another another close friend of mine, Michael Pollack and we were working on some other songs and then we just sat down at the piano and then all the sudden the chorus kind of like came out of nowhere. A lot of my best stuff kind of comes out of nowhere after jumping around a lot.

Troye: I really really like having a lot of books around. It’s just purely for like words or phrases and so before a session I will sit with a random book. I won’t even read the book. I’ll just flip to a random page and start kind of like scanning my eyes for anything that jumps out and it’s interesting because somehow through those words I always end up telling the story that I think I needed to tell. Like whatever is on my mind always ends up coming out somehow. And I’m just kind of always looking for a fresh way to spark that or say that in an interesting way.

How long did the process of releasing ‘i’m so tired…’ take from start to finish?

Lauv: It took a second. I mean a lot of the song was already done but then it was like kind of switching little tiny details over and over and trying different versions and different arrangements and stuff. Kind of just the boring shit after all the magic is already there. I mean I started the idea right before me and Troye went in and then you know we finished the song pretty quickly.

Troye: I have found the date – we wrote it on June 25. Wow. That’s a long time ago.

Lauv: That’s actually crazy, I didn’t realize it was before my birthday.

So Buzzcut Season as a Lorde reference and the Hurts Like Heaven by Coldplay reference – how did that come about?

Lauv: We were just sitting in my backyard, right? We were talking about different songs because I’m very much a type of person that I literally, I like torture myself thinking about you know like my ex or something and go back to the songs they used to love or like the stuff that I was listening to at the time and just get in my bed and wallow in it. And for me Hurts Like heaven, like Coldplay, that was a big one.

Troye: It got to the point I feel like where it was like almost a little bit too real. You know what I mean? Like those songs both trigger a lot of memories and stuff for me. Music is kind of like smell in the same way that it like really really can snap me back to a different time. And that’s kind of what it was we wanted to touch on. And I think Buzzcut Season is like one of the best songs ever, so.

Where do you draw your inspiration from and how do you tap into your ‘memory bank’?

Lauv: I guess it’s sort of like the best way I can describe it is its like there’s two halves of me, there’s like the half that loves doing that, I’ll just be a totally stuck in the past and you know like thinking about somebody and trying to get over somebody but at same time being so exhausted by that version of me. And just kind of like wanting to like be like fuck this and just have fun and move forward in life. I feel like there is sort of the mixed emotions of that in the song of giving into that; the sadness and that wallowing. But at the same time also just being like snap out of it kind of thing, you know? I think that’s kind of also why the songs came out the way where I think it sounds like energetic and fun. But if you actually look into the lyrics and stuff, it’s sad.

Troye: I mean it’s like you’re looking back into the past. And then also I do this thing both in life and in sessions where I put myself in these hypothetical situations and like really let myself spiral and think about ‘what would happen if’ and ‘what would that feel like’. And really kind of get myself like pretty worked up and then write the song from that place as well.

Aside from musicians are there other artists or things you are inspired by?

Troye: I look at a lot of photos and video stuff. In fact at the moment I’m going through this thing where musically I’m a little – I wouldn’t say lost, but I’m just like I don’t really know what I’m going to do next or what it’s going to sound like sonically. But I know the way that I want it to make me feel or the way that I want it to make other people feel. And oftentimes having a visual trigger. Be it like a photo that I really love by a photographer or a video piece by a director that I really like or something like that can kind of kick start that process for me. I’m always looking around to a bunch of places to try and kind of find that.

Lauv: Hell yeah. I would say for me I honestly have been kind of listening to like a lot of folkier music but then also visually for whatever reason there’s been couple of things that I’ve seen recently that have really resonated with me like at the New Museum in New York there was this loop-able 80 minute film that was basically all these different representations of people, representing the concept of how humans tend to when something causes them pain, whether it’s like a physical illness or it’s like you know a childhood memory or a past version of themselves or something that happened. They tend to cut that thing out instead of to try to love it and work with it. And like in that process you obviously you get rid of the pain but you also lose an important part of yourself. And I think that actually really really shook me when I saw that, it was like damn. I forget who the artist was, but yeah it was really incredible. I think it was called something like there’s blood in my milk or something.

Can we expect any collaborations on your upcoming album?

Lauv: I mean I’ve definitely been in a super open head space. I’ve been working on my album and then also just you know openly doing a lot of different kind of productions and stuff, trying not to be closed off to anything. So it’s hard for me to say what in particular will be coming. But it very well may be some collaborations for sure.

What are you most excited for on the upcoming album?

Lauv: I think I’m just excited to get out of romantic land you know? Because it’s like that’s all I’ve put out. I mean I’m definitely a very romantic person in the way that I look at things and like I guess ‘i’m so tired…’ is sort of a representation of the two sides of that. I like accepting that and like wallowing in it but at the same time being like a ‘ugh chill like stop being that’. I put out all these songs that were literally about one long relationship that I was in and I’m sitting here like I’m 24 and I’m like okay, okay, lets write about a bunch of other shit just in life and kind of my insecurities and fears and all sorts of shit. So I’m just excited to kind of like expand.

What’s next for you in 2019, Troye?

Troye: So the next immediate couple of months is a lot of touring. I’m really excited, I’m going to Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and New Zealand. So I’m super stoked for all of that. And in the meantime I’ve had a little bit of time in L.A. to just kind of like re-group and honestly get like a little bit bored and at that point I feel my most creative. I’m really open to a bunch of stuff I feel like. I did a film last year called Boy Erased and I feel like that really just kind of opened a lot of doors in my head as far as the opportunities that I want to come up. I would love to do another film. I’d love to get behind the camera and work on some stuff. But I’m really just kind of trying to ask myself what feels exciting to do and what feels fresh to do for me and and pursue those things in like the off time between the tours.

What musicians are you obsessed with right now?

Troye: I just discovered this girl Phoebe Bridges. She’s so good. Who else? This girl Noname I really like also. And then there’s this girl called. I don’t know if I’m saying it right but Angela, Angèle? A-N-G-E-L-E I’m not even sure where she’s from. She sings in French but I think she’s from Belgium or something like that. And she makes really cool pop music. Oh and Rosalía.

Lauv: I’ve been super into the Mac Ayres album, one of my friends put me on to that, he’s super dope. Because honestly for a while I wasn’t listening to as much sort of like R&B soul type stuff. But that’s been amazing. Okay, I’m obsessed, this is like so random, but I’m obsessed with this song. ‘Can You Stand The Rain’ by New Edition, the boy band, that song is incredible. I mean Phoebe Bridges is definitely one for me and I just got into Big Thief. Kind of bunch of different stuff and Brandi Carlile. Her voice is unbelievable.

Who would you most like to collaborate with in the future? Obviously collabing with Troye is a dream.

Lauv: Honestly that was my number one, I’m done now, that’s it. I collabed with Troye, that’s it, I’m going to bed. Let’s see. I don’t know. Like somebody like Sam Smith would be crazy or I mean Chris Martin, Coldplay is like my classic answer. Whenever people ask me, I’m always like Chris Martin, Coldplay like I’m such a big Coldplay fan. I feel like everybody says that though. I don’t know maybe like Jaden Smith.

Troye: I still want to do more of the pop writing for other people. My dream pop session is like I want to get into one of those big like Taylor Swift sessions or something like that and have a go at writing that super clean perfect pop. That sounds really fun. And what else, I mean I don’t really know, Robyn would be a huge one.

What are your favorite memes right now?

Lauv: Ooh favorite memes that’s a good question. I feel like I haven’t been as on my meme game.

Troye: I like that video of Monique saying “I would like to see it” I really just I use that video multiple times a day at this point.

Lauv: Wait, which one?

Troye: Monique on like a talk show and she just says “I would like to see it” and it really applies to so many things.

Lauv: I feel like I’m so disappointed in myself because I can’t even think. You know I’m always on the weird alt meme game like Grape Juice Boys. They’re like a really really weird meme account. I can’t believe it. I should be able to answer this! See like the ones that I like are like really hard to explain you have to like see them. There’s one. Yeah that one.. it’s stupid. I’m not even going to try to explain that. Never mind. I’m looking at it right now. It’s just dumb.