Long Story Short…

Heya all,

Sorry its been much longer than we wanted between updates. Its been a challenging time, lost some good friends, family had surgery, we had some health issues that needed addressing (we’re ok now for the most part!) and adapting to things has taken us a little while. BUT we do have some cool updates; we recently did a new remix for our friend Kat Five, you might remember that name from the remix we did a few years back of her song with Dub Module (current project of Mike from Pitch Black) called Apply The Pressure. Reconnecting with Kat was lovely and the words in the song really clicked something in us that we’d been struggling to articulate for a while.

We knew that to really bring out what it was speaking to meant going deep into things we’d been unwilling to face emotionally and essentially pulling apart the walls again to let ourselves feel whatever needed to come out. We needed to be ourselves, be brave and look once more with an open heart. It’s been hard. It’s a difficult time in the world for us, as it is for so so many, but we understand that we’re also in a position of privilege that many don’t have right now. We have the space, support and time that is required just to be able to look, and to feel. We hope that you have the space to feel, to breathe and to connect, even if its just in the few minutes listening to the song. It’ll be released here Sept 1st and available everywhere else globally a week after that!

We also released Johnny Mystic’s new Long Story Short EP (which we mastered and helped guide into the world) as its a point of pride for us that means a lot. We’ve worked with Johnny for the better part of 8 years, we started his journey of learning production working on the Johnny and the Biscuit track when he stayed with us for a few days to record some vocals. Through the years after we’ve become pretty close friends. We’ve shared in his journey into sobriety, Alice taking on learning to be a manager (well, more of a mentor/idea bouncer) and sharing the ups and downs of both building PHDM and the personal challenges we’ve all overcome during it. One of the things we’d often start our frequent chats with was “finished the EP yet?!” as a way to keep each other in check.

The last few months that question went the other way with him asking us about mastering, it felt a little like Karma tbh lol. Johnny lost his dad during that time, and we lost 2 friends who’d meant a lot to us. Seeing him turn to music instead of old habits, handling things that would previously have led to a relapse with grit, wisdom and self-compassion was something that we’re immensely proud of him for. It’s been a reminder that the Little steps make up the big journeys eventually. It’s been such a privilege to see him grow, learn, figure things out and get excited about them. To be witness to his growth and journey, and him to ours through the same.

The EP is that journey. From the first song we heard with Gawn Deep back in 2020 that Alice immediately asked to have on PHDM in the future. To the title track made earlier this year. Its a Long Story Short because it would often be what he would say multiple times during our many many many hour conversations. It was the way to sum up a thought or idea we’d worked through or talked about at length and often lead to more thoughts and ideas. Honestly, its something we always made jokes about which is why it became the name for it.

When we started PHDM we wanted to build a place that felt safe for us to be ourselves. To share what we wanted in ways that felt true to who we are while supporting artists who, like us, fell through the cracks and didn’t fit the mould. We’ve supported artists around the world in different ways, like Bee with the LittleVerse characters and J Herrero and Laszlo with the comics. But Johnny is the first artist we’ve released whose songs we weren’t collaborating on. He’s planted his own tree, grown from the seed of a passion that existed long before us and with any luck will continue long afterwards. It feels like the start of a new chapter and its something we’re all excited about!

On other news; we’re making slow (but steady) progress on chapter 3 of Ingenue again and have finished writing a 2nd short for the Paracosm anthology. They’re both planned for release next year though likely in the 2nd and 4th quarters. We’re also deep into the early stages of production of Cooper & Gu, the stopmotion animation short series, we’ll share some of the pics of their ship build, prototyping and the character designs over the coming months. It’s exciting to be working on creative things again and exploring more of the Parvinuti language as it evolves in the stories we’re telling.

We know its a difficult time and things can get on top of you so if you need a friendly ear or voice, or feel like you’re lacking connection, we’re always available on Discord or you can leave us a comment here x Compassion, connection and community is more important than ever. Stay safe, stay sane.

Love you all very much,
The Girls xX

Written by PHDM