Floating into Memories – An Interview With Coatie Pop

New York’s Coatie Pop have quickly become a modern favorite ever since I first heard the track “Bodies” in late 2024. After listening to their debut record Deathbed five times in a row in one day, I became enraptured in their sound, which on paper, combines techno, trip-hop, darkwave, and ethereal synth pop together in new and spellbinding ways. Some touchstones for the uninitiated, include but are certainly not limited to HTRK, Love Spirals Downwards, Pink Industry, David Lynch, and Everything But the Girl. Despite these reference points and through a heady mix of organic and synthetic instrumentation and deep passion, the duo of long-time partners Courtney and Robert Watkins have crafted something that feels truly unique and fresh.

On July 19th, Coatie Pop released their long-awaited sophomore LP Unknown God, which is available in digital and vinyl format via Bandcamp. The record features thirteen new songs, all of which deeply expand Coatie Pop’s sonic palate, with heavy focus on energy, dynamics, sensuality, and most importantly, heart. Opening track “Siiiccck Serenade” begins with a simply plucked folk melody that layers Courtney’s ethereal vocals on top before kicking into a heavy beat and bass drone that is immediately arresting. “Angels That Fuck” follows suit with haunting synth melodies and drones, serving as one of the most danceable, yet beautifully unnerving tracks this side of the spectrum. The record is chock full of barn burners in this vein, including the pummeling “Cemetery Song,” the entrancing piano-and-beat-driven “Complete Stranger” and the dream-like “Noticed.” “Just Like a Boy” is a stunning amalgamation of acoustic guitar and throbbing electronics, twisting and turning with delicious unease. “Floating Into Memories” taps into the same icy beauty as Julee Cruise’s roadhouse performances, while closing track “Girl Alone” is both subdued and powerfully haunting, as the softly strummed guitars give way to dramatic percussion and deep choral synth patches, before the album fades quickly back into the ether. As with Deathbed before, Unknown God immediately calls for repeated listens, with each song gaining new depth and power with every spin.

Coatie Pop will be performing at The Sultan Room in NYC for their record release party this Thursday. Also on the bill is unsay [sic], Jill Blutt, and Kian McHugh on the decks. Music starts at 6:30pm. In the meantime, check out our interview with Coatie Pop below, and be sure to give Unknown God a spin or three in the coming days.

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Unknown God is a truly incredible sophomore record – congratulations! How did the record come together?  

C – Thank you so much! I desired it to first, I guess. Well.. imagination first, desire second…even though I had no idea what it would really be like. The songs came out one by one over a couple of years. I’m a slow writer, I don’t sit down to create a new song that often. There was a lot of hard work involved though, a lot of difficult emotional work I would say. Then I felt compelled to stare at that photo of that little boy. I don’t know who he is, it’s a found photo. Watkins mixed and mastered everything on his own. We work hard bartending to foot the bill for the vinyl and all that. 

W- For me it was just a continuation of what we were already doing with the first album. For my part, it wasn’t a plan so much as it was working on individual songs and the greater idea comes out of it spontaneously.

Can you tell us what the songs are about? 

C – “Strong women and wise saw him and told him things they only told each other: that way past the Change of Life, desire in them had suddenly become enormous, greedy, more savage than when they were fifteen, and that it embarrassed them and made them sad: that they secretly longed to die–to be quit of it–that sleep was more precious to them than any waking day” – that is a quote from a book we read in our book club, Beloved, vastly different subject matter in that book of course, but this quote from it really resonated with me. I just turned 30 years old… becoming a woman, maybe the songs have something to do with that. 

W- Courtney writes all of the lyrics so she would know what the songs are technically ‘about’. But for what the songs mean to me– I think “Siiick Serenade” is about how some ‘pure’ desires can be tainted by primitive impulses, and that combination can be portrayed in a paradoxically beautiful way. I think “Angels That Fuck” has a similar meaning, but the ‘balance’ has shifted to the more animalistic. “Noticed” for me can be interpreted as either seeing your own ego or another person’s personality as an illusion. Several of the songs like “Complete Stranger” and “Embody” I think are about trying to get someone to open up and be honest with themselves. Those are some of the major themes on this album.

I love how you both combine several genres in such a way that sounds fresh, which I think is the only way to really succeed these days  – what inspires you, musically? 

C – It’s nice to hear you say that, and believe that, because it seems more so to me that to succeed you need to make it within one genre. I believe if we stuck with the dark wave realm, like “City Song,” we would already be successful… but not in a timeless way, the way I want to be… not like Depeche Mode. What really inspires me to create is music that amps me up.. there was lots of good techno on the scene in 2021-22, and I’d just discovered it.  Music that emotes an antique mystery… I’d like the score for the episode of the Twilight Zone ‘The Walking Distance’ to play at my funeral. Sadcore (“Medicine Bottle“… you know the one), stuff that goes hard (heeeeyyyy Rik), and the type of healing songs that just lift all the weight off (when in doubt, drab it out, that’s what I always say). And mostly – all the local NYC artists and DJs on the scene that are rocking it. They are doing it, here and now.

W – I think with every song we just have the goal of making something we like rather than sticking to a genre or specific format. That makes the creation of every new song a more exciting process. It can have some challenges sometimes when you lack a go-to method for starting a song, but I find it more enjoyable this way. We also try to pull influences from everything we both like. My dad is a major Depeche Mode, Erasure, and Pet Shop Boys fan and I grew up listening to them so they will obviously be a source of inspiration for me. It is hard to point to what influences me musically versus what I like as there are so many artists and bands that I love but don’t really have a direct influence when it comes to making music. The reason Depeche Mode comes to mind for me as an actual influence as well as a band I love is because they never seemed to try to make genre music, but genuinely experimented with making sounds in order to make a good song in a unique way. Which I think is one of the keys to their success.

Well, I think it’s always best to write from the heart and not stick to what’s popular, for the sake of being popular. That’s admirable that you stick to your own convictions and write what feels right… 

C – I’d love to be popular. Like how Depeche Mode is popular LOL, the Prodigy, I’d love to do massive festivals. But the most awesome thing is when REAL music is popular. It feels like mass healing, mass evolution. But to hold on to yourself with all that influence, to keep your VALUES, that has to be hard. That’s really important to me. Ed Sheeran is killing us! Don’t even get me started…

W- Since I started getting into working on music as a kind of self-healing from depression during the COVID pandemic, it really is something I can only do for the genuine enjoyment of it. So in that respect it necessarily ‘comes from the heart’, or at least that is how I experience it. I am not interested in what is popular at all. It is possible for things we like to be popular but I care first and foremost that I like what we are doing.

What’s your writing and recording process like? What kind of gear/tools do you use?  

C – we have a really terrible setup. We drag everything into the living room to write. We have a desk with all my VHS tapes crammed in the back to record. We don’t got nothing fancy we use, I think that’s kinda neat in itself. Bob has some neat mini synths, he’s more the gear guy. I’ll write a song on a Casio, doesn’t matter to me. Ideas just come to me, and I make them happen! The wilder the better.

W- The writing process can start with either an idea from me, or more frequently an idea from Courtney on either her acoustic guitar or this electric piano we have in our living room. For some examples – I started the idea for “Angels That Fuck” by making the initial beat and bass line and Courtney started “Siiick Serenade” with her guitar. Sometimes an idea will start with both of us jamming. “City Song” started with her playing those opening chords on the previously mentioned electric piano and I just grabbed my bass and spontaneously played that riff. “Embody” was somewhat similar in that Courtney was playing with a different tuning on her acoustic guitar while I played with the choir sound I had just made. After we get an idea started, we usually just go back and forth. I do like these mini synthesizers I have collected and my Novation Bass Station II but I also love the Arturia V collection of soft-synths. Primarily their Prophet VS, DX7, ARP 2600, and the Emulator II. I would say their Prophet VS is the most used on this album.

Where else do you draw inspiration from that isn’t music?  

C – Old timey stuff. Atmospheres. Caves and deserts. Shrunken heads. Fashion. Mysteries. Cute baby stuff like Tabitha’s totally excellent toys. Meditation. The way my favorite artists move on stage, the way people dance. My religious background. Nightmares. Overall the story of life, the romance of it. Tragedy. Love. Sex. Intimacy. Going deeper and deeper into it, existence…Space, like what the fuck is going on? When I really feel compelled though… well I don’t know, can’t grasp it now….

W- I don’t know how much other things I am interested in actually influence my part of making music. Maybe subconsciously they do. I have an unhealthy interest in some very dark and pessimistic philosophical literature and that can be a driving force behind working on artistic things via ‘sublimation’. I also can be very OCD and get fixated on learning some kind of new skill for its own sake. I think Youtube tutorials are entertaining for me.

Can you tell us about the guest contributions to the record?

C – James Parker added the ambient drones on “Girl Alone,” a track I wrote when I stayed alone in a cabin for a month in Montana with no car. He’s an incredible artist – Savior’s Gate is a really deep ambient record. The kind of music you can really explore within (psychedelics a plus)  – highly recommend it. For “Floating into Memories,” I worked with Marilu Donovan of LEYA, to record what I’d written with midi notes on a real harp, and we worked together to expand the layers to give it that really full sound. I first saw Marilu play harp in like 2015, at Authority Figure at Knockdown Center – back when I was going there for performance art instead of techno. I’ve been a fan of hers and LEYA for a long time! Very romantic music to experience with yourself.

I know you both have been making music together for some time now, how did Coatie Pop get started?  

C – I used to make music by myself as Coatie Pop. I would perform dressed as a nun and stand completely still as I sang, with Bob standing behind me with a black pillowcase over his head. I guess you could say it started there. But he really got going with it and learned how to use synths, Ableton, and started writing during the pandemic. It was always meant to be that we worked together I think, but it was always my only dream to be a musical artist. 

W- I always had an interest in learning how to make music even when I was younger. I used to mess around with Reaper and FL Studio but never really got into it. As mentioned earlier I was going through a pretty bad depression period during the pandemic and I was able to get out of it by throwing myself into learning everything I could about making music. It was great that Courtney and I happened to complement each other since she is more into the ‘songwriting’ aspect and I love the more technical parts of the process.

As someone who’s had mixed amounts of luck making music with a partner, what’s the secret to your success?  

C – We met and fell in love when I was 14, and have been together consistently for 11 years now. We had a very successful relationship when we started working together so I think that’s the main thing. He and his family introduced me to all the old classics at that age, so we have a strong bond through that. When we write together, it isn’t always fun. We get negative, we argue a bit, but when we really have something we both know it. I would imagine that if the writing process was always fun, our music wouldn’t be good. We would be a jam band. 

W – While I do want the process to be ‘fun’ it isn’t always the case. As Courtney said, we can get into arguments about things but if you aren’t arguing at all then you probably don’t have the ‘passion’. I think Courtney and I communicate and understand each other very well and we always get to the bottom of things if there is a disagreement.

Tell us more about the release party this Thursday? 

C – We’re playing with Unsay, Jill Blutt, and Kian McHugh on the decks. Tiffany and I were involved in a show together about 8 years ago, when I was dressing as a nun and she was reading tarot. I’m not sure if we even met but we stayed following each other online. She invited us to do a show (where we also met James) about two years ago – I really resonate with her artistry and I think our styles really fit together – she goes hard as fuck, soft and sensual, and trips you out too. For Jill Blutt I saw them perform at a renaissance themed event by Moral Crema and loved it…. Their voice and vibe gives that relaxing sense of sensuality that really reaches your soul. Kian we met when we played the Bad Party.. An event by our friend Bangs and his agency the Kollection that is co-hosting the event. He’s an amazing curator and said ‘anytime you need someone to DJ for one of your sets let me know’.. I don’t take those gestures lightly.  

As for us I’ll give it all I’ve got…. There will be a lot of stuffed animals.

What other shows do you have planned?  

C – Playing with our friends Summore in Philly October 19th! Trying to plan some other things….. Anyone reading this a really awesome booking agent or know one? Could use a manager too…just saying.

What’s next for you both?  

C – I think the third album will have a lot to do with Peter Zapffe type stuff (I don’t recommend him) and channeling some David Lynch type shit. Other than that for this year I’m ready to reconnect with my family and friends in Oklahoma, keep building my new thing ‘Post-Techno NYC’, and maybe some other stuff… could get hit by a car tomorrow so I can’t say for sure. Oh also I might start my new solo DJ project – ‘Mrs. Watkins’. She might make her debut at Rash on September 12th. 

W- I am definitely excited to start up new ideas. I learned a lot about music production on this album through blood, sweat, and tears (and many near-catastrophes). I am looking forward to continuing to apply what I learned for future projects.  §

Header photo by Celeste Anderson