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BUNNY X - They Demand Fun | An Interview

With big beats and a stage presence for the ages the beautiful ladies of Bunny X are a force to be reckoned with. Sleek production and the catchiest tunes this side of the Hudson River all culminate to captivate their fans the world over.



Primarily known for Italo Disco the devil may care duo that are Mary Hanley and Abigail “Abbi” Ferguson have been sending temperatures soaring since 2013 and draw on influences ranging from the Pet Shop Boys to Erasure and Timecop1983 to early Madonna and beyond. Whilst they generally stay true to the Italo Disco sound they have an acute affinity with the Synthwave Genre and we’re all the luckier for it.


Recently signed to Synthwave Label Oasis ‘Aztec Records’ their star will continue to ascend and we can expect big big things to come.


From the city that never sleeps, we don’t sleep on this duo and Forged took the exciting opportunity to interview the ladies about all things Bunny X past and the glittering dancefloor of their future...take a look!

 

So happy to have you ladies with me here on Forged, I have been following your career

with great interest for a good while now. Congratulations of course on all your success to

date and that stunning single with Marvel83 ‘NYC Sunrise’. How do you feel 2020 has gone

for you?


Abigail: We’re very happy to be here, thank you for having us and thank you so much for

the support! Ahh yes, Marvel83’ was wonderful to work with - such a talented artist and

kind person. 2020 was...rough to put it simply. I think everyone certainly experienced their

fair share of struggles and we were not immune as NYC was extremely hard hit with

Covid-19 cases. Like everyone else, our day-to-day routines essentially came to a

standstill. But, a silver lining certainly was having more time to write and flesh out new

material. We ended up working on several italo-inspired tracks in the earlier part of the

year but, as time went on, we started working on a number of retrowave/80s songs,

inspired by such artists as Sellorekt/LA Dreams, Don Dellpiero and Timecop1983.



Mary: Hi Ash! Thanks so much for having us! 2020 had its share of ups and downs, all of

which I’m sure you know about already - the ‘Rona, the Presidential Election, the absence

of live music in venues, etc...but despite all of that and more, I feel that 2020 taught us a

lot as well. We all collectively needed to learn how to dial things down, and take very

deep breaths...not easy at first, as we’re all trying to get things done all the time. Being

at home has felt at times like a lovely vacation, as I had no agenda! LOL. But, all in all, I

think that slowing down and really considering what is important, what things we love and

need in our lives - good people and cherished friends, chill mode time, self care, and of

course, self love. No regrets! This time has also allowed Abbi and I to move into writing/

creating our first Synthwave album, so we’ve also been busy working on that. We’re super

excited!



Of course, you’re now signed to Aztec Records which is very exciting how are they to work

with?


Abigail: The Aztec team is fantastic - everyone has been extremely welcoming and helpful.

I highly recommend them to any artists that are looking for representation as they

definitely go the extra mile and work to enhance an artist’s vision as opposed to stifling it.


Mary: Yes! They have been very supportive of us, and we truly very much appreciate

that :)


Tell us a little bit about how Bunny X came to be?


Abigail: Well, long story short, Mary and I became friends here in NYC in 2005 and quickly

discovered our mutual affection for karaoke (haha). After a while, we realized that our

voices seemed to blend pretty well together and eventually (after singing back-up vocals

for some local acts) we thought it would be fun to try writing some original material of our

own. Not long after this, we began working with a producer in the area and released a

synthpop EP in 2012 called Lovespy.



We weren’t quite satisfied with the project though and realized we were still kind of looking for our “sound.” After meeting another local producer, Conrad Kaneshiro, things began to take off and we started co-writing some italo disco style tracks with him, the first of which came out in 2013 (“If You Say Yes”).


We went on to release a bunch of tracks with him over the years and continue to work on

material with him now.


Mary: Abbi’s brainchild, Bunny X, became a reality in approximately 2010. Abbi met our

producer, Conrad Kaneshiro, at an Italo Disco party she and a friend were hosting and they

met up after and talked about all things Italo and thought it would be amazing to have an

actual group. Abbi brought me in, not too long thereafter, so the rest is history! We have

been working with Conrad ever since and have released quite a few vinyl and digital

releases together. At the moment, the album we’re working on is a priority and we’re

excited to be collaborating with other producers and fellow label mates.



It’s fair to say that you’re the current Italo Disco Queens which blends beautifully with the

Synthwave genre how do you feel this works with your current and future visions for the

band?


Abigail: Aww, thank you! That is quite the accolade! Well, as you know, starting around

2017, we decided to release some tracks that fell more into the synthwave/retrowave

camp and find ourselves continually inspired by so many amazing artists in the scene.

While we have plans to release a full italo record at some point in the not-toooo-distant

future, we have been furiously writing and recording several new retrowave tracks which

we (drum roll please haha) plan to release in late spring if all goes according to plan. Even

though we’ve been doing music together for a number of years, this will actually be our

first ever full-length release. Better late than never as they say right?


Mary: Aww, that is so sweet of you to say! Italo Disco will always be a part of us, as it has

been for many years now. It’s more dance based, Hi-NRG music, though we have a few

tracks that are more synthwave in style and feeling, which, of course has been a lot of

fun! I’m thinking that once we finish our album, we’ll have a more concise idea of what

would come next. I am really loving the wide variety of tracks in the synthwave genre and

Abbi and I both love the dreaminess of many of the tracks some of our synthwave friends

have made - we’re really into it!

Credit: RetroSynth


What would you both say are the most distinctive aspects of the music you create?


Abigail: I think since Mary and I grew up on a steady diet of 80s music (and literally also

grew up in the 80s lol) we can’t help but be inspired to create music that reflects the

sounds we grew up listening to. Also, my older brother Brian, always a bit of a rebel, got

into italo disco as a teen and since he more or less bossed me around on everything

anyway, I ended up listening to italo all the time. I absolutely fell in love with the genre

and will always credit him for getting me into it and hence inspiring a lot of our music.

(Update: He still sends me italo tracks to check out all the time and he is still bossy as

hell).


Mary: I feel that we both take inspiration from all the music we love, music from the 80’s

and there are certain synth sounds we just love. For this new project, we’re doing

something a little different from our usual where we would always sing everything

together. We are working with some tracks that Abbi will be lead vocal on and there are

some that I will be lead on, and of course whoever isn’t lead will do background vocals,

etc. It’ll be nice to hear Abbi do her thing and I’m looking forward to doing the same as

well.

Credit: RetroSynth


Are there any Artists on the scene that you’d love to collaborate with? Who are you

listening to?


Abigail: Well, it was a dream of mine to collaborate with Sellorekt/LA Dreams (as I’ve long

been inspired by his work with Roxi Drive) so I am over the moon to announce that we’ll

be releasing two collaboration tracks with him on our upcoming record. We are generally

always up for collaborations so if anyone has any interest in working with us they should

definitely feel free to reach out! Lately I’ve been listening to a ton of Caspro, Highway

Superstar, The Motion Epic, Don Dellpiero, Sunglasses Kid, Primo, LAU and Korine, among

many others. It’s our fantasy basically to do a track with FM Attack which is how I became

a synthwave fan in the first place.


Credit: RetroSynth


Mary: We would love to collaborate with FM Attack. I am particularly obsessed with his

song “Magic” feat. KRISTINE and love his collab with Mecha Maiko as well! Korine is great,

fabulous synths, if they ever need female vocals, please call us ;) Also love the Chromatics

& Desire from the Italians Do It Better label. Vandal Moon is another great one, love his

voice. I listen to all the artists I just listed! NINA is fantastic, she’s so lovely. LAU is also

wonderful, Robert Parker and VHS Dreams. I’m also a huge Bat For Lashes (Natasha Khan)

fan. Check out “What’s a Girl to Do” on the album Fur & Gold. Her voice is heavenly.


Credit: New Retrowave


What do you both reckon has been some of the most cherished memories of your career to

date?


Abigail: A major dream come true for us (and just a damn good time too) was when we

were invited to perform at the Patrick Miller Italo Disco festival in Mexico City in 2015. It

was incredible and just surreal to perform alongside artists I had grown up listening to like

Fancy, Fred Ventura and Brian Ice. We’ve also gotten a chance to perform at a number of

notable venues in NYC over the years such as The Knitting Factory and Mercury Lounge

which, for us, means a lot. Another big highlight for us was playing alongside CZARINA,

LAU, NINA and Parallels during the “Automatic Gold” tour in fall 2019. It felt like a mini

synthfest and truly was a blast.



Mary: We were invited by a very well known DJ in Mexico City, Patrick Miller (Roberto

Devesa), to come participate in a huge Italo Disco festival in 2015 and got to meet so

many influential Italo artists such as the amazing Fred Ventura, Jessica Williams, Fancy,

Brian Ice, just to name a few. It was our biggest audience to date at 12,000 people

attending! It was such a defining moment for us, one that we’ll never forget. We also were

the supporting act for an all-female synthwave show at the Knitting Factory in 2019. It was

really well attended and a total blast. The artists who participated were us, CZARINA,

NINA, LAU and Parallels. Our first official show in 2012 was at the now defunct Lit Lounge

in the East Village and that was also a great time!



Tell us a little about your creative processes, how long does it take for you to lay down a

track? Are you each involved in all aspects or are their little jobs that each do better?


Abigail: It’s funny, some tracks just seem to materialize out of thin air and come together

in a matter of minutes (this happened with “Revolving Doors" and “Midnight Tensions,” for

example) whereas other songs such as “Unknown Places” require a whole lot more time

and patience. I do the majority of our vocal arrangements and lyric writing and then I

typically bounce everything off Mary and she helps me fine-tune melody ideas, finalize the

lyrics and other aspects so that we can hopefully get the best possible result for the track.

Mary is excellent with creating and singing harmonies - something I do not excel at - so I’m

very grateful for that. I call her the Harmony Queen haha.



Mary: Once I’ve listened to a track enough times to get the flow of it, I can lay down

vocals pretty quickly. I also do harmony tracks for some added interest and contribute

lyrics whenever needed. I look forward to being in the room for the production of our

upcoming release, depending on how things go with the ‘Rona.



What is the one guilty pleasure the Bunnies cannot live without?


Abigail: Hmm, good question! For me it’s Netflix HAHA. I don’t know how any of us would

have gotten through this past year without it personally! But, in all seriousness, and as

corny as it sounds, I am so grateful for the synthwave community. It’s been such a blast

collaborating with artists in the genre over the past few years and has truly brought real

joy into our lives.



Mary: Speaking for myself, I need a lot of dark chocolate :) and the occasional glass of

vino.


Who where your musical inspirations growing up? I suspect that’s changed a lot for you

both over time?


Abigail: So many. But I guess if I really had to just name a few, it would be Madonna, Cyndi

Lauper, Prince, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and New Order. As I mentioned before

though, I also grew up listening to a number of italo artists such as Ken Laszlo, Savage,

Sandra, Valerie Dore, Joy, Silent Circle, Bad Boys Blue, Modern Talking, Roger Meno, JD

Jaber, Kano, Miko Mission, Fake and so many others.


Mary: They’re still my inspirations, despite all the years! They are: Stevie Nicks, Cher,

Ann/Nancy Wilson, Pat Benatar (are you feeling the 80’s vibe yet? LOL), David Bowie

(forever, even Magic Dance). The Go-Go’s (that’s how I learned harmonies, thanks ladies!),

Joni Mitchell, Claudine Longet, Serge Gainsbourg, Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave, Echo & the

Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Freddy Mercury....the list goes on!



Are there any current and/or future projects you’re particularly excited about that you’d

love to share?


Abigail: YES! We are thrilled to officially announce (and thank you for giving us the

opportunity to do so :) that we’ll be releasing our first ever full-length album in late

spring. The theme is 80s coming-of-age and is a blend of all of our varying musical

influences so we’re super excited about the project and really looking forward to sharing

it.


*Those new album vibes*


Mary: The album we’re working on now is exciting, and going very smoothly. As far as

future projects, I believe we’ll come across them as time moves on but we’ll definitely let

you know if anything pops up sooner.


If there was one fundamental thing about the Music Industry you’d like to change what

would it be? Why?


Abigail: Excellent question. For one, I think we need a serious competitor to Spotify as it’s

become such a monopoly and that is typically not a good thing for any industry. But, it

serves its purpose to some extent I suppose. Second, I think it would be fantastic if there

was an easier way for artists to submit their music for licensing purposes. There are so

many missed opportunities (I’m looking at you WW84 and Cyberpunk 2077) where

synthwave music would have fit the bill perfectly but the music industry has been

painfully slow to pick up on that.



Mary: I would like women to be more recognized in the genre in general. Especially when

it comes to venues and putting together an all-female line-up, I remember we’d have to

negotiate with the venue quite a bit to get what we wanted, which really wasn’t always a

tall order! So, it’s always great when you have the ladies in the scene coming together,

supporting each other and lifting each other up.



What is a day off for the Bunnies like? Or is there such a thing?


Abigail: Absolutely! While I work full-time and spend most of my free time working on

music and promo stuff, I will always find time to watch the latest true crime show, listen

to podcasts (my favorite is “You’re Wrong About”) and catch up with friends and family :)



Mary: Some days are for exercising and self care, and most, right now anyway, are for

getting more tracks done and fleshed out.


Of your entire discography to date what one track would you say you’re most proud of?


Abigail: I guess I will always be sentimental about “If You Say Yes” as that was the first

track we released following our “rebranding” of sorts in 2012-2013 and I’m proud of that

one but my favorite track of ours is "Come Back” :)



Mary: That’s a tough one! I am honestly proud of all of our releases, it’s hard to choose.

It’s like, which kid (if I had one lol) would I love more?


How have you both been coping with respect to the lack of events? Do you anticipate

being back on stage at some point this year? Do you have any tentative gigs booked?


Abigail: We used to gig several times a year which is also where we got a chance to catch

up with friends and have an opportunity to meet other artists so that’s been tough. I think

everyone has been super bummed about that over this past year. We’re really not sure

when things will open back up again but I could see doing some outdoor gigs when the

weather warms up a bit. We don’t have anything booked at the moment but hopefully that

will change soon.


Mary: Abbi and I definitely miss performing live, it’s always such a good time...we have

also been commiserating with our fellow artist friends about this very thing. We are

hopeful regarding being back on stage sometime this year, that would be great. We’ll have

to see how things go with the pandemic, but again, we’re hopeful <3



A message for your fans?


Abigail: We honestly just want to say thank you for listening and for being open to us

trying out new things. We love our italo and high-energy but I personally don’t like to be

locked into doing the same thing over and over so it’s been really wonderful to experiment

with different genres and to follow wherever the muse takes us!


Mary: We LOVE you, each and every one of you, and are incredibly grateful for all your

support through the years!


 

If you would like to support the Bunnies please take a look at the following links:


https://www.facebook.com/BunnyXmusic

https://soundcloud.com/bunny-x

https://www.instagram.com/bunny_xmusic/

https://bunnyx.bandcamp.com/

https://twitter.com/bunnyxmusic

http://www.aztecrecords.com/





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