“I really don’t want to tie it too much to the election, because everything is right now, but… this was our response,” he reluctantly adds. “The biggest thing we wanted to do but make our music stronger and harder,” Lloyd says of diving into the creative process for Unusual. With their release of their sophomore album Unusual, both Gongol and Lloyd are in agreement that Marian Hill is empowered more than ever.

Marian Hill (photo credit: Hervin Lainez) “When Jeremy and I started working together was the first time we really felt that,” she says of finding their artistic direction together. “It wasn’t until afterwards that we realized how unique that first song really was.” On the artistry behind Marian Hill, Gongol adds that there is a big different between being a talented singer and being an artist.

We weren’t consumed with figuring out ‘our sound,’ we just knew what sounded good and we followed it,” he says. With endless musical references, Lloyd admits that in the beginning, his musical style was a little all over the place, until he collaborated with Gongol on their first song “ Whisky.” “It was just fun. It taught me that there are so many ways to make music, talk about music and to think about music,” Lloyd says of his background. I’ve sang in choirs, played in bands, taken piano and violin lessons, musical theatre songwriting classes. Lloyd interjects and credits her to teaching him most of his industry jargon.

“Sometimes I wish I knew more, because Jeremy is such a breadth of knowledge from music theory to history,” Gongol admits. Gongol studied music business in college, teaching her the inner workings of the industry, while Lloyd majored in theatre and took as many music courses as he wanted, granting him a broad catalog of sonic familiarities.

With huge recent radio hits like “ Down” and a collaboration with Lauren Jauregui on “Back to Me,” the duo know no boundaries when it comes to their musical style, which stems from their studious beginnings. I think the music says a lot,” Lloyd says of his retort to these curiosities. Who is Marian Hill? Is it a woman? Are they a duo? Is it pop music? These are the questions Samantha Gongol and Jeremy Lloyd have been asked in the past regarding their musical partnership, Marian Hill.

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