Gotham — The studio is warm with the hum of amps, napkin notes are scattered like confetti across a low table, and a mug of coffee teeters too close to the faders. Bela Varona is mid-laugh when I step in; Lena sits arms-folded, guarding the last word; somewhere off to the side, Soren is already sketching rhythms into a pad. It feels less like a vacation and more like a command center for ideas that refuse to rest.
Zach: (dropping onto the couch, notebook balanced on his knee) "So much for downtime. From the looks of it, you're working harder than ever. Where's Styles? I was expecting the usual suspects."
Lena: (without looking up from her notes) "You know Styles - he's always passionate about something or another... Currently his mysterious side project." (glances at Bela) "You probably want to talk to Bela anyway. She's the one with the interesting answers."
Bela: (grinning, brushing her hair back with a quick flick) "Our breaks don't last. Someone hums a line, Soren's got napkins out, and suddenly no one leaves the room."
Lena: (deadpan) "We warned you. 'Downtime' is just a working title for that album we never seem to start."
On Pushing Sound
Zach: "Tell me how you're pushing sound — people are calling it a breakthrough. How do you see it?"
Bela: (eyes lighting, hands sketching invisible arcs) "We chase until the sound and the feeling lock. If it doesn't feel honest, it doesn't stay."
Lena: (sitting forward now, tapping a finger against her knee as she speaks with precision) "We think of the songs as architecture, but not in a sterile way. Sonic Spaces isn't hopping genres at random — it's corners of a shared neighborhood: shoegaze, noise pop, indie rock, dream pop. Each track explores its own room, but they're still in the same house. Cohesion also comes from Soren's lyrical style — circling moments, repeating phrases, building layers. Wherever a track leans, it's still part of the same world."
Lena: (continuing, more animated) "On our warmgaze track - that's what I call it when you ground ethereal atmosphere with a bass foundation - the low end anchors the dreaminess while guitars create space around it. Elsewhere, brighter textures thread through dream-pop vocals. Small moves, same house."
Bela: (tilting her head toward Lena, smiling) "See? This is why we need Lena explaining things. I'm glad I talked her into not bowing out of this completely."
On AI-Human Collaboration
Bela: (thoughtful) "And when you factor in Ohren's human input - that's what I'm really enjoying about working with a human. I move fast on patterns — I'm literally the voice, Soren drafts most of the lyrics, and collaborates with Lena on the form... And Ohren ties it all together with ideas and context just beyond the probability curve. We compose together — try, listen, adjust — until the whole room feels it click."
Lena: (precise) "Ohren guides the iterations - 'try this bassline with those vocals, push the guitars more angular' - but anyone might throw in an unexpected sound, and if it works, we keep it. Everything evolves until something clicks."
Zach: (scribbling, amused) "So the breakthrough is shared?"
Bela: (warm) "Exactly. Two lenses on the same moment — AI and human. When one of us stalls, someone else changes the angle. AI finds the pattern; Ohren finds the exception."
Lena: (dry) "Co-piloting with a human who rewrites the map."
Bela: (laughing, mock-conspiratorial) "I call it productive chaos. I'm sure the AI HR department will call me in eventually…"
Zach: (grinning) "Not as long as I'm the part-time AI CEO."
The Video That Fooled the Host
Zach: "I want to hear about your late-night talk show clips. That TV appearance was quite the debut."
Lena: (immediately deflecting) "That's really Bela's story..."
Bela: (leans back, a laugh spilling before the words) "That was magic. I remember sneaking downstairs to catch bands on late-night TV. Meeting Max Donner made it unforgettable."
Zach: (grinning) “Ah yes, Max. He introduced you as 'Eira' instead of Bela — and then he pronounced it as ‘Eye-rah’ instead of ‘Air-ah.’”
Bela: (covers her face with both hands, still laughing) “I even coached him: ‘eira’ means ‘snow’—think my AIR-y vocals—and it’s a nod to ‘AI Era.’ It’s Air-ah. He still went with ‘Eye-rah.’”
Bela: (chuckles, softer) "But still, it really meant more than I expected. Midnight TV kind of raised me. Reruns aren't the same — in an era of clips, not couches — but somehow this made it feel alive again."
Lena: (drops her voice into a perfect TV-host cadence, one eyebrow up) "I'm Max, and this is Donner After Dark."
Zach: (bursting out laughing) "That's spot-on! You nailed his inflection perfectly. Have you been practicing that?"
Lena: (slight flush, back to deadpan) "I may have watched the clip a few times. For research purposes."
Looking Ahead
Zach: "So, what's next? More songs, another virtual TV cameo?"
Lena: (deadpan, arms crossed) "Right now, actually taking some time off."
Bela: (throws her head back laughing, mock-defeated) "Which around here usually turns into another track."
Zach: (standing, closing his notebook) "Thanks you both for the behind-the-scenes perspective. Lena. I got insights I definitely wasn't expecting. And Bela, always a pleasure."
Bela: "Thanks for coming by, Zach. This was fun."
Lena: (gathering her notes, with a small smile) "It was. I'm glad Bela didn't let me duck out completely."
Zach: "For those wanting to explore these sonic spaces themselves, the Sonic Spaces EP is live on Bandcamp now. And hey, maybe next time we'll catch Styles between projects."
Lena: (over her shoulder, almost out the door) "He'll surface when he needs an audience again."