Photo by Dan Terpstra & Anthony Brown
Many thanks to Gretchen and Andy for agreeing to this interview. Cheers!
EK: Tell me how you both got started in your musical journey.
Andy: My musical journey began in the mid-80s, sneaking into my friend’s brother’s room to raid his record collection. It was a treasure trove of obscure artists like The Cure, Pere Ubu, Klaus Nomi, and The Associates, alongside punk staples like the Angelic Upstarts and UK Subs. Hearing those records was my first real encounter with alternative music and it changed my perspective entirely. I did try my hand at the guitar back then, but with very little success. Despite that early influence, I didn’t truly pick up an instrument and start creating my own music until I was around 38 years old.
Gretchen: Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. We always had a piano in the house, and even without formal training, I was constantly making up little songs though I never shared them. In college, I learned to play guitar and started writing songs as soon as I could switch chords. I have been in bands ever since. My first was called Hansel & Gretel, and after college I co-founded The Icicles with friends. I haven’t stopped making music ever since.
EK: Growing up, what would you say were your biggest musical and artistic influences?
Andy: My biggest influences were definitely The Cure, Joy Division, The Church, and Fields of the Nephilim. But I also grew up listening to my parents’ records—stuff like The Beatles, The Searchers, and Johnny Cash.
Gretchen: Growing up (also including college days), my biggest influences were U2, 10,000 Maniacs, The Cure, The Sundays, and Kitchens of Distinction. Similar to Andy, I grew up listening to my mom’s records, particularly The Beatles.
EK: You are a Transatlantic Duo. Andy is in Switzerland. Where are you based, Gretchen?
Gretchen: I’m actually in the Midwest – in Grand Rapids, Michigan. When I joined the Blue Herons, I was living in Los Angeles but we moved back to the Midwest a couple years ago.
EK: How does that work at a distance? Can you describe your music creation process?
Andy: Essentially, we exchange sound files, and I then assemble the final pieces. At the start, it always felt like a giant surprise box since you never knew what was coming next. I had always created music intended to be engaging even as a standalone piece. Our collaboration shifted that focus; I now consciously reserve space for Gretchen’s vocals. Beyond that, we still work very intuitively without a lot of formal planning. However, we’ve begun developing ideas more collaboratively, which has definitely improved the final outcome.
Gretchen: I feel like our process continues to grow and evolve. We started in a fairly simple way. Andy would send these beautiful demos, and I’d write melodies and lyrics and record vocals. Over time, I began sending my own rough sketches, sometimes just a voice memo, sometimes a fuller demo (though never as polished as Andy’s) and he would reshape them into Blue Heron’s songs. With the new album, the process became even more fluid.
EK: Your work is such a positive force in such a dark time. The lyrics hint at this darkness (Demon Slayer, for example), how do you stay so upbeat?
Andy: The lyrics are entirely in Gretchen’s hands.
Gretchen: It can be really hard to stay upbeat in these times for sure. For me, my refuge is always music, both creating and listening to it. Making music breathes life into me. Lyrically, there is often a melancholy or longing undertone. Writing lyrics for me is often otherworldly, if that makes sense. I try to let the music guide me and stay open so that the lyrics flow through me. For some songs, it’s more conscious than that, but mostly I just try to stay open to what the song is telling me. My lyric editing process is definitely more tactical though. But during the writing phase, it’s just about being open. Heart over head.
EK: Have you ever recorded in the same studio and time zone?
Gretchen: We have not, however it’s not outside the realm of possibility in the future.
EK: Have you ever performed live or have you considered it?
Andy: No one will ever get me on a stage. I freeze up completely in front of an audience.
Gretchen: I have performed live with my other musical projects.
EK: Andy, how did you meet Krissy Vanderwoude? When did you decide to form The Churchill Garden? Gretchen, do you have any side music projects?
Andy: I’ve been using the name The Churchill Garden since 1990. Back then, it was my moniker for organizing concerts or doing graphic design work. When I eventually started making music, I simply stuck with it. The name actually traces back to a The Wedding Present single; the fan address listed was ‘Churchill Gardens, Leeds.’ I liked the sound of it and decided to tweak it slightly for my own project.
I think that was about nine years ago. Back then, I had released an instrumental track called “Sleepless”. I can’t quite remember if Krissy commented on it or shared it on Facebook, but she really liked the song. A mutual Facebook friend mentioned in the comments that I was looking for singers for my tracks, so I reached out to Krissy and we ended up making “The Same Sky” together. That first song was the foundation of our wonderful collaboration and a beautiful friendship.
Gretchen: I do have other side projects, though nothing is actively happening at the moment. Voluptuous Panic, The Francine Odysseys, and Hero No Hero are all projects that I’ve worked on in the last few years.
EK: It appears that The Blue Herons started off with just Andy per Bandcamp. When did you hop on board, Gretchen, and how did that come about?
Andy: I had another project called The Churchhill Garden, which focused more on longer, cinematic tracks with a strong shoegaze lean. However, I found myself writing more and more songs with a playful, jangle-pop vibe and felt it was important to keep those styles separate. I think it was pure coincidence that I heard Gretchen’s voice on a radio show or playlist. I simply reached out, sent her a few song ideas, and asked if she’d be interested in collaborating. It all felt so effortless and natural from the start—it just clicked, so we kept going.
Gretchen: It felt like kismet. During the earlier COVID days, I was home a lot and spent a lot of time listening to radio shows in my backyard. I’d actually come across Andy’s project, The Churchhill Garden, not long before he reached out. When he sent over his song ideas, I couldn’t believe how quickly the melodies and lyrics came together. It all felt really easy and natural from the start.
EK: How did you get Marty Willson-Piper to play on one of your recordings?
Andy: I first connected with Marty through Facebook when I saw he was offering online guitar lessons. Since I definitely needed the practice, I reached out, and we started working together. What I took away most from those lessons wasn’t just technique, but the way Marty spoke and philosophized about music—it was truly inspiring.
Eventually, Marty’s path led him to Switzerland, and I offered him a place to stay at my apartment. So, suddenly, I had one of my biggest guitar idols living at my house! Then he asked if he should play on one of my songs… you should’ve seen the grin on my face! :-)
EK: Is Demon Slayer considered your debut, or is it Go On, your collection of singles?
Gretchen: I’m not sure which we’d call the debut, since the two albums are certainly a different approach. With Go On, we knew from the start that it was going to be a collection of singles. Whereas, Demon Slayer is probably more of the typical approach to an album.
EK: Please tell us about the evolution of Demon Slayer over the past year or so? How does it differ from your earlier work? It sounds massive!
Andy: Regarding the sound: Working steadily and staying focused on the songs has definitely helped me understand the technical side better. I’m no longer just trying things out by pure luck. Even though I still often feel like I don’t really know what I’m doing, I’ve learned how to do it a bit better—even if I’m still not quite satisfied with a lot of it. My guitar recordings are cleaner now, and I’ve also learned how to embed Gretchen’s vocals more precisely and seat them better within the overall sound.
Gretchen: We were writing at a kind of breakneck speed, not with the intention of an album at that point, but just because we were inspired. The album sort of emerged. Once Shelflife came on board and we knew we were doing a full album, we shifted into focus mode to shape and refine it. Oddly enough, we ended up writing even more songs during that phase.
Compared to our earlier work, Demon Slayer feels bigger and more expansive. The arrangements are more layered, the emotional range is wider, and we gave ourselves permission to move beyond pure jangle pop and follow the songs wherever they took us. That’s where the shoegaze textures began to surface, adding a deeper, more immersive dimension to the record.
EK: What is your favorite gear? Guitars, pedals, and so forth?
Andy: My Rickenbacker 330 paired with the JB3 Janglebox.
Gretchen: I just got a new set up that I love very much. A Roland JC40 amp with my Epiphone Sheraton II (my previous set up was Fender Strat and Fender Vibro Champ which I still set up). My favorite pedal by far is my Strymon Big Sky.
EK: What informs your songwriting the most, and how does your collaboration work?
Andy: I do everything mostly by feel without overthinking; I just let myself go with the flow. Sometimes a song starts out as a The Churchhill Garden track, and ends up clearly becoming a The Blue Herons song. I also let myself be heavily guided by Gretchen’s vocals, often altering the song to better support her voice or the specific mood of her performance.
I also love it when Gretchen sends me a short, simple melody for me to flesh out; it makes the process incredibly exciting and adds more color and variety to the songs.
Gretchen: Our songwriting and collaboration is a very intuitive process. We’re both responding to feeling first. When Andy sends one of his demos, I listen for what the music is calling for and let the melody and lyrics come alive from there.
It’s just as cool from the other direction. When I send a rough idea, sometimes even just a voice memo, hearing how Andy expands it and brings it to life is part of the magic. There’s a trust between us. We leave space for each other, and the songs tend end up somewhere neither of us expected.
EK: When you’re not creating music, what do you do for work? What other hobbies do you enjoy?
Andy: I work as an image editor at a print media company. I like walking, no matter where, just walking for a long time.
Gretchen: My day job is owning a website management company. I’d say my biggest hobby is traveling and seeing new places.
EK: 2025 was a great year for music, despite and maybe because of world events. What releases did you both enjoy?
Andy: I’m a massive Beach Lab fan—a total ultra, really :-) There’s something about her voice that touches me deeply. I also loved the Seashine and the Shapes Like People album, though my top spins in 2025 were the 2024 releases from Wrest and NEØV & Nick Cave.
Gretchen: Just a few of my favorite releases in 2025 were Bleach Lab’s Close To The Flame EP, Swim School’s This Is The Debut Album, and Massage’s Coaster. If we count 2024, similar to Andy, I really love the Wrest and NEØV albums.
From a fan: I’d be curious about why they picked an Xmal Deutschland song to cover? Were they one of their influences?
Andy: Having previously covered Joy Division, I was drawn to the idea of covering another band from that gloomier era (despite “Dreamhouse” being very poppy in its original form). My roots are in Goth, Post-punk, and New Wave, and I love paying homage to that through covers. When I revisited Xmal Deutschland and heard “Dreamhouse”, I immediately realized how well Gretchen’s vocals would fit the track.
EK: What aspirations do you have for your music? Any future plans you can reveal?
Andy: Most of all, I just love making music. It’s my emotional outlet in an increasingly crazy world. So, I really hope we can create many more songs together—songs that we both love and that bring us a lot of joy.
Gretchen: We hope people connect with this album as deeply as we do. We are already working on a good amount of new music, which is exciting. And at some point in the not too distant future, I hope we have the opportunity to work on some music in person together.
Catch up with the band on Facebook and Bandcamp.
