starring music artist FIJI BLUE
singer-songwriter TREVOR DERING & producer VALENTIN FRITZ
photography & video by MINH NGUYEN
styling by DANI PALMITER
camera by MARTY GARDUQUE
location FD STUDIO
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Who is FijiBlue and how did you guys end up with this name?
Fiji blue is the joint project of Singer-Songwriter Trevor Dering and Producer Valentin Fritz.
We struggled to come up with a name for a while but it ended up being right in front of us the whole time. We would always make music in blue lighting. Fiji blue is the color that embodies the emotions we try to convey through our music. Also, Trevor loves Fiji water.
How have you evolved as a duo since your days making music individually? Any challenges or advantages?
Valentin: As a producer, I used to work with a lot of different artists and writers before focusing on Fiji blue. It’s been nice having such a strong musical connection with another artist and sharing a similar musical vision. It makes everything more fun!
Trevor: It’s amazing being able to work with a talented producer that can bring ideas that are in my head to life. He brings out the best musical version of myself and what I’m capable of. We took what we learned from our solo projects and combined both of our worlds to create Fiji blue.
What is your creative process like?
It’s a very collaborative process. We typically start out with a chord structure and bounce and ideas back and forth until we have a finished song. Our best music comes when we’re just jamming and let our creativity flow freely. We’ve written a lot of music together and have found a rhythm that works best for us.
How are you guys staying creative during Covid, any hobbies?
The pandemic gave us an excuse to lock ourselves in the studio and focus on nothing but creating. To stay sane Val has picked up surfing and tries to spend as much time as possible by the beach. Trevor enjoys rollerblading down the boardwalk and face-timing his cat clover.
How do you like living in LA vs. prior to being on the east coast?
We love the weather and being close to the beach, but we miss being able to walk everywhere. It’s amazing to be around a community full of creative and hard working people that inspire us.
Are you working on any new projects?
We are just about to wrap up our debut EP, set to release in Spring 2021.
What is your favorite song you created together, and why?
We can both agree it’s “Butterflies”. The song came about seamlessly and it holds a special place in our hearts. We both got Butterfly tattoos.
If you could open up for anyone on tour, who would this person/group be?
The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, Clairo are artists we respect and would love to open for.
If you could change anything about the industry what would it be?
Making the royalty system and payments for independent artists easier to understand and more transparent.
