By Gabby McIlhinney
WKDU DJ Gabby Mack sat down with rock duo Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg from Lowertown.
After nearly three years in the making, their new album Ugly Duckling Union drops May 22, and if you ask them, it’s more than ready to exist outside of their heads.
“I can actually listen to it recreationally now,” Avsha laughs. “Not cringe at my own artistic output.”
The record sat with them for a long time; written, reworked, and eventually finished months ago. But that time also gave them something they hadn’t had in years: total control.
“This is the first time since 2019 that we just… did everything ourselves,” Avsha says. “No time constraints, no outside input. We’d play when we wanted, stop when we didn’t.”
You can hear it in the current singles, too. The looseness and lack of pressure feels closer to their earliest work, but more self-aware.
A big shift this time around was going fully DIY again, recording in Avsha’s basement.
“There were way less defined roles,” Liv adds. “In a really beautiful way.”
That freedom also led to more experimentation. Avsha sings more on this record, something that came naturally once the expectations disappeared.
“We got to actually have fun,” he says. “And build our friendship through making the album.”
Even though they’ve been in New York City for a while now, its influence is still unfolding in their music.
“Everything’s faster here,” Liv says. “More comparative. Your taste is shaped by your environment.”
Their last album, I Love To Lie, leaned into that immediacy, the grit of the city, the punk scene, but this one feels more reflective.
“Now we actually get to see how living here has sat with us,” Avsha explains.
When it comes to the album’s themes, “There’s a lot about the gray area of being a person,” Liv says. “The older you get, the less black-and-white everything feels.”
She talks about morality, self-perception, and confronting the “shadow self”—the parts of yourself that are harder to face.
“There’s also way more joy,” she adds. “We wanted to be funny. Silly. That’s who we are, and it hasn’t always shown up in our music.”
In terms of building a “union,” The Ugly Duckling Union is exactly what it sounds like: a community.
“We want people to find each other through this,” Avsha says. “Online, at shows, turning into real friendships.”
It’s something they experienced firsthand growing up in Atlanta’s scene, especially around Georgia State University’s college radio community.
I jumped in here, probably a little too excited, talking about WKDU and how similar it feels connecting people through music, and they seemed to be on the same page!
“That’s exactly it,” Avsha says. “No outside influence. Just people connecting.”
A lot of the album’s influence came from what they were listening to on tour. Music that could stretch across endless drives.
“Elliott Smith, always,” Liv says.
Avsha starts listing names rapid-fire:
Blaze Foley,
John Fahey,
Mississippi John Hurt,
“a lot of Johns,” he jokes.
“It’s the kind of music you can drive nine hours to,” he says. “It makes time pass differently.”
Like any band sitting on unreleased music, their favorite tracks shift constantly, but a few standouts slip through.
“‘Echo of Desire’ has always been really special to me,” Avsha says, describing how its meaning changed alongside a relationship ending.
Liv’s pick is also one of the heavier tracks.
“It depends on my mood,” she shrugs. “But I never get tired of ‘Anything Good Takes Blood.’ It just… unsettles me in a way I like.”
And then, almost as an aside:
“I also love ‘DIPSH*T.’”
“That one’s gonna go crazy live,” Avsha adds immediately.
Their upcoming tour starts April 28, in Philadelphia, and they’re clearly hyped about it.
“That’s one of my favorite places to play,” Avsha says. “People actually listen. They show up early, support openers… It feels like they want to be part of something.”
As we wrap, I ask what they want to say to Philly ahead of the tour kickoff.
“I love you, Philly,” Liv says, without hesitation.
“Forever and ever,” Avsha adds.
“April 28th,” Liv continues. “Go crazy stupid.”
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***All photos taken from @lowrtown on Instagram.