Pearly Drops: "We paint the cover art ourselves"

What is your name and where are you from?
We’re Sandra and Juuso, from Helsinki, Finland.

Tell us how you started making music.

Sandra played classical piano from an early age, but didn’t start creating music until much later when she wanted to learn how to use a digital audio workstation and produce electronic music on her own. Juuso started during a time when FL Studio was still called FruityLoops.

Tell us a little secret (almost) nobody knows about you.

We originally met each other on Twitter, as it was called at the time, and at first we communicated in English, because we didn’t realize we’re both from Finland.

Send us a pic of your pet (if you have one).

Open question: tell us something you want to share about yourself.

This is something that our listeners ask us pretty frequently: who has painted the cover arts of our albums and other releases? And the answer is: Sandra. In a way, Pearly Drops has a strong DIY mentality, since we do pretty much everything ourselves from songwriting, production, mixing and mastering to every visual aspect of the project.

Tell us the last song you’ve listened to, and tell us something you like about that song.

Sandra: “Strawberry Jam” by Waterbaby. It has this beautiful feminine, celestial, and gloomy energy to it.
Juuso: "Fighting My Demons" by Ken Carson. It sounds like it's about to tear at the seams.

What's the best gig you've ever been to?

Sandra: The Knife’s 'Shaking The Habitual Show' in Helsinki, 2013.
Juuso: Snow Strippers in Helsinki, 2023.

Which song of your own is the most significant to you and why?

This is a tough question, actually, but right now it might be 'Haunted', which is from our latest release 'Haunted Expansion Pack'. We’re just really proud of the song, and it seems that it’s really resonating with our listeners, as well.

What album (or albums) have shaped you the most as an artist and generally as a person? What impact did they have on you?

Sandra: Björk’s first three albums definitely shaped me as a person when growing up. There’s so many albums and artists that have shaped me in many ways, but for me, it’s Björk’s music that I actually grew up with. It’s as though she was a mentor of some sort, and even nowadays her music really helps me ground myself.
Juuso: Probably 'The Teaches of Peaches' by Peaches, 'Ray of Light' by Madonna or 'Experience' by The Prodigy. These albums made me feel free and I’m still inspired by them decades later.

Name a song lyric that has inspired you and tell us why.

“Lemonade was a popular drink, and it still is. I get more props and stunts than Bruce Willis” from DWYCK by Gang Starr. It’s quite self-explanatory.

Is there a song people wouldn't expect you to like?

We hope we don’t give an impression that we only like the type of music we make ourselves, or something! But anyways, we really like Dua Lipa’s newest single 'Houdini'. We’re actually very much looking forward to her new album, because it’s produced by Danny L Harle and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. What a dream producer duo!

Any new music you are listening to right now?

Kevin Abstract’s new album is great!

Who is your dream collab with and why?

Well, A.G. Cook has been on our dream collab list for years. It’s admirable to have a distinctive sound the way he does. Basically, we think he’s a musical genius.

You've created a playlist for us, to give us a peek into your inspirations. Tell us about it!

This playlist embodies a fragment of our musical inspirations, aspirations and songs that make us feel like the world makes sense – even if it's for a couple of minutes.