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Despite their intended premise, online dating apps aren’t always conduits for meaningful personal connection. But when East of June co-founder Kyle Mortensen came across Emily Rath’s musical portfolio via her profile on the dating app Bumble, he decided to bypass the idea of asking for a date and instead inquired about a musical collaboration.
“We had a conversation and I asked her, ‘What kind of artists are you into?'” Mortensen said. “And I was amazed by how many similar influences we shared like Lana Del Rey and the Eagles. Then she talked about how she loves the sounds and songwriting of oldies and classic rock that you just don’t hear in today’s pop music and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.”
The timing was fortuitous: Mortensen was separately asking his long-time friend since high school, Dirk Lance (a founding member of Incubus who co-wrote and performed on the band’s biggest albums, including S.C.I.E.N.C.E., Make Yourself, and Morning View) for feedback on music he had been working on.
“What was supposed to have been me sharing my two cents started developing into a collaboration without a face to it,” Lance says, adding that the pair intended on forming a behind-the-scenes songwriting collective. “Then Kyle made the connection with Emily and she started contributing lyrics and melodies to some existing ideas he and I had put together.” The trio then realized that they might instead be forming a band and settled on the name East of June.