Luna and the Carpets Talk Loss, Growing Up, and Their New Debut Album
Sophomore duo Anjali Engstrom and Grace Ferguson, known together as Luna and the Carpets, released their debut album “I Wish Venus Had a Moon” on October 13th.
Words By Polly Gilmore / Graphic by Sofia Floresca / Photo by Mia Ignazio
On Friday the 13th, an appropriately magical day, Luna and the Carpets’ debut album was released on all platforms. The musical duo, Anjali Engstrom and Grace Ferguson sat down with 20 Watts to reflect on love, loss, and growing up shortly before I Wish Venus Had a Moon hit streaming services.
The pair of singer-songwriters both grew up with music, experimenting with songwriting in their early teenage years, but feeling like something was missing. Then they met. In their freshman year dorm, the two began “The Carpet Series,” where they would perform their favorite songs together on the carpeted floor. They then began helping each other with their respective originals.
“Door County Sunsets” was the pair’s first release as Luna and the Carpets. It originated as Ferguson’s song, written before she and Engstrom met, but became a collaborative effort after the two discovered their musical similarities. Conversely, “Stay Away From Me” – the duo’s second single – was originally written solely by Engstrom, but also became a Luna and the Carpets piece. They went on to write six additional songs together in the fall semester of their freshman year, completing an eight-track album.
“I had such writer's block before,” Ferguson said, “I would always start a song, but I would never finish it because […] it was missing something.”
The singer-songwriters complement each other perfectly: Ferguson creates the pair’s vocal melodies and hooks while Engstrom focuses on guitar parts and lyrics. “It ends up being a perfect symbiotic relationship,” said Ferguson.
Engstrom and Ferguson clearly hold deep respect and love for each other. They speak with reverence for their musical compatibility and shared experiences. The upcoming album is a testament to that musical chemistry. Heavily inspired by long-distance relationships and the absolute discomfort of freshman year, I Wish Venus Had a Moon speaks to growing pains. Every track from the LP was written before the end of their freshman year at Syracuse.
“For me, this album represents the past year of my life,” said Engstrom. The pair shared how they helped each other through periods of gain and loss, which strengthened their friendship and musical partnership while defining that era of their lives. “Sharing these experiences through the music that we wrote genuinely changed me.”
The duo exudes emotional intelligence, discussing seasons of their lives and ambitions for the future with studied determination and capability. “I Wish Venus Had a Moon,” the album’s final single and title track, was the last song written for the record and serves as a bookend for this era of the band. They hope that this chapter of their lives will resonate with young women, especially those experiencing the triumphs and (abundant) fumbles of freshman year.
“There are so many women playing at this school and they’re doing fucking fantastic work,” Engstrom pointed out while discussing the music scene at SU. She noted that at the beginning of last year, the only entirely female band regularly playing house shows was Froggies (who went on to create the Recital, a house venue that highlights female performers).
“The house scene in general was primarily or solely run by men,” added Engstrom. In general, there was a lack of female-led house show bills despite an already large and growing number of female-led bands, but Luna and the Carpets are part of a larger trend as SU’s music scene diversifies and expands. “If there’s not women in the space, it’s really intimidating for women to get into that space.”
In terms of hopes for their music, Luna and the Carpets are ready to start a new chapter. They intend to further establish themselves as an active band on SU’s campus while expanding to play some off-campus shows.
I Wish Venus Had a Moon is representative of a specific period of Ferguson and Engstrom’s lives, which they feel ready to step away from. “I can’t wait for it to be out so I can mentally move on from that period of my life,” said Engstrom, days before the project dropped. They’ve begun writing new music like “Goodbye Girlhood,” an unreleased song that they performed at the Recital in September.
“I want to be able to nurture that music and write about this new stage of our life, like turning 20.”