Brenna & Liv
Interview & Article by Brittany Ormiston
Imagine this scenario: one evening you are at a party and decide to strike up a conversation with a random girl. You end up discussing your current boy problems and giving each other advice. As the conversation continues, you start to realize the two of you have extremely similar situations to the point where they are identical. Turns out you two are dating the exact same guy!! This is a true story about how independent singer-songwriter, Liv Ritchie, and actress and influencer, Brenna D’Amico, met and became best friends. Their bond grew even stronger when collaborating on their newly released single ‘Don’t Want You Back’. The track describes the specific point in time after a breakup when you realize it’s time to take your power back and be true to yourself again. The duo hopes this song will also be a reminder to fans to “trust your instincts and not let someone back in your life that has shown you their true colors.”
The authenticity of the track shines through its creative process especially. Most of the lyrics were written in Ritchie’s kitchen, and after a total of two days the track was in its final stages. Decisions were made easily as everyone agreed upon any suggestion or idea brought to the table. Musical influences also played a role in the creation of ‘Don’t Want You Back’. Ritchie stated, “I knew I wanted the song to be fun so ‘Kiss Me More’ [by Doja Cat] was definitely a big inspiration for this song.” From the beginning, Ritchie wanted to create a “fun and groovy” track with urban influences. This also sets the tone for the single’s music video, which will be released mid-September. The video is centered around the duo’s friend group and even includes another music artist, Asher.
Aside from musical influences, the single has an overarching theme of empowerment and expresses the importance of girls sticking together rather than turning their backs on each other. Ritchie and D’Amico empower each other and live by the phrase “admire your own qualities and lift up others by admiring theirs.” Several female icons, such as Janelle Monáe, Dua Lipa, and Joyce Meyer are paving the way for other women and inspire Ritchie and D’Amico to do the same. D’Amico shared that Janelle Monáe has been her biggest inspiration since seeing her perform live at Coachella in 2019. D’Amico was full of emotion when describing the experience and mentioned, “The energy she possessed on stage, empowering women, and topics that are not socially acceptable to talk about..she made them comfortable and easy.”
In addition to ‘Don’t Want You Back’, Ritchie will be releasing an EP later this fall that has a similar funky-pop vibe. D’Amico has been diving more into songwriting in the past year, and plans to release a single in October that fits more in the pop/punk genre. She would love to collaborate with Ritchie again in the near future as well. As far as ‘bucket list items’ go, Ritchie would love to write and produce her own film, and collaborate with artists such as Harry Styles. For D’Amico, working with A24 and the Safdie Brothers as an actress, and collaborating with Travis Barker as an artist would be a dream come true. Ritchie and D’Amico can do it all, and their skill sets are very valuable to the acting and music industries. This duo’s main goal is to “affect people, make people feel, be people’s escapism and [the reason for] their smiles.”
