Secretary Desk
By Sean Maldjian, Contributor
Photo provided by, Secretary Desk
Meet Secretary Desk
There is a void in my chest cavity that can only be filled by the soothing sounds of a dynamic synth-pop duo. Thank my lucky stars because here comes Kelsey and Alex of NYC’s Secretary Desk. While remaining faithful to the history and known tropes of synth-pop the two leverage their unique ethereal vocal style to take the genre into some fun new places. In our latest interview, we chat about gossip, Garfield, and their 2021 release “Revelation”.
“Prime Time Gossip” a fill in the blank with Secretary Desk
Handsome VICTOR and his co-GRAPHIC DESIGNER, the WINDY CLEMENTINE raised TEETH when they were seen kissing SOFTLY at the screening of their WHISPY TV movie. The WRINKLED couple denies it's a romance; they say they are just WEATHERED friends.
Here's another WHIRLY tidbit…love must be in the PILLOW. ADAM SANDLER and LIZZIE.who had only WINTRY words for each other last week, were seen holding CLOUDS and whispering in each other's HANDS at this week's benefit for adopted DAYDREAMS.
Would you rather…
get a full back tattoo of Garfield or Alf? Please explain why.
Kelsey: I would have to say I am Team Garfield––solely based on my mutual love of lasagna. I also enjoy a good red head of hair.
Alex: Gonna have to agree with Kelsey on this one. But one thing haunts me… Garfield doesn’t have red hair??
Some Questions with Secretary Desk
What is the creative process like between the two of you?
Kelsey: Alex is the instrumental wizard, he is always tinkering and refining beautiful beats and melodies. He usually presents a draft of an idea, or an entire instrumental, for me to experiment on top of with my lyrics and vocals. I write poems and short stories, so I draw on that for a lot of my lyrics. Our processes really meet in a mutual middle because we both create from a similar dream world. We also collaborate together on the tone and intent for the song, so we have a framework, a world to build around. And speaking of world-building, we are both graphic designers and Alex is a photographer, so we definitely enjoy creating our own little environments full of magic, splendor, and whimsy!
Alex: It’s incredible! We don’t really make a song unless we’re really feeling like it, and there’s no pressure because we don’t have any delusions of grandeur!
What was the creative drive behind your 2021 single “Revelation”?
Alex: We had just created a really silly song and thought it would be even sillier to follow it up with a serious and foreboding song. I also wanted to prove to Kelsey that I could make a song with the ukulele (albeit tuned down an octave!) that didn’t sound like the Adventure Time theme song. What we ended up with was a dancey/spooky version of another TV theme song that shall go unnamed.
Kelsey: The lyrics really present a spooky reflection on being followed by your innermost thoughts and longings. The inclusion of both of our vocals on that song, even if they are subtle, enforce shadowing and echoing. And as Alex mentioned, it is a really fun foil to the second track, Monochromatic Man, on our new EP.
What is one thing you would want to change about the music industry?
Alex: Streaming seems really bad for artists… It feels like things were better when people were still pirating music honestly.
Kelsey: This goes for many industries, but an accessible road into perhaps? I spent a lot of my high school and college years fawning over bands in small venues thinking, how did they get to that point? How are they performing live and traveling? To me, it is still kind of a nebulous zone.
Who was the first audience that you ever played? How did it go?
Kelsey: Our first real-real audience was on the Cooper Union Radio show that Alex produced during our time at school. Our first gig audience was in 2016 at our friend Victoria’s apartment in Brooklyn, we played our first DJ set and premiered our first single there. The show went well, except my computer decided to restart mid-set, temporarily stopping the video projection I had mapped for us!
Alex: That set was so cool and full of ska! We had a really fun part where we pretended we were just playing everything on Spotify and had encountered one of those dreaded unskippable ads. Then we mixed a Home Depot “build a better bathroom” ad into Necessary Evil by Unknown Mortal Orchestra and it just fit perfectly!
What attracts you to the retro electro-pop sound?
Alex: When I was a kid I had a Casio VL-Tone, which for the uninitiated is the world’s best synthesizer/calculator. It was pretty limited sound-wise, but the first time I heard it I got a super warm and fuzzy feeling! Then I later got a full Casio keyboard, so cheesy synth sounds are forever linked with childhood memories in my mind!
Kelsey: I have always been drawn to the major players out of the UK and Ireland of
80s synth-pop. I spent a lot of my childhood listening to Kate Bush, Enya, New Order, The Human League, Bronski Beat, Cocteau Twins, etc. I definitely find a lot of joy and inspiration from their emphatic and electronic sound, as well as the effervescent and sometimes melancholic vocals of these artists. We both also went to Catholic school, so I think we are subliminally into that pipe organ/synthy set of melodies that so many of these groups really drew upon.
What is your favorite venue in NYC to catch a show?
Kelsey: Without a doubt Bowery Ballroom––I’ve been able to see everyone from OK GO to Kimbra there, not to mention have met some of my favorite musicians just in the crowd! It is so intimate and I love venues that make you feel as though you are in the band’s living room. There isn’t a bad spot in the house. (I would say Webster Hall is a close second––I got to see Midnight Oil there a few years ago and it was unforgettable!)
Alex: I left my heart in H2O in Ocean City, Maryland.
What is the most comfortable pair of shoes you own?
Kelsey: Definitely my pair of Doc Marten 2796 Chelsea boots––they’ve seen the rough terrain of Northern Scotland to the very recent snowy streets of New York City.
Alex: I am honestly most comfortable in flip flops!
What gear was essential in finding your sound as Secretary Desk?
Kelsey: I’ll leave this answer to Alex, but it has to be his collection of percussive sounds from his grandmother’s kitchen. Those sounds make up a majority of our beats.
Alex: No gear, mostly just software! (Except for our trusty Rode mic!) I downloaded a gigantic torrent of Soundfonts almost a decade ago, and some of them are just so good. I’m particularly attached to this “Rhodes.sf2” that has a sound that I just can’t get enough of. And like Kelsey mentioned, we have a lot of fun incidental percussion we use too! I love to take long field recordings and then just strip out all the silence and use the blips left from them in loops.
Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)
Alex: Listen to our new music!!
Kelsey: Ditto! We’ve just put out our second EP. And in addition to being a synthesizer wizard, Alex is also a type designer!!! Check out his fonts and use them for all your albums and merch.