Meet The Writeful Heirs

an Interview by Emile Menasche

The first date conversation: No other form of communication brings together the same mix of anticipation, dread, embarrassment, skepticism and – if things aren’t a total disaster – sense of expectation. And while that last word can mean very different things to each party, it’s safe to say that very few first date words end up sparking a musical partnership like the Writeful Heirs (Sunny Barretto and John Montalto).

“I was telling John that I was taking drumming lessons and that I had written a poem that was kind of like a song,” Barretto says. “I didn't even know John was a songwriter. It just kind of came up and he said, ‘Send me the words, and I'll put it to music!’

“At first, I had this crazy thought that this guy I’d barely met was going to steal my song,” she admits. “Then I told myself I was being ridiculous. It's not worth anything until anybody hears it. So why don’t you give it a chance?”

“Never turn the page until your story begins” (Souvenirs 2020)

“I was determined to make it into something that she was going to be really, really impressed with,” says Montalto, whose talent for infectious hooks first developed as a member of 90s NYC indie band Club Iguana and later as leader of Significant Others. “It went so well, I started having this idea: Maybe we can be songwriters together. Maybe it was too early in the dating process. But it was just really fun to have this inspiration to create something new.”

As they got to know one another, exchanging song ideas became another way to communicate. Because they hadn’t set out to be co-writers, “our process developed naturally, organically,” Montalto says. “She’d send me lyrics, or I’d send her music, and we’d go from there. It took a while before we realized we had enough good material to put an album together.”

After recording some bare-bones home demos, the pair realized that they wanted a producer to help bring the material to its full potential. On the recommendation of Montalto’s Club Iguana bandmate, Alan Walker, they tapped Lincoln Schleifer of the Bronx-based studio Lincoln’s Log Cabin.

“We realized that we needed some guidance,” Barretto says. “While John has all this background and skill, my only exposure to music was singing in a choir. I felt like if we had somebody who had a creative vision, maybe they could help us pull things together.”

“Lincoln just clicked with our material,” Montalto says. “He brought a lot of ideas for arrangements and sounds–then brought in some top session players like Grammy Award winning Larry Campbell (guitarist), Josh Dion (Paris Monster drummer), Danny Louis (Government Mule keyboardist) and Su Terry (saxophone) to bring it all to life. Ironically, the fact that Sunny hadn’t experienced recording in a studio before turned into an asset. She had a fresh perspective on things that led to a lot of good ideas.”

“People talk about the beginner’s mind–where you allow for possibility and tap into part of yourself that you may never have had the opportunity or confidence to explore before,” Barretto says. “And I think that brings something to the music–you’re putting yourself out there and discover something together. This music seems to connect people in a really profound way. And that's the thing that I really like about it. When John and I make music together I feel incredibly connected.”

They wanted to show that they could write songs that didn’t all sound the same, so the project can be loosely described as Americana (The American Dream), with classic rock (Been Sleeping), psychedelic (Jupiter in July), 80’s and alternative rock (Souvenirs) influences.