I asked a friend to interview me about the new album Nostalgia 19 and write it up as an article. It forced me to think about it and discuss it in a way I hadn’t before.
“Finding the Heart of Nostalgia 19” – An Interview with Pulse of Avalon
Music has always been a reflection of time—capturing moments, emotions, and the ever-changing nature of ourselves. And sometimes, it becomes a personal mixtape of all those feelings we’ve carried, transformed, and left behind.
Independent artist Pulse of Avalon isn’t just releasing an album; they’re sharing something that feels like a personal mixtape—a collection of songs reflecting emotions and experiences through the arc of the pandemic. Nostalgia 19 isn’t about completely transforming their sound but rather expanding it—finding new ways to integrate different styles and influences. The debut album had a cohesive synth-poppy, electronic punchy vibe, with catchy riffs and spunk. But with Nostalgia 19, they wanted to blend multiple genres in a way that made sense—while still telling the pandemic arc and making everything feel cohesive.
“It Started as Something Else Entirely”
Like many creative projects, Nostalgia 19 didn’t begin with a clear direction. It wasn’t even called Nostalgia 19 at first.
“I actually wrote a lot of songs in the vein of the debut album and thought I’d just roll them into a new release. At that time, I wasn’t even thinking about what Nostalgia 19 meant. The working title was Human Engineering, and it was supposed to be a kind of B-side companion to the first album,” they explain.
Then something changed.
“I was out of town in Tucson at a hotel, and that’s when I wrote Wintery Dew. That song was like a doorway—it made me realize I had something to say about the pandemic experience. And it also told me I didn’t want to be restricted to any one genre. A lot of those songs I had for the follow-up album—ones that I even tried to fit into the concept—just didn’t belong anymore. The only one that stayed was Today. Everything else was dropped or put aside.”
That moment in Tucson wasn’t just a shift in songwriting—it was a turning point in how Pulse of Avalon saw the entire album.
“This was the first trip where I truly felt like the sadness and depression of the pandemic were just shallow echoes in my memory. It took a long time to get there. Wintery Dew was like a realization—we’re falling out of this experience, and we have an opportunity to renew ourselves. That became a powerful idea for me. And I knew other people must have felt the same way.”
“The Hardest Song to Write Was Always the Next One”
Once that creative shift happened, the songs started flowing—fast.
“I was so prolific for a period of time that I started wondering how much more I could write with the same emotion and quality. It’s emotional, but at the same time it’s that moment where you’re in a creative flow, and you don’t know when it’s going to end, so you just keep embracing it,” they explain.
But that process came with its own challenge: Every new song had to match the emotional intensity of the last.
“If something wasn’t exactly right, I’d drop it and keep going until the message—the thing I was trying to express—felt complete. It was like sorting through old mixtapes, trying to find the perfect track that says exactly what you need to hear. So, in a way, every new song became the hardest one to write, because more of the selected songs were already so expressive that they even surprised me.”
One of the most unexpected surprises? The song Pages.
“The poetic structure and style actually brought me back to junior high. I wasn’t expecting that at all. It was like eating a dish your mom made when you were a kid that you never had again. The song was about what the lyrics meant, sure, but the experience of writing it—how it came together—just completely blew my mind.”
Despite its impact, though, Pages isn’t necessarily the defining song of Nostalgia 19.
“It’s my favorite, but if I had to pick the tracks that best express what the album is about, I’d say Our Favorite Place and Shelf. At least that’s how I feel right now. Every song is important in some way to tell the full arc of the experience.”
“Pulling Back to My True Strengths”
You’ve gone through several creative phases with your music, from crafting entire fictional universes to narrowing your focus. What was it like to pull all that energy back and zero in on your true strengths—lyric crafting, arranging, and producing music?
“To be honest, it was a huge relief. In fact, it was a friend of mine I was talking to who gave me the notion of ‘firing them.’ I was simply spending so much time just working on backstories and thinking about what to post that was interesting around these four fictional characters. And I just realized I completely lost sight of the project when I started writing its music. This has happened before—I started doing music for a project and stopped doing the project. Lol.”
“Why a Mixtape, Not a Playlist”
“I love playlists. I build them all the time for myself, and a lot of my friends love my playlists too. So, at first, I thought—what if I just called this a ‘playlist album?’ But that doesn’t match the nostalgia aspect, does it? A mixtape definitely does.
The other thing about it is how this album came together. A mixtape is in the hands of the creator, who carefully puts those songs together, like a playlist, but with a more personal touch. With the variety of emotions we all experienced during the pandemic, it feels fitting that these are a collection of songs with different styles and different emotions—like a mixtape someone made to capture a particular moment in their life.”
“From Fragments to Songs”
“It’s kind of funny, but generally I’ll start by writing a verse that’s just loaded with whatever comes to mind. I’ll do this several times until I see a verse that feels like ‘something.’ So, I iterate a lot on my own ideas. Sometimes I’ll start with a chorus—just something that’s the hook—and work backwards from there.
For example, if the message is about taking chances when you’ve been beaten down so many times, I might turn that into some sort of mantra at the end of a chorus, and then work backwards to fit the rhythm and the feeling. It’s like sculpting a song out of raw emotion and making sure it says exactly what I want.”
“Taking It Beyond the Studio”
“Yeah, it’s interesting to take anything from the studio and do it live when you’re not someone who’s typically a touring artist. The album is something special, I think, and to be able to connect directly with the songs outside of the studio with people in a live setting seems appropriate—especially given the topic involved. In a way, it’s sort of pushing forward the spirit of Wintery Dew and practically putting that realization into action.”
“I want people to feel like they’ve found something familiar in these songs. Like stumbling across an old mixtape you forgot you made, where every song connects to something real. I want them to listen again and find something they missed the first time—something they didn’t even realize they were searching for.”
Nostalgia 19 is set for release on April 11, 2025. Follow Pulse of Avalon on social media or visit the official website (!!) for more details.