Karis Stephen (C ‘18) and one–time EOTW Blue Bookhard (C ‘17) are experts in perfect harmony, and that’s not just because of their involvement in Counterparts and Bloomers Band. After over a year of being together, the couple decided to join creative forces to form the new musical project Eleven, with Karis on vocals and Blue as producer. The duo gave Street a glimpse into the origin of the band’s name, their musical inspirations and how 6am photoshoots on the FroGro roof have changed their relationship. There’s no better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to learn about how love and music are the ultimate match.
Photo: John Hannan
Street: Was music something you connected over immediately?
Blue Bookhard: We bonded over music for sure.
Karis Stephen: We did, we did. One day [before we were dating] we sat in Starbucks and we just talked about things and we were like “Oh! We both like music!” and then he talked about DJing and I was like, “I sing” (laughs).
BB: No, you don’t remember it!
KS: What?
BB: We spent, like, three hours in Starbucks playing music for each other. We would take each other’s respective audio devices—
KS: It wasn’t three hours. We talked about a lot of things!
BB: Yes. Remember, we used to do this thing where we would like take the other person’s headphone cord and put it in our computers and we’d be like “Alright, I’m going to play this song for you,” and then we’d just listen. I think you were doing homework.
Street: Tell me a little bit about what you guys are working on together right now.
KS: I’m doing an independent study along with my friend Caroline Ohlson [the band’s manager] and it’s in the music department. We decided to launch this band called Eleven, which is me and Blue. So Blue does production and I sing over stuff and we write songs together. But since it’s an independent study, there’s a lot of other work that goes into it, so we’re making a music video, we’re making a teaser video.
BB: We’re launching Facebook, we’re launching social media channels.
KS: Oh yeah, we’re making social media channels, we’re making a launch party.
BB: Our first performance is going to be at an open mic on February 25th.
Street: So what is the thesis of the independent study?
KS: We titled it “Music Industry” and it’s just kind of us exploring how to break into the industry and how to start something of our own. Caroline is our manager so she’s doing all of the bookings and performance stuff.
BB: The photoshoot.
KS: Yeah we had a photoshoot today at 6am.
Street: Where?
KS: FroGro rooftop.
Street: Sunrise?
KS: Sunrise. So it’s a lot of work, it’s actually a lot of hours.
Street: What’s it like spending those hours making music together versus the amount of time you normally spend together?
BB: It’s different. We had a whole conversation about this.
KS: Yeah, I see him a lot more.
BB: Well, I think we also had a point where we had to discuss how we would address the music stuff versus just not music, which I guess you could call “relationship stuff” but it’s just, like, everything else. And that was a weird hurdle that I think we’re perpetually going over. I don’t think it’s a past tense thing.
Street: Do you try and keep music and your relationship separate?
KS: Yeah, so I think one thing helps is allotting time to work on the music stuff. I think that’s the best way to do it. We have certain times when we have to work on it.
BB: Yeah, because in theory we spend a lot of time together so we could literally devote every hour that we spend together to it, but then it would just become us being a songwriting duo and not a relationship.
KS: Something like this can really consume all of your time if you want it to because there’s always stuff to talk about, like we could be talking about our sound for hours.
Street: So how long have you been working on this project together?
KS: We first came up with the idea over fall break. Last semester. We went to Baltimore and we were just at an aquarium, talking or something, and then somehow we came up with the idea. We were like, “Oh! Let’s start something and make a music group!”
BB: I don’t know why, though.
KS: Yeah, I don’t know why.
BB: What was the groundwork? Did I play you some of my stuff? Is that what it was?
KS: Okay, so there’s this group, Marian Hill. I showed them to him and we were like, “Oh. It’s a producer and a singer. This makes sense.”
Street: Besides Marian Hill, do you guys have any other musical inspirations, or are you just trying to do your own thing?
BB: Magdalena Bay.
KS: Mica!
BB: We are the black, R&B Mag Bay.
KS: (Laughing) I don’t think we’re R&B.
Street: What about Eleven? How did you choose that name?
KS: We came up with this whole thing on the 11th. And then, more importantly, the reason why it’s called Eleven is because we started dating November 11th which is 11/11. So Eleven is just a number that really mattered. The number is also like one and one, it’s two people.
Street: I know you both are involved in music on campus, what is it like balancing your different music endeavors? How are they different for you?
BB: I think it’s really different. With Bloomers I do live covers of songs only and I’m playing the drums, so I don’t really have to worry about any of the other instrumentation or any of the other performances of anyone else in the band besides myself, except for making the song sound good. With Eleven, it’s all done in a studio and it’s all us who make all the sounds. So it’s very different for me because being in a band, you have one role that you play and you know what that is. But being in a duo, both of us do a little bit of everything. I don’t really song–write or write lyrics, but I was helping you do that.
KS: Yeah.
BB: And you’re clearly the writer out of the two of us but I still got to weigh in, and I still think that my mark is on our lyrics.
KS: Yeah it’s still there. It’s cool.
BB: Even though you take credit for my lines.
KS: I have all the good parts! And then with a cappella obviously, you have to think about blend and the group sound whereas this is very much a solo thing in terms of singing.
BB: Are you going to ask us about our Valentine’s Day plans?
Street: Oh, good catch. What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?
BB: I made you ask the question but we don’t even have plans.
KS: Wait! Can we go to the Ritz and watch a movie?
BB: Sounds good.
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