friend slash lover shares new track ‘Mugged On Memory Lane’

After a seven-year hiatus, LA-based, indie rock/electronic project friend slash lover has shared his new single, Mugged on Memory Lane. It’s the title track of his new concept EP slated for release later this year. Mugged on Memory Lane explores the album protagonist’s feelings of displacement and disillusionment in Los Angeles. An artist drawing inspiration from their city is nothing new, but Hollywood is much more than just a city. It is a purveyor of culture worldwide, so the themes explored here are relatable to people everywhere. MOML is a love letter to Hollywood, and also a critique. At times, funny, sarcastic and dark, but like all good Hollywood narratives, it has a character arc with highs and lows, and lessons learned.

Inspired by defining artists of the 80s like David Bowie and Tears For Fears, the artist states, “the opening lines sum it up: ‘I wish they’d stop making movies about the things I liked when I was young. First they stole our memories and now they’re trying to sell them back to us.'” Our hero realizes that he is not alone in this feeling, because “We all got mugged. They stole everything we used to love.” Listen to Mugged On Memory Lane via Spotify below.

According to friend slash lover, the project began as an experiment to see if he could “create a buzz around an artist that didn’t really exist.” When a friend suggested he teach himself guitar, FSL “fell down a rabbit hole and never climbed out,” and he soon found an obsession with turning words and phrases into a “form of fine art.” 

“I write quirky, thought-provoking phrases,” he says. “Sometimes they get etched onto mirrors, because they take on a new meaning when you look at your own reflection while reading them. Sometimes, they become t-shirts or stencils, and of course many of them started to become song titles and lyrics. In my other career I write taglines for movie posters. It’s basically the same skill: Distilling a big concept down into a few words.”

friend slash lover continues to collaborate with his long-time producer and guitarist Greg Pajer, who has had music featured in blockbuster Hollywood movies, including Coming2America, Baywatch, and Zoolander 2. Engineer and guitarist Thom Flowers, who has recently worked with Steve Perry (Journey), is the producer behind “The Memory Hole”.  The pair have been collaborating together since friend slash lover’s first EP, ‘As American As Ones and Zeros’.