I had the awesome opportunity to sit down with an up-and-coming Bay Area band called Persephone! They’re a super cool group, and I am so psyched for y’all to get to know them!

This is a transcription of an interview that took place back in September – the transcription has been edited for clarity and length purposes.

Unfortunately, the guitarist for the band, Liz, was unable to join us for the interview, but Piper, Izzy, Lucy, and I had a great conversation about their music!

ARDENTLY MAGAZINE: Recording now – Interview with Persephone. Could you guys introduce yourselves?

Izzy Burns: Hello, I am Izzy.

Piper Burns: I’m Piper.

Lucy Scholten: I’m Lucy.

Izzy plays drums, Piper is the lead vocalist, Lucy is the bassist, and the fourth member, Liz Vonmartens, is the guitarist.

AM: What got y’all started in music?

IB: Well, Piper and I, we are sisters, and we have been listening to music since we were little. Our dad is a jazz musician, and he semi-taught us some stuff, but most of the time he taught us through example. He played a lot of music around us, so it made us want to play music – actually, it made us do the opposite. We actually really didn’t want to do music because of him, and then we realized that it was a part of our blood, and we ended up having to give into music in the end. You agree?

PB: Right. He also made us play like, every instrument under the sun, so, yeah.

IB: Yeah, we reluctantly picked up instruments because he forced us to, and we hated it, and then later in life we were like “wait, actually, I got skills, and I kinda really wanna play music”.

LS: As for me, I was just raised with a lot of music. My grandma was a piano player, and my grandpa played piano and guitar. As for my parents – my dad just went to all of the punk shows in San Francisco and was a huge part of the scene, and I was raised watching music videos and listening to bands and going to shows, so it felt very natural to go into music.

IB: I want to say something interesting about the three of us in particular, because Piper and I grew up with a dad that was into 40s and 50s music – jazz specifically. And then we grew up with a mom that was into very much like 80s and 90s kind of music, and so we basically completely missed the 60s and 70s. Lucy, on the other hand, her whole life was 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. So [Lucy’s] mom and dad brought in all of the eras, basically together. Now, we are able to hear new stuff from Lucy –  she can bring us more ideas from the 60s and 70s, and we’ve got the jazz and the psychedelic-pop side of things that’s like bringing new stuff. So basically we’re trying to create a new genre, right? We want to add some blues, we want to have 70s rock, we want to have some, you know, some electronica. We want it all, so I don’t know, I think that’s one awesome thing about bands is that everybody has different backgrounds, and they come together to make something new.

LS: Yeah, my dad was like, into classic rock and then punk, and then also like lots of girl bands from the 90s, and my mom was into hip-hop and 80s and pop. So, my dad’s like, “you should be the leader of a band” but didn’t force it on me or anything, but then later, I was like, “I want to do this. Where does this come from?” And now I’m here and the rest is history.

AM: That’s all a really great segue into another question I had for y’all, which is “how would you describe your sound in three words”?

LS: Okay, I don’t think I could give you three words. Maybe they’ll come somewhere in the conversation, but what I think is that we have a very… Like I would call us punk, but not in like today’s standards of like, hardcore punk like, you know, we’re like, called a punk band, we end up getting booked at these, like hardcore punk shows, but uh –

IB: What we’re talking about is older. It’s more like Slits and B-52s.

LS: In the 70s punk was, like, very different, and we had there was, like, Delta Five, Kleenex, Talking Heads, Blondie, like kind of a new wave punk. I see a lot of us as like, kind of girl-Ramones style, more of a poppy-punk…not pop punk, though.

PB: You know, the Ramones were once described as “Buddy Holly but punk” and I think we sort of fit that, with some of our songs. We have a lot of different genres in our music right now.

IB: It’s interesting, because we were just talking about that on our way here. We want to start bringing in some other genres – I wanted to do something ska, and Piper and I want to bring some blues elements in…maybe we’ll get weird and take punk or hardcore out of our sound.

LS: I think a lot of our songs are different. We have one that’s a bit more punk sounding, but all of them are fun and interesting and really remind me of Delta 5.

PB: We want people to dance.

IB: I was gonna say, when we’re not talking about genres, I think that our band really just wants to lift people up. We don’t wanna put any negative energy out there. We have one song that’s like a “fuck you” to these guys that fucked us over, but other than that, everything else is like “girls for girls”, we don’t put out music about hating men – we don’t do that – we lift up men, we lift up everyone, we don’t wanna exclude anyone.

PB: Even the men [laughs]. Even!

LS: I like what Piper said! We just want you to dance.

IB: We just want to bring people together and hear something new and just groove. You can jump, you can mosh, you do whatever you want. We give you the palette to do any kind of dancing.

PB: Yes!

LS: I want you to dance all really fun and everything. Have a good time.

AM: Y’all have mentioned a lot of different genres already, but I noticed at your show that you opened with one of the most iconic, classic, 90s Riot Grrrl songs of all time: Deceptacon by Le Tigre. What made that track the opener, since y’all haven’t mentioned Riot Grrrl at all thus far?

IB: Well, actually, we are all very into Riot Grrrl, and it happens to just seep into our music already, but also that song specifically is a song that everyone knows and loves to, like, get pumped up to and listen to and dance to. So, we like to have it in the beginning. Like, people immediately understand that we’re here to have fun.

LS: I don’t know if I really think of Le Tigre as Riot Grrrl as much as I do [Kathleen Hanna]’s other projects, like Bikini Kill. Now, somebody like, super into Riot Grrrl is gonna come and tell me that I’m wrong, but I do really think of [Le Tigre] as her going in a little bit of a different direction, though still Riot Grrrl values and everything.

AM: So, what made y’all form Persephone?

PB: So, I originally started it as a hard heavy metal band as the only girl out of six guys, and it was called Rot Jaw. And I was just excited to be in any band, regardless of what kind of music we were playing or what we were doing. Don’t get me wrong, I love heavy metal, but that was just… I don’t think that’s what I wanted to perform, necessarily. Just, it just didn’t end up working out, but the guitarist of [Rot Jaw] decided to stay with us, and his name was Jasper. And me and Jasper worked together to get a drummer, who was my dad at the time, to drum with us. And then I found Lucy at a house party, and she was our bassist. Yeah, so we had me on rhythm guitar Jasper on lead guitar…

IB: So Persephone has had two lives. We have been reborn.

PB: Jasper went to college and betrayed us and ditched us –

IB: And Piper’s like, “well, I already have two girls here, so why not have two more girls?” and you know what’s better than two girls? Two more girls.

PB: Right, so Izzy – I’ve known her for a long time, we’ve known each other for a while, you know.

IB: We don’t necessarily like each other, but there’s something that’s keeping us together.

PB: Yeah, I can’t get rid of her for some reason, but we have Izzy over here, and then Liz was just a good friend of mine that I’ve known for a long time. And that’s how Persephone came to be.

IB: And literally the first day we wrote a song right away – we sit down and we just start playing.

LS: The song is called “Indie Film Fantasy” and I had written that for Persephone when Jasper was still here, and we have a few recordings of him playing over it, but it really came together [during] our first practice. We started writing words for it and all that, and it became like, an actual song on our first band practice. Oh, and one more thing! We all had our first practice in September of last year!

IB: We should celebrate. We should have an anniversary and go out to dinner or something.

AM: Dang, only a year old? Happy birthday, Persephone!

AM: What made you choose “Persephone” for your band name?

PB: The name Persephone actually comes from the Cocteau [Twins] song, “Persephone”. I was listening to it and was like “this is fire”.

IB: Persephone is a Greek goddess, and Piper knows a lot about Greek gods. Can you explain a little about Persephone and her story, Piper?

PB: Persephone is stuck in the Underworld for six months of the year because she ate a pomegranate, and I was like “how lit would that be if a pomegranate was our mascot or logo or whatever?”

IB: And she’s also like, a super cute, badass woman who makes flowers grow, so.

AM: If you had to list your top three biggest influences to your art, not necessarily the bands or whatever is influencing your sound, but the biggest influences to you as an artist, who are your top three influences?

PB: Doug.

All: Doug.

PB: We love you, Doug.

LS: Built To Spill lead singer, Doug [Martsch].

IB: That’s it, next question [laughs].

LS: I have other ones, for me, like personally. I can’t name just three, but I love David Bowie, I love Cherry Vanilla-slash-Blondie-slash-Debbie Harry, I love DEVO…the Ramones!

IB: I have a list. When it comes to lyrics, I love Life Without Buildings and Dry Cleaning. As a band, I think we’re similar to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Ting Tings. I love Soul Coughing. I think we’re similar to CSS or New Young Pony Club. And my tops, just in general, in life, are Neutral Milk Hotel, Built To Spill, Magnetic Fields…The Faint, She Wants Revenge, Metric, and Franz Ferdinand.

LS: Guys, I like Chubby Checker. He’s great.

PB: I would say like, for our band…is CSS, Metric, and Built To Spill…

LS: Delta 5, The Slits, and X-Ray Specs.

PB: Yeah, well, I think my inspiration is different from your guys’ inspiration.

LS: That’s all very instrumental inspiration, but then your inspiration might be different.

PB: Like, vibe-wise, Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer…

AM: And personally, to you, as an artist?

PB: Oh! Personally, to me, as an artist? Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer is probably one of my tops, and then this is gonna sound totally crazy, but hear me out: Maroon 5. Maroon 5 has one of the best bassists I’ve ever heard in my life.

LS: Okay, last one for me, because I have so much to say on this topic, but he’s the most important one for me: Iggy Pop. His lyrics area great; he has a whole song about him being bored, his stage presence…he’s everything I wanna be.

AM: What is the most important thing to do or have before you perform?

PB: [chants] I feel good. Yes, I feel so good.

IB: We do “I feel good” – that’s something Piper and I used to do in theatre class, I guess we’re giving it all away. When we were little, we did like, plays and stuff, and we would start right before the play by whispering “I feel good”, and then say it, and then scream it. We also just like to be alone with each other before every show. It doesn’t happen every time, but it’s always good to check in and make sure everyone feels great.

LS: We only did this once, but I really loved when we practiced directly before the show. We try every time, but with everybody having work and school, it’s hard to get together like, literally an hour before the show and travel together.

PB: We need cables. If someone wants to donate cables to Persephone, we’d love that.

IB: We like having cute outfits.

LS: Yeah, cute outfits. You gotta feel good when you’re on stage.

IB: Yeah, and we like to have been fed. You know, we all like to eat food.

LS: We like to dance before.

IB: Shake it out.

LS: Dance to the other bands. Get all like, loose-y, fun, and get up there and shake it off.

AM: I noticed [at your show] that y’all had coordinated outfits.

IB: We always do coordinated outfits. There has not been a show where we have not coordinated our outfits. Some more than others, but they’re always, always coordinated, which I think will be ‘til we die. Also, just like in everyday life. I think that we should just coordinate every day. I think we should all have the same outfit on and very specific, niche outfits. Like, we should all be mimes one time.

LS: I have said that I want to go to the club as a mime. I am, by the way, I am a mime. Like, a full-time mime.

IB: She is actually a full-time mime.

AM: Oh, are you serious? Will you give us a demonstration afterward?

LS: Afterwards, I could.

IB: Do you need narration? Sometimes I’ll narrate.

LS: I like when she narrates, but [motions to her hands] these are my tools, you know?

AM: What do you hope people take away from your art, your music, and your performance?

LS: Guys, it’s just about fun. Life is fun, and we want to have fun, and it’s fun. That’s it.

PB: Dance. Treat people with kindness and love.

IB: [sings] Peace, Love, Respect, and Unity.

LS: Just have fun and dance, and I don’t care about the rest.

IB: And friendship is magic!

PB: Yeah, peace and love.

IB: We just go up there and we gag. We just riff. We just riff, you know, and it’s all a big gag.

LS: I gotta tell you – people are taking us quite seriously, and it’s great!

IB: Yeah, we got this one record – this is hilarious – we got this one record [label] to have us sign and like, some guy tried to record us, like, “yeah I wanna record you” and –

LS: This guy was like “I wanna record you and I wanna sign you” and we’re like “oh, we’re a joke” –

IB: We’re actually a comedy troupe and we happen to play music –

LS: Well, we can talk about it, because by the time this comes out it’ll already be done, but we’ve signed with a label!

AM: You’ve signed with a label? Oh my god, congratulations! That’s very exciting. Who have you signed with?

All: Psyched! Radio.

IB: They’re a part of Psyched! Records.

LS: They’re local to San Francisco, and we’ve got a song coming out.

As of the publication of this interview, the song is out and available to stream! It’s called “Astronaut Soft Spot” and was released October 10th.

AM: Perfect segue! Y’all got anything to promote?

LS: We have so much to promote right now, guys! We have a song coming out, maybe even an EP, I don’t know!

IB: Everybody say, “ooh, ah!”

LS: We have a huge show on November 2^nd, with Vivian Girls at Rickshaw Stop!

IB: Big show happening; bring your mom, bring your grandma, bring her mom…bring them all.

LS: Bring all the generations of your family that you have.

IB: And bring your fish. Bring your fish.

LS: And bring your frog so we can kiss it.

PB: Bring your second-grade math teacher.

You can find Persephone on Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify, and you can definitely catch them performing live at various venues around the Bay Area, including November 2, 2025 at Psyched! Fest at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco!