SB: I’d love to talk about your guys’ relationship. You’ve been partners in crime for, what, ten years? How is it having a partner in your corner?
DVG: We would not be where we are without one another.
AVA GORDY: Now that’s for sure
DVG: I’ll go first. So when we first got together, I was a rapper—we don’t have to go too far into the weeds there.
But I was in my twenties, and I remember how Ava would just, like, sit at my desk as I was writing. I can’t remember the first time you were in a session with me, but Ava always had a good ear, and we’ve kind of always clicked in that regard. I think we got really lucky that it was just kind of organic.
Especially in my earlier days—and especially in music—I remember so many days I would record vocals for eight hours straight, and I’d be so discouraged because I hated what it sounded like. And Ava would be in the bed, and even if she would just scratch me or something, I’d be like, “Okay, maybe I’ll be better tomorrow.”
I’m a guy who spends a lot of time alone. If I was single, I would spend even more time alone. And when you’re alone and discouraged…I don’t know if there’s a worse place to be in as a creative. So shout-out to you, Ava.
AG: I think that I’ve come out of my creative shell working with Daren, for sure.
I’ve always been hyper-independent. But I wanted to help him along his path because he’s simply a passionate man, and that’s infectious. Passionate energy is just infectious with my friends, family…anyone. Once you’re around it, it’s like, “Oh, I would do anything to see you achieve this through, to the extent that I know you can.”
I was a big dreamer of my own. So I felt like we both had this vision of being successful. I was a dancer, a dance teacher, host, writer, producer. I had a lot of jobs and was never home, really. Anytime I was home, I was helping him. But we were doing separate things.
DVG: When we moved to New York, it was just like, “Oh no, we have to help each other now.” We were on a walk in 2021, and our TikToks were doing well. We’re growing.
We just hired Farhan—we have a DP.
And I remember we were walking our dogs one morning and I looked at Ava and I said,
“I need you.”
AG: At first I was like, “What do you mean?” But at that moment, I thought, “Alright.”
It was bumpy for us in the first couple of years, just because I had moved to New York to become a dancer. So there was that aspect of my life where I needed to also see this through. But I also saw the vision.
AVA GORDY: Now that’s for sure
DVG: I’ll go first. So when we first got together, I was a rapper—we don’t have to go too far into the weeds there.
But I was in my twenties, and I remember how Ava would just, like, sit at my desk as I was writing. I can’t remember the first time you were in a session with me, but Ava always had a good ear, and we’ve kind of always clicked in that regard. I think we got really lucky that it was just kind of organic.
Especially in my earlier days—and especially in music—I remember so many days I would record vocals for eight hours straight, and I’d be so discouraged because I hated what it sounded like. And Ava would be in the bed, and even if she would just scratch me or something, I’d be like, “Okay, maybe I’ll be better tomorrow.”
I’m a guy who spends a lot of time alone. If I was single, I would spend even more time alone. And when you’re alone and discouraged…I don’t know if there’s a worse place to be in as a creative. So shout-out to you, Ava.
AG: I think that I’ve come out of my creative shell working with Daren, for sure.
I’ve always been hyper-independent. But I wanted to help him along his path because he’s simply a passionate man, and that’s infectious. Passionate energy is just infectious with my friends, family…anyone. Once you’re around it, it’s like, “Oh, I would do anything to see you achieve this through, to the extent that I know you can.”
I was a big dreamer of my own. So I felt like we both had this vision of being successful. I was a dancer, a dance teacher, host, writer, producer. I had a lot of jobs and was never home, really. Anytime I was home, I was helping him. But we were doing separate things.
DVG: When we moved to New York, it was just like, “Oh no, we have to help each other now.” We were on a walk in 2021, and our TikToks were doing well. We’re growing.
We just hired Farhan—we have a DP.
And I remember we were walking our dogs one morning and I looked at Ava and I said,
“I need you.”
AG: At first I was like, “What do you mean?” But at that moment, I thought, “Alright.”
It was bumpy for us in the first couple of years, just because I had moved to New York to become a dancer. So there was that aspect of my life where I needed to also see this through. But I also saw the vision.
SB: What’s it like mentally and emotionally to now be at a really busy part in your careers, but now your living situation is the exact opposite of it was in New York? It’s pretty peaceful and quiet here.
We wrote the show in October. We flew to New York in November to film. We were still addressing notes in the days before we got there, which was insane. And, it’s been pretty insane since then. Pretty nonstop. But yeah, the writing stage, the pre-production, the production, the editing stage…having this space has been necessary for me.
I don’t really know how I would have handled it in New York. I mean, I probably would have been at the gym all day just playing basketball, trying to avoid it.
AG: We thought we were going to write the show in New York. The show is about New York, so we assumed, obviously, we would still be there. And when we told our producer we were moving to Grand Rapids, they were like, “What are you doing? Aren’t we filming it in New York?”
But when we got here, it was like, oh, this is definitely where we’re meant to write it. It felt almost like a retreat.
It was this necessary evolution of us and our relationship, where we decided almost to live differently while we wrote this show.
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