In Return to Berklee, Lucius Looks Back and Moves Forward From mood boards to live demos, the alumni band gave students an exclusive look at the process behind their new self-titled album, out May 2.
By
Tori Donahue
April 16, 2025
Berklee alumni band Lucius chat with Rodney Alejandro about the songwriting and production process behind their new record, Lucius.
Kelly Davidson
Berklee alumni band Lucius took a photo with students following a panel about the songwriting and production process behind their new record, Lucius.
Kelly Davidson
When Jess Wolfe BM '07, Holly Laessig BM '07, Dan Molad '04, and Peter Lalish '05 enrolled at Berklee in the mid-2000s, they couldn't have imagined what the next few years would hold. Wolfe and Laessig met through friends at the college, instantly connecting over their shared love of soul music and rock and roll. After graduation, the two moved to New York and, along with Molad and Lalish, formed Lucius to follow their musical dreams.
Lucius's indie-pop sound has left its mark on music festivals, television shows, films, and, most importantly, legions of dedicated fans around the world. Their collaborations with artists like the Killers, the War on Drugs, Brandi Carlile, Nathaniel Rateliff, Black Pumas, and others have propelled them across genres and sonic landscapes. Known for their signature harmonies, emotionally resonant lyrics, and innovative production, Lucius continues to captivate listeners, whether on vinyl or at an electrifying live show.
Earlier this month, members of the band returned to their alma mater for A Day with Lucius, meeting with students in Berklee's music business and music production majors to share stories, insights, and advice. The visit was made possible by the Berklee Popular Music Institute (BPMI), a program that gives students hands-on experience in the music industry by guiding them through the process of preparing, promoting, and performing at major music festivals alongside top artists.
The Release Strategy Behind Lucius A Day with Lucius kicked off with a morning panel focused on the album release strategy for their upcoming self-titled record, Lucius, set to drop on May 2. The band was joined by their management team, Ben Levin and Katie Lorenz, for a Q&A moderated by BPMI founder and professor emeritus Jeff Dorenfeld.
Wolfe and Laessig shared insights into the album's concept development, from mood boards and color schemes to merchandise and overall creative direction. They spoke about creating a visual world around themes like coming home and domesticity, using design to reflect the record's emotional core. The band also broke down their promotional strategy, explaining how fonts, colors, and logos are used consistently across advertising, performance, and merch.
We're a live band, Laessig said. We always sold merch at the shows and thought of merch as an extension of the stage. Levin and Lorenz discussed the creative collaborators behind the project, including longtime partner Tika Buchanan, who has worked with Lucius since their debut, and photographer Dana Trippe, a new addition the band had long hoped to work with.
Members of the band reflected on their creative evolution from Berklee to the present day. On the first record, we had nothing to compare it to-we wanted to get back to that a little bit with all the knowledge we have as artists and producers, Laessig said. We brought all of that back into this space of just the four of us. It felt nostalgic but grown. It's easy to talk about, which is a testament to its honesty.
Wolfe, Lorenz, and Levin covered a variety of topics addressed in student questions as the session wrapped up, including the budgeting process, selecting a lead single, and the importance of touring. While the band spends ample time performing on the road and at music festivals, Wolfe shared that we've learned how to say no when we have to in order to accommodate families and other creative projects.
Breaking Down the Songwriting and Production ProcessA Day with Lucius concluded with an afternoon panel at the Shames Family Scoring Stage, moderated by Rodney Alejandro, dean of the Professional Writing and Music Technology Division. The session explored the songwriting and production process behind the band's upcoming album. The record features 11 tracks, each contributing to a cohesive sonic narrative that's reflected in the production choices.
We always have a narrative of describing each album sonically, said Lalish. This album was unique-before, Jess and Holly would write, and then we'd do production and demos. This time, a few songs started from scratch.
When asked about creative differences in the songwriting and production process, the members of Lucius praised one another with warmth and humility. Wolfe emphasized the strength of their longstanding relationship, noting how trust and clear communication around boundaries have been essential to their collaboration.
We all play instruments, so it's not about one person, said Lalish. My idea might be a stepping stone to get someone to their idea. We tend to work really well that way. Moland acknowledged that production can be a challenge, but added, you always make it to the other side.
The band then demonstrated the production and creative decision-making process behind their new single, Gold Rush. Molad played the original demo to highlight how the song evolved, showcasing the layered changes that helped shape its distinct sound. Each member reflected on the importance of experimentation in their creative work.
Everything is a stepping stone, said Lalish. When you work with people long enough that you show your work to them, they have ideas that will lead to the next thing, Laessig added. Wolfe walked students through
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
In Return to Berklee, Lucius Looks Back and Moves Forward From mood boards to live demos, the alumni band gave students an exclusive look at the process behind their new self-titled album, out May 2.
