Back In August of 2022, artists Zev and polun went to Bel Air to make music for other artists, something they knew plenty of, however, there was something about subsisting on leftover pasta and being broke that made something click inside of them, the duo of very professional and very broke musicians realized that they struck the kind of gold that shouldn’t be mined for anyone but themselves, and so. They created their own EP, aptly titled “Broke in Bel Air.”

Coming together in spite of their differences, Zev and Polun are releasing “Broke In Bel Air” starting with the single ‘Every Diamond” a tract that appears to be about superficiality but only… superficially, since its true inception comes from an examination of Zev’s chaotic state of mental health. The song presents us with different characters representing Zev’s “Triggers” and the whole track serves to ask the question: "How well do you really know someone?"

This question will not be answered today, but we did have a host of other questions for the duo which they did kindly answer for us. Take a Look:

WAS LIVING OUT THE "BROKE MUSICIAN IN L.A." TROPE ALL THAT IT WAS CRACKED UP TO BE?
Being a starving artist in LA is definitely a right of passage. If there's a takeaway from that experience, it's that the only one who can make it happen for you is you. We've both spent years working around the clock, making music for other artists, and paying dues while hardly getting paid ourselves.

For us, there came a point where we asked ourselves why we were making music at all. Even though we've been part of big records and seen success on paper, it wasn't translating into the kind of fulfillment we got from making music just because we loved it.

If nothing else, it's been a valuable lesson and has helped us find purpose in what we do.

WOULD YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE POWER OF HINDSIGHT?

Over the years, there have been a number of business situations where our current knowledge would've saved us a headache or two. The music industry is, in many ways, the wild west. It's easy to pick apart everything that didn't go as planned but at the end of the day, that journey not only educated us but led us to a place where we believe in ourselves and our work enough to be the artists we always dreamed of being.

WHEN DID YOU REALIZE THIS PROJECT WAS TOO GOOD TO HAND TO SOMEONE ELSE?

Almost immediately. I remember after one of the sessions, we said something to the effect of "If Justin Bieber doesn't want this song, we're keeping it." And honestly, it would have hurt to give it to anyone.

When you write and produce hundreds of songs every year, it's easy to become jaded and have them all blend together in your mind. This was the first time in a while that either of us had felt so passionate and compelled by the music we were making, that we knew we had to keep it.

WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING SONG TO WRITE OR PRODUCE?

The process of writing our second song on the EP, "Everything," required us to go to a very emotionally vulnerable place. On the surface, the song is very grateful and positive, but it started from a very different perspective.

We were deep into a talk about how unfulfilled we both felt in our work and in other parts of our lives. It felt like we were losing sight of why we were making music at all. Deep into the conversation, Polun revealed a note that his wife had left in his luggage right before his flight. In her note, she spoke to his frustrations with not being where he wanted to be, not loving his work like he used to, and feeling like nothing. Then, after many paragraphs of love and support, she made it clear just how much he had. With her, he had everything.

Sometimes you have to dig through a gutter of your darkest feelings to find what is most important to you. We did a lot of digging that night, but we found it.

WHERE AND HOW DID THE TWO OF YOU MEET?

We actually met in a Zoom session for an artist signed to Arista Records. The session went very well and we kept working together remotely, but we didn't end up meeting in person for another year or two.

WHO BRINGS WHAT TO THE TABLE WHEN IT COMES TO CREATING MUSIC?

Polun is definitely the beatmaker and instrumentalist, while Zev is the songwriter and vocalist. That being said, one of the things that make our creative chemistry successful is that we both have an in-depth understanding of each other's roles. With that, both of our given roles become much more shared.

More often than not, we seem to be on the same page and share the same vision of what we want to make. Maybe it's because we're both only children or maybe we have similar tastes, but we're always able to communicate quickly and effectively on a creative level.

AND WHEN IT COMES TO THE DYNAMICS OUTSIDE OF CREATIVITY? WHO IS THE WHAT OF THE DUO?

Zev is the singer and frontman type, and Polun is the man making it all happen and tying it all together. On a personal level, Zev is a lot more forwardly emotional, while Polun is more calm, calculated, and collected. I think that one of our biggest assets, even as friends, is that we're not very similar people. Our differences have helped us learn and grow, both as artists and as people.

WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR BROKE IN BEL-AIR LOOKING LIKE RIGHT NOW? WHERE ARE YOU HEADED TO?

Our hope with this project is to find it a home with the people who resonate the most--whether it's through streaming, social media, or otherwise. Eventually, we'd love to tour and do live shows, but we gotta get the project out first!

While it is every artist's goal to blow their music up for the entire world to hear, it's always interesting to see who relates most with your music. Often you find a connection with people you would have never expected. Our goal is for those people to bond with our music so that we can connect with them. Whether it's online, in a live venue, or otherwise.

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Striking Gold in Bel Air: A Q&A with Artists Zev and Polun on the Making of their New EP

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