“And my idea of me / Is a place where we fill every corner / With Trinkets and Horses” sings like an open letter, where the past, present and future speak to each other in tones of grace and understanding as things are always uncertain, but each step forward is fulfilled by who you choose to bring along the way. One year ago, Mariah Houston and Alan Howard (Sleep Habits) released Trinkets and Horses, a split EP that has become a point of celebration for the two artists, both in what it has come to represent on its own, as well as what they have accomplished since.

Having met in college, the duo began to collaborate on anything they could, working out the early iterations of what would be their respected solo projects. After college, Mariah moved to New York, where she has since joined the noise-rock project, Plastic, and Alan continues to make music under the name Sleep Habits in New Orleans, where he also plays and tours with artists such as Wesley Wolffe, Noa Jamir, Thomas Dollbaum and hemlock.

As these songs continue to build out their lives, the stories scratch those marks that were left behind; imprinted – irritated and molded to shape, like the markings a harsh wood fence will leave on your skin when you get up from a momentary break. With a blend of twangy daydreams, rooted folk voicings and DIY lo-fi admiration spackling in the cracks, Trinkets and Horses does not just represent a single moment in a creative project, but rather the detailed rhythm and dedicated trust that comes with a friendship. 

Recently, Mariah and Alan teamed up with New Orleans-based tape label, Kiln Recordings, to release a special edition CD, marking the first time that Trinkets and Horses can be found in a physical form. Revisiting those beloved songs, the ugly hug got to catch up with the duo, Mariah in New York and Alan driving through Utah on tour, as we discussed how the album came to be, strengthening their creative collaborations, and looking back at the experience one year later.  

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

SR: I know that you two have been friends for a long time, but how did this creative relationship start?  

MH: Alan and I met at Loyola in New Orleans where we lived across the hall from each other. What are the odds, right? We played in a few bands together, including a wind ensemble, I played French horn and Alan played trombone. And then on the first iteration of Sleep Habits I was singing.. 

AH: …because I was too scared [laughs].

MH: Yes, Alan was scared [laughs], so I was singing in Sleep Habits and Alan was playing a bit of guitar with me and helping me record some songs. It was very entry level stuff, we were just in college hanging out and making silly songs. Then it just kind of progressed from there to more serious songwriting and more serious collaborations. As we began to release stuff for our own projects, we thought, ‘damn, wouldn’t it be fun to go on tour? Why haven’t we done that yet? Let’s just make it happen!’ But we knew we needed something to tour behind, so we decided to record an EP together.

AH: In the grand scheme of things, it was all kind of very last minute, too. We really just said ‘fuck it’ and just immediately jumped into doing it. I think we uploaded the tracks a week before we left for the tour.

SR: As you were putting together the track list, you two were pulling out a few songs that you wrote individually that had been demoed and back-pocketed for awhile. What was the timeline in which you wrote these songs? 

AH: It was pretty different for all three of my songs. “Little Smile” is pretty old and then “Pavement” was already on a Julia’s War comp in 2022. “Trinkets and Horses” was a pretty fresh song that I was messing around with at the time and just really came together.

MH: I had written “Promise” while I was living in Portland and the other two more recently. I actually wrote “Backseat” right when I moved to New York and then I wrote “Different Now” on New Year’s Day of 2023.

SR: A fresh start?

MH: Trying to [laughs]. I had done that this year again too. Maybe this could be my tradition. It feels really good.

SR: Throughout the EP, there feels to be this thematic throughline of redefining placement and growing up that really sticks out. Were there any overarching themes that you were looking to build upon or connect when choosing which songs to include? 

MH: We didn’t really have a concept for this EP, so I do think a lot of the themes were accidental. It is funny to reflect on each song now and see how they overlap, because intrinsically, Alan and I have a lot of similar influences and we’ve known each other for almost seven years and have been collaborating since we met. So there is a lot of crossover in the kind of emotion and themes that come out in our songwriting. We also had a similar pace of upbringing, me being from the Midwest and Alan from Baton Rouge, we both had an itch to experience more about life, so there’s a lot that we both reflect on that feels similar.

AH: There were also a couple of songs that we were thinking about finishing that didn’t make the cut and may be too far gone to return to. But all of the decision making was very mutual. 

MH: I decided to include “Backseat” at the last minute and Alan decided to include “Pavement”, which would both be considered more of the commercial songs, so we had a lot of discussion about the vision and style. But ultimately I think we just had some demos that came together naturally.

SR: Having both worked so closely together in college, and now covering a lot of physical distance in your collaboration, were there any takeaways about your own creative process that this EP brought out? 

MH: Collaborating makes two things easier for me, which is holding myself accountable and executive functioning. We set deadlines for each other, so there was an element that reminded me not to put this off because there’s another person involved. Usually with my own music, I’ll just put a pin in it, but because we both have the tendency to sit on music for a long time, by the time we release it, we’re kind of dissatisfied with it. It’s not an accurate reflection of our taste and our style that we hold presently. But because this was such a quick turnaround, and because we’re working with each other and admire each other a lot, we actually released a project that we felt really confident about and really proud of.

SR: As it was your main goal to go on tour, which inspired you to make this EP in the first place, did these songs find different lives as you traveled and played them night after night? How does it feel looking back on it all now one year later?

AH:  It was amazing! It was so fun to play the songs stripped down like they were written, but with single elements that came out in the recording process (Mariah singing with me/me playing slide with her). It felt really good to make new friends and see how people reacted to the music.  It really solidified why I love playing music and doing stuff DIY. Especially it being the first tour I ever went on. 

SR: Now you are celebrating the one year anniversary of Trinkets and Horses with a limited CD release from Kiln Recordings? What made you want to mark this anniversary by re-releasing the album?

AH: We had always thought about releasing this EP with some extra tracks, like we had these backyard recordings that we did at Carolina’s (hemlock) house in Chicago while we were on tour, so those are on the re-release. And we’ve always just really wanted a physical of the album.

MH: But also, Kiln is based in New Orleans and has supported our friends and our community there, like some of Alan’s other projects and Wesley Wolffe, so it’s exciting to work with them regardless. They are very deliberate, make really great art and on top of it all, they’re people we know personally, so it feels good to collaborate like that with them.

SR: Do you two have any plans to collaborate again in the future?

AH: Yeah, we’ve already been working on stuff together! I’ve been playing bass on Mariah’s new record and she’s going to be singing on my new record. But I mean, if we’re talking about collaboration, to me it feels like Mariah is just part of Sleep Habits at this point. So yeah, definitely gonna have her on the record.

MH: In any formal or full band iteration of my music, Alan will have a place. And if by chance we live in the same place again one day, I know that that will come into fruition.  Whether I’m singing or playing guitar I know I’ll have a place in Sleep Habits, and when we record it doesn’t matter where we are, we can always send each other tracks. And I did record some of my album that I’m working on now in New Orleans, so Alan was there with me.

You can now order the special edition of Trinkets and Horses from Kiln Recordings, which includes two never before released backyard recordings of “Pavement” and “Trinkets and Horses” ft. hemlock, completed with a 14 page booklet including the artists’ handwritten lyrics.

Written by Shea Roney