The Lovely Robot band profile and concert preview 

• Abigail Franklin
• The Lovely Robot

Being an independent artist certainly has its struggles. Recording and producing music is a lot of work, but once you get the final product out, the result is so satisfying. With technology in 2022, it's easy for anyone to create and share their music with the community. As we settle into the holiday season, Ogden band The Lovely Robot prepares to release their second independently-produced album, Rat Girl Forever.

Band members Abigail Franklin and Kaden Johanson met in O-Town when they were kids, and have played for other bands in the area, but came together during the pandemic. Like for many others, the pandemic got the creative juices flowing, so The Lovely Robot came to be. The two first worked under the name Dog For President, but during quarantine, a new project came to fruition. In 2021 The Lovely Robot released their first EP, Rat Girl Summer, which showcases their sound as described by the band as "lofi uwu punk." "Uwu punk is like, our music is kind of furry-internet-adjacent, so I call it uwu punk like that," said Franklin. "I think it sounds cool."

According to Johanson, most of the aesthetic is cultivated by Franklin, but he's in charge of laying down punchy and strong basslines for each track. "Half the time Kaden just improvises everything that he does, and it's just beautiful," said co-producer Alaska Sargent. "It's always beautiful. When we were working on some of our personal projects, I hit up Kaden for some parts and I could tell that even though I give this thing like, 'Hey, here's what I want you to do,' sometimes Kaden still finds a way to shake it up a bit, and it's just awesome. It is incredible."

Writing music for The Lovely Robot is a team effort. Franklin and Johanson have close friends who help them write, produce and help out with transportation and merch. Moth Mack has helped write and sing on some tracks, and the group has added Alaska Sargent as a co-producer for the upcoming Rat Girl Forever. Typically, songs start with Franklin, who feels out a driving guitar riff that gets paired with a vocal melody. Franklin also works out drums on her own before sending it over to Johanson for a bitchin' bassline, then it ends up with Sargent to help put it all together.

Even though the band has a punk aesthetic, a lot of the songs end up being love songs, according to Franklin. There's also a dose of mental-health issues that inspire songs, which were heightened by the pandemic. "I didn't really go out and do a lot of things because I have asthma," Franklin said. "I was particularly worried about the virus when it came out. I just look at it as a lot of time when I was off from work to just work on music. That time off from work turned into the Dog For President record, and then it turned into me transitioning into female. Then after I transitioned, The Lovely Robot came to be."

While being an independent artist doing everything on your own is fun, it also comes with struggles, including getting the most desirable sound. "I use a pretty bare bones music editor called Audacity, and I'm too lazy to learn anything better," Franklin joked. "Making it sound good on the computer is the most difficult part."

Similarly, timing is a huge factor for this group of friends. "I would say another thing that makes it all difficult is just timing, because sometimes since we're all DIY, we all have our own lives," said Sargent. "We all have our own jobs, things to attend to, and so sometimes the wait's exhausting."

Despite all of the challenges, though, Rat Girl Forever is ready for release on Dec. 1. "Most of my inspiration from it came from just me being locked up in a room where my fiance used to live. I would just play my guitar and I would just write songs just to do something to pass the time," said Franklin. "I'd write songs for my partner's birthday and that's where Rat Girl Forever comes from, because I wrote a song about two rats being in love for their birthday, and that's kind of what gave it the rat aesthetic," she said.

The Lovely Robot will be playing at The Beehive on Dec. 12, and Franklin is looking forward to playing, "even if only a few people show up," she said. The Lovely Robot haven't gotten to play many shows, but they're always exciting when they do. "The thing I need to work on is not breaking my strings during shows," said Franklin. "I tend to break strings every time, honestly. I always give it my all and people seem to really like that." According to Mack, seeing Franklin play live solidifies the "uwu" punk vibes. "They're always a lot of fun," they said.

The Lovely Robot is a group of friends who love making music, and that comes through in their recent work. It'll be a treat for listeners to hear Rat Girl Summer, and to see some live shows from the band. "I want my listeners to know that my music rocks and goes in hard," said Franklin. While Franklin is looking forward to live shows, she also expressed gratitude for everyone who makes The Lovely Robot possible. "It's always been perfect for music for each other. Alaska and Moth are some of my best buddies too," she said. "We all get along great and it's just a privilege to be able to make music with these people and get along so well."

Catch The Lovely Robot on Monday, Dec 12 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10 and can be found at 24tix.com. Rat Girl Summer also has cassettes for sale through Messenger Bag Records at mbr.limitedrun.com.