Queer couple and Friends of Friends Recording (FOF) Co-Founders DeAnna Doersch and Brok Mende met each other in Chicago when they were both youth group leaders for an Evangelical Christian organization.
Each of them now agree that that meeting felt like a lifetime ago. Doersch and Mende were in college at the time and discovered a shared love of music which has been the through-line of their entire relationship. They started FOF together in 2020.
Mende serves as the chief engineer where he oversees all session work at the studio, maintains studio equipment and artist hospitality. He also helps train and educate other engineers. Mende’s goal is to have more LGBTQ+ and POC engineers and producers in the field so they can help members of their own communities create music.
Doersch’s original focus as the company’s visual designer was on its brand, but now she facilitates the general feel and community aspect of the studio. With Doersch’s vision, the couple transformed their dark studio space into a bright, cozy place to work in with a beautiful view of the skyline.
They have produced hundreds of records with artists such as NNAMDÏ, KAINA, Madison McFerrin, Serpentwithfeet, Luke Titus, White Lucy, Joy Guidry, The Devil Said Jump among others. They have also rented out their studio for other musicians to do their own productions. The majority of artists who utilize their studio are from marginalized communities.
Wisconsin-raised Doersch graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in interactive and social media and a minor in graphic design. For a number of years, she was a freelance designer for small businesses and artists and spent two years at Leo Burnett as a production designer.
“I was a very creative kid, but I learned to be a practical Wisconsinite—art was not a career,” said Doersch. “I spent about a decade undoing that mindset.”
Mende, who is originally from Jacksonville, Florida, has always been interested in music. He decided to move to Chicago after his high school graduation to pursue a music career.
His first job was at Electrical Audio under the late Steve Albini and then, in 2013, at Audiotree, where he did their in-studio live sessions and had a hand in creating their “Far Out” series. He also went to Columbia College for a couple of years but decided the best education was to work in the music industry, not what was offered in the classroom.
Initially, Doersch and Mende were just friends who liked to spend time with each other enjoying music. They decided to go on a road trip and “not too long after, we started dating,” said Doersch. “We quit the Christian cult, got married, and I finally had the space and support to realize I was queer.”
They got married in the fall of 2016 in central Wisconsin on a ski hill “near where DeAnna’s grandparents lived,” said Mende. “It was a super DIY ceremony we crafted together and family and friends helped with. We have grown so much and in the same direction over the past decade which I’m grateful for.”
In 2019, the couple decided to move to Jacksonville to be closer to family. At first Mende did freelance work but once the COVID-19 pandemic emerged he said, “We needed a way for us to continue working safely and that’s how FOF was born in the summer of 2020.”
“FOF had been a dream of ours for years,” said Doersch. “I had been throwing community events more informally, so the possibility of having a home for them was really exciting. Being in an incredibly segregated city, as Jacksonville was/is, we thought it imperative to specifically serve musicians who had been under-resourced.
“From day one, our intention was to cater our business to queer and BIPOC musicians, and we made sure all of our branding reflected it, especially since we started FOF during the height of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.”
Mende’s clientele back in Chicago had been very diverse and the couple wanted to continue this legacy with FOF. Doersch pitched the idea to Mende and also came up with the name. Since everyone they work with is a friend or friend of a friend the name made sense.
“We’ve always wanted the studio to be more than just a transactional business, we’ve wanted it to be a place where people can find community and feel safe enough to create meaningful art,” said Mende.
“All of our studio branding specifically states we are focused on queer and BIPOC people, but words are just words until you live them, and we try to live ours every day,” said Doersch. “We prioritize working on projects we believe in, and you’ll see this featured on both our website and in our studio. I am also very forthcoming about my queerness and being Thai, so my journey of self-discovery is very much a part of our brand’s story.”
In 2022, the couple decided to move back to Chicago in order to keep growing their business. FOF is currently located at 3036 W. Chicago Ave at the intersection of Chicago’s Humboldt Park and West Town neighborhoods.
One of the ways they’ve given back to the community is by hosting Music People Meetups to facilitate networking opportunities for like-minded people in the industry. They also donate studio time and try to reduce as many barriers to entry for artists as well.
Their message to the world is arts tell the truth and are therapeutic and for the two of them, make life worth living.
“Even the grumpiest grandpa can get on board with seeing live music,” said Doersch. “Music starts conversations and brings people together. Artists can dream of a new future even before the rest of us can see through the fog.”
“I think art and music help reinforce and communicate our humanity to ourselves and to the world around us,” said Mende. “When we understand ourselves and each other more, the lies and fear used to divide humanity from itself and propagate fascism become powerless.”
They can be reached at hi@friendsoffriendsrecording.com.