David + Kavi Moltz

Curriculum Vitae Q&A with husband and wife creative duo David and Kavi, of fragrance house D.S. & Durga.

Astrological sign?
Kavi: Sagittarius.
David: Taurus. I’m down to earth.

Lucky number?
K: Four.
D: I mean there’s numbers that I like, I don’t know if they bring luck. I like nine.

K: I said four, because there are four of us, but that’s not what I would bet on, like a craps table or anything. That would be like, five or nine.

Favorite Color?
D: Yellow and blue.
K: Black.

Morning, Noon, or Night?
K: Morning.
D: Morning.

Uptown, Midtown, or Downtown?
K: Downtown.
D: Brooklyn.

Oscars, Tonys, or Grammys?
K: Oscars, I don’t understand what’s going on with the Grammys because I don’t know about modern music.
D: That’s the thing, I think that music is more important but the Grammys aren’t indicative of great music nor Oscars of great film.

Met, MOMA, or Movies?
D: Met. I mean MoMA is so… and I went to film school.
K: It’s a hard question.

Football, Baseball, or Basketball?
D: You don’t give a shit. Tennis?
K: I don’t give a shit.

D: Football, baseball and basketball is so tough, because in my heart of hearts, I’d say basketball. I love football so much but it’s dirty and what the NBA is doing compared to the NFL is so much less tainted. And it’s such a beautiful physicality and the grace, you know.

Sugar, Splenda, or Stevia?
K: Sugar.
D: Zero. Or in life? I guess sugar.

Sandwich, Soup, or Salad?
D: Sandwich.
K: Salad.

Black, White, or Color?
K: Black.
D: Color.

Is your closet messy or neat?
D: They’re both pretty neat.
K: Neat by his standards.

D: They used to be messy for one reason, we have one closet, it’s awkward. And me and Kavi split that. So we have a room that we turned into a closet space and we split that. And finally I was like, this makes no sense. If you’re an organized person, everything of one type should be in one place. And that is not Kavi’s specialty.

K: Neat, but I would love it to be neater. It’s hard to find the time.

What’s your favorite room?
K: The kitchen.
D: The downstairs living room where there’s a couch and a cactus and the window.
K: He also has a newly created meditation room. We had this little extra room and he turned it into one.
D: It was a guest room too so people can sleep in there like that.

Talent you’d like to have?
K: Drawing, I would like to draw well.
D: Definitely definitely, definitely speed reading. If I could read 100 pages an hour.

What do you collect?
K: Nothing.
D: She is so not a collector it’s amazing.
D: I would say me too. I don’t like collecting things. I like using things. So like with my record collection, I’m never the guy to say “oh I’m going to buy this rare…”

K: I would never. I don’t like the idea of collecting stuff. I mean, I sort of have rocks and stuff here.

D: So if you bought me the world’s nicest bottle of scotch and then you come over my house, we’re gonna drink that because we might die tomorrow. I hate the idea of preserving anything and keeping it for special occasions because you never know.

K: You know what I collect all my kids artwork. I have boxes and boxes and there are so many. But I just I can’t bear to throw that away.

Dream dinner guest?
K: Mine would definitely be a writer. I think like a Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol. It’s just so influential and all of Russian literature, which we both are like super into.

D: I mean, it’s hard not to go this spiritual route on this. Artistically, it would be amazing to hang out with Mahler, Stravinsky or something, but like spiritually, you know, if you met them would your life instantly change?

Cheat meal?
K: Does not apply. I’ll eat everything. I mean we’re vegetarian and very healthy, but I don’t have restrictions within that. We have enough restrictions with being healthy and vegetarian…

Quality you want to be remembered by?
K: Loyalty.
D: Compassion. But I also stole it from what Barbara Walters asked Bernie Sanders. I’m pretty sure that’s the exact question. And he was like, compassion. And she asked Trump. He’s like, “victory.”

Sunday ritual?
K: Tea in the morning; tea takes up a lot of our morning time. And I mean, tea is a focus of the morning at our house, for me. Not rushing out of the house, just being at home as long as I can and not like leaving the house for as long as I can. Just drinking tea, reading. I wake up at 6 on the weekends, maybe 7.

D: Well, I have a daily meditation ritual. But once that’s done on a Sunday, I make tea. I sit in that sunny room and read and drink the tea. And just as long as I can wait until the kids bother us to be out of the house or something. Yeah, which is around 9:30 or 10.

Favorite flower?
D: Geraniums. I fucking love geraniums.
K: Tuberose for smell. Not for looking nice.

D: I think tulips look nice.
K: I think the more beautiful flower is Ranunculus or Peonies or something, big blooming flowers.

D: Peonies can smell incredible. I’m so obsessed with all the little flowers that grow out of places. I mean that at the end of the day, like a big yellow rose. The smell of orange blossom trees in the Mediterranean is unbelievable.

What does Considered Luxury mean to you?
K: I mean, I would just say quality, like quality things. We don’t buy that many things. I kind of can’t stand bad quality stuff. Especially at this moment for so many reasons it’s important because most clothing is ending up in landfills.

D: If I have to think of something that is a luxury to me though, it is like a fabric situation. It is a fine thread count, it’s a certain kind of cotton. Like I think it’s an Egyptian cotton sweater or something that I will never find or be able to own. It seems unattainable and I’m just too rough around the edges. But if I get my hands on that, I’m going to sweat too much on it or rip it day one. Or it’s going to lose its shape in three seconds or I’m going to wash it improperly or something and it’s going to shrink.

How do you guys strive to be present and be in the moment?
D: Practice. I mean, people don’t realize it’s like if you want to be a good guitar player. You can’t just buy the guitar. You can’t just play it one time. You have to practice it day in and day out. I don’t know why that little thing bothers me. If you want to be a calm person or a centered person or live in the moment, you have to practice it. And you’re gonna fuck it up. Time and time again. It’s okay. As you get older, you’ll get better and just never give up. Right. Just perseverance is everything. You have to be proactive about trying to heal yourself. You know, if you’re gonna do a lot of weightlifting and workout and stuff, you also have to put oil in the engine. You’ve got to get some massages or learn to massage yourself or that kind of thing, too. So you just have to practice.

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