Define your genre in five words or less:
Lush, piano-driven art rock.
Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like?
I’ve been told I sound like a hybrid of Regina Spektor and the Dresden Dolls, which I can definitely live with! Add in some Kate Bush, Sufjan Stevens and Marc Almond and you’re pretty much there.
So, someone is walking past as you are playing, they then go get a beer and tell their friend about you..what do they say?
When did Ginny Weasley grow up and start playing PJ Harvey covers?
What do you think an artist has to do these days to succeed?
I think it’s a combination of working really, really hard at all aspects of the work of being an independent musician, loving what you do, being generous and authentic and at some point, as with anything, being in the right spot at the right time. Serendipity counts for a lot – but you should only focus on the aspects that you have control over.
Do you have any record releases to date? What are they? Where can I get them?
I’ve released one LP (Somewhere Under The Rainbow) and two EPs (The Birthing Pyre and Plan B – The Beautiful Mess We Made) with my other band The Jane Austen Argument and one EP (Split/Infinity) with my other band Neon Bogart. They’re all available on Bandcamp.
Why should everyone come and see your show?
Because my band is a seething pit of hot babes. And the music we make is really good
When are you playing live/releasing your album?
I’m launching my debut solo single, Kissing In Tutus, at The Empress on Friday October 25. This is also the first live show with my new band The Garland Thugs, and they sound so incredibly amazing. Every time I listen back to our rehearsal recordings I get goosebumps. Then we’re hitting the studio to record my EP The Lotus Eaters, which will be out March/April next year.
What part of making music excites you the most?
That first sweet hit of songwriting when you know you’ve got something really special unwinding… And those magic times when you’re performing and everything’s just right and it feels like flying.
What’s the strangest place you’ve ever played a gig, or made a recording?
Hmmm. It’s not quite either, but filming a music video, complete with pipe organ and buckets of glitter, in an art deco theatre in the middle of the night, in David Lynch’s hometown is probably high up on the list of ‘weird places to do fun stuff’.
What’s your favourite song, and why?
Oh man. Too many to choose! I am a real sucker for the Gershwins and Irving Berlin – all the great American Songbook stuff. Blue Skies is my ultimate feel good tune – especially Ella Fitzgerald’s version – while The Man I Love– if you take out all the outdated gender essentialist hilariousness – is so perfectly hopeful, it breaks my heart every time. Other than that, my favourite song probably changes from week to week. At the moment I’m loving Lace Skull by Hiatus Kaiyote. I’m working on a cover of it, but it’s a bitch to transcribe!
How do you balance making and playing music with your other commitments?
Very imperfectly. I try to remember that I’m so incredibly lucky to be doing what I’m doing, and just relax into the ride instead of stressing that I can’t do everything, all at once, all the time.
