NO HOME // WARPED BOW
“Noise music" can sometimes be synonymous with inaccessibility but to me it feels like a gathering of the most raw elements closest to everyday life. How do you draw on the materials around you to construct into these soundscapes that sonically tell a story?
I think sometimes noise can be a little misunderstood sometimes. It can be seen as aggressive or discomfort but sometimes it’s just like the sound of crushing aluminium foil or crunching leaves which is just natural material? Also when you have very little to make music with, you get creative. If you’re only just one person on stage, you’re trying to make maximum impact. Or if you have a blank Ableton track and the mood or story is right you want to go all in. Like why not? Guitars can be loud, other materials - pencils, glass, water can be too and most are free in the world.
Anxiety has been a universally felt emotion in the year since your last album "Fucking Hell' was released: You seem to temper that well with an omnipresent sense of humor in your lyrics. Do you think it's important to ensure that both remain present in the music you make?
Yeah, I think anxiety without humour at this point is too dark for the world. I don’t think necessarily it’s helpful. Humour is good, laughing is probably the best thing we can do right now and probably for the rest of our lives because the world looks to be getting bleaker as months go by. Take joy as it comes!
Although your music feels inherently political, there's a delicateness to many of the tracks - do you see this as a means to be able to get a message across in a more consumable format?
Probably not - I think on the last album I wanted to have a mix of light and heavy in terms of what things sounded like. Also, it’s just nice to have something feel “easy” and you slide on through with the lyrics without it feeling too hard to make.
NO HOME
MIX
I love the sparseness that's an integral part of a lot of your songs - to me it makes the words and other parts of the song more impactful. How do you play around with space to convey meaning & feeling?
I think as I grow older the better writer I become, not to be too big headed about it! But I honestly just think a simple accompaniment with some complex lyrics does a lot more than a complex one and you can then put all your energy into something like the story you’re trying to tell or how you sing it. Also for a while I didn’t know how to use a drum machine, didn’t really understand how they worked, didn’t know how beats could work with my music so now I am really learning. It’s long but I still agree with the simple music and big story lyrics combo. It’s worked for me so far.
Tell us more about the recording process/inspiration behind this new track?
I basically had not made any music for around 2 years before this track. Half of me was tired, and the other lacked time and was dealing with a job that didn’t leave me with enough creative energy at the end of the day. So for all that time I just listened to new music - new folk, new dance music, new to me at least. I wanted to create something escapist as we were now in a pandemic. It’s about a girl who becomes so enamoured by the plants in her plant shop that she lets them hypnotise her. I wouldn’t say I was inspired by this plant shop I used to walk past on the way home from my old job, but it definitely helped me visualise the situation.
I think this is the first time I played violin in like a long time - possibly a decade - and it reignited something in me that felt good. Feels like a new era of my art to be honest.
Any under the radar musical peers we need to know?
My friends Big Joanie and Rachel Aggs who is in so many bands (SHOPPING, Trash Kit, Sacred Paws) it’s so impressive. I love Space Afrika and FAUZIA, so so good like you wouldn’t even believe it. To be honest, everyone on my mix should be listened to.
What's special about the mix you've made?
I love love love Kate Bush and I actually heard this particular song on The Simpsons and had this moment of like “huh, that voice is very familiar” and looking for the song later and realising it was her. I think it’s just the nice mix of British artists like FAUZIA, Space Afrika and Cocteau Twins cause they reflect my mood and my friend SASAMI who I have a song with coming out on her album “Squeeze”, released on the 25th Feb this year!
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