Name: ARXX
Members: Hanni Pidduck (lead vocals, guitar), Clara Townsend (drums)
Nationality: British
Current release: ARXX's debut album Ride Or Die is out March 31st 2023 via Grand Hotel van Cleef.
Recommendations: Book - Patti Smith: Just Kids; Art - Anything by Keith Haring! We Love him.

If you enjoyed this ARXX interview and would like to know more about the duo and their music, visit the band's official website. They're also on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

Hanni: I started playing guitar when I was 13.

My parents took me to see a lot of shows, anyone and everyone. I fell in love with the idea of being a musician.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

For us music is something that we feel more than we see.

It feels very physical, it can bring you up and bring you down and ultimately there’s nothing more exciting.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

We’ve always been very free with the way we write, we don’t put ourselves in a box or restrict where we go with our music. Over time our music has shifted genres, but that’s always something we’ve really cherished.

When we’re writing a song, we just want to let the song tell us what it wants to be.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

We’re both queer women and in a still heavily male dominated industry, that of course affects the music we make and the music we consume. We’re not going to shy away from it.

We love to support our scene, we keep the DIY ethos at the heart of what we do.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

Be nice, enjoy it.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

Maybe it’s different for everyone but for us all we aim to do is music that’s personal to us.

But that’s just us, that’s not how it has to be for everyone.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

Throughout our time as a band we’ve always operated on a very DIY basis.

We always look for free ways that we can streamline the business side of the band so we can spend more time being creative. We found amazing resources like dropbox and canva.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

We (Clara and Hanni) couldn’t be more opposite. Clara’s a morning person, Hanni’s not. But we make it work. Every day is different!

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

Our creative process for our debut album was really varied, sometimes songs come in 10 minutes and sometimes they take months.

We’ve really learnt to trust the songs and let them tell us how they want to grow and what direction they want to go in and we hope that keeps our music really authentic.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

Generally our writing process happens collaboratively. However, a lot of our lyrics are written in isolation by Hanni. So our music is a blend of collaborative and personal.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

We think music can transcend society. It’s been present in all stages of human evolution and that’s evidence enough.

As music makers we just make the music that feels important to us. If that connects to someone else then that’s wonderful.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

Everything we write is really personal. So of course these ideas and our experiences have been explored in our songs and that’s been really helpful for us

Music can also be really soothing and it can be a vital support.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?

Music affects us really physically and that experience could be explained in a way with science.

However we don’t really see the need to analyse what things make you feel good and what things move you

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Music is really unique because not only is an outlet for the author to express themselves in whatever way they need to, but it also creates a space for a very real connection to take place between the artist and the audience.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

Music like ours is just storytelling. People are moved by a story.