Part 2
Could you take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work? Do you have a fixed schedule? How do music and other aspects of your life feed back into each other - do you separate them or instead try to make them blend seamlessly?
Faith - Currently my day is all about taking care of my daughter, so lots of cuddles, feeding, playing etc... I work on music when she’s napping. I listen to music with her and my husband plays the guitar to her, music is just part of our daily lives.
Lois - My schedule is a bit thrown off at the moment, but usually I get up in the morning, work on band stuff or uni - I'm doing an MA in computer and electronic music. In the evenings I either work, chill or party with friends. It's all centred around music I guess, a lot of my friends are doing music too, are involved with venues or are creative in one way or another. It's great to speak to other people about what they're working on.
Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece or album that's particularly dear to you, please? Where did the ideas come from, how were they transformed in your mind, what did you start with and how do you refine these beginnings into the finished work of art?
Faith - I love music because you start with nothing and make something, where does it come from? I always wonder how did I think of those lyrics or decide on that set of chords. I don’t consider myself particularly creative, I’m quite practical but then with music I just have all these ideas in my brain that eventually come out as songs. Our latest album, Hot Slick, is very dear to me, it’s too difficult to explain the entire process as it was made over a number of years. It wasn’t a linear process more a do it, scrap it, start again, ok this is good, no scrap that etc. It was painful!
Lois - That's a really hard question, my creative process is to make lots and try as many ideas as possible. Some work right away, some I come back to later and put a new spin on and it makes perfect sense. Maybe I'd choose Brian Eno's 77 million paintings - cos I take inspiration from everywhere, can't see it ever stopping and I hope I keep making something new!
There are many descriptions of the ideal state of mind for being creative. What is it like for you? What supports this ideal state of mind and what are distractions? Are there strategies to enter into this state more easily?
Faith - I just need a tidy space and I need to be ready as in ready for the day, I can’t just sit in pyjamas in a messy room, I think I’m a bit OCD but having everything in its place helps me concentrate.
Lois - I just need to be feeling super focused on that one thing, I find it difficult if I have other unfinished jobs left undone. If we're talking about really ideal, it’s when the inspiration really hits you and all you can do is get up and start playing the idea you just had.
How is playing live and writing music in the studio connected? What do you achieve and draw from each experience personally? How do you see the relationship between improvisation and composition in this regard?
Faith - It’s always fun to see how a song sounds in a live scenario. I don’t actively listen to my own music so on the occasion that I hear the recorded version again, it can be a surprise because I’m so use to how it has evolved after playing it over and over live on stage. We don’t improvise very often as we have so many samples to trigger! But sometimes things get away from us and we just have to go with it.
Lois - I think from live you can help the song settled in the right energy, and see how it flows. Sometimes you're so involved in what it took to put a song together you can't distance yourself from that to hear it objectively. The audience can help you do that. You might find that you start to change the accent of notes, or you throw something in live cos it feels right that then makes it to the studio.
How do you see the relationship between the 'sound' aspects of music and the 'composition' aspects? How do you work with sound and timbre to meet certain production ideas and in which way can certain sounds already take on compositional qualities?
Faith - I always record my own vocal 100 times, I think I recorded all the vocals on the latest album at home by myself just so I didn’t waste everyone’s time in the studio. I don’t feel like a natural singer, it’s not a gift I was given, I have to work hard to use my voice in a way that works for the song. Finding the right sounds for the guitar or drums is fun and often something we do as a group in the studio. The sounds that are chosen can change the entire mood of the songs in the same way that the mix affects everything.
Lois - We take inspiration from a lot of older music, and so with some of the sounds we use we might try to replicate those old recording techniques rather than do it in just the 'best' way.
Our sense of hearing shares intriguing connections to other senses. From your experience, what are some of the most inspiring overlaps between different senses - and what do they tell us about the way our senses work? What happens to sound at its outermost borders?
Faith - That’s interesting because I think more about closing off the other senses when I listen to music, headphones on, dim lit room, eyes closed and just being still. In contrast to that when watching a live show seeing the costumes or lighting or visuals the band use can really enhance the whole experience. We saw Soulwax at Beatherder festival, we were dancing in a field with thousands of strangers with this bright white light and huge sound making our hearts pump faster, that’s when it starts to feel out of body.
Lois - Visual is probably the strongest for me, like with brilliant music videos or a live show like Faith says. It's hard to be a giant mirror ball head rising up from the stage! Sound is really powerful on its own, it's incredible that these little vibrations in the air can sound so beautiful together, or make your hair stand on end.
Art can be a purpose in its own right, but it can also directly feed back into everyday life, take on a social and political role and lead to more engagement. Can you describe your approach to art and being an artist?
Faith - Our song Serve The Rich is political, but the sentiment came from everyday life, when you see everything you believe in being crushed, watching humanity fail in front of you, the lack of empathy from the people in power, the rich getting richer and the poor dying. It’s hopeless and sometimes all you can do is feed your frustration into a song. I wouldn’t say I or the band has a political agenda but we know the difference between right and wrong.
Lois - Art is there to reflect and question, but it also sometimes serves the purpose of just being beautiful. My favourite works are usually a combination of the two.
It is remarkable, in a way, that we have arrived in the 21st century with the basic concept of music still intact. Do you have a vision of music, an idea of what music could be beyond its current form?
Faith - I have no clue but I feel like the basic concept isn’t going anywhere soon, look at paintings and poems.
Lois - Music will always be the same to an extent but maybe the way we make and interact with it will change. The electronic/digital side of things will become more accepted, maybe we'll be able to get Spotify hardwired into our brains, and we can all become cyborg Mozarts! I watched a video the other day about a guy that hacked the electronics in his bionic arm so he could plug it in to a synthesiser, and control the envelopes with his brain.
