Name: Queen Cult
Members: Maisie Johnson (vocals, guitar), Brodie Carson (drums), Piers Jarvis (bass)
Interviewee: Maisie Johnson

Nationality: British
Current release: Queen Cult's “The Hand Lender” is out now via Mother City.
Recommendations: Spill Tab - "Window", perfect indie pop song. I just does the THING.
Jeff Buckley & Elizabeth Fraser - "All Flowers In Time", resonates because it's an unfinished piece of music that’s sonically said a lot to me. It didnt need to make sense to make me feel something.
 
If you enjoyed this Queen Cult interview and would like to stay up to date with the band and their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I honestly don't know when I'm doing it! Or when that state of mind comes over me.

But I guess it has something to do with the change of pace in life, I'm a very busy person so as soon as I slam the emergency brakes on, and choose not to distract, my creative juices start to flow, I think? Often in between dissociation and obviously some form of consciousness!

Personal relationships often with myself and others, the closest things to me, tend to affect me the most I think. I’m in my head a lot.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

It really works differently every time. I can come back to a riff I worked on ages ago, or blast the whole arrangement out in half an hour.

I often journal and that sometimes flows lyrics. But more often than not, when I'm marking a vocal melody, I usually let my subconscious do the rest lyrically! Then tidy up afterwards.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

I am SO messy. I have my desk set up at home, I've always kept it pretty simple over the years. Very much a shed builder when I write.

And all depending on the mood when it comes to tidying at a later date, some of them stay a mess! haha

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

I think it's totally random for me. I don't pay attention to that stuff.

I just make sure that when I do get time, I allow space to become bored. That's usually when I've allowed my mind to run wild.

What do you start with? And, to quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Its not that deep Bruce. Haha. It really just varies every time.

I don't follow rituals or rules to get to a point of creation, I just do what feels right to me. It's different for everyone, I just know I love it and get obsessed.

Like a good book, I just can’t put it down when I'm writing a song.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

Another thing I don't tend to too deeply. I appreciate when something is beautifully written and poetic but I also just love the lines that hit you straight in the face because of how matter of fact it is. Language is vast and it can be used however you want.

I've always been quite situational as a writer I think. I have however thought about how I could approach a sentence differently to challenge myself to different styles, but again sometimes it's best to just let it flow.


Queen Cult Interview Image (c) the artist

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Allllll about the flow bebeh.

I try not to fixate for too long and just ask myself ‘does it say what you want it to?’

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

Many times I have written a song and thought it's finished, put it down for a couple weeks, come back and just rip the structure apart. I think of it sometimes like a gradient, did it reach the summit?

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Entering the flowstate. It's a feeling for sure. And it feels very good.

But other than that, no idea what it is … I don’t even question it! I just embrace it.

When you're in the studio to record a piece, how important is the actual performance and the moment of performing the song still in an age where so much can be “done and fixed in post?“

I always wanna play something the best I can, and that doesn't mean technically ‘correct’ it needs to feel good. And natural.

Again my approach has always been less in more. I like it when it's not quite ‘perfectly’ played.


Queen Cult Interview Image (c) the artist

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Sometimes with the pace of the music industry you don't have as much time as you’d like. I know many artists who overcook their tracks because they are perfectionists and they struggle with that.

I think it's very important to know when to say a song is finished. Zoom out and look at the bigger picture.

When the final track is mixed I like to sit on it for about a week.

Even recording a solo song is usually a collaborative process. Tell me about the importance of trust between the participants, personal relationships between musicians and engineers and the freedom to perform and try things – rather than gear, technique or “chops” - for creating a great song.

I’m allllll about texture. Always been into simplicity, I don't care much for technical ability as a necessity within a song. It's not something I'd say I carry or listen to that much (however, I like the odd moment that locks in tastefully).

I’m more into feel, and texture, random ambient parts that create a mood and or that main riff or thing that glues it all together. It feels satisfying.

I tend to think of sections of songs as scenes of a film.  

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?  

Energy, emotion, overall mood is built on production and mix for sure. It assists the intimacy of a song.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

For me it's not emptiness, it's relief. Then onto the next!

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

I have not yet dealt with this, so I am yet to know!

Music can be subjective so there is always gonna be the risk of it rubbing someone the wrong way!

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing 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?

I suppose it's an extension of me. It's my way of processing, enjoying my own company and feeling at peace with myself.

A connection. It feeds the soul!