It's the kind of thing where I really wanted to express like how important she ever Bundan is to me, and I just like screamed, like you are my life.
Yeah. From playing a gig in a clown museum in Hollywood to going on stage just before Beyonce when she headlined Coachella twenty eighteen, it's been a wild decade or so for time. I'm pleased to say that SD, Danielle and Alana are my guests on tonight's podcast. I met up with the Californian sisters just a couple of weeks ago, late September time, during a brief visit they were making to London to promote their latest single, Summer Girl, but also just to get a short break from writing and
recording their forthcoming third album. It's been seven years since they won the BBC Soundpole here in the UK. That was the early days of a journey that's seen them win a bunch of awards, but also the diverse admiration of everyone from Primal Screams, Bobby Gillespie right through to Taylor Swift. Spend some time with them and it's easy
to see why they make friends so easily. This evening's episode dips back into lots of those career moments so far, but it begins recently this past summer when Heim flew to London to see their childhood heroes, the Spice Girls in concert. I'll let them tell that story. Enjoy listening. If you do like what you hear, please consider supporting this podcast by subscribing to Loud and Quiet magazine we
ship all over the world. The information is at Loud and Quiet dot com slash subscribe, where we will post you our next nine issues for as little as three pounds per month. It keeps the magazine in print and it helps us make this podcast. The last time you were in the UK playing shows was last summer. But have you been here recently because did you make it to see the Spy Skirl Show.
Yeah, we did go on the Spy Skirl Show.
Okay, tell me all about that experience.
We flew in We were doing a charity with the actress Emma Stone, and this charity amaze was like you could pick any prize, like you're gonna take a winner to do and like some type of like adventure activity activity and you can pick whatever whatever you want, like if.
They suggest that I think, like, you know, you could get lunch with.
Lunch or tea or something like that would go mit your golfing or something, and we were like, mmm, no, And the Spice Girls had just announced that they were doing shows in England, and SI had the variety to be like, what if we take someone to the Spice Girls concert in London, And we honestly didn't think that they were going to go for it, but they were like, yeah,
let's do it. And we ended up bringing this lovely woman, Gail, who was a cancer survivor, and her daughter, and she had never been out of the country before, she had never been out of Americas. She got a passport for this trip and they were so insanely lovely and we all went to the Spice Girls concert together and between I think the first and second song, I looked over at Danielle and she was crying.
I was gonna say, like absolutely, it was so emotional and like so the first I forget what the first two songs were, but they were like want to be If you can't you can't dance?
That was like I think that's when I looked over at.
You and you were like because I honestly hadn't. That was the one song that I hadn't heard since I think I was in first grade when I was like obsessed with the Spice Girls, like truly, and I'm still obsessed with them obviously, but in like the deepest of the fandom, I hadn't heard if You Can't Dance. And when I heard, I was I love this song And just the scream, I mean everyone erupted in such a huge roar that like it just all hit me at the same time, and just hear started streaming.
It's like, what get it together? Didn't y'all know the Spice Girls?
That was the jet lag talking two hours?
Yeah, but it.
Was such a good show. It was so incredible and like they have so many hits.
You forget that.
You forget how many hits.
They have and they were such a big part of our lives growing up, and like it was it was like a very like we were very nostalgic, Like didn't y'all was crying? We all like after the show, we're like thinking about, like where were we when when the Spice Girls came out? Like sisters, we would watch Spice Girls as a family, like at least once a month. Spice World, sorry, Spice World, Oh god, jet Lag, Spice World.
I mean I literally wanted to that, Like that's what I thought tour buses looked like like when I was growing up, like I thought that everyone had. I was like, my corner is going to be like this, and as you like, my corner is gonna be like this, and like, little did I know that that was not an actual tour bus.
That was a sound stage.
You can stay on the Spice is what it permanently and it's on air PNB.
What, oh my god, what are we doing here? Why do we have this podcast on the Spice Girls bus.
We think we should for.
Your thirtieth birthday, so we should do. I got a couple of years for a thirtieth for my thirtieth birth.
A couple of years. But that's the next big one. I would love this next big one. I'm going to say, like, oh my god, that'd be cool. And then just surprised me with that all act surprised.
I imagine it's just like loads of Hindus and like pies and stuff, like I.
Know, that's crazy, pretty incredible.
That's a dream I never thought that I ever wanted and now it's gonna come true.
I hope so is the biggest hint. Did you get to meet the Spice Gills.
We did really quickly.
I'm they were about to sound check and we got to meet them, and I cried. I think that's when I cried because my nickname is baby Him and that derives from Baby Spice and having Baby Him than me and Baby Spice in the same place.
Like I just two babies.
It's two babies, and I like I wanted to tell it's the kind of thing where I really wanted to express like how important she em Abundant is to me. And I think I was like I just like screamed, like.
You are my life. I love you so much.
And she was super nice, but I think she was like super freaked out. She's like, oh my god, I have no idea, Like this is crazy. But they were so nice and they put on such a good show and like it's like a real pop show. We never really went to pop shows growing up because our parents couldn't really afford tickets that you know, to go to like see like insinc Spice Girls that Brittany like we were.
We never really got to.
Go even though to this day, I'm so devastated that I never went to a pop show growing up. I think it was like one of my first pop shows.
It was great. It was fucking awesome.
Were they one of the bands or one of the first like artists that collectively, I've just kind of got an image of you being at home, like having the Spice Girls on, kind of bonding over that band. Was that like a formative band?
Oh yeah, okay, well est he was kind of going into like new metal metals.
I was kind of living a double like a double life.
Openly admit that I did the new metal thing as well. So you've got you've got a friend in that, Okay.
So I was like very much into corn okay to Marilyn Manson and spand called Orgy number them and Limp Biscuit, and I remember like going to Hot Topic and you know, like getting all the regalia and then being so hard and so into all those bands, and then getting home from school my sisters when I would all get home at the same time, and then like taking off all of that stuff and putting on like like jack dress, Union Jack dress and like like platform like union jack
boots and playing Spice Girls with my sisters. So I'm very I was very much like when I was at school, I was like, oh such an eye roll spice girls like who are they again? And then literally I would come home I'm like stop right, yeah, like doing all the choreography. But yeah, new Metal was Wow, what a time.
Yeah it's not aged well. But also I also like, I'm not like, I'll never deny that I wasn't into it. I don't.
I definitely don't hide it. And I think my bass playing was also very like it was very much informed by like Fieldy and like I bought a five string bass when I got into that stuff and like you key head the baseline. So yeah, and I don't know if I would have I like to think that I still have like a little bit of that in my base playing. There's still like a little bit of slab
base that I do sometimes. But yeah, I'm still very much I mean It'll come on like on my on my shovel sometimes and I'll be like, yeah, we.
Really want Yeah, it really took a turn, like right at the beginning, well it's such a position.
Did you get to run it?
I remember going to Sea Corn and I was wearing one of those big wallet Yeah yeah, yeah, really heavy chain a Camden market nice and afterwards there was an enormous queue going back, like stretching along. This is a Wembe arena, so huge qu afterwards because you had your metal chain confiscated on the way in because they thought it could be used as a weapon, right, and so like we had all these like fifteen sixteen year old kids like trying to pick up their metal wallet chains
an hour and a half to get away. That feels like it would be a good hash on Twitter, isn't it that you're.
Was that kind of like your you think, like the fad that you were kind of a part of, like when you were in like high school in middle school?
Yeah, was that, like I think?
I think, I think definitely, But then I too that was kind of I suppose it was a gateway then to sort of like heavier and more experimental bands. Like after that, I went and listened to bands like at the Drive in and got really excited about that, and then for a while I was I didn't really admit that I.
Loved and then the strokes came out right exactly exactly, and then you got skinny jeans and convers we.
Talk about that, like the switch over to one of the strokes came out like literally my life changed.
Yeah, it doesn't feel like musical like eras are defined quite the same way now, does it.
Yeah, I feel like it's in hindsight. I feel like like I feel like in ten years will it'll we'll see like the Divide almost. I feel like it's hard when you're in it to like decipher what genres are or something. I don't know, I think, yeah, I think at times it takes time, But I.
Do feel that was like a definitive like we had. I had like black eyeliner and like gauges in my ears and like I don't know, like a bleach blonde mullet.
Yeah.
And then I saw the video for Last Night and I remember like unscrewing my gauges like feverishly and like wiping black eylander off of my eyes, and I bought an army jacket the next day through that. I actually do still have that paper. Actually I didn't get rid of any of like that stuff.
I kept everything metal memory. Yeah, when you released the debut album like twenty thirteen, it was like the early years of streaming wasn't it like that was starting to
become a thing. And like at that stage, like the idea of genre and like boundaries kind of melted away a bit more, and it was just this sense of people when it came to music being like, you like what you like, and there didn't seem to be any of that stuff we just talked about with Neu metal and being kind of like these days, it doesn't matter if you like hip hop, if you like new metal, if you like jazz or whatever.
It all just goes together, live kind of together in the same place.
Yeah. And I think with time, like when you arrived one minute you're on stage with or Big g Lespie from Final Scream and like seemingly like two minutes later supporting Taylor Swift or something like that, And it feels like genre has never been it's never really been something that comes into heime because your world seems very open. Has it ever been like a conscious thing or is it just you've always just been very open minded, whether
it's Spice Girls or whatever. It might be Metallica or something.
I just think we've always loved like a lot of different types of music. And I think growing up, you know, we also went to like an arts high school. I was always around a lot of jazz musicians, and I love jazz, and I loved all my friends, but they were always so they had such strong opinions about certain types of music, and it always just turned me off. So I feel like we've always just been very open
minded about music. And also like growing up loving spice girls, loving pop music, We've always just been kind of pop fans but also liked a lot of different types of music. And you know, I think, yeah, I just think we've always just dabbled and all different types of things.
And then I mean, I I've talked about this, I think a lot, but I went to university for world music. I think that also came from listening to a lot of different types of music growing up because of our parents and they were such big music lovers, and we listened to a lot of like Bulgarian music growing up and Tehano music. And I think that also.
Yeah, And I always too it like I feel like every time like we'd see like an old documentary on you know, like Tom Petty or like the Beatles, like they were always just saying I mean I remember Tom Petty saying like a really an early interview with him, and he was just always like I just wanted to like learn songs on the radio. And I always like thought, yeah, me too, Like that's all I want, like the radio. Also, we always talk about this too, because we've thought about
this too. But we also trace kind of our musical knowledge back to like always being driving in our cars, like with our parents in LA because we were always in the car. You're always stuck in traffic, you're always going to one side of the city, and we you know, at that in the nineties, my parents, we didn't have like a CD player in the car, we hardly had tapes, so we would just listen to the radio. And we're so lucky. In LA there's so many different types of
radio stations. It's like, you know, the the oldies station which played like now it plays. It's so funny because when we were growing up, it was just fifties, sixties and seventies, and then like gradually now it plays like early two thousands, and we're like, oh my god, it plays like.
I was like, oh my god, all these songs are so old, and now I know songs that are played on the oldies station that like came out like when I was like seven, and oh my god, I'm the oldies station now.
But yeah, I mean that, and then like obviously the pop stations and then the alternative stations on the rock stations. I think it's a little different here.
Yeah, we say there's so much choice. I totally get that. When when you're in LA that is the thing you almost like just hop in between stations, like you you It's the equivalent now of having the choice of one hundred different playlists on Spotify totally and you just go, I just want a bit of that and I want to be Yeah, like American radio is a bit like that, isn't. You just will go, you change, you switch the dial,
and it's something different. In the UK, it was a smaller group of maybe more influential radio stations because they there wasn't as much choice.
Right, I mean I think also we didn't. We were kind of late also to get CD player. I think the first CD player we got was like in the late like early two thousands.
I think I like just started and just started eighth grader.
Yeah, so like we just would listen to the radio all the time and a CD walkman.
When she got see.
Yeah, once we got Yeah, I think I got I've got my first CD walkman, I think in like eighth eighth grade.
Fold out thing.
Yeah, I still have one that has DVDs in it.
Yeah, what a time.
We're gonna bring it on tour so we can watch DVDs in the van.
The best thing in high school was getting like mixed CDs like that.
He was like, I spent so much time doing mix CDs because I loved creating, like the I made like booklets for them, and like I remember getting all like old magazines and like chopping them up and doing like collages for all my friends for their mix CDs. Yeah.
Lost.
The first time I heard like Animal Collective sung tongs, it was like on a mixed ed and I was like, it was like that. But then I think it was also maybe cap Power something, and I think that must have been in ninth grade, and I was like, wow, like I'm in high school and listening to is.
That the one that Dylan made?
I think? So, yeah, God, I wish.
There was like a really romantic equivalent of that. Now. I guess it's just.
Like sending a playlist. I don't know it like is.
A digital link that where it's like if you got given a CDR that somebody had like handwritten all the things on the track, and you'd be like, oh this this person like really likes me or that kind of or you know, my friend really wants me to get into get out of Newmail and get into and we'll collect.
Yeah funny.
I think people before that, well, like my uncles and aunts would be like I remember when I used to send mixed tapes to people, like that's a lost art and I'd be like, oh my god, uncle Rober're sold, but now it's actually.
My first boyfriend did send me a mixtape.
Yeah, he was so cool.
Hely sent me. This must have been in what two thousand and six one, Like CDs were like readily available, but he sent me like a mix tape. There was a lot. He was actually from Canada and he was the first person to show me FIST because I think let it die. I'd like just come as before the reminder and yeah we were big FIST fans. But yeah, Broken Social Scene, all that, good.
Great bands, Arcid Fire, Yeah there was a collection.
Yeah.
So the first time that I ever met you, ever spoke to you, was in twenty thirteen. It was January because you just won the BBC Sound of Pole and that's almost seven years ago.
Now, I know, crazy and it's gone.
Really so quickly. When you think back to that time, that period of kind of almost going through the process of being a band that starts getting talked about that you know, the classic hype cycle. You know, people you know tipping you as a new band and everything else. The BBC Sound of Pole and then going into UK festival season. I seem to remember that following summer you played Glastonbury and Ready and Leads and things like that. How do you look back on that period because it
must have been. Yeah, just the process of going through being that kind of hyped, brand new band and you suddenly just submerged in this world. It was just take it to was.
It was crazy.
I mean I think I had the best last time. We look back and we're just like, oh, it's so fun.
Like, well, we had been playing in LA at that point for seven years, playing every venue possible in LA, like yeah, Cloud Museum, Yeah, Like we had been playing, right, was it five years?
What was it at that point?
Seven o seven was our first gig, but we'd been writing music but like, how long had we before we came to the UK.
We came in the twenty twelve, so five years.
Five years.
So yeah, we had been playing like every venue in LA just trying to get signed and you know, not being able to record a song because we didn't really know what we were doing in the studio at that point.
We couldn't get our MySpace popping.
Yeah, let me tell you what a time.
What a time getting your MySpace popping. And then when we started coming to the UK, it was just kind of a because I had never been here before before. I played a show here, like landing here was the first time I was ever show probably.
Been Julian Casablancas and he played where we play Brixton. I don't remember what the venue we play for that tour. I think it was Brixton.
So you had a slight taste of yeah, oh my.
Gosh, it was like and Yell came home was like I took the tube.
I'm like, oh my gosh, how what about it?
Tell me everything?
So you also being here with Julian was also it's like he's like I felt like at the time, like he was like John Lennon or something like it was like Beatlemania like around him, like people were like screaming. You know, I feel like he's kind of like a I mean, he's a legend in general.
Well he also the Strokes also kind of started and they broke here.
They broke here.
Absolutely remember it. Well. I mean, you've played the Reading Festival number of times now, but I was at that Reading Festival where they had to kind of get bumped up. Yeah.
I heard about realized this was like folks.
I was like, I feel like I've read like wikipedias about this gig.
It's definitely like a UK live music history. Yeah, He's like, we need to get that band out of the tent because there's going to like forty thousand people that want to see them. Yeah. Was that helpful kind of having somebody who'd already did that help? Did he kind of have some words of guidance just to sort of oh.
Julien at that point. I mean I hadn't really talked to Julian in a while by the time we got to the UK, but I will say having toured with him and Jenny Lewis and like being the guitarist for them and stuff, it definitely I mean I didn't know, like I didn't know what like an agent was, Like I didn't know, of course. Like I look like we always say like behind the music that VHR. I don't know if you guys had that yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah that was like our like we would just like or
Bible would study, like, oh my god. I mean it's so funny because like I feel like all the all the ones we saw were for like when we're when bands got signed in like the eighties and the seventies, and they were all just like, yeah, we were playing a club and we got scouted by or whatever, like by our label. So we always thought like that's how you make it in the music anyway. Yeah, like stuff
like that, and just touring in general. I mean I had I truly was like I was such a big fan of Jenny Lewis and I was such a huge fan of Julian, Like when I was in their bands and I never told them I was like the weird, creepy girl and I was like, yeah, I don't what band were you in to Julian, you.
Know, I would always kind of just saying it so cool.
Yeah.
I tried to play it cool because I don't want them to think I was like a total creep, but the strike side, yeah, yeah, but I definitely think like it helped me just understand like, oh, there's a tour manager. Oh there's an agent, there's a Manager's like okay, And I feel like that kind of helped us figure out
like what this crazy industry is a little bit. When we came here to play shows, we had just played south By Southwest in the US and we didn't get accepted, but we just like went anyway because we knew a lot of people that were playing and you know, I feel like there's so many shows that aren't like official showcases. At SOUTHWIS, we were just like, we're just going to go, and we had just released our EP and there was
like a little bit of traction. They were like, oh my god, people are coming to the shows and then but still nobody wanted to sign us. So then when we came here for the first time our mission, we're like, we want to get signed. That was like our mission at our first show, because there had been a little buzz and we had heard that like maybe some labels were coming, so we were truly on a mission.
Yeah, you were like, we're going to go to the UK. You're going to do a VH one and we're going to get yah.
Yeah.
But truly our dream like going into it because we were such big fans of The Strokes and of like there's so many you know, white stripes, there's so many American bands that broke here, and we only like dreamed that we could be also like in that kind of club.
Fast forward a few years. I went to ask you about some of the incredible experiences you had the last few years, starting with Coachella last year where you performed just before beyoncet. Yeah, I mean, how was that.
One of the scariest moments of my life. I mean I can't even believe that we said yes to be honest, Like it's like literally, David and Glith, I mean we are the biggest Beyonce fans, like uh, like in the world. I mean like when I I've seen her perform so many times and she's such an incredible like I can't even call her anything other than an icon.
I Mean, we referenced Desty's child in our in our Forever video, our first music video, so when it came to Coachelle, I mean that had been our childhood festival.
I mean, that was like my Glostonbury, even though it's not even close.
Compare.
I'm astonished that you're even no, I know, but that was like my festival when I went when I was fifteen, Like I went. That was like my fifteen year old like going to Coachella. Yeah, so it was just like the I think it was one of the craziest moments in my life. I had never been more nervous. I mean, I never get nervous playing a show, but when y're before an icon, it's kind of like I have never
been more scared. But it was actually it actually ended up being super fun and I got to get a really it's spot to watch Beyonce, so I think it was like it was worth it. I was like I got to play the show. I got like a trime spot to watch the whole show.
It was crazy.
I wasn't there, but I have watched the Homecoming film and I must admit the hairs on the back of my neck went up when I watched it, because if anybody hasn't seen it, she opened the show with like a massive kind of cast of musicians and dances and
they started on the runway. Didn't they they moved stage and as this pyramid and the band started playing Crazy in Love in a sort of New Orleans sort of brass band style, and then she like arrived on like a pneumatic platform, and I was like, by the time she you got eyes on Beyonce, You're like, this is the greatest opening.
Totally other than are opening.
Yeah, exactly. Secondarily, I'm kidding, I'm totally kidding.
Was it as electric being there stupid.
Like times like fifty I mean, like she is just I mean, I could go on and on about Beyonce, but it really I mean going to Coachella that many times.
I mean I'd going.
I had said that I had been going since I was fifteen. Like you see so many headliners and then Beyonce headlines, and then I'm terrified for whoever has to play. I mean, yeah, I guess all the people played last year. But it was a show that you honestly could not be It's it was the most incredible show I'd ever seen.
In my whole life.
And there was and you could tell, like every detail of that show was like so particular, like you know, they'd been like practicing that show for months and months and months. I mean, we only got a month practice before.
Luckily.
I think the thing that was like super funny about is like when we heard that we were opening up for Beyonce, we were like, oh my gosh, we got to call in the troops. So like we called Paul Thomas Anderson and he kind of helped direct us through
our show, which was like the biggest gift. And I think it was also fun for him because he had never I don't think he even thought like in his life that he would like help with the stage show, and he kind of helped us with like every step of the way during that performance, so he wanted to
start our show. Our big entrance was like a camera following us backstage, and then we ended up on the stage, and that was also like terrifying because I was like, if I trip when I'm walking towards the stage and there's like a camera on me, It's just going to be really embarrassing. It's one of those shows that I look back at it and I'm so happy that we did it, but I'm so happy it's not like that I don't have to do it again. Yeah, Like I'm really happy that I can just put that in my
mental role deecks. I get to tell my grandchildren, like your grandma opened up for Beyonce once at a festival and that was tight. Yeah.
It's an art in itself, isn't it arriving on stage, like when you think about I mean, that entrance that you made sounds fantastic. But over the years I've seen different artists do it in different ways, like the classic curtain drop right, yeah, totally, like the one band member coming on at a time thing.
Oh yeah, we've done that you. Oh yeah, it's a good move. Yeah.
What's the best apart from your own way doing it at the moment? What's the best you've seen?
I mean, I've always wanted to do the elevator. That seems so much fun. I mean, I don't think that'll ever work for us because we have instruments like I don't know, like our guitar, like our cable will like get caught in the elevator, like one of us will fall to our death. But like the elevator gag is really coolest, the slow elevator and just you're just holding close crazy, No, it's the coolest. It's definitely I think the coolest way to get on stage.
Plus you probably like the least coolest way to get on stages. What if all three of us rode in on segways?
Yeah, that is Yeah, I don't think it might be the least cool I don't know.
That's the better question is what's like the least cool way.
To get on stage?
Walk on stage? Yeah, definitely out there, probably not the best way.
When you toured that last record, you came to the UK, did some shows in Europe, but you also played in the States, and you were joined on the tour by Lizzie's and so yeah, have you've been watching from the kind of sidelines sort of cheering her?
Yeah, I Mean the thing is is, like Liza has been around for so long, She's worked so hard. She's honestly one of the hardest workers I've ever met, and also like the best opener we've ever had.
But she works so.
Insanely hard, and like seeing how people have just fallen in love with her, like I'm just like yeller late.
But also our crowd, like I feel like when she was opening for us, like our crowd just like was so like in awe of her and and we were just like this is gonna like she's gonna.
Be yeah the year and like, truly, she just.
Sold out two nights at Radio City, which is what we did with her, So we're like so stoked for her.
We're so happy for her.
She honestly deserves every ounce of credits that she's getting. She is so good live and everyone that's around her, I mean, she has it's It really did kind of feel like family when she was on tour.
But yeah, she's killer. Like, she's so good.
In terms of your own music, Summer Girl, this is the single that's out in the moment you're over here that you've been playing and kind of talking about Danielle. You've kind of been quite open about talking about the origins of that song, kind of where it came from. Would you mind that telling me a little bit about that.
Yeah, a couple of years ago. It was actually during the making of something to tell you. My boyfriend got diagnosed with cancer and he's also our producer, Aril, So you know, a lot of people, I think when we were coming out with our last album, you know a lot of the things that were thrown I was like, oh, you guys took so long, and it was not something that I it was not my place to share that information.
So when we did end up releasing it Ril, I think it was like a couple months later, he like told a story and so anyway, so that happened, and during that time, I sorry, I'm just like going through a little bit. During that time, I was trying to write and I had this idea and I brought up Garage Band on my phone, which is a lot of is the program that I usually used to like write a lot, And so I brought up Garage Band and
I kind of did this little bassline on it. That's actually the bass the electric bassline, not this not the double bassline, but the electric bassline on Summer Girl is from my original garage band demo. There's this program on it on Garage Band called like smart Bass, and you literally just you can play it kind of like a drum machine almost. It's like different, it's just a bass sound, but you can literally pluck out different notes. Anyway, Yeah, so I wrote that bassline and I kind of came
up with this like do do do. This is a little doo doo doot melody and I kept singing these like words like I'm your sunny girl, I'm your summer girl. I'm your fuzzy. I mean, like I just want to be at that moment. I just kind of wanted to be Ril's kind of you know, warmth when he was feeling really kind of down. And so yeah, I wrote that demo really quickly on my phone and kind of didn't really think a lot about it. And that must have been in two thousand and seventeen or sixteen, something
like that. And I was in the shower, like in April, because I don't know, I get I feel like I get a lot of my like ideas in the shower. I feel like a lot of people do. I don't know what it is a lot of I don't know. It's so weird. But I had remembered. I was like, oh, there was that, like that baseline. I just really remember the baseline and I was like, what is that?
What is that?
And I opened up my phone and I had the garage band session and I remember listening to be like, there's something in here. I don't know what it is, but there's something about this. So I took it to ross Dam and he all also heard he heard something in it. I mean, I have the demo, I can pull it up. Mm hmm, I still have it. M yeah, and then.
Not record.
Sorry, I want to keep I should like actually I redid the drums, but that's actually a pretty good drum sound. I needs to kind of start and stop. I haven't here.
It's amazing just how honest, like the final product is to like the original idea.
Yeah, I know, it's weird question.
I'm like, I'm not gonna like people think I'm like sponsored by garage band, but truly, truly, I mean, that's a whole other conversation, Like I I we truly we talked about it earlier, like when we were coming up in La like again, like MySpace was like all what the bookers cared about, and like for some reason, we'd save up all of our money and we've I've talked
about this before, but I think it's important. Like we saved all of our money and we would go into like really nice studio for one day and try to bang out a couple songs and just sonic. Like it was so hard to get something like I didn't know anything about recording or we didn't know anything about that stuff. So we would go in just kind of like a blank in a blank studio and come out with something
that just sounded so generic sonically. And it wasn't until I got my first Mac and it came with garage band that you could do. You can make something sound so unique and interesting in a manner of minutes, and son sonics also really help us write stuff.
Yeah, I've heard you talk a little bit about how with some AGirl in particular, like you had the idea. I guess the process from initial idea to song to video to getting out there was one of the quickest that you've had. Yeah, is that something you're keen to embrace now because you felt that you've maybe when you've been in the studio in the past, you've kind of not overthought things, but you found yourself kind of sometimes
starting and stopping. Now you just sort of want to embrace that sense of like, we've got a song, let's make it, let's put it out.
Yeah, I think you know it's so funny. But also we're talking about, you know, twenty thirteen versus now, and even though it's I guess, I mean seven years is kind of a lot of time, but everything's changed so much with releasing music, you know, and we were first starting it was like it took what like two months from like final product to like actually coming out. Yeah, and now it truly can take like less than a week. I mean it could be in an instant rich really
just uploaded to SoundCloud or whatever. But yeah, I think now we're kind of embracing that as maybe part of our process for this new record is just kind of like that's release a song, Like we're excited to kind of explore that, and hopefully we'll be doing that soon.
When you've done in London, you head in, how am you gonna stop carry on writing?
Yeah, we're going home and trying to finish up some songs. We have like a block of songs that were that are almost done that we decided to come to London to get like an ear break. It's always really good to get like a little bit of an ear break.
It's like a long weekend away.
Yeah, it's a break again.
Yeah, it's good because we're gonna come home, like listen to the songs and be like we have to change so much because we finally got an ear break. But no, we're coming home and working on on the music and I think, yeah, we're gonna release something really soon. Right now, we're kind of just wanting to release like songs here and there, but obviously, like we're an album band. We love being an album band. We love making records, So
we'll put out a record soon. We always soon is our favorite word.
It's fine because it didn't define any period of.
Time tomorrow, in a couple of months, you know.
Going back to the stuff that we were talking about, some of those experiences you've had the last like seven years, how is it felt having the experience? There were very few artists that get the opportunity to play in a sweaty club, you know, your classic kind of like almost like a bar room style venue, five hundred people singing every word to a band that gets to walk out on stage supporting Taylor Swift in a stadium or something. Do you have a preference over that? Which one you buzz off more?
I feel like we've like I feel like opening up for artists has been like the best thing and has taught us so much. I mean, we've opened up for so many people of Phoenix, Kings of Leon, Florence, momfriend and sons. Julian actually our first Julian took us out on tour on tour. That was our first opening up gig was and there actually our first gigs out of Los Angeles when I was when I was playing with Julian, he asked if we wanted to open up. I don't even know why, Like.
I know, I remember getting the call. I remember getting it.
I was like, what you want us? Like, we don't even have a freaking like good record, like we we only have three sons.
I know, literally that's a good question. I've never thought of that, thought about that, like why did he.
Think he felt bad that he was taking Danielle away from us? And in a weird way, he was being like really kind and just being like, you know what, bring your sisters, like you guys can have fun. And Alana was still in high school having graduated yet, and I was just about to graduate from college, and I think both of us kind of risked like the idea of not graduating to go on tour, which was the best
decision ever. I mean, like I think when we were when we were like posed with the question, was kind of like there's nobody going that was just.
Really the biggest thing we I mean I don't like, yeah, just the idea of like the idea of going traveling across the country with Julian Casablancas, like sounded like we were like on app like going through like a strange acid right, But.
Like to what Danielle was like saying, like opening up for us was like I think for me, when I look back on it was the biggest gift because you really, a it's like practice because you have to play every night, but you also learn so much about you know, being in a band and playing shows and like putting on a show and all these things, and like there were so many awkward years that we were opening up for people that we could like kind of get that out
by the time we were headlining shows, I mean, just getting the opportunity to play was like the biggest deal for us. And opening up for like so many bands, I mean like they're like people were calling us like bridesmaids and never the brides, Like we were always openers, never headliners, which was so fun. I mean honestly, opening still like it's great you get to play the show
and like drink afterwards, like rage. Now we're a little bit more serious, but we were lucky enough to have all those people bring us out on tour and then when we got to headlining shows, we kind of felt like we like went to college a little bit, like like had gone through like music touring college, like we
were really ready to be headliners. I do think that being a band, like if you're out there listening and you're in a band, like open up for as many people as you can, because it really is like the best experience ever and it feels like a family.
Speaking of headliners, I went to Premia er Sound in Barcelon.
Oh. Yeah, that's such a good festival.
Amazing festival when I know that you've played a number of times before. Something they did this year that received a lot of positive press coverage and I think is great was the fact they had a fifty to fifty gender balance in their ninetiesh So, as many female artists banging as male artists, how hard do your eyes roll when you see festivals I'm making excuses for not booking female talent.
It's a huge eye roll because honestly, there's so many women. There's so many amazing artists out there that are women that are playing rock music. Rock music especially, like there's so many good bands out there that are for either fronted by women, or all women and if like by now, I mean I haven't seen any festival lineups like, but it will be a huge fucking I roll. If women are not like at least fifty fifty, it should be
at least fifty to fifty. Honestly, there's enough girl bands out there now that we could honestly take over festivals and be the majority. But yeah, I mean there's just so much interesting music coming from women right now and hearing.
Always, you know, I think, Yeah, it's just that's a big l side.
I think that's the thing that frosts our cookie is the most. Honestly, I think it's it's not only an I roll. I think that it also angers us. But like Alana said, I think that, you know, the majority of the music that my sisters and I listen to is from females. I think maybe even all of it at this point.
Yeah, but yeah, we'll see this festival season, We'll see.
But I have hope. I have hope.
I think now that that I've taken that shown that positive example.
I had, Yes, it would be awesome.
Final question, Okay, this podcast is going to go out not long before Halloween. I know that you often celebrate Halloween, get dressed up, go out, have fun. What's the best Halloween costume you've ever had?
And what I feel like last year was really good because we had always we were the Sanderson sisters from hocus Pocus.
That a big movie here.
Yeah yeah, yeah.
I mean it's if it's like, go watch it. Everyone needs to watch Hocus posts Still it holds up. Yeah, Bette Midler is a legend. But we were the Sanderson Sisters last year, and I honestly like we take Halloween so seriously. But I think because we did the Sanderson Sisters last year, I feel like we don't have anything tough.
We set the bar so much.
We went to a couple of parties in a graveyard growing up, and that was I'm obsessed with scary movies and like.
I can't watch them.
Stuff like this slasher films. I'm wanting too, but like I don't know, like Poltergeist and like all the old school I still like Friday the Thirteenth and even though that's kind of gory, but I am the weirdo that like goes to see the scary movie at midnight on Thursday before it comes out by herself. Because also no one will go with me, you.
Guys not, No, they don't like scary movie.
Absolutely not.
My friends like they're like unless it's like a rom com, like, they're not gonna go see it with me. So I am again in the weirdo.
Like I live alone, Like I'm not gonna try and watch a horror movie and then go home and be like, well, there's no one to protect me.
Do you know what you're gonna do for Halloween this year?
I don't yet, but I'm kind of out for anything. I've been some very random stuff in the past.
Oh I've I look back on some of my Halloween costumes and I'm like, I must have thought I was so smart and cool, but they're the most cringe worthy costumes. One year in high school, I was like very I took this class called Art and Society, and we were studying artists, and I decided that I was going to be Picasso's Blue period And I covered myself in tampons and pads covered in blue.
Like dye because your hit Pacassa's Blue.
Piccassa's Blue.
Yeah, you're very punny on Halloween when you were when you were little.
I wasn't even little. I was like sixteen, and I thought I was being so smart and I just look back on photos and my friends were like, yeah, that was really dumb. I don't know why, Like no one said anything to you.
But what can you do?
Be people would have seen what you come up with this year.
I know, I'm very nervous. I don't know what it's going to be.
Oh, I have to figure it.
Out, honestly, Like Etsy is kind of like a miracle when it comes to Halloween costumes. Yeah, I mean because our like growing up, we will always just like make our own costumes, like okay, like there's one horrible I don't know what mom like thought to.
Like when you were a movie star.
I was like a quote unquote movie star and she just put me in one of her like silk slips. It was so weird. But it was cold that morning, so I had I was wearing like a turtleneck under it and like jeans and sneakers, but just also wore this long silk slip over it and just the night.
Yeah, it was so weird. I'm almost like.
Star, but no, it season's insane. Yeah, like you just type in whatever you want, people like handmake like amazing costumes. I don't know.
So if you want to be Harry Potter this.
Year, did have you ever seen the movie Rome and Michell's High School Reunion? Oh?
Yeah, no, what my god?
I think what Rome and Michelle's High School? And oh my gosh, No, you need to get that's that's your date tonight. You need to watch Romeia Michelle's. But there's to ninety's classic. But there's like a scene where they go to their high school reunion, which is in the title of the movie, and they wear these crazy dresses.
It's almost like clueless. I think it's the same costume designer.
So you can imagine just like these nineties short.
Dress but they're iconic dresses. But like there's no way you could go to a store and like buy one or to buy anything. But we on Etsy, someone makes someone them.
Is that that she has done? That you could?
Well, that's only two people.
It's really hard could because.
She's kind of the like other character.
It's really hard to get a costume for three people.
Two people easy.
Loads three people like a post it note of.
Of ideas, even fools easy because.
It's really hard. We have it's just so hard. But no, we'll figure it out.
Anyway.
Good night,