Photo Credit: Kelsi Luck
A few hours before they headlined The Quarry tent at the Y Not Festival, we caught up with Heather Baron-Gracie, Charlie Wood and Ciara Doran of Pale Waves to discuss all things past and present with the band.
Can we start with introductions. When did you first realise that music was something you wanted to do in your life?
Charlie: When I was at school my best mates made a band and I wanted to be in it so bad. I went home and said to my mum “I want to be a rock star”!
What bands influence your music?
Heather: Cocteau Twins, The Cure, Kings of Leon.
C: I was always Arctic Monkeys.
Your last album Smitten was one that we really enjoyed reviewing. Was there a shift in music direction for that release? It seems more musically heavy.
H: It changed after Unwanted, I had a bit of a wild moment there. But for some of those songs I actually had the best time playing live. I feel like we went back to more of our original sound with Smitten and what we are doing now is more Pale Waves, but maybe a bit more of a 1980’s feel.
You’re now on your fourth album. Can we expect to hear any new music tonight and any signs of future music releases?
H: No new music tonight, but we are halfway through writing album number five so that’s exciting.
My home city is Glasgow and we all know about the song Glasgow you wrote. What’s the background to the track?
H: It’s about a love that just went wrong, a love that got away.
What are your favourite songs to play live?
H: Glasgow is one of our favourites to play live and especially in Glasgow!
C: I always get goosebumps when I play in Glasgow.
Ch: Every show we play in Glasgow has been outstanding.
H: I also love playing the cover of Zombie which we will be playing tonight. I think that people will be pissed off if we don’t play it.
We see that you have a short tour coming up and your not playing my home city of Glasgow this time! What is your favourite city to play in the UK? I’m expecting you to say Manchester!
H: Love playing Tokyo but then it would have to be Glasgow (and Manchester obviously).
What bands have you most enjoyed supporting?
Ciara: We are just off supporting Louis Tomlinson, that was a really fun tour and they were all so really incredible people.
H: Also touring with The 1975 was great fun. We toured with The Cure, but had to leave quickly after the show to travel to the next one so didn’t get a chance to hang out with the band.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to chat to Bring The Noise UK.
Interview by: Alan Brown
