In Conversation With #121 - Pales Waves
Heather Baron-Gracie from Pale Waves dives into the making of their new album ‘Who Am I?’.
The album focuses on the importance of accepting yourself and the liberation found in letting go of your fears. We discuss strong female icons as well as the difficulties the band faced trying to finish the new album during these difficult times, a love of country music and dreaming of sunny festival fields.
Can you tell me a bit about the recording of the album and the producer you worked with?
A guy called Rich Costi who’s studio was in LA recorded the album, he’s lived there for years. Just as we were finishing recording he moved halfway across America to Vermont, just to get away from how bad the Pandemic has been there. So we were trying to finish the record and get the mixes while his studio was in a lorry half way across America. It was such a process trying to finish this record.
Did you have to do some of the recording remotely?
No, so it started with the whole band in LA and we tracked about five songs, then we took a break to tour in Europe with Halsey. And when we came back as a full band that’s when the pandemic really escalated, and we realised how horrible it was going to be. So when lockdown went into place half the band flew home so they didn’t get stuck in America without family and friends. The majority of finishing it was just me and the producer Rich with like gloves and facemasks on. It was such an experience, but I was so determined to get it finished.
With the songs on the album, were there ideas you had already in the armoury or was it all new ideas?
Yeh it was all brand-new ideas, it all got written within a few months. It wasn’t dragged over a period of time. It all came together in a few months, lots of fresh new material.
Was there any pressure with writing album two?
I actually enjoy the writing process so much more than anything else in this career. I do enjoy touring but there are a lot of downsides to it. Touring can be so mentally and physically draining, constantly being away from home and being on a bus with like 13 people, it isn’t ideal. But writing comes so naturally to me, I enjoy that most out of it all. I don’t really feel any pressure. People try to put high expectations on artists for the second record and there’s a pressure to develop and change but, I just wrote music that I wanted to write and I didn’t let those expectations or people’s attitudes of the second record effect what I wanted to write. That’s the whole point of music, that’s why people make music they just love it.
Do you have hopes or plans to tour the album?
We have a blocked out window for tours of UK, USA and Asia but it all keeps being pushed back, like everything else. I think live music is probably going to be one of the last things to recover and restart. So yes, we do have a window a blocked out but I’m sure that will get moved in a few months. I think realistically it will be next year. And when we do it I want it to be safe for everyone.
Have you discovered any new music recently?
I discovered a new country artists a few weeks ago and I’ve just been streaming his album. His name is Morgan Wallen, the albums called dangerous and I think it just came. It’s typical Tennessee Country singer-songwriter. I just love country and I love this album it’s so great. I feel like country writing is the most authentic and realist music you’ll ever capture. Country artists don’t do music for the wrong reasons, how I think a lot of pop starts do. Some do it for fame and money or validation. Whereas I think country artists just do it because they fucking love music.
If you could put together a super group of your musical heroes who would it be?
I think I would make a girl band. It would be Courtney Love, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain. Maybe Sheryl Crow. Oh and Ashlee Simpson. Lots of unapologetic powerful women. Although, I feel like they wouldn’t get along very well, they all deserve centre stage.
Do you have a favourite UK festival to play at or go to?
I really enjoy reading and Leeds. It’s so iconic. I normally enjoy reading the most. Not because it’s better than Leeds, but it’s always better weather. But I always have such great memories of both. Hopefully next year we can play it again. Glastonbury was amazing. It was a really a milestone for us playing that. You know you’ve made it in some sense being able to play Glastonbury.
Your single ‘Easy’ was Annie Mac’s Hottest record in the world. Does that still feel like a ‘pinch me’ sort of moment?
Yeh it does. Inevitably anything you experience for the first time will be the hardest hitting moment. It’s easy for people, in general, not just musicians, when you get something a few times it becomes taken for granted. But I feel for us, as a band, were constantly very humble and thankful for every experience and opportunity we get. I always try to remind myself how unreal it is, being able to be a musician with music being my full-time job. So yeh definitely a pinch me moment and we’re just so grateful people are listening to our music.
Are there any mumbles of album three?
There actually is. We’ve been talking about it and with not being able to tour with the pandemic we’re like, what else can we do. I mean I would love a holiday. Go stay in a cabin and do some yoga and read. That would be Ideal. Write on my acoustic guitar. But who knows by the end of this year we may even have a third album out which would be craaazy. But it seems like the right thing to do it when we’ve got nothing else to do. We’ve got the time to write songs so why not. It’s so important to find positivity in everything we can, there’s too much negativity these days.
Feature by Tamara Grzegorzek