Come Play With Magazine #22

SPECIAL THANKS

in no particular order... Matilde, Elle, Ezra, Liv, Bella, Jenny, Beckah, Nisa, Liz, David, Delilah, Ian, Jacob, Eva, Emmeline, Sir Jude, Jordan, Hannah, Anthony, Neil, Jamie, all of the artists, industry representatives, other contributors and everyone else who took the time to tell their stories and helped make this happen.

WHAT'S INSIDE

SMALL PRINT

other

permission requests,

in

the

at andy@cpwm.co.

Hello and welcome to our 22nd issue.

Since we last spoke, the label announced our first ever signing! We’re excited to be working with local angular danceable no-wave foursome Pop Vulture on a series of singles and a limited-edition cassette tape spanning their work so far. ‘C.M.E.’, their first single with us, was released last month and is available to stream now.

You can pre-save their next track, ‘Lionel’s Big Problem’ and pre-order the (glittery green!) tape now before its release on 14/10/22. To be the first to grab your tape from us in person, join us at their (free!) instore at The Vinyl Whistle on the same day. Also joining the Come Play With Me tape revolution is Leeds’ favourite dreamy

indie-pop girl Mollie Coddled with her EP ‘I wanna go home’, which we’re releasing on limited edition signed pink tape at the end of the month! Available to pre-order from our Bandcamp now.

Our events team have been busy with Come Platform Me events, working with Bloom Sessions on ‘Freaky Friday’, a 2000s club night, and Collective Sessions on ‘Femme Fatale’, a night of jazz, soul and R&B. The last event of this round of CPM is coming up later this month, and it’s a big one – our collaboration with DRIP, a queer-ran, queercentric party with Shanti Celeste headlining is not one to be missed. Saturday 22nd October – save the date. We announced the next I Know A Place for

27/01/2023, our annual music conference and afterparty which aims to champion and celebrate women and people of marginalised genders in the music industry.

Come Play With Me also went global this month, with Eva and Matilde heading off to Hamburg for Reeperbahn Festival and Tony repping us in Lisbon at MIL. Lily and Sadie stayed slightly closer to home, popping over to Pontefract to check out Production Park.

This issue features interviews with the wonderful Ezra Furman and Baby Queen, 5 questions with Delilah Bon, our very own Pop Vulture’s kit recommendations and loads more. Enjoy!

Elle

WHO ARE YOU?

Emmeline! I’m a 22-year-old former English student from Yorkshire, now living in London and trying to forge my path in life as a musician. I’ve just moved cities, and am adjusting to this new job, and a new mode of being in the world. So I’m in a transition phase right now, but at my core, I am a lover of language, especially when that language is paired with music.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

I guess I’m a singer/songwriter and performance/recording artist? But I’m still figuring out how to describe what I do. I’m new to it – this has technically only been my job for a matter of months, so at the moment I’m super interested in how other people categorise what it is being in this industry entails. In simple terms, I write and perform my own lyrics, create melody and

EMMELINE

help shape a beat to my voice. I then begin to build a world around that sound..

WHY DO YOU DO IT?

I’ve always been fascinated by the relationship between speech and song, and the music I make really reflects that. It’s an outlet for me, and a mode of self-expression; writing lyrics helps me to make sense of the world, but also to complicate, refine and idealise it. I love expressing colour or theme or feeling through words, and trying to heighten those things with the addition of music. I do it out of play, comfort, or intrigue, but mainly because it provides me with a sense of fulfilment.

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?

A lot of change! In some ways I feel like the new kid at school –I’m constantly checking my pencil case to see if I have all the things I need with me, and looking around to see if I’m in the right place. It’s

been a total dream, having the opportunity to follow my own creative instincts and make music that is being put out into the world. I’m learning how best to do that, and basically trying to take in as much art as possible to inform that process. I feel extremely lucky to be able to do this.

WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC?

Speech! I think and hope we’ll see more of it in emerging music.

In the chaos of the day, speech really cuts through as a way for musicians to convey feeling with the nuance and inflections of their voice. I think the boundaries between poetry and song, between talk and melody are constantly shifting, and there is going to be a lot of really exciting experimentation going on between these disciplines.

Emmeline's debut EP Satellite Navigation System is out Oct 28th via 70Hz

EZRA FURMAN

A few minutes into my conversation with Ezra Furman, there’s a knock at my door. An ASOS package for a flatmate who’s gone to End of the Road, a festival that Ezra played at 2018, where they played a cover of ‘Tonight, Tonight,’ by The Smashing Pumpkins. When I’m back at the table, and on Zoom, Ezra is idly strumming a guitar, mumbling lyrics under her breath.

Ezra’s impulse towards performing covers feels imprinted onto the DNA of her latest album, All of us Flames, yet another formal departure for the singer. Where 2019’s Twelve Nudes was all punk fury - and, as Ezra puts it, an album that “lacked gentleness,” which she says it was “supposed to” lack - their 2022 album represents what they call doing “that thing where I wanna go the other way,” from one musical style to another. And at first glance, the style at the heart of Twelve Nudes is a kind of interrogation of the history of rock and roll - something established from the opening track, the folk song tinged ‘Train Comes Through.’ For Ezra, this is rooted in the desire to take “classic music, and just being like, ‘that’s mine now,’” what she calls a “redemption” from the history of straight-maleness of rock and roll, that it feels good to “just grab it for me.”

In grabbing and reclaiming these aspects and forms of music history, Ezra is also queering them; making it clear that one of the big draws towards songs that sound like pieces of rock history is to understand “how does it change it when it comes out of my mouth.” She tells me about covering Springsteen’s ‘The Promised Land,’ and what it means for her to sing Springsteen’s lines ‘I ain’t a boy/I’m a man/and I believe in the promised land’ as “a Jewish person who’s not a boy and not a man, it all hits different coming out

of my mouth.”

But even when it comes to covers, Ezra has one eye on what might be coming next, slyly mentioning a cover of ‘Dog Days Are Over’ that’s been on her list for a long time.

"SOMETIMES I REALLY RESENT

HOW EVERYTHING IS POLITICISED IN MY LIFE BECAUSE

I’M TRANS...

IT'S KIND OF ANNOYING HOW EVERYTHING’S ABOUT THAT."

The more time I spend talking to Ezra, the clearer it becomes that both All of us Flames, and her approach to music as an art form, is about looking to the future instead of the past. Although she refuses to think of herself as being a “utopian” thinker - and is sceptical about the nebulous idea of quote-unquote queer progress. She says utopia means “no place,” and that by definition is something that can’t exist; a theme that was mined on the Transangelic Exodus song ‘No Place.’ Instead, she wants to create - through albums, and gigs - a kind of queer space that offers some respite from the ways in which the outside world so often treats queer and trans people. She pushes back on the narrow ideas and assumptions that exist at

the intersection between her music and gender. She says “sometimes I really resent how everything is politicised in my life because I’m trans,” and that “it’s kind of annoying how everything’s about that.” They’re more than happy to talk about it - they think about it all the time; can’t not think about it. Although this leads to so much of their life becoming a confrontation because other people find themselves “confronted just by me… just by me. Being me,” stressing the importance of just needing a break sometimes - from the weight of both expectation and representation. She stresses the importance of queer people being able to “be in spaces that are queer,” and finds joy in the fact that one of their shows is a “more queer and trans dominated environment than any other place I hang out usually.”

Furman fiddles with the headphones plugged into her computer, the cable moving a little between her fingers. She lingers on the last words of questions, sometimes repeats them quietly, and there are pauses scattered throughout her longer answers; these pauses feel like a space for uncertainty - as if some of their thoughts are still being formed - a space that has become more familiar to them through the process of making All of Us Flames. She says that “this time I wasn’t trying to firmly control where we went musically.” And that as well as being in control, it was something that she worried about;

considering that throughout multiple takes she would still say “it’s gotta be different, it’s gotta be better,” but that throughout the process of making All of us Flames, there was a “process of letting go.” She tells me that this is something that album producer John Congleton was big on, through a very rock and roll ethos: “just let it sound cool.”

“being a community with something to teach the mainstream without being part of the mainstream,” and that “somebody could turn away from the way they’ve been and repent, and return” as being “thematically trans.”

This idea of leaving and returning runs through the uncertainty and nostalgia of ‘Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club,’ a song about seeing what might be a version of yourself, the messy mirror of transness in the line “part of me was swimming there in the water of your eyes.” Ezra lists these moments of propulsion and moving forward - in songs like ‘Train Comes Through,’ that “change happens in semidarkness” in ‘Throne,’ and those climactic lines in ‘Ally Sheedy’ about running away. But this moving forward exists in tension with the past; that “I don’t know where we’re going, but we’re going forward.”

the crises we’re staring down “aren’t going away,” and that the question has become how to “burn brightly in a dark time,” something that flickers beneath the surface of an album title like All of us Flames, along with the implication that after that, comes ashes. She insists that burning brightly specifically doesn’t mean burning out. That the future-facing nature of the album is about a bigger picture - both from the songwriting perspective of being about society, and that philosophical perspective of what she calls “building the world that my child or children will live in.”

For Ezra, each album is a self-contained world to live in, and that’s what animates her desire to “go the other way” whenever a new album comes out - from the heavy guitars and loud drums of Twelve Nudes to the dreamlike organs and keyboards of All of us Flames - and she calls change “the lifeblood of existence.”

The lifeblood, running through both the musician and their music, intersects between gender and religion. In talking about Judaism; how the faith and the Torah offer lessons on

In loosening the grip of her hand on the direction of an album; in being willing to say “I don’t know” in between answers to questions, this act of letting go feels like an embrace of uncertainty, a way of finding the possibility for change in those unknown spaces. She says “it’s a pretty punk thing to be a Jew… I dunno. It’s like, we’re in this fierce devotion to difference. To being different than you. It’s very helpful to me as a person, and as an artist.”

The uncertain futures Ezra explores on the album are informed by the fact that

She says that the album opens with “a vision of the future that’s pretty vague,” before zeroing in on the “gritty details of the people who are not doing so well.” Again, there’s a tension here - between progress and the people that it leaves behind; the past and the future grappling with each other once again - with the questions lingering, uncertain and sometimes unanswered. The liberation here, or at least the possibility of it, seems to come from this act of not knowing; of simply understanding that more than anything we’re moving forward. That the world can change, and that we might be the ones to change.

The new album All Of Us Flames is out now on Bella Union) and for details of her UK tour in November got to ezrafurman.com/live

"IT'S A PRETTY PUNK THING TO BE A JEW… I DUNNO. IT’S LIKE, WE’RE IN THIS FIERCE DEVOTION TO DIFFERENCE. TO BEING DIFFERENT THAN YOU. IT’S VERY HELPFUL TO ME AS A PERSON, AND AS AN ARTIST."

DIGGING DEEPER

SIR JUDE

SLOW FASHION...

I’m a songwriter, producer and artist from Melbourne, now living in London. My music embodies love, self-hood, heartbreak and hope, it's a cinematic discovery of raw emotion through sensuality and imagination.

Much in the way that music informs art, I was so intrigued by how fashion and silhouettes could also be artistic.

Along my ‘slow fashion discovery’, I became entirely obsessed with finding new designers that were on an inherent mission to make clothes meaningful and protest the game of fast fashion. It was serendipitous that the designers I became most drawn to, coincidentally had an artistic genesis in music.

Independent designers and musicians create a community within a culture that is forever deemed ‘emerging’, because its very existence symbolises pending prominence against the power of the mainstream.

I think it’s quite beautiful and poetic how creatives can communicate by means of

colour, sound, or silhouette and how they can say so much in what others see 2-dimensionally.

What is just fabric to one, is an expression of freedom and identity for the other.

I’m so fascinated by how what you wear can say so much about who you are, much like what you listen to can stand as an expression of your values and culture.

I created a little list of the designers I’ve come to know and love; Die Horny, Leroy & Eli, Be Right Back, Sschafer, Ka-He and L---H--M. These are just to name a few.

Fellow Naarm (Melbourne) local, Lauren Hart – McKinnon who is a dear friend and

"I THINK IT’S QUITE BEAUTIFUL AND POETIC HOW CREATIVES CAN COMMUNICATE BY MEANS OF COLOUR, SOUND, OR SILHOUETTE."

collaborator is also known for her work as the production manager at Future from Waste Lab, a circular fashion company in partnership with KITX that is dedicated to rewriting the model of fashion production and pave a new path in sustainability.

I asked her a few ‘speeddating’ questions to help spread the word and share the love of what it means to contribute to slower and more sustainable practices of fashion.

SJ: What is the future of fashion?

LHM: A change in consumer behaviour that values quality and ethics over convenience.

SJ: What do you love most about your job?

LHM: Engaging with people in meaningful ways, working with a passionate and

Words by Sir Jude

compassionate team, and creative problem solving! Being able to find the intersection of beautiful garments and regenerative practices.

SJ: Name one small thing everyone can do to lessen their fashion carbon footprint?

LHM: Learn the basics of garment care - how to wash, repair and rework what we already own to extend the life of our garments.

Below I’ve listed some places and spaces where you can source and discover more about sustainable practices.

• sthbnk.com/event/ futurefromwaste

• instagram.com/sckrco

• instagram.com/ error404store___

• instagram.com/die_horny

• instagram.com/tres_

bourgeois

• instagram.com/abch.world

• instagram.com/ circularsourcing

• instagram.com/sschafer_

• instagram.com/be___ right___back___

• instagram.com/ka_he_____

• instagram.com/lauren._hm

As for the music, I’m so happy to announce my next single ‘Preach’ is out now.

I was incredibly fortunate to collaborate with Maxim (The Prodigy). The song is a tonally cut-throat, ethereal and aggressive track with a message on self-love and independence.

ANTHONY LEE

WHO ARE YOU?

Hey I’m Anthony, a Music Marketing and Content specialist with a few hats. I’m originally from Yorkshire but now reside in London. Outside of music, I’m an Olympic Weightlifting, food exploring, LUFC fan; MOT!

WHAT ARE YOUR JOB TITLES?

By day I work as a Global Content Manager for BMG in their Production Music department, but I split my time managing Socials & Digital Communications with ESEA Music; a community of East and Southeast Asian music industry professionals and artists in the UK. I’m also a Board Member of a Manchester music organisation called Brighter Sound who look to create sustainable paths for artists and industry in the North.

WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?

At BMG I’m in a global marketing department working across 8 offices worldwide by supporting our sales teams with graphics, videos, animations, and decks to support them in supplying music for TV, games, film, radio and ads. I manage our socials, websites and email strategy to tell the stories of our clients (ITV, Netflix, Disney), and latest developments across our catalogue of labels and

Anthony

composers. ESEA Music launched online in June 2022 and I work with the core team to shape our Social and Digital communications strategy, highlighting our stories, music, and projects. It’s just been ESEA Heritage Month, and we ran a Foundation FM takeover with guest mixes and interviews hosted by our very own Oh Annie Oh, a members writing session with artists and producers Congee, Helen Ganya, Jianbo to name a few, presented ESEA Music to the UK Music, who represent the collective voice of the UK's commercial music industry and provided the first ever ESEA representatives to UK Music’s diversity taskforce roundtable as well as had our 6th meetup event at Spotify’s London office with over 120 people.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO IT?

Experimenting, failure, and getting back up again! Leeds didn’t have the infrastructure or number of companies there is now, so I grew up trying my hand at most things such as writing reviews, running press campaigns, organised gigs and club nights, and produced and presented a new music radio show picking up many skills out of necessity (not having the coins to pay others for photography, websites or marketing). An organisation called Creative

Access helped me bag my first role, and since then I’ve lived many lives working in Marketing and Digital Communications roles across music, theatre, film, and festivals. I’ve worked hard, and I’m always looking to learn, but shout out to the people who have been generous with their time and supported my endeavours.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHERS?

01 Send that email: whether it’s a job, asking for someone’s time, or putting yourself out there, go for it!

02 Look around you, not just the top: support and encourage those around you, music is a long slog and you’ll rise together.

03 Stand for something: music reveals your values and passions, don’t just go with the crowd, stick with what makes you, you and speak up for the causes and people you care about.

Industry professional in the UK of East or Southeast Asian heritage, come join ESEA Music eseamusic.co.uk and if you’re from the North, brightersound. com are there to help. If my story resonates or you just want to talk about music, food, or LUFC feel free to come and chat on Linkedin or @antlee8 on Instagram!

QUESTIONS

DELILAH BON

WHO ARE YOU?

Hey everyone, I'm Delilah Bon, a weird little pink haired alien living and creating music in south Yorkshire. I empower young women and anger incels on the internet.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

I currently write, produce and perform feminist punk influenced hip hop lyrically addressing issues us girls, non-binary and LGBTQ+ people deal with day to day. I write songs about creeps in clubs, catcalling, feeling like a boss bitch, abortion rights, rape culture and how it feels

to be a woman navigating the world. I've had many projects and most people know me as the singer of Hands Off Gretel, though funnily they say I remind them of her before I tell them I am in fact HER. Haha!

My music is empowering for people who need that angry voice to just say how they're feeling. I had a girl message me from Iran thanking me for being her voice, she told me in her country women weren't allowed to perform music, that only men could, and women would be punished

for singing in public. My inbox is constantly full of young women all around the world thanking me for my words, expressing to me how trapped they are in situations of abuse and oppression. It's a lot for me to take on sometimes, and it's like my eyes are open now to just how horrific the world is, but for me having the power to help someone in those situations with my music is like the greatest superpower.

WHY DO YOU DO IT?

Playing shows in my band Hands Off Gretel I noticed

the lack of women in my crowds. I always wrote my music for young women; I even started my band at 17 because I loved Riot Grrrl and discovered feminism. I played for years to crowds that would shout 'get on with it' whenever I tried to talk about women’s safety, I've been kissed and groped and even had to fight a guy off me once when he tried to pull me over the barrier onto him.

"I FACED A BACKLASH ONLINE, HUNDREDS OF COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE SAYING IT WAS MY FAULT, SAYING I WAS ASKING FOR IT BECAUSE OF THE CLOTHES I WORE ON STAGE."

I never felt safe, never felt like I belonged at my own shows, always felt on edge thinking some drunk dude was going to grab me or one of the young girls in front of me. When lockdown happened I really didn't want to return to the live shows. For me, so much needed to change for me to enjoy it again. When I spoke out about how men made me feel at my own gigs I faced a backlash online, hundreds of comments from people saying it was my fault, saying I was asking for it because of the clothes I wore on stage. Girls messaged me privately to thank me for speaking out, they told me they'd been groped at shows, had their drinks spiked, been made

by Delilah Bon

to feel unsafe at every show they'd attended. Then a girl told me she was groped at my show. It felt like the walls could cave in and crush me there, I was utterly broken. I do what I do because things must change. If it wasn't for becoming Delilah Bon and creating songs about my experiences, creating safe spaces and prioritising the girls, non-binary and LGBTQ+ people I would have walked away from it all. If the live scene isn't made for girls like me, I'll make my own scene

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?

I'm currently preparing myself for my first ever UK tour. I'm so excited! I've been designing so much merch, designing backdrops and art for my DJ booth, buying props and planning outfits to make it everything I've dreamed of. My latest single about abortion rights and victims killing their rapists in selfdefence, 'Dead Men Don't Rape', blew up on TikTok and hit 100K streams on Spotify in a month. I've got a few more rehearsals booked in with my live band (Ruena on bass and Goldenaxe AKA Tasmin Taylor on decks) then it's time to have the time of my life with my best friends on tour. Meeting the fans is my favourite part, getting to hug them and share stories that I'll tell my grandchildren when I'm an old lady.

WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC?

I'll be honest, I'm not sure what the hot topic is, I sort of live in my own

little bubble most of the time. But I'll tell you what the hot topic should be. The hot topic should be women’s safety at shows. I wish more bands spoke out about it, especially male bands. They need to call out men that grope girls, creepy men that ask for photos then go in to kiss the female band members, men that belittle us and ruin it for everybody. Whenever I speak about it, men say, well, women do that to guys in bands too. THEN CALL IT OUT. We need to be making these spaces safer and encourage the next generation of women in bands. People ask me why there aren't more women in metal and alternative music? The next generation of women in music are in our crowds getting pushed to the back, getting assaulted, being left to feel like they don't belong. I want girls to come to my shows and leave feeling SEEN, feeling inspired to make music and art of their own. I want them to remember it for the rest of their lives and change the fucking world.

Thanks so much for the interview. Catch me on tour which starting in the 15th September across the UK and go blast my latest single 'Dead Men Don't Rape' at ridiculously high volumes to see who you can piss off! Haha! Much love.

Photography by Helen Tate

BABY QUEEN

There’s a cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift by the wall of the studio where Baby Queen is recording her album. This version of Taylor seems almost like a good luck charm; a reminder of what led the singer/ songwriter - who talks to me over a patchy Zoom call in the wake of a tour - here in the first place.

Sam Moore

Benge

She describes her discovery of Taylor Swift as if it were the birth of something, of a thing that might go on to be Baby Queen. In this first encounter with Swift and her music, Baby Queen saw “what [she] wanted for the very first time,” going on to describe this formative experience as being “like seeing myself,” saying that “when I discovered Taylor, I was very much like Taylor.” So the cutout becomes an echo of that first feeling, the one that seemed like a push away from initial artistic aspirations - wanting to be a poettowards music: a tap on the shoulder, as if this is something that a person could do. Something that they could allow themselves to be.

Baby Queen describes Swift’s music - and the way she presents herself, both on stage and offas a kind of teacher. Not just when it comes to songwriting - although this is something that she places great importance on - but also the idea of being able to reinvent yourself; in terms of both a public persona, and the music associated with it. For Baby Queen, this is something that’s vital to not only her own work, but also any act with real longevity across music history. She adds that The Beatles “reinvented themselves 100,” and that “without reinvention, you can’t show that you’re musically and creatively diverse.”

At the centre of this is Baby Queen herself, the singer’s own invention; a persona, something that she insists exists at a distance from her real self, the version that walks off-stage after the final song has been played. This even loops back to her own artistic ground zero, as she adds, “even if I was Taylor Swift, I’d refer to Taylor Swift in the thirdperson.” This is something that she does throughout our conversation, referring to Baby Queen in the third person - as a thing that she respects as separate to herself, as “something that [she’s] doing rather than something that [she] is.” And Baby Queen, the idea, the persona, was always informed by the music.

heart of everything; she says that writing lyrics for a song is “like writing an essay,” and that she’s gotten increasingly intense about the meaning of lyrics, trying to avoid any line being a throwaway line. She adds, laughing, that the idea of simply throwing together rhyming words and a nice melody “grinds my tits.”

But there’s one exception to this deeply thoughtout writing process, and that’s ‘Raw Thoughts.’ The second track from 2021’s The Yearbook was, according to its writer, “word vomit,” and while there can be beauty in this kind of hyper-generative process, its very rare.

Instead, she reveals that what it felt like was some kind of gift, being told “you can have that one for free.” Maybe by that same hand that touched her shoulder after first discovering Taylor Swift, a way of saying this is what you’re meant to be doing.

She tells me that the music came first. Baby Queen has, in her own words, an aversion to minor chords: “I hate [them], they make me feel sick.” But that finding a contrast between heavy, or darkly comical lyrics, with a more upbeat kind of music was one of the driving forces for her early songs. And that the lyrics were - and are now, deep in the weeds of the new album - at the

That journey, about what to do and how to do it, hasn’t always been an easy one. I ask if the stage name, Baby Queen, is something that was always designed to be explicitly queer. I’ve always associated a term like Baby Queen with other offshoots under the queer umbrella, with baby gay as maybe the most wellknown: the idea that you can somehow tell that a person hasn’t been out of the closet for long based on the way that they act, the things that they use to

"EVEN IF I WAS TAYLOR SWIFT, I’D REFER TO TAYLOR SWIFT IN THE THIRD PERSON."

define themselves; or their aesthetic.

For Baby Queen, as much as queerness became something she kept returning to, that wasn’t in her mind she was naming this persona. There were a lot of names that got thrown around; one of them was Pop Queen, but “if you put Pop Queen into Google, then Madonna’s just gonna show up.” Although this doesn’t come up at the time, it is interesting how much Madonna’s career is also defined by these constant acts of reinvention. But for Baby Queen, the relationship between the persona, the person, the music, and queerness, was never about reinventing anything, but instead about honesty and permission. Finding space to not only allow this to exist in the music, but in her life beyond it as well. When talking about the way that both she and her music relate to these ideas of queerness, Baby Queen reveals that it was something she was “repressing;” that it was a part of herself that she hadn’t faced up to. The bisexual bop ‘Want Me’ was inspired by Jodie Comer and her role as Villanelle in Killing Eve. This song seems to be a microcosm of what she describes as the process “of being honest,” as if the music and the persona offer that space for self-exploration and understanding. In a way, it feels like all roads are leading back to Taylor

Swift and that first moment of understanding that music was something that a person could do; and that now its that music which creates the space to give permission to be honest with yourself. She says that in order to do Baby Queen justice, she needed to get closer to her truth, a truth that seems to have been at odds with the things that she saw growing up. Describing her time growing up in South Africa, she says that queerness is almost absent, and that when it was seen, it was in “a negative way,” leading to this idea of it being a repressed part of her, something that she hadn’t faced up to.

"THIS IS WHO I AM NOW, WHETHER ITS BAD OR GOOD."

lot of the things that have been animating the new album are “important issues,” and the things she cares about the most. Caring about these topics is at the core of her songwriting process: “For me, I’ve gotta really respond to a topic to dive into it and spend hours fleshing it out lyrically,” and while she remains tight-lipped about the details of the forthcoming album, she mentions that there are likely to be some things about “young people and our relationship to the internet.” Although the thing that’s most striking about the material that we tiptoe around is the new tone that she hints at; something that might not be a complete reinvention of Baby Queen, but instead an evolution of that persona, changing alongside the person that created her.

But even if the music has created a space for exploring and understanding her own identity, it isn’t necessarily something that’ll feature heavily on the new album. Laughing with a slight lag thanks to an inconsistent Zoom connection - ironic given her record deal was signed through an online meeting in the midst of the pandemic - she reveals “I haven’t been in love for a really long time; I wish I was!” When it comes to her process, she says that a

She says that for the new songs, there will be less of the self-deprecation that seemed to definewith its contrast of major chords and darkly comic lyrics - The Yearbook. She declares “this is who I am now, whether it's bad or good.”

The new single LAZY is out now and to keep an eye on www.babyqueen.world for live dates coming soon.

WHY IT TOOK 15 YEARS TO GET TO WORK ON MY DEBUT ALBUM...

I’m Liz Cass and I'm an alternative-pop singersongwriter and DJ based in London.

I guess I took a long, scenic route to get to where I'm at now. I actually wrote my first song as a teenager with the now frighteningly successful producer Fraser T Smith (Adele, Stormzy etc!). I wish I'd grasped how lucky I was to be in a studio with someone like that. But I was really lacking in confidence back then and didn’t feel I had anything to write about. Once, I even found myself in Seymour Stein’s office at Warner Music in New York singing a capella for him and being asked what kind of music I wanted to do and what kind of artist I saw myself as. I hadn’t a clue! I blew quite a few opportunities back then.

One thing I did feel confident about was performing. I’d grown up listening to a lot of

by Liz Cass

DIGGING DEEPER

LIZ CASS

old-school music and jazz. I woke up one day and decided I’d give the aspiring songwriter in me a rest and be a jazz singer instead, singing other people’s songs. I ended up gigging around London and abroad until my late 20s. It was a really amazing few years playing with incredible jazz bands and turning up to gigs with musicians I’d never met before and just getting up and improvising.

Things completely changed for me when I had children in my late 20s. It was harder to get gigs and juggle anti-social hours. I just lost my confidence and had a break from the whole scene for a number of years. Looking back now I think I had a bit of an identity crisis. I faced a few difficulties in my personal life and the breakdown of my relationship and it took a while to get strong and on my feet again. Something shifted in my early thirties. I missed the music too much and decided it was time to pick it back up as a hobby. I had no expectations. What I did have though, finally, was

a ton of stuff to write about after a few years of emotional upheaval!

I met Ed Graves on a dating app and he happened to be a music producer with an amazing studio near Bath. I went down there a few weeks later to try writing a song together. We weren’t remotely interested in each other romantically, but my god did we hit it off musically. I became addicted to our studio sessions and drove down from London whenever I had the chance. He helped me find my sound and my voice. Something I'd always found impossible suddenly felt natural and easy. Three years later and we’ve written an entire album together being released on a major label. It’s completely mad. 15 years later and I'm back on this journey chasing a pipe dream. I hope I don’t blow it this time.

My debut album ‘The Words’ is out on the 11th of November and it’s been a long time coming…

THE KIT LIST

POP VULTURE

INTRODUCTION

Hi I’m Jacob, a guitarist and producer in Pop Vulture. We formed just before the lockdown which led to a few of our first ever gigs being performed to sit-down audiences (strange). Originally a 3 piece, we quickly understood that the sound we were trying to achieve was simply not possible with only 6 arms, and so we brought in our great friend Ben Udin (2 arms) to help us discover our love of percussion. Our sound is groovy without the funk and heavy without the punch. We like to

dip our toes into what many call Post-Punk, but we feel that our live performance also pulls in various influences such as krautrock, musical theatre and ballet.

typically dial in a fast delay time, with the intensity pot turned to zero so there is just one repeat, and use it as a subtle slapback effect. But the fun really comes in when you push up the intensity as it will start to feedback and overload itself! This can create some awesome sounding swells, and for a pedal that is only £20, it’s a must have for me!.

SHURE SM57

BEHRINGER VINTAGE DELAY

This guitar pedal has absolutely become part of my sound. I

As a band, everything that we have released we have recorded ourselves and, unfortunately, we don’t have the money to buy all the best microphones in the

world. So, when picking them to buy, we make sure that they are multi use microphones. Our absolute favourite and most versatile has been the SM57, a staple piece of equipment for any band and studio. We’ve used this microphone to record guitars, vocals, snares and percussion on all of our songs.

agogo bells live on a percussion tree alongside a timbale and a vibraslap, and a jam block is squeezed into Luc’s kit.

sounds so great combining different styles. We also used it for a varispeed experiment where we recorded a song onto one track of the tape and then overdubbed a timbale performance from Luc on the other as we slowed, sped up and stopped the tape. This results in a pitch shifting effect which you can hear on ‘A Discussion of Tolerance’ on the Pop Vulture tape.

AKAI 4000DS

AGOGO BELLS

This percussive instrument has become a huge part of our live set up. The 2 pitches it produces really help to break up the percussion phrases that we enjoy playing and add a bit of harmony to the back beat. The

We didn’t have enough preamps in our interface to include a few drum microphone positioning that we wanted to, so we borrowed the 2 pres in the Akai tape machine. We smashed a crush mic through one pre, and put a room mic through the other and this really helped us get a drum sound we loved. All microphone pres have such different colours and characteristics and it always

Pop Vulture’s first single on CPWM, ‘C.M.E.’ is out now. Their self-titled tape will be released on October 14th and is now available to pre-order on Bandcamp.

Words by Pop Vulture Photography by Ewan Barr

BRADFORD, ENGLAND WITH THE HANNAH HU

INTRODUCTION

These boot’s are made for walkin’ - around Bradford, West Yorkshire and surrounding areas.

the new capital of culture, it has a sense of widespread community and togetherness which has influenced my artistry and life as a whole.

FRIENDS OF THE NORTH

always treasure that.

WHERE I WAS BORN

I was born and raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire. My hometown is where I first began songwriting and finding my voice. Bradford is a diverse, unique city, now

Earlier this year I was invited to record a feature on my friend Adrian Flanagan’s solo album in Sheffield. We were joined by Richard Hawley who plays lap steel guitar and also sings on the track. We recorded the song at Dean Honers studio (bowling on the green) and spent the rest of the evening drinking Guinness in one of Richards favourite pubs Fagan's. We had a lovely day joined with friends Wet Man, Dimitri and my mum! I’ll

OUT WALKING

Bradford is surrounded by scenic landscapes and countryside. Going out on walks always inspires my thoughts and songwriting. It allows my mind to dream. I love going out walking on the moors, feeling the wind in my hair and spending some time in nature.

WHERE DO I LIKE TO SHOP

When I’m back in Bradford which is every few weeks as I’m very family oriented (I am now currently based in North London since my move in 2015 to study at Goldsmiths College) I love going shopping with my mum. Here are a few places in Bradford and surrounding areas I recommend going for vintage goods, music & things that sparkle.

shops. Hebden Bridge is fantastic for shopping and browsing through antique centres. The first thing I do when I go to Hebden Bridge is check out a family friends shop (Sam) called Hotcakes. Hotcakes has an incredible selection of vintage goods, clothing and accessories. instagram.com/hotcakes. hebden.bridge

felt walking through sparkling fabrics and colours. I tend to come here for jewellery and accessories - The earrings on the cover of my latest release were from Bombay Stores. www.bombaystores.co.uk

For more information on Hannah go to hannahhu.com

Supporting Acid Klaus, The Lexington, London - 21st November 2022

Headline show at LBT Showrooms, Coventry - 3rd December 2022

Hotcakes

I shop for the majority of my clothes in vintage and charity

Words by Hannah Hu

Bombay Stores

I’ve always loved how magical and beautiful Bombay Stores

Main photograph by Maria Papachristodoulo

AWAY FROM THE NOISE

BECKAH AMANI

UPCYCLING FASHION...

I find spending time away from music and songwriting incredibly rewarding. Focusing my attention on my hobbies, and passions and slowing down at my family's farm, allows me to come back to music and songwriting refreshed and inspired. I come back with a clear mind and a world of stories and experiences to draw from. Some of my favourite hobbies are hiking, road tripping, sewing and crocheting, watching movies and jamming with my family.

I am also incredibly passionate about ethical and sustainable fashion. To do my part in caring for our planet and future, I spend a lot of my time away from music upcycling. Given that fashion plays a focal role

in my music career (like most artists), I found upcycling as an easy and practical way for me to participate in combating the climate change crisis. Upcycling in fashion is creating new looks out of old clothes instead of throwing them out or re-purposing used clothes as fabric that can be used to make new clothes. Responding to the fast fashion issue and its contribution to the climate change crisis, upcycling is a resource saving practice that lowers the demand for the production of new clothes which decreases textile waste, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the number of clothes that end up in landfills.

My mum taught me basic hand sewing skills as a kid, so I’ve grown up altering clothes and extending

their life span. I however didn’t get into upcycling properly until my final two years of high school. After looking into the fast fashion issue, I learned that upcycling was an impactful way to get involved and something that I had access to do. I find upcycling so fun and mum from time to time helps! I really hope more artists start to source sustainably and ethically when it comes to fashion and that they upcycle where they have the resources to.

I have just released a new single called “Waiting On You”! Waiting On You is an Afro leaning track about waiting on someone to notice and care about you as much as you care about them. It features on my debut EP APRIL out October 21st.

NEIL KENNEDY

Fagan), university lecturer (I teach music production at Solent Uni on a fractional contract), songwriter (Largely co-write or song doctoring), mixer, and general sound engineer.

production is more likely to involve pre-production (making sure the songs ‘work’ as effectively and efficiently a needed), engineering the tracks (working on tone and performance) and then mixing (translating the bands vision and imparting what ever it is they feel I can bring to the project).

WHO ARE YOU?

I’m Neil Kennedy, I’m a producer and studio owner from Southampton, UK. I started The Ranch production house (with pop impresario Geoff Swan) back in 2008 and have been running it ever since.

WHAT ARE YOUR JOB TITLES?

Well I certainly consider myself a producer first and foremost, but other titles I juggle include the aforementioned studio owner (although day to day is handled by our excellent engineer Kurt

WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?

Well the producer role is varied and can be as intense as full involvement with song writing, arrangement, instrumentation, performance mixing and mastering or as simple as making sure everyone is confident and hitting ‘record’. The ‘average’

Running the studio can be as mundane as paying bills, keeping it clean, and trying to get the landlord to fix leaks when it rains! It gets more exciting when there a chance to enhance with new gear or re-jig the rooms—it’s definitely a labour of love and not one you go into to make your millions!

One of the real highlights is the camaraderie that comes from working on a project with people. At the time the bonds can feel like ride or die, friends for life kind of thing, and although they

may dilute when you’re not in the metaphorical trenches with them, they do often become lasting friendships.

I feel like I didn’t take the route of least resistance to my career so there’s lots I could say about that, but I want to acknowledge the importance that trying to be a good egg has made to my journey. Where possible I always try and go as far as I can for clients, as I feel that can make an impact on artists that they will remember. Many of my steps up the ladder came from building good relationships, trust, and understanding with artists and, as a result, as they ascended, often so did I.

main drive is still just to make the best records I can and trust that I’ll get to make more off the back of them. At times it really can feel like you’re in a rut (I know this is common to many of my peers) but staying focused on that and hustling as required should keep you pointing in the right direction. Good luck!

HOW DID YOU GET INTO IT?

I was in a band: hated the touring part but loved the studio bit. As a kid I had a 4-track and made my own crappy demos on cassette and then made drum and bass on my dad’s PC when he was at work. It all kind of came together when I came across a space that was looking to incorporate a studio, so I sold my car, bought some gear and started my first studio!

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHERS?

Words by Neil Kennedy

The net result of this approach is that as so many are struggling at the moment I decided to offer a ‘Pay What You Can’ deal at the studio in the hope that we can help make some great music that may otherwise remain unheard of due to the financial situation many musicians find themselves in at the moment.

The recording industry is very stratified and it's hard to maintain an upwards trajectory, but my

My studio can be found here: www.ranchproductions.co.uk and my personal website is www. neildkennedy.com

Drop me a line, I’m always happy to chat!