Our Girl Our Girl are enchanting everyone with their heavy yet
Yes, it is!! And they’re always about someone which is a
ethereal guitar tunes that take queues from both nineties
scary part of it. It’s funny when you hear a song by someone
grunge and catchy modern indie. They’ve just released
you don’t know and it’s about something personal, to think
their impressive debut, ‘Stranger Today’, produced by
about who they may have written it about. But if you’re the
The Coral’s Bill Ryder Jones, which is as impactful and
person who’s being written about or the artist who’s written
as glorious as the band’s live sound. We had a chat with
the song, it’s a pretty intense thing... I don’t feel scared
singer, guitarist and songwriter Soph Nathan, as she took
about it anymore though. A lot of these songs I’ve been
some much needed time off with her family in the South of
playing for a while and I guess I stopped thinking about it
France.
in that way. They still mean things to me, but I just see them as songs now. When a song is fresh and new it’s more nerve
With Our Girl being a Brighton based band, I’m
wracking in that way, but when you’ve been playing it for
interested to know, what led you to move to Brighton in
a while, it just becomes what it is, and you start thinking
the first place?
about it from a musical point of view - how you can make it more impactful or sound a certain way, which adds more to
Well I was actually studying music there. I mean, the music
the sentimental side of it and gives it another level.
scene is amazing but I had no idea how great it was until I was there and part of it, I just moved there because I liked
With the recording of the album, did you arrive with
the town. The best part about studying there was the people
ideas of how you wanted it to sound? Or did you go with
that I met from all different unis. I made so many friends
the flow? It was produced by Bill Ryder Jones of The
that play music! I lived with a lot of bands like The Magic
Coral which must have been very exciting!
Gang and Abattoir Blues. We had this basement downstairs that we called the Dungeon - because it was really gross
He’s so great, he’s amazing at guitar! We went into the
- that everyone would practice in, so even if you were
recording, thinking “okay, we’ve been playing these songs
chilling in the living room you would just constantly hear
for a few years now, we know what we want.” We basically
music as there was always someone playing downstairs.
wanted to be how we are live but sound bigger and be able to experiment with more sounds and more percussion and
That must have been so inspiring! All that creative
extra guitar lines - because that’s stuff we can’t do live but
energy must have spurred you on to write more and
we could do in the studio, stuff that we heard in our heads
more songs…
that we couldn’t do live. But it felt pretty straight forward really. Bill added a lot in terms of ideas, guitar lines and
Definitely! It made me feel confident, because everyone
drones, that I actually think transformed the songs and made
around me was making music and encouraging me to do the
them a lot better. Bill was perfect for us. It was such an
same. So yeah, I might have done it anyway, but I would
intense experience though!. Since it was a residential studio
have been more shy about it.
we were there 24/7. We’d go till one or two in the morning and start at like nine. I felt very wired and drained - but in
Your songwriting is so personal. Is it ever frightening
a good way! It was like this is our chance and I want to put
to put your personal thoughts and feelings out there for
everything into it. I think it suited the album to get lost in it.
everyone to hear?
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Words by Eleanor Elly Watson, Philpott, illustration illustration by Josh by Taylor Whettingsteel Benson
