Out of the Darkness

After gathering a following similar to a secret society, Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty are set to reach a wider audience. Collectively known aS CHVRCHES, they lay down the bones to mark the solemn ground where music can make a new beginning.

It’s a late morning in London as Lauren Mayberry (lead vocals, synthesizers, samplers) waits for her flight to Barcelona for the Primavera Sound Festival along with bandmates Iain Cook (synthesizers, bass, guitar) and Martin Doherty (synthesizers,samplers, vocals.) Lauren’s voice is calm and clear as she tells me that Spain will just be a two-day gig before their tour in the United States. The band has been in a whirlwind since the release of their first song, “Lies,” in 2012. In just three years, they have opened for Passion Pit and Depeche Mode, came in fifth in BBC’s Sound of 2013 list, and released their full-length effort, The Bones of What You Believe. In between all of these, they have been drawing crowds in every stage they have visited, whether it’s in Australia or in Texas at SXSW. “You never really know what the audience is like. But it’s amazing,” says Lauren. “The reception is overwhelming because it’s one thing to see it online, but to see it live is different. We’re really grateful for it,” she adds.

“We need more music that's genuine and real, not manufactured and overmarketed.”

If there was a secret formula to how Chvrches reached these spires of success, Lauren herself cannot explain it. She does attribute it to the organic and sincere songwriting process. “We didn’t want songs that are too sickly sweet and heavy. And at the same time, we didn’t sit around and think about what we were going to do. We didn’t really write for a specific audience. We were making things as went along. It was all instinctively done.” This instinct was sharpened, no doubt, in the years Lauren, Iain, and Martin spent playing for different local Scottish acts. Lauren was a vocalist for Boyfriend/Girlfriend and Blue Sky Archives, Iain was a composer for commercial projects and played for Aereogramme, and Martin went from one band to another, most notable of which is post-britpop outfit, The Twilight Sad.

Chvrches, however, was the remedy to the aching need to make music during the lull Lauren, Iain, and Martin were in. “It was all a matter of timing,” Lauren says. “All three of us weren’t busy with any new projects within our respective bands, but all of us wanted to make music.” As soon as they hit their stride, instinct demanded dedication, “We all had day jobs, but then we took a leap of faith when we realized we didn’t have time to do all the things required to make our music,” she recounts.

Lauren also explains how there was indeed a marked difference between her experience with Chvrches as compared to her other bands.

“I have been writing songs for the bands I was previously in, but for this one, it’s all democratic.” The fact that their songwriting process is purely a collaborative effort among all three of them is of utmost importance even in the way they are presented in the press. “I had worked in media before and I know how it is. There was a possibility that we were going to be profiled separately because I am a girl,” says Lauren. “We want to be specifically about the music and the equal amount of work we put into it.”

Chvrches’ image and creative process have clearly paid off as each track found in The Bones of What You Believe is utterly mesmerizing. Lauren, Iain, and Martin set up a series of hooks that slowly lure you into the constant battle between bright melodies and stories of brutal betrayal. Take for example “Gun,” a revenge anthem that begins with high-pitched notes and scatter out like bouncing lights. “We start with synthesizers since it is almost all we have,” Lauren shares. Her ethereal vocals then flow through thickly synthesized bass lines. This carries you into the song even if she warns at the beginning: “You had better run from me.” As the beat picks up and just before you are about to dance, lines such as “Who are you to tell me how/ To keep myself afloat/ I tread the water all the while/ You stuck in the knife/ That you held at my back,” complete the duplicitous nature of Chvrches’ music. Indeed this performs quite a dramatic irony as the audience is deceived by the song. In this sense, the ironies which Chvrches deliver are all the more painful. They force you to engage with their tales of sadness, decay, and deception if and only because of such ear-friendly rhythms and catchy chorus lines. “By The Throat” is also another track that traps you with an infectious beat to reveal an angry threat. “It’s the perfect marriage of light and darkness we have been focused on,” shares Lauren.

As they explore the world outside their independent online existence, Chvrches move with a sharp awareness of the vision that guides them. I could hear the strong conviction in Lauren’s voice as she says, “At the end of the day, it’s all about the music. We need more music that’s is genuine and real, not manufactured and overmarketed.”

chvrches.es @chvrches