Introducing Interview: Greta Isaac

Innovative Welsh artist Greta Isaac has previously charmed our ears with singles ‘Tied’ and ‘Comfortable’ and is now back with another addictive slice of glitchy electro-pop.

Her project, as a whole, is an exploration into habits and destructive human tendencies. Each song explores and exaggerates a different unhealthy trait from the perspective of a neurotic character, and we can’t get enough of her sweeping soundscapes and soaring vocals.

With new single ‘Undone’ out now, we caught up with Greta to find out more…

Hi Greta, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hello! Sure – I’m welsh, 5ft 1 and I enjoy long walks on the beach.

How did you initially start creating music?
I’ve always loved singing, writing and listening to music – my parents are musicians so it was always in the house growing up. I was lucky enough to have an introduction to harmony and songwriting from an early age.

Your new single ‘Undone’ is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout?
All my songs are sung from the perspective of various neurotic characters, all exaggerated versions of the fleeting thoughts we often have. ‘Undone’ is the embodiment of narcissism, someone who enjoys the thrill of perusing someone only for the joy of being admired.


You’ve been compared to the likes of Billie Eilish and Maggie Rogers, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
Ah that’s cool! I love Randy Newman’s chords and lyrical concepts, Rufus Wainwright’s theatrical and classical references, Nickel Creek’s percussive bluegrass folk instrumentation and Son Lux’s sparse and genreless production.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
The art scene in Cardiff is a humble one – there’s so much going on and so many talented folks doing amazing projects. Art wise – I’m a huge fan of Lucy Dickson, George Manson and Stephen Madoc Pierce – who did all the artwork for my releases. In terms of music, I tend to see a lot in London since I work there often. I’m seeing Yung Blud and my good friend Orla Gartland there this month.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Lots of dancing, drum bashing and awkward stage chat.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
I love Sasha, Hannah Grace, Emma Miller and whyetc.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new artists at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
I think the industry and how music is being listened to is changing rapidly all the time – the thing that’s consistent throughout these changes are originality and a love for songwriting and connecting with an audience. I guess as long as you stay true to those things you can’t really go wrong!

Finally, what does the rest of 2018 have in store for Greta Isaac?
More music, more projects, collaborations, and a music video for ‘Undone’ coming soon.

Huge thanks to Greta for answering our questions! 

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Interview: Hannah Peel

Hannah Peel is a musician who very much marches to the beat of her own drum, or rather more fittingly, the beat of her Moog synth. Always diving head first into whichever project or two she has going, always pouring in a sense of discovery and wonderment, creating her own unique blend of sound.

We caught up with Hannah to talk about her recent touring, creating the sound for a musical adaptation of Brighton Rocks, as well as the story behind her upcoming remix album Particles In Space.

“Dipping my toes back into the theatre for Brighton Rocks was brilliant for me as I could express a lot of things. I had a lot of freedom with the director and the creative team to explore what I wanted to. They were really up for pulsing, dark synths.”

But how did she cope with the pressure of the interpretation?

“The most interesting part of that discovery is the book – when you go back and read it from a musical point of view there are hundreds of references to music in there… One of my favourite films is David Lynch’s Blue Velvet – you’ve got this classical kind of you know… ‘Blue Velvet’ (she sings down the phone) underpinning it all. In the show there’s a dancehall theme and they go to the cinema. I wrote three songs which were of a classic kind of ilk.”

Storytelling is something that Hannah does best with her albums, and with her most recent Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia, Peel makes use of a colliery brass band and synths to launch Mary Casio (a wonderful, mad space lady) into outer space.

“On paper it looks like something that wouldn’t work, like it may be twee or something. But actually the power of the brass and synths, using the low end of the sub of the Moog fills that whole sonic palate of waves of the brass band. Live, you just get this overwhelming feeling – it just hits you like a force! It has this effect of making you feel like you’re really small… I would put on my glasses and play Casio keyboards, like the tango and rumba beat. Just as a way to alleviate what Awake But Always Dreaming (Hannah’s album prior to Mary Casio) was. I started taking it a bit further but there’s actually a star constellation called Cassiopeia which is the most insane thing – what if she went to space? What if she’s this mad space lady? I’ve been reading up on physics and in one of the books I’ve been reading it said we have a hundred billion neurons in the brain which are as many stars as there are in the galaxy. Reading that just cemented the idea – she’s going to go to space!”



Awake But Always Dreaming was dedicated to the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s disease on sufferers and their families. Something which Hannah dealt with first hand with her own Grandmother. Mary Casio, however, lives in the world of lost memories.

“At the very, very end of the album my Grandfather sings on the ‘Planet of Passed Souls’ and that’s him from 1927 as a 13-year-old boy. I kind of imagine that she got to this planet, stepped out of her spaceship, and has gone out and seen all the wind and rain, but the planet itself was sort of a place that might filter the rain out of the atmosphere, all the memories and sound and what you might remember. Take them off and put them into the air, swirl them around you… That is the end of the whole thing. After that I couldn’t write anymore anyway as it felt like that was the end. But maybe this was just her waking up in her garden, maybe this somebody passing into the realm of a different life. Maybe she just went there?”

With such a magical story behind the album, what was the thought behind inviting others on board for Particles In Space?

“I wanted to see how other people would interpret synths and brass bands, see what they would do with them…. I’m very honoured a lot of people have done the mix for me. I wanted to call it Particles In Space because of all these new stars that are being born and the atmosphere. All the people on there are UK based and that’s something I really wanted – to be a nod to the radiophonic workshop. I would say about 80% of it is female. Everything has its time, now seems to be the analogue, synth revival – I don’t think I’ll ever change out of it, I like it way too much!”

Huge thanks to Hannah for the chat and answering our questions!

Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia is out now and Hannah Peel is playing at BBC Music Biggest Weekend today in Belfast.

Nicky Lee Delisle
@Nicky___Lee

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WATCH: SKYND – ‘Elisa Lam’

Freakishly catchy, industrial duo SKYND‘s debut single ‘Elisa Lam’ is a mad medley of electronics and warped vocals. The track is named after the tragic death of Elisa Lam, whose demise at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles in 2013 is still shrouded in mystery.

Writing about morbid, inexplicable and brutal criminal cases, SKYND use their warped sources of inspiration to create overwhelming industrial-electronic offerings. “Listening to these tracks, you should feel like you’re in a tiny room and the walls are closing in from all sides,” the duo explain, and that’s definitely the case with ‘Elisa Lam’.

The track is accompanied by a haunting video directed by TallyHo!, which depicts the mysterious events surrounding Elisa’s final moments.

Watch the video below and follow SKYND on Facebook for more updates.

@KCBobCut
Kate Crudgington

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Premiere: Coltana – ‘Bitter Sweet’

Having previously blown us away with the visceral energy of ‘Break Her’, Brixton’s Coltana have now announced their debut EP.

Taken from the EP is frenzied new single ‘Bitter Sweet’. Propelled by whirring hooks and front-woman Cat’s impassioned spoken word vocals, it races with a thrashing energy and the band’s trademark refreshing brutal honesty. Building to a raging climax complete with slick riffs, it’s a riotous blast of sound that’ll hit your ears with its defiant ferocious force.

Of the track, Cat explains:

“‘Bitter Sweet’ has all the ingredients that Coltana like to cook with. Light and heavy dynamics, spoken word-esq vocals followed by sing along choruses and a guitar solo thrown in for good measure. This song packs a punch but manages to push and pull the listener in the right direction at every juncture. Go Listen!”

Listen to ‘Bitter Sweet’, for the first time, here:

Produced by Xavier Stevenson (Editors, 30 Seconds To Mars), Coltana’s debut EP Blighty is out 15th June. Catch Coltana live:

3rd June – The Windmill, London
8th June – Get In Her Ears Live @ The Finsbury, London
9th June – Aclam Village, Portobello Market, London (at 4pm)
15th June – Audio, Glasgow
16th June – The Bobbin, Lancaster
17th June – The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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