Five Favourites: Princess Chelsea

Having been creating her signature dreamy indie-pop for eleven years now, New Zealand artist Princess Chelsea has just released her fifth album Everything Is Going To Be Alright. Tinged with an early noughties shimmering nostalgia, it’s a poignant collection of cinematic soundscapes that twinkle with an ethereal splendour and captivating raw emotion.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of Everything Is Going To Be Alright, we caught up with Princess Chelsea to ask about the music that has inspired her the most. See below for their choices of their five favourite songs, and be sure to watch the cute new video for album track ‘Love Is More‘ at the bottom of this feature.

Marianne Faithfull – ‘Morning Sun’
This is from Marianne Faithfull’s early period and it’s an undiscovered gem, I suppose! It sounds very ‘English’ to me in a good way. It’s a beautiful track – the harps and her beautiful slightly monotonous eerie vocals (a little bit reminiscent of Nico). Marianne always was a total queen and her vocals from this early 1960s period of her career are quite different to her later more widely known work. As an artist she is a fascinating character who really got dealt a tough blow by music press and public who were very judgemental of her for any ‘mistakes’ (aka not being perfect) in her private life. After being London’s golden girl for a few years, she disappeared into a world of addiction and complicated experiences only to re-emerge over twenty years later with just as amazing music (Broken English being her comeback album). My track ‘Time‘ is heavily influenced by early Marianne Faithfull and English pop in the way I produced and arranged it – and I actually covered this song on my 2016 album Aftertouch.  

The Bats – ‘Sir Queen’
In the 1980s Flying Nun Records was formed in the South Island of New Zealand in Christchurch by Roger Shepherd, although it is associated more with an even more southern city Dunedin, when somebody coined the term “The Dunedin Sound” to describe the jangly guitar pop style of some of the bands on the label who were heavily influenced by the open chords of the Velvet Underground. Seminal acts The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaines, and The Bats made jangly guitar pop music that proved to be heavily influential internationally and still is. Kaye Woodward from The Bats is one of the most interesting “indie rock” (lol) guitarists I’ve had the pleasure of listening to and her work with The Bats as displayed on ‘Sir Queen’ from their classic album Daddy’s Highway is emotive, particular and loose at the same time. I’ve been a fan of The Bats and many of the early Flying Nun acts since I was a teenager, and any guitar work I do (or make other people do, haha)  is greatly influenced by these bands whose style of playing is far more important than technical prowess. My song ‘Love Is More’ from my new album is definitely influenced by Kaye Woodward’s trademark ‘bendy’ guitar playing.

Jane’s Addiction – ‘Jane Says’ (Live from Kettle Whistle)
Jane’s Addiction are a truly weird band that don’t really fit into any kind of genre. In the 1990s in LA they were junkie surfers that made heavy rock music influenced by Led Zeppelin, but it was also glam, arty and truly ‘alternative’ – influenced by I imagine a whole lot of esoteric music. Frontman Perry Farrell would wail and leap around on the stage like some kind of androgenous mad puppet. While totally unintentional I think my track ‘The Forest‘ certainly reminds me of Jane’s Addiction sometimes which isn’t really surprising seeing as it’s my first truly ‘rock’ song and they were my first favourite ‘rock’ band. The live version of ‘Jane Says’ with its massive drum sound, and Farrell’s vocals sailing over the top – plus the addition of steel drums – make for a truly original yet totally rocking melodic band. I think somehow and always Jane’s Addiction will always influence my live performance.

The Gun Club – ‘Sex Beat’
The Gun Club is a band I discovered as a teenager and their guitar sound in particular is something I’ve always loved – it’s punk, but it’s also got tonality of country music with tremolo, twang and a lot of reverb. Their later albums would sound more shoegazey and shiny (Mother Juno), but the first album is a great example of the county / punk influence of this wonderful band. I think a lot of guitar tones on ‘We Kick Around’ remind me of the Gun Club. The solo on ‘I Don’t Know You‘ is by my friend Vincent HL who plays on this track and is a huge Gun Club fan.

Fleetwood Mac – ‘What Makes You Think You’re The One’
After years of listening to Fleetwood Mac, I started repetitively listening to deep cuts from the double album Tusk which followed their massive album Rumours and was a critical yet commercial kind of flop (well a flop for Fleetwood Mac – it still sold millions). Lindsay Buckingham was probably doing way too much cocaine during this period and there are a lot of great what I call “weird Lyndsay Buckingham songs” dispersed throughout Tusk. I think he was maybe listening to a lot of punk music at the time and was trying to insert some of that energy into Fleetwood Mac which may have been perceived as soft rock for moms and dads or something by then. And there’s nothing wrong with that haha. His vocal performance on this track and a lot of the backing vocal loops all over Tusk, and also on the album Tango In The Night (‘Family Man’ is a great example of this) definitely influenced my track ‘I Don’t Know You’ and a lot of my backing vocal ideas in general. When I sing “I DONT KNOW!”, I am 100% channeling Lyndsay – intentionally and quite overtly.

Massive thanks to Princess Chelsea for sharing her Five Favourites with us! Watch the video for latest single ‘Love Is More’ here:


Everything Is Going To Be Alright, the fifth album from Princess Chelsea, is out now via Lil Chief Records.

Photo Credit: Frances Carter

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LISTEN: GIHE on Soho Radio with Seraphina Simone 19.10.22

Tash and Kate were back on Soho Radio’s airwaves playing loads of new music from some of their favourite female, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ artists and Mari offered some of her “musical musings” too. They enthused about the eclectic mix of tracks on the playlist, with Kate finally admitting to Tash that she listened to one of her (many) previous new music recommendations: the excellent Alewya.

They were joined by Seraphina Simone live in the studio for a catch up too. Seraphina shared the inspiration behind the tracks that form her latest EP, Milk Teeth, the joy and confidence she’s experienced whilst recording and touring as part of SELF ESTEEM’s band, and she spoke about her excitement for her upcoming performance at Paper Dress Vintage for the Great Escape Festival’s ‘First Fifty’ showcase.

Listen back below:

 

Tracklist
Alanis Morissette – All I Really Want
Sleater-Kinney, Courtney Barnett – Words and Guitar
070 Shake – Cocoon
Alewya – Let Go
Softcult – One Of a Million
Brutus – What Have We Done
Jon Hopkins, Kelly Lee Owens, Sultan + Shepard, Jerro – To Feel Again/Trois
Sonnee – Leave The Water Still
Teri Gender Bender – Saturn Sex
Miss Grit – Like You
Helen Ganya – young girls never die
Jockstrap – Greatest Hits
Sudan Archives – Selfish Soul
Ma Rainey – Prove it On Me Blues
Seraphina Simone – Milk Teeth
**Interview with Seraphina Simone**
Sylvie – Too Much Time To Think
Midwife – Sickworld
DEWEY – Another Woman
The Hyena Kill – Dare to Swim (ft. Stefanie Mannaerts)
Jemma Freeman & The Cosmic Something – Easy Peeler
Ghost Car – Selfish, Spoiled
Maria Uzor – Solitaire
Roller Derby – Only You
Tomberlin – Happy Accident
NAMELESS TWIN – My Eyes Went Black
Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl

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Get In Her Ears Live @ The Victoria w/ Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something, 14.10.22

Following September’s gig at The Shacklewell Arms with the driving ethereal soundscapes of Gemma Cullingford, our October installment of GIHE live saw us return to The Victoria in Dalston for what felt like a super special night filled with the best music, best people and best vibes. Massive thanks to Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something, KIN and Trouble Wanted, and to everyone who came down to pack out the venue and helped make it a night to remember.

Here, Mandy Bang writes a few words about the night to accompany Jon Mo’s fantastic pics…

It’s Friday night and The Victoria is packed – a glass smashes on the dancefloor and is carefully kicked aside by revellers determined to have a good time. Tonight’s opening band conjure a murky dive bar on the wrong side of the tracks: the saloon doors unexpectedly swing open, everyone turns to look up at the new arrivals, jaws drop, gasps are audible… there’s a new stranger in town – Trouble Wanted.

The London-based five-piece have just one song available on their Bandcamp page, but, when it’s the “sexy, queer exchange between Lonely Cowgirl and a mysterious dyke trucker”, it’s one hell of a special treat. Live, Trouble Wanted blend menacing basslines, dreamy guitar touches, dancing drums, sexy synths and the occasional burst of alluring saxophone with semi-spoken vocals. Lucy sings of unrequited lust and dysfunctional mother/child relationships and pistol-whips songs with loaded humour. By the end of their set they have encouraged the whole room to shake off their inhibitions as we all sing “I want you in my bed” with wild abandon!

Tonight is Ritu Arya’s last gig with KIN, who played their second ever show for GIHE back in 2019. The band dedicate the drummer’s favourite song to her and later in their set proceed to initiate their first crowd sing-along during a cover of Wheatus’ ‘Teenage Dirtbag’.

The release of the trio’s new single, ‘Soapdish’, coincides with tonight’s gig and is a melancholy ramble through a relationship that is better to be left behind, as singer/keyboardist Grace asserts, “I’m not going to change my mind”. In amongst KIN’s atmospheric indie pop, there are sparse guitar echoes which momentarily bring to mind unexpected eerie Bauhaus vibes. Meanwhile, their 2020 single, ‘L.O.V.E.’, possesses the kind of upbeat energy that demands to drive us to sunny days spent dancing on a beach somewhere far out of reach.

Our final act of the night is Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something and Jemma’s party look this evening is demonic jester with a touch of Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke fame. The trio put on a frantic display of musicianship with psychedelic and garage rock leanings, skipping from one catchy song into the next which throws the audience into an array of shapes.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to know”, declares Jemma before shredding so enthusiastically a guitar string breaks. Jemma conducts the quickest string change ever carried out by a musician mid-set, whilst the bassist and drummer keep an impressive backbeat flowing. One gets the impression that this rhythm section could quite happily lay down a two-hour instrumental jam as if performing at a ’70s music festival. Jemma, seemingly impressed by said bandmates’ calm professionalism, exclaims, “I don’t really need to be here“.

Jemma’s in-between song banter hints at a vulnerable front person with an awkward confidence. Lyrics are laced with self-deprecating humour and a composition from the band’s upcoming new album, ‘Miffed’, is a tale of a bad Tinder date that involved getting locked in a park – “Sounds exciting, but it’s not good”, they assure us before dedicating ‘Lump’ to “weird and petty gay people – like me!”.

Rather than the rallying ‘girls to the front’ mantra, Jemma encourages each audience member to look behind them and to move aside if those behind are struggling to see the band bathed in orange, green and blue lighting. I’ve only ever been at one other gig where the band has been this wonderfully thoughtful (namely Dream Wife) and Jemma half-jokes that it took ten years of therapy to ascertain: “I’m five-foot two-inches tall and I’m going to take up space and be unafraid“. A sentiment that gets a huge cheer from this crowd.

Big thanks to all three of the incredibly fantastic bands on Friday night! As for us, our next gig will be at the Sebright Arms next month with a lush line-up of Breakup Haircut, Piney Gir and BCOS RSNS on 17th November. Tickets can be nabbed over on Dice and we’ll see you down the front!

Words: Mandy Bang / @mandybang
Photos: Jon Mo / @jonmophotography

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Introducing Interview: Red Ribbon

Following the release of last year’s album Planet X, and 2018’s Dark Party, LA based artist Red Ribbon is now heading over to our shores for her first ever UK tour. With a London date planned at The Victoria a week today on 19th October with support from GIHE fave, Ailsa Tully, we can’t wait to witness her captivating sounds live. If gritty, ethereal soundscapes and sweeping celestial vocals, interwoven with a twinkling folk-strewn musicality, are your thing then you should definitely join us there!

Prior to her setting out on tour, we caught up with Red Ribbon to find out about what inspires her, the influences behind her latest album, the power of fear and more… Have a read!

Hi Red Ribbon! Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself? 
Thank you so much! I am currently based out of Los Angeles. I’m originally from the Pacific Northwest, but had a bit of a transient upbringing and moved around the United States growing up.  That has given me a dual perspective of both knowing how to get along with all kinds of people, yet always sort of feeling like an outsider everywhere. I always have a soft spot for underdogs.

Are you able to tell us a bit about how and why you initially started creating music? 
I was in the grade school choir and band as a little kid.  There was also an acoustic guitar and a piano in my home growing up, so I’d play around on those when I was small. Nothing exceptional, just kid stuff. I don’t think anybody really saw musical potential in me or anything, but I was always drawn to it. What really got me going was when I studied classical violin when I was about eighteen.  I began busking alone in San Francisco, and that is when I realized I loved to perform as a musician, and that I could do it as a job. Sort of in conjunction with that, I began messing around on the electric guitar to write songs, and yeah, I was hooked.

We love your beautifully twinkling sounds , but who would you say are your main musical influences?
Elliott Smith, The Velvet Underground, The Pacific Northwest’s underground DIY music scene…

You released your Planet X album last year. Are you able to tell us a bit about what inspired it and the themes running throughout it?
I recorded the album mostly in Brooklyn January of 2020, right before things really shut down. A few tracks were also recorded in Tornillo Texas (along the Mexican border) and in Seattle Washington, where I was living at the time. I was very influenced by touring my first studio record, Dark Party. Me and my band had the chance to do some lengthy touring in 2019. There was a knowing that we all had going into recording – the American political climate was reaching a fever pitch of horror. I think we knew perhaps something was going to break – though I don’t think any of us imagined how it would play out exactly. I built the visual world of that record as an escape from the disasters of 2020 and 2021. It was my place to go to, colourful and strange.

You’re coming over to the UK this month for a little tour (including a London date with GIHE fave Ailsa Tully), which is super exciting! What can fans expect from your live shows?
I am so excited! This is my first solo tour and my first UK tour. Really I’m looking at this as a tour surrounding the album I’m working on now. I am taking some of the songs from this tour into the studio when I get back to Los Angeles.  I will also be playing some of my favourite songs from my previous albums of course!

And have there been any gigs you’ve played in the past that stand out as particular highlights for you?
I love playing in unusual places, under a freeway with a generator for example! But I think these upcoming shows will be some of my favourite ever, because I am afraid of them, haha. I know that sounds funny, but there is power in becoming the fear! You know, I am travelling very far, and alone. It is fairly dangerous. Sometimes that is exactly what music needs. It’s really about the ‘X Factor’ – the unexplainable magic vibe – that makes a show killer. A little danger is good.

How do you feel the industry is for new artists at the moment? And do you feel much has changed over the last few years in its treatment of female and queer/LGBTQ+  artists? 
There is a song by Gillian Welch called ‘Everything is Free’ that I think sums up things better than I can.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other upcoming artists you’re loving right now that you’d recommend we check out?
Absolutely!  I’ve been really loving the tracks that Cold Mega has been putting out – ‘Swinging the Dog’ is so good. Also some of my most favourite musicians and collaborators, Sheridan Riley and Abbey Blackwell have formed the new rhythm section for the Canadian band Alvvays, and the new record they put out is honestly a triumph. I am so proud of them. My former label mates Momma are also absolutely crushing it right now, they have been hitting the road hard the past few months and I think the world is noticing.

Aside from the tour, what does the rest of the year have in store for Red Ribbon? 
I am close to finishing my next record in Los Angeles. I have been working on it since March of this year. This is a different approach for me.  More of a long-game approach versus you know, seven days in a row at the studio or whatever. Though admittedly musicians always are most excited by their current work, in my opinion it is the best stuff I have ever done. I can’t wait to share these songs with you! The world is opening up again. I didn’t get to tour my last album Planet X much, since it was released during the pandemic. Personally, I didn’t have the desire to be the first back out on the road. But with this tour, and with this new record, I am finally ready. I am relentless in my drive to just keep going.

Massive thanks to Red Ribbon for answering our questions!

If you’re London based, catch her live at The Victoria in Dalston on 19th October – tickets here.

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