Introducing Interview: BITCH

With her epic new album, Bitchcraft, released today via legendary label Kill Rock Stars, queer electro-pop artist Bitch prides herself on being “like Joni Mitchell set to a click track… It’s neon pink, in your face, ready to hex you with its brilliance.” Having shared stages with the likes of Ani DiFranco and Indigo Girls, Bitch has now moved from the hustle and bustle of New York City to a log cabin in the woods, where she’s found time to properly delve into her art and write the songs for the new album.

Fusing together a driving, gritty energy and sizzling synths, alongside soulful, emotion-strewn vocals, we’re huge fans of the empowering sounds of Bitch and the poignant messages reflected in her writing. So, we caught up with her to find out more about the album, what inspires her, her thoughts on the music industry today and what’s next for Bitch…

Hi Bitch! Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi!  Thank you so much!  I’m a violinist, singer, poet and popstress. I love to wear wild clothes and express myself visually as well as sonically.  

Are you able to tell us a bit about how you initially started creating music?
I grew up tap dancing since I was three (my Mom ran a tap dancing school in our basement). I saw the violin on Sesame Street when I was four and begged my parents for one, and have played ever since. I was a very shy kid, but looked up to very wild and performative artists, like Prince and Cyndi Lauper. I started writing poetry at age eleven, and at some point my musical world collided with my lyrical world and I started writing my own songs. 

I love the fizzing electro-punk energy of your tracks, but who would you say are your main musical influences? 
Thank you!  For this album, I would say early Sinead O’Connor, early Cyndi Lauper, Peaches, and Imogen Heap. 

Your wonderfully titled album Bitchcraft is out today! Are you able to tell us a bit about it? Are there any particular themes running throughout the album?
I’m super excited about Bitchcraft and can’t believe it took me nine albums to find an album title that is so PERFECT! Bitchcraft definitely has themes of climate change, being a woman in this male-dominated world, and good old-fashioned heartbreak. 

Do you have a favourite track on the album? And if so, why?
Lately, my favourite track is ‘Pages’. I think it’s because I re-wrote it, after I chose it for the album. I really crafted it – I pushed myself to a new place on a writing level and I still get excited when I hear it. 

How have you found recording and promoting an album during these strange times?
A lot of work, and also very joyous.  I feel like a lot of us realized during the pandemic how much we need art. So I have felt the process of it has been very celebrated by my friends, family and fans in a way that I have not felt before. 

How do you feel the industry is for new artists at the moment? And, as a queer artist, do you feel much has changed over the last few years in its treatment of female and LGBTQIA+ artists?
I can’t imagine being a new artist now, in the days of streaming and social media. I feel so lucky that I had the life experience of being a road dog, gaining fans by coming through their towns and giving them a good show. I do think things have changed for queerness in music lately. I have always been an out musician, but it feels way more accepted and normalized now and, dare I say, even sometimes an advantage? I still feel like women in music are subject to a TONNE of misogyny, within the gay community too, and it feels like there is still so much work to be done in giving women the spotlight, the mic, more women on lineups, etc. If I had a nickel for queer events that have NO women on the line-up I’d be as rich as Oprah. 

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other upcoming artists or bands you’re loving right now that you’d recommend we check out?
I love my label mate Logan Lynn’s new album! Also: Be Steadwell, Shaylee, Tubafresh, Ry Lucia, Gustaf.  

In addition to the album release, what does the rest of the year have in store for Bitch?
I will be touring all year, have written a one-woman show of sorts. And will hopefully be planning a trip to the UK – my family is there and I love touring there!!

Bitchcraft, the new album from Bitch, is out now via Kill Rock Stars.

Photo Credit: Dana Lynn Pleasant 

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FIVE FAVOURITES: Sea Change

Equally as inspired by the club music of LA and Berlin as she is by her quieter coastal surroundings in Kristiansand in Norway, Ellen Sunde aka SEA CHANGE’s sounds ebb and flow with a tranquil, yet deeply primal desire to move through a feeling that sometimes escapes written articulation. Her electronica ripples with emotion, but without every feeling weighty or over-thought, reflecting the way she feels about music in general. She’s set to release her new album, Mutual Dreaming, on 11th February via Shapes Recordings.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with SEA CHANGE to ask about her “Five Favourites” – five songs that have inspired her song-writing techniques and informed her new album. Check out her choices below and scroll down to watch her video for her latest single ‘I Put My Hand Into A Fist’ at the end of this post.

 

1. Aurora Halal – ‘Death Of Real’
Aurora Halal is an amazing techno producer, I’m just totally mesmerized by her productions. This particular track is more mellow, but it’s one of my favorites. I’ve recently been re-watching some videos of her hardware live sets. Wow! A total inspiration. Her music is super sensual and dreamy and has this dark psychedelic and shadowy vibe, and at the same time it’s also danceable. This combination was also something I tried to achieve on my album. She releases on her own label called Mutual Dreaming and, well, guess where I took my album name from? Just a little homage from me there.

2. Lövgren – ‘Power Surge’
Around the time I was producing Mutual Dreaming in my home studio, my friend Lövgren was finishing up his debut album, and his Burial inspired ambient made me realize I wanted to do more ambient textures in my music. I think his combination of hard hitting beats with manipulated vocal samples and textures is amazing. This was the first time I heard his music and I was totally blown away. It’s always really cool to be inspired by friends, it makes you try to reach even higher yourself. This track and the whole album is an amazing hidden gem that more people should listen to.

3. Julee Cruise – ‘Mysteries Of Love’
I was late to the party to watch the last Twin Peaks season, but when I finally did I got this total new fascination for Julee Cruise and her floaty voice over dreamy ambient. So then I had to re-watch Blue Velvet where this song is featured as well. Julee Cruise gives me a very strange and weird vibe – it’s almost too dreamy – I don’t even know how to explain it, but I guess that’s why it works so well cinematically in these films. This song was a very direct inspiration for the tracks ‘Mirages’ and ‘Mutual Dreaming’. I guess I sometimes can be a little afraid of singing too prettily over a beautiful instrumental track. Always a bit afraid of seeming too cute. But on ‘Mirages’ I tried to channel my inner Julee Cruise, and I kind of loved it.

4. Sassy 009 – ‘Okay’
The first time I heard Sassy 009 I was totally compelled by the ethereal feel, combined with her danceable beats. Sunniva who is the producer of Sassy 009 has a really stunning way of making her productions dreamy and experimental, but at the same time there’s several super catchy phrases in each song. It’s like all of them could be the main hook in a completely new track, but instead she spices up her song-writing with it and makes this beautiful forward thinking alternative pop of out of it. When I was looking for a mixer and co-producer for my last album INSIDE I looked everywhere for a person to work with. I tried different things out but didn’t really feel it worked. At that time Sassy 009 was a trio and released their debut EP, and I absolutely loved their vibe. I reached out to their mixer and co-producer and BAM – I found the right person to work with on INSIDE – BAYA and I also worked together on my new album Mutual Dreaming.

5. Haxan Cloak – ‘Excavation (Part 1)’
One thing that I loved about the process of producing my new album was that I felt I had the time to really go deep into learning new production styles. One thing I tried was reproducing tracks that I’m fascinated by, just to learn some new things in the process. This Haxan Cloak song was one of the tracks I tried to reproduce. Since this record came out I’ve been super fascinated by this album and especially this track. How it shifts and turns in the intensity of the production. The combination of the reverb heavy beats together with the heavy side chain makes you feel on edge the whole time. And it’s so dark and compelling that it makes me want to go into the woods and do some witchy rituals. My little copy of this track developed into its own thing and I split in two and it was actually planned to be the first and the last track on my album, but in the end I felt the first one didn’t belong there. But I kept the last part – which is called ‘Rituals’.

Thanks to Sea Change for sharing her favourites with us.

Watch the video for her latest single ‘I Put My Hand Into A Fist’ below.

Follow Sea Change on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo credit: Simen Løvgren

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FIVE FAVOURITES: Los Bitchos

London-based, pan-continental instrumental four-piece Los Bitchos are gearing up to release their highly anticipated debut album, Let The Festivities Begin! on 4th February via City Slang. Formed of Serra Petale (guitar), Agustina Ruiz (keytar), Josefine Jonsson (bass) and Nic Crawshaw (drums), the band have joyfully blended elements of Peruvian chicha, Argentine cumbia, Turkish psych and surf guitars to create their collection of buoyant new songs.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Los Bitchos to ask about their “Five Favourites” – five albums that have inspired their song-writing techniques. Check out their choices below and scroll down to watch Los Bitchos’ video for her ‘Pista (Fresh Start)’ at the end of this post.

 

1. Dead Or Alive – Youthquake
Serra: This album embodies everything I love about the 80’s. Outrageous high energy production, out of control brass arrangements, chorus stained overdriven guitars and uncanny vocals that really hit. Funnily enough, I had only come across the full album over the past few years, before that I’d always thought of Dead Or Alive as a bit of a one hit wonder band – they are far from that. This was one of Stock Aitken and Waterman’s first breakthrough productions, which for me really became the sound of the 80’s. They are second to none, and every time I listen back to the songs, I always find an extra element going on in the background that i did not notice before.

All the while you have Pete Burns laying down one of the best vocal performances I’ve ever heard on an album, he is like a cyberpunk Opera singer that’s stumbled into an 80’s rave, such a captivatingly magical frontman. Each of the songs on the record have something that stands out and it’s pure fun and energy from start to finish. Apart from the incredible stand out hit, ‘You Spin Me Round’, the album truly shines with songs like ‘DJ Hit That Button’ and ‘My Heart Goes Bang (Get me to the Doctor)’. This album makes me feel like dancing all night with big hair, a Pete Burns eye patch, spandex, shoulder pads and taking on the world.

2. Lush – Spooky
Serra: I remember hearing and seeing the video for ‘Nothing Natural’ for the first time about 7 years ago when my boyfriend randomly sent me a YouTube link saying, “I think you’ll like this” – boy was he right! Lush were definitely on my radar as they would often pop up on 90’s music shows me and my brother would watch in Australia when I was a child, but my love for them was really cemented in my mid-twenties. Robin Guthrie from the Cocteau twins was on board as the producer, and what he did with this record is absolutely sublime. Lots of layering, lots of effects and washes running throughout the songs, I think it’s quite a studio album in that way, a lot of these effects would have been difficult to pull off live.

Miki Beryani and Emma Anderson have somewhat of a perfect matching of gorgeous falsetto vocals, as they often sing together on their songs and their harmonies just get under my skin in the best possible way. Their vocals are so delicate, and I love how they contrast against the swirling guitars drenched in chorus and reverb and Guthrie’s wall of sound. I would say the guitar sound/tone on this record is something I try to emulate on everything I do. Songs like ‘Nothing Natural’, ‘Tiny Smiles’ and ‘Superblast’ are stand out moments, their vocal and guitar melodies seem to capture certain bleakness and sadness that always sticks with me and has had such a profound influence on the music I make today.

3. The Ramones – End Of The Century
Agustina: End of the Century by The Ramones is arguably one of the less popular albums among Ramones fans, but personally, I always loved it the most. To start with, the artwork looks incredible, it’s just cheesy punk all over the place. They look cool and carefree, but retaining a certain romanticism at the same time, a cover full of contradictions. It was an album produced by Phil Spector, which obviously meant instant speculation. Apparently my favourite Ramone (Dee Dee) didn’t even play his bass parts in the final recordings and while they were at the studio it was debauchery and chaos, bless them.

But I gotta give it to them, despite the apparent recording troubles, the songs are pure gems. ‘Danny says?’ makes me wanna cry & go back to my love. ‘I’m Affected’ reminds me of my first kiss outside my parents’ house. ‘Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio’ takes me back to my bed back home listening to this album for the first time. ‘Baby I Love You’ well, this cover will melt even the most cold person on earth’s heart. I could go on and on forever with all the songs, but don’t worry I won’t! One of my fave bits about this album? Ten years ago I bought a really rare edition in Brooklyn for a fiver without even knowing how special it was, but when I found out, that made me love it even more.

4. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Josefine: Not sure how or when Polly Jean Harvey entered my world, but I do know I absolutely RINSED this record in the months leading up to me leaving Sweden behind to move to the UK to study music. It came out in the early spring of 2011, and I moved in the fall that same year, and I would basically only listen to music from the UK to mentally prepare myself for months. This record has really stuck with me over the years, and I continue to discover new things about its melodies and moods still. Picking a record is a funny one for me because controversially (or at least I think it is), I don’t often get hooked on a specific record – instead I tend to get obsessed with a song or artist first and from there jump all over their discography in a frenzy. However, with this record I do stop and listen to it from start to finish as one piece, and what a brilliant piece it is!

5. PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Nic: This has to be one of the most nostalgic and powerful albums for me. It came out just before my 17th birthday and I remember one of the girls I was working with in the local cinema telling me about this artist she had just discovered with such excitement. She’s put out so many incredible records but for me this one will always feel special. I’ve revisited it so many times. When I went to New York it was one of the albums I listened to a lot while walking miles and miles around the city. ‘Good Fortune’ is one of those songs you can put on and just feel invincible, and like it’s you against the world. It’s so powerful. ‘You Said Something’ instantly brings back memories but still feels like a tune I could discover now and become obsessed with. This album just doesn’t age! ‘The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore’ still gives me chills. The energy and dynamic of this woman is so inspiring. I was just starting to play shows in my first band around that time and PJ was a huge role model for just being myself, knowing my power, and losing myself in performing. A real hero and an absolute masterpiece of an album.

Thanks to Los Bitchos for sharing their favourites with us!

Watch their video for ‘Pista (Fresh Start)’ below.

Follow Los Bitchos on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Tom Mitchell

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

PREMIERE: Cosmic Ninja – ‘Lies’

Formed in 2016, and with acclaim from the likes of Kerrang! Radio and Tom Robinson at BBC 6Music, Cosmic Ninja have now announced the release of a new EP. Formed of Tamsin Cullum, Jonny Angelini, Robin De Wandelear and Danny Watts, the Bristol band pride themselves on their riotous, queer punk energy, and have previously wowed crowds at events such as Glastonbury Calling, Unite Against Hate and BBC 6Music Fringe Festival.

Taken from the upcoming EP, new single ‘Lies’ fizzes with a gritty, relentless energy. A politically-charged, raging statement of intent against the corrupt Capitalist society in which we live, it builds with a seething power to a sizzling, angst-driven climax. Fusing together the vocals of Tamsin Cullum and Jonny Angelini, alongside immense whirring hooks and frenzied beats, with a racing sense of urgency, it offers an explosive call to arms that’ll leave you – fists-clenched – ready to take on the world with more of Cosmic Ninja’s fierce, electro-punk anthems.

Of the track, the band explain:

“‘Lies’ is about the dishonesty and corruption rife in UK politics. The endless lies and lack of integrity has reached an extreme level… Politics has lost sight of trying to make a better place for everyone and, instead, those with influence climb to the top and pull up the ladder by any means necessary… In most lines of work, you would be held accountable for lies, but, for politicians, it seems acceptable practice… This song is about calling out those lies, seeing through the misconception and positively challenging those walking blindly through corruption.”

Listen to ‘Lies’, for the first time, here:

Dissident Transmission, the upcoming new EP from Cosmic Ninja, is set for release on 8th April.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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