More about: Lady Bird

In anticipation of their most important release to date, we at Gigwise just had to catch up with Lady Bird before their big day. Enter their debut album WE.

Despite some mental health tremors and other assorted hold-ups, WE is the Kent trio's most encompassing work to date, hitting on different parts of the punk spectrum. People are sure to be pleased with the work. So, after four years in the making, here they are talking all things Lady Bird.

Gigwise: Each of your favourite tracks from the album?

Don: 'Individualism'
Al: 'We'
Joe: 'Karma'

GW: How much does Buddhism carry over into the band? The no mud, no lotus merch was a great way to display an identity fans might not have known that you had. How does it affect your ethos as a trio?

Lady Bird: Nichiren Buddhism has very much been the guiding philosophy of Lady Bird, and by definition the band was brought into existence by the circumstances which came as a result of me practising this philosophy. We used to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo at the beginning of rehearsals, and I can’t lie when I say that 99% of dialogues were deep and philosophical. But Buddhism kept things sweet and away from those darker trails of nihilism. 

GW: Who and what is ‘WE’? Is it you three as a trio or everyone listening collectively?

LB: ‘WE’ is brought into our artwork through an image of a young brother and sister overlooking contemporary ruins of utopia, like the blitz rubble but in the ruins of Tunbridge Wells’ old ABC Cinema (fun fact: the one where David Bowie’s parents met). The image was one of a bunch of locations we went to together, to capture a far-reaching sense of ‘WE’ that can be related to everyone. And this is the theme that can be observed through the album too. 

GW: The album starts off abrasively with 'Guided Hesitation' while the title track is the complete opposite: gentle and delicate. A fucking emotional ending as well! Can you reveal anything about that ending?

LB: Yes thank you! We enjoyed the contrast of emotions laying it down too. It became clear that ‘WE’ would be the title track once we all experienced that moment together. Alex wrote this song after experiencing the bodily confusion where he thought he saw his father in the street. He knew this wasn’t possible because his father passed on before he was a teenager but the journey played out in his senses and formed the basis of this song. 

At the time of the recording Joe too was suffering the gradual loss of a parent, and as a result the boys shared an unexpected moment together during that recording. There was only one take for obvious reasons…listen closely!

In context with this song ‘WE’ are all united by certain things and grief is just one example.

GW: How does it come about having that opposite sound on the album from the usual abrasive punk?

LB: It’s important to be vulnerable, isn’t it? ‘We’ all express our vulnerability in different ways too, right? The journey is key. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the majority of our influences aren’t abrasive punk so it was only a matter of time before the secret got out.

And if you think this is different, wait until you hear the new sounds Alex amd I have been working on!

GW: The last EP had a slight narrative woven through it, do we see the same happen with the album?

LB: It gives me joy to hear that the narratives are coming through… There are always threads that form music for me, and the job simply can’t be completed without the story. The vague themes that run through the record stem from two main concepts: waking out of suffering and observing the production line of infancy… aka infants, factory fool into individualism. These factors can be heard from the standpoint of the self, conventional relationships and society as a whole. This is the essential theme of ‘WE’!

GW: Recently you announced the cancellation of your upcoming March tour due to various reasons. Mentioning mental health in the announcements isn’t something that happens too much from a lot of bands, is transparency something that you think particularly important?

LB: We have to be honest with this sort of thing, because we all have periods where the fuzziness takes over and fulfilling basic life stuff zaps you. I’ve been there, and some of you will remember I couldn’t speak for nearly two years: Joe and Alex sang all the songs in our set during this time. 

I was gutted about the tour cancellation though. The album is awesome as well so I was pumped to push that. Another date for the diary will come soon, where we’ll fashion a performance and signing in the company of friends… This will be our opportunity to celebrate the album release with you. More news soon on that [soon].

GW: Obviously, live music is unrivalled and loved by the masses, but from a band perspective, can’t touring get slightly toxic and unhealthy at points? 

LB: Touring is a hard thing to do, purely from the basis of uprooting and moving onto the next place continuously, it’s difficult to be away from loved ones and home comforts but as I say this, I also consider the lively fun that is it’s counterpart. Our last tour was a dry tour, which was an aid to treat the wounds of mental health on the road show. Some of the greatest laughs are had in the van or on a stroll through the car parks of service stations… 

My favourite place to be though is the merch stand after the show, because this is where we get to have lengthy catch ups with our beloved cru up and down the country!

GW: Since that first EP back in 2018, how have things changed as a band, what’s left a bitter taste in your mouth industry-wise and what’s kept you hopeful and moving forward?

LB: Gosh. So much time has passed since then. And to be honest, I have only fond memories of the journey so far. The taste of knowledge through experience is a healing medicine though: how we respond to choices at different points in our lives. All these learning curves have been a source of hope for me.

GW: Do you ever miss there being a lot less pressure on yourselves back then? Or in fact was there more at the time?

LB: It feels to me like there was more pressure then. There was always a sense of urgency in the air we would breathe together, and now we seem to be evolving into a new sphere of sustainable artistry through a more studio-based approach… Watch this space!

WE arrives 25 February via Alcopop! Records. 

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More about: Lady Bird