Hot on the heels of supporting Jake Bugg and Miles Kane, one woman powerhouse Findlay is setting out on her own headline tour.
She took time out to chat to Est.1987 about getting out on the road, recording with Flood and the lack of chips and gravy in London. Click below to read the interview in full and to find out where you can catch the tour...
Hi Findlay.
You’re going on tour at the end of the month; are you looking forward to being
out there playing shows again?
I love being on tour and playing shows its definitely the funnest side to what I do. Things can get really serious writing and recording but when you get in the tour van it's easy to just have a laugh and i love playing shows. My band are hilarious I love them I'm really glad they are all fun and chilled, we started doing European shows this year as well which have been mental , this month we played in France, Holland and Switzerland which were all great shows. It can get knackering as well when you stay out til 3 and your bus call is at 9 to travel 5 hours to another city, or the 13 hour drive we had back from Switzerland was pretty painful, but when you do a great show and the crowd are buzzing from the music and the live show it's always worth it.
I love being on tour and playing shows its definitely the funnest side to what I do. Things can get really serious writing and recording but when you get in the tour van it's easy to just have a laugh and i love playing shows. My band are hilarious I love them I'm really glad they are all fun and chilled, we started doing European shows this year as well which have been mental , this month we played in France, Holland and Switzerland which were all great shows. It can get knackering as well when you stay out til 3 and your bus call is at 9 to travel 5 hours to another city, or the 13 hour drive we had back from Switzerland was pretty painful, but when you do a great show and the crowd are buzzing from the music and the live show it's always worth it.
You’ve had a
busy few months supporting the likes of The Courteeners and Jake Bugg, and
playing lots of festivals; is it nice getting out on a headline run and being
able to play a longer set just to your fans?
In all honesty what I like most about headline shows is being able to take the piss with our soundcheck and making sure you know you're gonna sound mint out front and getting the sound on stage where it's good for everyone. That's annoying thing about festivals that you only really get a line check so it's stressful not knowing how you're gonna sound. I did love the festival season this year though we played a lot and met loads of other bands and had a good time. I really enjoy chatting to fans after shows as well everyone's lovely it nice to meet people who genuinely like my music and I can ask them what songs they like the best and get a vibe from them on what I should be doing next.
What can we expect from these headline shows?
Hot sweaty tiny venues, cheap beer and high energy performances: we've been on the road for what seems like ages so we're really tight , for us we just want to have loads of fun during the shows. When the crowd buzzes off the performance and the music you both kind of feed off each other and you have a great show and they have a great time. Like in Liverpool I got some girls on the stage to dance with me and just having good banter with the crowd is funny.
In all honesty what I like most about headline shows is being able to take the piss with our soundcheck and making sure you know you're gonna sound mint out front and getting the sound on stage where it's good for everyone. That's annoying thing about festivals that you only really get a line check so it's stressful not knowing how you're gonna sound. I did love the festival season this year though we played a lot and met loads of other bands and had a good time. I really enjoy chatting to fans after shows as well everyone's lovely it nice to meet people who genuinely like my music and I can ask them what songs they like the best and get a vibe from them on what I should be doing next.
What can we expect from these headline shows?
Hot sweaty tiny venues, cheap beer and high energy performances: we've been on the road for what seems like ages so we're really tight , for us we just want to have loads of fun during the shows. When the crowd buzzes off the performance and the music you both kind of feed off each other and you have a great show and they have a great time. Like in Liverpool I got some girls on the stage to dance with me and just having good banter with the crowd is funny.
The tour coincides with the release of
your new EP, ‘Greasy Love’. You worked with Flood on the EP, who’s worked with
the likes of PJ Harvey and Depeche Mode; how was it working with him?
He's a great guy. He's so wise about the industry and gave me loads of good advice on how to deal with the pressures of being a modern artist; basically don't take s**t from anyone and do what you believe is the best for your music and for your head. His studio is out of this world as well he taught me how to use these old analogue synths and just experimenting on sounds with someone with as much experience and talent as him was really humbling and exciting. He's a massive laugh as well so it was a really fun studio experience. I loved it.
You’re from Manchester and are now living in London; how are you finding that change in scene?
I've been living in London for a couple of years now. I think after growing up in Manchester and spending my life up going to the same bars and clubs, taking the same buses and all that, I had to move somewhere different for my own sanity and London seemed like an obvious choice what with all the industry being based down there as well. The music scene is great, the culture, galleries and the weird little pop up things that are always happening, great places to eat and it's just a beautiful city to walk around its an inspiring place to live. I love walking to the Thames i feel really peaceful there but I do miss northerners though and chips and gravy is hard to find down south which I'm not too happy about.
You’ve released a video for the song ‘Greasy Love’; it has a psychedelic, vampy vibe and sees you running around your new town of London; did you enjoy making it?
I loved making the video. I'd wanted to work with the director Ruffmercy for ages; he had a lot on so it took a while to get round to making it but I'm so pleased with the result. We sent each other loads of images and stuff and were like 'right we're definitely on the same page we can do something wicked with this'. I knew I wanted to shoot on top of my mates warehouse in Hackney Wick and the streets round there have all this mint graffiti and stuff so everything just kind of fell into place. It was freezing though that night we didn't finish till 5am and I was only wearing that catsuit made out of tights. Fun though.
How has growing up in Manchester helped build your musical voice and sound?
I think growing up and going out as a teenager in Manchester must have had some kind of influence on me. You can't go to the pub without the Smiths or Joy Division and all those bands being played relentlessly on the jukebox but then again I love all those Manchester bands and I'm proud to come from the same place I listen to those records a lot. I suppose it's like if you grew up in Liverpool you'd get the same with the Beatles and The La's and stuff.
Is the Manchester Sound Control tour date going to be homecoming for you?
Well yeah I'm from Manchester like so all my family and mates will be there. It's the last show of the tour as well so got an excuse to get absolutely smashed afterwards and not have to worry about a 9am bus call.
You’ve had a busy year with another busy couple of months ahead; what else have you got coming up next year?
Hopefully just more touring, should have an EP coming out at the beginning of the year and I'm looking forward to recording the album which will be out around the summer. Can't wait to do all the festivals again I'm really looking forward to 2014.
He's a great guy. He's so wise about the industry and gave me loads of good advice on how to deal with the pressures of being a modern artist; basically don't take s**t from anyone and do what you believe is the best for your music and for your head. His studio is out of this world as well he taught me how to use these old analogue synths and just experimenting on sounds with someone with as much experience and talent as him was really humbling and exciting. He's a massive laugh as well so it was a really fun studio experience. I loved it.
You’re from Manchester and are now living in London; how are you finding that change in scene?
I've been living in London for a couple of years now. I think after growing up in Manchester and spending my life up going to the same bars and clubs, taking the same buses and all that, I had to move somewhere different for my own sanity and London seemed like an obvious choice what with all the industry being based down there as well. The music scene is great, the culture, galleries and the weird little pop up things that are always happening, great places to eat and it's just a beautiful city to walk around its an inspiring place to live. I love walking to the Thames i feel really peaceful there but I do miss northerners though and chips and gravy is hard to find down south which I'm not too happy about.
You’ve released a video for the song ‘Greasy Love’; it has a psychedelic, vampy vibe and sees you running around your new town of London; did you enjoy making it?
I loved making the video. I'd wanted to work with the director Ruffmercy for ages; he had a lot on so it took a while to get round to making it but I'm so pleased with the result. We sent each other loads of images and stuff and were like 'right we're definitely on the same page we can do something wicked with this'. I knew I wanted to shoot on top of my mates warehouse in Hackney Wick and the streets round there have all this mint graffiti and stuff so everything just kind of fell into place. It was freezing though that night we didn't finish till 5am and I was only wearing that catsuit made out of tights. Fun though.
How has growing up in Manchester helped build your musical voice and sound?
I think growing up and going out as a teenager in Manchester must have had some kind of influence on me. You can't go to the pub without the Smiths or Joy Division and all those bands being played relentlessly on the jukebox but then again I love all those Manchester bands and I'm proud to come from the same place I listen to those records a lot. I suppose it's like if you grew up in Liverpool you'd get the same with the Beatles and The La's and stuff.
Is the Manchester Sound Control tour date going to be homecoming for you?
Well yeah I'm from Manchester like so all my family and mates will be there. It's the last show of the tour as well so got an excuse to get absolutely smashed afterwards and not have to worry about a 9am bus call.
You’ve had a busy year with another busy couple of months ahead; what else have you got coming up next year?
Hopefully just more touring, should have an EP coming out at the beginning of the year and I'm looking forward to recording the album which will be out around the summer. Can't wait to do all the festivals again I'm really looking forward to 2014.
02 - Hare and Hounds - Birmingham
03 - 100 Club - London
04 - Spanky Van Dykes - Nottingham
07 - Sound Control - Manchester
03 - 100 Club - London
04 - Spanky Van Dykes - Nottingham
07 - Sound Control - Manchester
http://www.findlaymusic.com/
