Q&A: Irish Indie Rockers Pillow Queens Toast a Few Pints of Guinness to Newest Album “Name Your Sorrow”
THE DUALITY OF LOVE AND LOSS - Hailing all the way from Dublin, Ireland, indie-rock band Pillow Queens, composed of Pamela Connolly, Sarah Corcoran, Rachel Lyons and Cathy McGuinness, explore a storm of emotions on their newest record Name Your Sorrow.
Having settled on the title being inspired by a poem they hold dear to their hearts, the album explores themes of grief, love and loss. Pillow Queens’ newest record encourages an outlook of facing one’s emotions, acknowledging and confronting them head on. The band reclaims their power in their vulnerability with romantically layered lyrics and bounce between soft acoustics and fuzzy electric riffs. Their latest music video release for their track “Heavy Pour,” encapsulates a daunting visual haze of emotions that their album touches on, and thank their lucky stars in their noisy hit single off the album “Like a Lesson.”
The band dives into the background behind the empowering Name Your Sorrow as they gear up to hit the road to play their biggest show to date back in their hometown of Dublin. Looking ahead, Pillow Queens share their overwhelming excitement in relishing in their newest project.
Read below to learn more about the creation of Name Your Sorrow and what the band looks forward to in celebrating their newest release.
Photography Credit: Martyna Bannister
LUNA: Congrats to you all on the new album! Very exciting! How are you all feeling on this release?
McGUINNESS: Thank you! We're so happy to finally share it. I'm certainly feeling very positive. I'm super happy with this record and wouldn't change a thing about it. It's getting a very warm reception too.
CORCORAN: It’s such a relief to share it with the world! It’s such a personal record so putting it out into the world has felt a little vulnerable but there’s a very satisfying power that comes with sharing that side of ourselves.
CONNOLLY: It's been so hard to keep it to ourselves all this time so it’s so nice to be able to share it with people. Hopefully it can be something they hold dear.
LYONS: Feeling excited. It feels like we’ve been sitting on the album for ages (not really though) and I’m so happy people are able to experience it in full now, and hear the songs that haven’t been released as singles.
LUNA: That’s amazing to hear. What exactly does Name Your Sorrow mean to you? How was the whole creating/recording process of this LP and what inspired it?
MCGUINNESS: Name Your Sorrow for me is a journey of loss, grief, love and exploration. The title itself is a nod to an Eavan Boland poem, “Atlantis” which we felt encapsulated the record. The record is a very personal and relatable journey for the listener and I hope that they will take this record and feel like it is theirs.
CORCORAN: I love the title. To me it captures the idea of empowering yourself by naming something that’s causing you, or has caused you harm or upset. You take the power out of it. Name your sorrow and drown it. That’s what we’ve done by releasing this record.
CONNOLLY: Yeah in the same vein as the girls. It feels almost like an exorcism of feelings. Get them all out and do something positive and creative with them. Creating the record was actually quite mindful, a free therapy some might say. Sometimes with when it comes to the vulnerability that’s on this record it’s a lot easier to process through singing and shouting in a windowless room
LYONS: Same. To me it’s about tapping into your emotions, feeling and acknowledging them, and then confronting them.
LUNA: Can you dive a little more into how the album is inspired by the “Atlantis” poem by Eavan Boland?
MCGUINNESS: The album title which is inspired by the poem actually came after the recording of the record. We couldn't settle on a name for the record and began diving into poetry, movies and art that related to the sonic and thematic landscape of the record. When this poem was given to us it stopped us in our tracks. We all felt that it perfectly described what we tried to do in 45 minutes of music. It is such a tragic and beautiful poem.
LUNA: So this is your guys’ third album release. How would you say this new album defines your growth and your sound as a band now as compared to your previous works?
MCGUINNESS: I think there is no doubt that we are all more confident in our own abilities both musically and within the industry so we were very much doing this on our own terms. We excluded outside factors and just wrote the music we wanted to and to our own timeline. We all respect each other's abilities and listen to each other's ideas and learn from each other in the process.
CONNOLLY: Yeah I think when it came to this record we were a lot more mature when it came to serving the music itself. If we ended up with a song that happened to be seven minutes long we'd be like “well this is seven minutes of music we want to make”.
LYONS: There was no pressure to make the songs be anything other than themselves, that’s a growth in itself. They just are as they are.
Photography Credit: Martyna Bannister
LUNA: You’ve released three albums back-to-back within three years. How do you all manage to keep yourselves motivated in consistently creating music? Do you ever feel like there’s any roadblocks/writing blocks? How do you pick yourselves up from this, if any?
MCGUINNESS: I certainly went into writing this album thinking “I don't have any more music in me” but we seem to pull it out of each other. On slow days, we are slow, on productive days, we are so productive. The key was consistency. It was also knowing when we should have a ‘band day’ rather than a writing day. We were patient and persistent. Some days were better than others but when we took the pressure off ourselves, things really flowed very easily. We had a total of 20 songs going into the studio.
CORCORAN: There was definitely a relaxed creative environment and I found that to be super motivating. If we had a day or a week where output was low, it didn’t matter. I think it’s because of that we kept our output as high as we did. Those songs that didn’t make the record will probably see the light of day in another form because we’d already put a lot into them.
CONNOLLY: Stuff isn’t always going to flow super easily but even the little headway that’s made, we appreciate for what it is. It felt like we were carving something out of stone. The figure was already in there we just had to get to it
LYONS: We’re not ones to sit around and let time slip by, no one’s gonna write the music for you!
LUNA: Being from Ireland and an all queer women band, you highlight it very firmly in your music. How do your Irish identity and queer identity intersect with one another and how do you explore this within your music?
MCGUINNESS: I guess we have had very specific experiences in our world, unique to Irish queer women. One cannot exist without the other. Our experiences would vary massively from others in our community, like those in the trans community, or black queer people living in Ireland. It's very important for us that we continue to check our privilege. In our music, we write about our world and our everyday experiences. It might seem very political but to us it is just our day to day lives. Of course, we are political people and to be queer IS political.
LUNA: Who are some of your biggest musical influences? Can you describe the music scene within Ireland and growing up?
MCGUINNESS: When I discovered Green Day and Nirvana in first year of school, my music taste really took off. I always loved music but this felt like a whole secret world I had discovered and understood. I would say that Manchester Orchestra are a band I regularly reference in relation to Pillow Queens. The Chick's were also a household staple growing up, John Martyn.. How long have you got?
CORCORAN: I love telling people that I came to music late. I didn’t properly get into music until I was in my late teens, so I’m still having the pleasure of coming to songs that have been a staple in everyone else's lives for years. My latest band is the B-52s. I feel like they’ve been gatekept from me for years!
CONNOLLY: It’s hard to really compile the music that surrounded me when I was younger. My mom was always into older pop, rock and trad and I very much soaked in all the music she played. Then as I got older, I obviously became obsessed with the likes of Tegan and Sara who I saw myself in. As I hit my teens, myself and my friends would share our eclectic tastes in music and go to hardcore punk shows.
LYONS: I would say I was influenced from an early age by the songs my mom would listen to on cassette tape in the car. Lots of Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, The Eagles. Then at some point we discovered The Chicks (they taught me harmonies), and I went off on my lil baby rocker phase of the noughties. I think I’ve referenced Kings of Leon’s earlier stuff on each of our albums.
LUNA: Your music video for your single “Heavy Pour” really caught my eye with its black and white, silent-film style. What made you gravitate towards this artistic expression and what were you inspired by when filming it? What vision were you going for and how does it tie back into your album’s theme?
MCGUINNESS: I think all credit to the visual direction of this can go to our Director Kate Dolan (she just won an IFTA). Kate has done a lot of our videos and makes our ideas and sounds come to life. Kate is a spooky gal, check out her film on Netflix, You Are Not My Mother.
LUNA: I hear you guys are joining Snow Patrol on tour and playing your biggest show to date in Dublin very soon! How are you all feeling about that? How do you feel about playing a huge show back home?
MCGUINNESS: I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I haven't mastered stage fright yet!
CORCORAN: I cannot wait. If I was honest with myself, I’d probably say I prefer playing songs live than in the studio, so these shows are going to be stand-out moments in my life and I’m dying for them.
CONNOLLY: There is a nervousness there for sure, but also a huge amount of excitement for a hometown show. Those are the ones that warm my cockles the most.
LYONS: Terrified! We’ve never played to anywhere near as many people before, but I’m compartmentalizing it so as not to get overwhelmed. I’m also very excited ‘cause Snow Patrol have a very nostalgic place in my heart.
LUNA: Other than tour, now that the new album is out, any plans or celebrations you’re looking forward to?
MCGUINNESS: We have some very exciting things to announce in the coming month but for now, I'm just going to soak up this release.
CORCORAN: A few pints of Guinness to celebrate a successful album launch!
CONNOLLY: We won’t be done celebrating for a while I’m sure. We just can’t wait to get out on the road with these songs
LYONS: We’ll be doing some shows this summer/autumn that I’m very excited about. I love going to new places!
LUNA: Ending on a more personal/fun question, what’s been keeping you all going these days? Any hobbies, interests and anything you’re excited about during this spring season?
MCGUINNESS: This is so ridiculous but I was sure my apple tree was dead after a terrible storm (it’s only a baby). It has begun flowering and I can't tell you how excited I am about that. The change in weather is so welcome. I spend all my free time on the beach with my partner and my doggo! Simple man, simple dreams.
CORCORAN: I’ve just gotten back into video editing and I’m loving it. I’ve also been doing some writing aside from music and it’s tickling my brain in a way that hasn’t been tickled in a few years!
CONNOLLY: For me it’s cycling. I never really understood how to meditate, but I realized I actually do that while I’m pedaling away, not a thought in my head
LYONS: I am SO excited for summer. It’s beginning to warm up here now and I’ve got a spring in my step. This does mean less computer games, but also outdoor adventure beckons.
