INTERVIEW: Sœur
Bristol trio SŒUR are braced to whisk the alternative scene off its feet with their unique brand of genre-hopping genius. Infused with the energetic characteristics of pop, the individuality of grunge and the calculating nature of math rock, the dual-fronted outfit are smashing expectations all over the place with new EP Fight. Distorted Sound grabs a word with Anya Pulver, James Collins and Tina Maynard about their background, their vision and their plans for nationwide domination.
Going back to the beginning of SŒUR, how did you all first meet?
Tina: Anya and I used to live in Droitwich/Worcester and so knew each other through the music scene. We both fronted our own bands and used to gig together quite a lot. Coincidentally, our bands broke down roughly at the same time and so when Anya moved to Bristol, she convinced me to join her and start a band. Jim met Anya at ArcTanGent a few years ago and his current band were breaking up too, so we nabbed him.
Is this your first band or are you all seasoned veterans in the music industry?
Tina: We’ve all been in previous bands which all broke down at around the same time. It was fate.
James: I was in MAYBESHEWILL for around 10 years so I guess you could say I’m a little seasoned with in the whole being a musician in a band thing. After MAYBESHEWILL called it a day I didn’t really want to stop doing what I enjoyed so here I am for round two!
Anya: I think my previous band, MANSIZE, was a giant learning curve for me. Before that, I’d never played an electric guitar or booked my own shows or tried to really build a fanbase. A lot went wrong and our processes were a lot less refined than they are in SŒUR so I guess I feel less of a seasoned veteran and more just someone who vaguely knows what they’re doing now?!
How supportive is the Bristol scene these days?
Tina: It’s great, Bristol is such a great city for music. Having music venues of various sizes means that we get to play gigs that are the right size for us and makes it easier for bands our size and starting out to develop as artists. Thekla was under threat of having to close down recently and won its fight so it’s reassuring to know that people are looking out for these venues that have made Bristol such an interesting place to live in in the first place. Bristol is such a hub for creatives so it’s not surprising that it’s getting the attention it deserves. It attracts talented and creative people which strengthens the scene for all of us.
Anya: Very. I think the music scene in Bristol is really inclusive, instead of bands and venues and promoters all competing against each other, they work together and support each other which is obviously beneficial to everyone. I think watching bands work their way up the scene here has created this incredible surge of hope for aspiring bands, I know it has for me. It’s easy to become disillusioned with the music industry and to feel like you only have a shot if you’re churning out generic pop, with a shit tonne of money and nepotism on your side, so seeing bands like Idles going from playing your local dive bars to album charts and world tours is inspiring.
Coming from a city with so many opportunities and venues wherever you turn, has that given you a head start in the game being so spoilt for choice at home? Or is the world outside Bristol less exciting?
Tina: Moving to Bristol was probably the best thing I could have done for my music. I do seriously believe that it’s easier if you’re in a town filled with opportunities. It’s a shame I didn’t realise that sooner.
Anya: It was a very deliberate choice to move to Bristol for the music. It’s so much easier to network and meet people and create friendships within the scene which definitely gave us a few nudges in the right direction when we were starting out.
Which Bristol venue holds the most sentimental value for you as a growing band?
Tina: The Louisiana is probably my favourite venue. It’s got a charm to it. Nice size, nice sound, nice stage, the guys there look after us so well and it’s pretty cool to have played in the same venue that so many amazing, notorious artists have played.
James: Yeah I agree with Tina about the Louisiana, I think we’re looking forward to the day we get to headline our own show at Thekla too!
Anya: As the guys said, The Louie has been a big one for us. I think for me though, The Stag and Hounds was a really special place, especially in the beginning. It’s pretty awful in there, looks just like a run down pub with not much of a stage but there was something about the people running it and they bands they’d book that was magic. We played one of our fist ever shows there, I’ll never forget it.
What music genres did you each grow up with? What bands’ influences do you bring to the SŒUR table?
Tina: I grew up listening to a bit of everything really.. My dad’s record collection included everything from HOLST’s The Planets to Frankie Valli and so I think I take inspiration from loads of different genres. My favourite band at the moment has to be BUKE AND GASE though, I think they’ve had a big influence on my writing style over the last year of two.
James: I think I was surrounded by rock from an early age, my dad blasting LED ZEPPELIN tends to do the trick. As I got older and develop my own taste, it was bands like REUBEN, OCEANSIZE and MILLION DEAD that ticked the boxes for me. Dave Grohl’s drumming has had a big influence too… Songs for the Deaf.
Anya: I grew up listening to so many different types of music. My dad is big on LED ZEPPELIN, PINK FLOYD, THE DOORS, ELO, QUEEN as well as NIRVANA and RADIOHEAD all of which I remember listening to a lot as a kid. Alanis Morrissette was interestingly the first artist I ever got into at about three years old, I was obsessed with the way she would talk about channeling her feelings through her songs. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I really found a passion for artists like PJ Harvey and Queens of the Stone Age who have definitely influenced the music I make now a lot more.
Have you found it a challenge to blend pop with grunge and math rock, or has it all come naturally?
Tina: We knew roughly the types of songs we wanted to write. Essentially heavy pop songs that were interesting, and so aside from that, everything else evolved naturally. We like to play with time signatures, rhythms, call and response vocals, it keeps things fun.
Anya: As Tina said, we knew what we were trying to create at the start but I don’t think we’ve ever been like, “This is too pop, add some grunge,” or whatever. It’s the three of us working together that amounts to the genre we create, whatever that might be.
On paper, the concept of a dual-fronted band sounds chaotic but how do you manage to fairly divide the centre stage?
Tina: We don’t consciously manage it as such, we just give each other space to write our own parts, make sure we’re able to express ourselves and then do our own thing on stage.
Anya: I actually kind of prefer it, after having fronted my own band. There’s a lot more freedom and it’s easier to keep the performance interesting. We don’t consciously divide the songs up into equal parts but it does usually work out that way.
The Fight EP comes out on Saturday, best of luck for the release! How would you like people to feel when they pick up your EP for the first time?
Tina: Like we felt when we wrote it; excited, curious, strong, confident. We want people to engage with it and try and find a message in there for them.
Anya: I think one of my goals with all the music we write is that it’ll give people something to relate to and to learn from, I know that’s what music’s given me over the years.
How was your studio experience for this EP? The title track alone is astounding and it sounds like you’ve spent a long time perfecting your style, was it a lengthy writing process?
Tina: Fight was probably the easiest song to write on the EP. It’s so different to our other songs which may be why it was so easy. The writing process varies, sometimes it’ll take months to finish a song, sometimes a week. We’re constantly evolving how we write, our songs reflect that.
James: Overall the studio experience for this EP was great, we’d spent a lot of time preparing what we needed to do in the studio so it was a case of just getting in there and spending 3-4 days smashing it out. It also helped that Mat at Bink Bonk Studios has the best tea collection I’ve ever seen.
Anya: I’m not even sure we’ve perfected our style just yet, we just don’t restrict ourselves and so anything that comes out of the woodwork has freedom to grow and develop even if it is quite different to everything else we’ve written.
How did your BBC Introducing session go? Was that a surreal experience?
Tina: Yeah, it was great. Knowing that it was being recorded as well as having in the back of our minds that there were important people in the crowd all added to the pressure we felt but performing is always such a buzz. We played well and got such a great reception, it makes it all worth it.
James: Those big production events can at times feel quite stressful, I had a really bad headache most of that day but everything went well and it’s always a great experience being involved. We can’t thank the BBC enough at the moment!
Anya: I was super stressed that day, lot of pressure and so much to think about that I hardly even took it in how amazing being there was. It was definitely surreal, especially meeting Steve Lamacq right before we went on stage. The BBC have been instrumental to our successes as a band so far and we’re so grateful for that.
You’ve been insanely busy on the road this month – what do you all find to do on days off on tour?
Tina: I like to not have a day off if possible. I’d much rather be playing a show. And I often bring my busking stuff on tour so that if we have to have a day off, I can just do my own thing and busk in a nearby town. Got to keep busy!
James: Yeah, same as Tina, I’d rather be playing a show than having a day off, when we do have the inevitable day off it’s nice just to get out and do something nice, fresh air, clear your head of everything that’s been going on. I always take some swimming trunks on tour in hope that there’s some time to visit a pool but it rarely happens. Best to be prepared though!
Anya: I think I spend a lot more time recouping on our days off, they’re valuable for me, especially for my mental health, so I try to make the most of the opportunity to rest and recalibrate. We cooked a massive roast on one of our days off this tour – Tina’s dauphinoise potatoes are the one!
What’s life like on the road with each other?
Tina: It’s chill for the most part.
James: Yeah it’s all good, quite often we’ll have discussions about the band, last night’s performance and such, but I think most bands do. It’s important to be aware of how we can constantly improve ourselves. I think we’d love to bring a board game collection with us on tour. Always time for Scrabble or Catan…when we’re not being nerds, we like to party, but tend to save that to the last date on tour!
Anya: It’s pretty easy going, it makes so much difference being in a band where everyone else is on it. We all have our moments, Tina and I in particular are prone to leaving stuff behind but Jim’s usually on our case! It’s intense being in the same space as each other for so long at a time but it’s more than worth it.
Who’s the messiest person to live with on tour?
Tina: No one’s really that messy!
James: The front of the van sometimes turns into a dressing room with lights, mirrors and an array of makeup along the dashboard but it all gets tidied up. I think I can sometimes be a little bossy about that. I like a clean van. [Laughs]!
Anya: We’re all pretty tidy to be fair, especially on tour, there’s not much mess you can make!
Do you take any home comforts on the road with you?
Tina: Not really, I tend to pack quite light. I bring my laptop, pair of headphones, pillow and that sees me through. A good book for our downtime is always an essential.
James: Nah, there’s usually a pack of biscuits kicking around somewhere, that’s all I need.
Anya: Some kind of giant fleece/hoody is a bit of a comforter for me and just tea, all the tea.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen in a SŒUR crowd?
James: I think we’re yet to have a strange experience with a SŒUR crowd. MAYBESHEWILL had a few odd ones so I’m sure they’ll be something at some point.
How’s 2018 treated you overall? Have you had a busy year?
Tina: 2018 has been great to us. We took our time with releasing material so got off to a slow start but with all this activity now we’ll hit the ground running in 2019.
Anya: It’s been great! I think it’s easy for us to feel like there was a lug before a massive stretch of working hard but from the outside, people seem to think we’ve stormed into the next chapter of SŒUR. Getting the Fight EP ready took a lot out of us but it seems to have paid off. Busy is best.
What’s on your schedule for 2019 so far?
Tina: We’ll be releasing our next EP in May next year and as well as doing the festival circuit, we’ll be busy preparing for our debut album.
James: Just being as busy as possible I think, writing/recording/touring, all the usual band stuff. Our calendar is already looking busy up until late May so bring on 2019!
What’s been your proudest moment with SŒUR so far?
Tina: This tour has made me very proud. We pretty much booked all of our shows this year and the people turning out to support us is overwhelming. We’re starting to see that our hard work is paying off.
James: Yeah seeing the response we’ve had with this latest EP and how far we’ve managed to progress has felt really good. A personal highlight for me was doing the Maida Vale session for Daniel P Carter. That place is just oooozing with music heritage.
Anya: So hard to pick one moment but I think whenever someone speaks to me after a show or online and tells me that a song or the band in general resonated with them and gave them something to relate to, that’s what makes me proud.
Where do you see SŒUR in five years time?
Tina: Selling out shows at a town near you.
James: Yep, I’d agree with that!
Anya: What they said.
Fight EP is out now via self-release.
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