Our Girl in exclusive indieBerlin Interview ahead of 22.11 show @ Auster

by | indieBerlin

Excited? Damn right we are. UK band Our Girl is playing our Basement Bash Vol. XIV (cue League of Gentlemen joke) and we forced them into a corner and got them to confess everything to us. Yes, you heard right. Everything.*
indieBerlin: How did you get together as a band?

Our Girl: Josh and I were friends before the band, and he’d only ever played guitar. I really wanted him to be in the band but I didn’t want there to be a second guitar, so he gave bass a go and was immediately amazing at it. We played a little while together until we managed to find Lauren. We sent her a demo, then had one practice with her and immediately knew it was right!

indieBerlin: How does the songwriting process work for you / in your band?

Soph: I write the songs at home, sometimes the whole song and sometimes just parts of it. I normally make a crap reverby demo for Josh and Lauren to hear, and then we get in a practice room together and they write their parts. Sometimes we’ll completely reorganise the song until it flows right. When it all comes together in a rehearsal room it’s the best feeling!

indieBerlin: If you had to describe your music to a deaf person, what would you say?

Soph: Ah that would be a hard task. Maybe I’d write out the lyrics, or tell them in sign language. And explain the feeling and the dynamics of the songs at the different points. Maybe tap or drum the rhythm together!

indieBerlin: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Soph: Everything around me! Mainly the relationships I have with the people around me, and how they affect my life and make us both feel.

indieBerlin: What music do you listen to when you’re touring?

Soph: It depends! We almost always have music on in the van. We’ve probably listened to both Big Thief records round about a hundred times. Canned Heat, Simon & Garfunkel and Courtney Barnett are also regulars!

indieBerlin: What was the last concert you went to?

Soph: The last concert I went to was Josh’s other band Breathe Panel at Rough Trade East in London. It was brilliant, they’re really good. Tonight I’m going to see St. Vincent do an intimate set at Cadogan Hall. I can’t wait, I think it’s gunna be beautiful.
I also regularly accidentally whack my face on the mic. No nose bleeds yet though.
indieBerlin: What was your biggest stage fuck-up?

Soph: We play half a step down, in Eb. And my guitar was once tuned in standard tuning by mistake, while Josh was in the correct Eb tuning. We started playing the first song and it sounded horrendous. I was singing along to the key of my guitar, so everyone thought it was Josh’s fault! I also regularly accidentally whack my face on the mic. No nose bleeds yet though.

indieBerlin: How do you feel about covering a song?

Soph: I feel pretty good about it! We did a cover of Sad Fuzz by Ty Segall which was super fun to do. It was for this company called Flying Vinyl that send out a box of 7 inches to people once a month, it’s awesome.

indieBerlin: Do you prefer to play big festivals / stages or smaller club gigs?

Soph: We’ve probably had the best shows at smaller club gigs, which are normally headline shows, where people have come specifically to see us play. Big festivals are great too though, it can be really freeing playing to a large crowd, even though it’s less intimate.

indieBerlin: Do you see your songs in colour or in black and white?

Soph: Josh sees things in colour which I find really interesting. We all agreed that our song Sub Rosa is a very red song.
Write to win (at) indieberlin.de to win tickets for the Basement Bash Vol. XIV on November 22 @ Auster Club!
Go to Our Girl Website

*not really haha

Hear the latest Moa McKay Single Heartbreak Billie