Hello Mary

By starrymag | March 13, 2023

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

 

 

Q) How would you describe your musical sound?

 

Helena: I have a hard time describing our sound. I always just say rock when people ask what genre. It’s very much a combination of all of our different influences over time. I guess my description would be: soft, harmonized vocals over loud guitars and drums. That’s what everyone else seems to say when describing us.

 

Q) Who are some of your biggest inspirations or influences?

 

Helena: First huge inspiration was Taylor Swift. The main influences for the music I write are Adrianne Lenker, Elliott Smith, Nina Nastasia and Radiohead.

 

Stella: My inspirations for songwriting are Adrianne Lenker, Kristin Hersh, PJ Harvey, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and Kurt Cobain. Those are probably my main ones, although I know there are more. For drumming, I love Sara Lund, Dave Grohl, Samantha Maloney and Matt Johnson.

 

Mikaela: I think one of my biggest inspirations was Les Claypool. Not necessarily because I play like him at all, but because it was maybe my first exposure to rock music where the bass played a bigger role in the overall sound.

 

Q) What can you tease are some themes you explore on your upcoming, self-titled debut album?

 

Stella: Anxiety, paranoia, change and acceptance are the main themes that come to mind. Personally, those were the feelings I was dealing with while writing songs on this record, and I think they come through in the lyrics, and even the chord changes.

 

Q) How does your debut album compare to tracks on your other releases like Ginger?

 

Helena: Writing Hello Mary was a much more collaborative process. Ginger was written before Stella joined the band, so every song on that EP are reflections of Mikaela and me in seventh through ninth grade. Our songwriting and music taste have matured. I don’t think it sounds very much like Ginger, except my voice really has not changed since I was fifteen years old, so there’s that.

 

Stella: I feel like Hello Mary also features a lot more instrumental/lyrical complexity than Ginger.

 

Q)  “Special Treat” is the last single you’re releasing before the album launches. Talk about the story behind the single.

 

Helena: “Special Treat” was a really fun one. Mikaela and I wrote the words to the verses while walking around Brooklyn one summer night. Then, we wrote the chorus lyrics in my basement, if I remember correctly. I recall being really pumped about the instrumental section and the round at the beginning of the song.

 

Stella: Yeah, I remember the three of us having a lot of fun ironing this one out in practice – it’s just an energetic, good track… and it’s fun having a drum solo at the end.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans will connect to?

 

Stella: I think “Special Treat” is a crowd pleaser, especially when it comes to live shows. It’s loud and the verse lyrics repeat over and over again so it’s easy for people to sing along.

 

Mikaela: I’m really not sure. I feel like it always surprises me what people like.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you jam, or do you typically write lyrics before the music?

 

Stella: For this record, the majority of the songs started on acoustic guitar. Usually, me or Helena will bring in a rough draft of a song with guitar parts and at least verse one and chorus lyrics. Then, all three of us workshop instrumental parts, form and lyrics in practice. It’s fun to hear the songs transform with the addition of new parts – Mikaela’s melodic bass parts do a lot to lift the songs to their highest potential. Also, a lot of the songs on this record have Frankenstein lyrics (different lyrics were written by different people and then collaged together throughout the song), which seems to be a unique songwriting approach which might set us apart from other bands.

 

Q) How much of a hand did you play in the production of your upcoming album?

 

Helena: Very little. We wanted to sound raw and mirror how we sound live.

 

Stella: We produced it with Bryce Goggin, who was very helpful and creative in the studio. But, yeah, there wasn’t much production to do since we wanted it to sound pretty raw.

Q) You’ll be performing at SXSW shortly. What are you most excited about for your upcoming set?

 

Helena: I’m excited to witness the supposed chaos that takes place at SXSW. I predict that it’ll make us frustrated, and we will play rocking, therapeutic sets as a result.

 

Stella: Yeah, I’m definitely excited to just experience SXSW since I’ve never been…And I really hope that we gain some new fans, and maybe even some new friends. [smiles]

 

Q) Are you approaching your SXSW performance differently from other live shows?

 

Helena: I wouldn’t say so, except that the sets are quite short so we will be playing the songs that we enjoy playing the most and that we think are the strongest.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

Stella: Adrianne Lenker.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

Helena: You are wonderful and awesome and make me feel so lucky.

 

Stella: I would say- thanks for listening we wouldn’t be able to do this without you <333

 

Mikaela: I would wanna say what the heck thanks, you rock!!!!