The first time we caught Modern Woman was at The Lexington in a show packed to the absolute brim, full of heavy guitars and thundering vocals, despite frontwoman Sophie Harris confessing she was exhausted after travelling down from Manchester.
A band on the rise, fresh off the release of their debut album Johnny’s Dreamworld and soon to be embarking on their first headline tour, we took our chance to ask them about their work so far as well as what’s to come.
Your performances are full of energy, how does playing live make you feel? Do you prefer being on stage when compared to being in the studio?
We love playing live. I think playing live is the best bit for all of us, especially when you play a new song to an audience. It feels nice to read a room. I like being in the studio a lot too, though, but it’s different. We’re almost ready to go into the studio to record the next one soon. When we recorded Johnny’s Dreamworld we tried to replicate the live setting as much as possible in the studio, I know Joel Burton the producer really wanted to capture that. So they intertwine in a lot of ways.
What’s your favourite song to play live?
I always enjoy playing Dashboard Mary, we always play it at the end of the show, it feels like it wraps the set up well.
Do you have a favourite venue to play or visit?
There are lots of venues we have loved playing – we always enjoy playing in Scotland and Ireland. We played a really fun show in Dublin and I love how much the crowd moves in Glasgow. Recently, we played at the Cabaret Sauvage in Paris with Ezra Furman – that was like an indoor circus tent – one of our favourite shows yet.
You’ve said some of the songs on the record started as solo work, how did it feel to move into working with a band?
It was how the songs were always meant to be played, I think, I started playing some of them solo because I hadn’t met the band yet, so it was a way to play and meet new people. But I always imagined and wanted most of them to have a full-band backing. When we started working as a band, it felt very natural, they all brought their own essential parts to the record, that’s how I knew I had met the right people to work with.
This album took over two years to record. Talk to us a bit about your songwriting and recording process, are you very collaborative in your approach?
I usually write on guitar, bass or keys at home, just because that’s what I was used to doing – so when Modern Woman formed I had these songs I wanted to translate to a full band. The later song, Johnny’s Dreamworld, developed slightly differently though. The groove Juan and Adam formed under the chorus/ verse parts went on to become a key part of the song, and something we ended up changing the song structure to accommodate. I would say it’s the most important element of the song. Then David brings really essential atmospheric bits through tape, keys and strings. I would say everybody in the band is a very essential member and their input is necessary for Modern Woman to be what it is, they elevate the songs in a crucial way.
As for recording, Joel Burton sort of joined in that mix as producer and saw the songs from the outside. He translated them really well from the live to the recorded, he is very talented. We did as much as we could live in the room, with as little overdubs as possible.
Your album/single covers for Johnny’s Dreamworld have been really interesting. What was the thought process/story behind them?
Thank you! The cover art was inspired by Justine Kurland. Sandra Ebert, the photographer, she’s very talented, captured it really well. We wanted to present the moment like a still from a film, and surreal/ almost dreamlike. I’ve always been interested in impulses that lie under my own life and others’ – that push/ pull – and I’ve always made a concerted effort to allow that to come to the surface through songwriting, live performance, and even the cover.
As a literature graduate, did any books or authors have a direct influence on Johnny’s Dreamworld? Or are novels something that inspires your music generally?
I don’t know if they had a direct influence, because in the moment I just wrote about what I was interested in. But I do think reading has always been very important to me, so I’d hope I’ve absorbed a lot through that, and that comes out when I do write. There are many writers I love, I know that Alice Oswald, Octavia E Butler, Cal Flyn, Sharon Olds were significant to me in different ways when writing lyrics.
What’s a song everyone should have on their playlist?
Nature Boy – Ella Fitzgerald, written by Eden Ahbez, but I love her performance.
Are there any smaller or underground artists you think more people should be listening to?
What’s coming up this year that you’re excited about?
We’re really looking forward to playing Green Man again, and End of the Road, we love playing festivals.
We’re doing a mini-tour at the end of this year in the UK – and it’s the first one we’ve done as a headline!
