Kim Acrylic: Hey Cait, nice hanging with you!
Cait-Nice to hang with you too Kim!
Kim Acrylic: Wow! So you guys must be the truest 'Indie' band I've yet interviewed. Tell me about the name 'Peach Soda', it's too cute. Where did that come from?
Cait-When we formed it was because of a battle of the bands competition at our college – we were drawn together by fate of course, to fulfill our destinies of performing songs to the world. Our original ‘name’ was a split second decision of CAN (made up of initials) for the band sign-up sheet – someone even put a clip-art of a soda can as our logo on the event poster, which we found hilarious at the time. Cue many motivational puns (i.e. ‘We CAN do this guys!! <3<3’).
The gig was a pretty cool experience so we thought we’d stick together and try write some original music ( spoiler alert: ur in my head was our first ever song), but we needed a new name so decided to keep it can related and chose the cute retroness which is Peach Soda ^_^ Sweet with a fizz, kind of like a nice thing with a bit of character. I remember the first time someone tried to describe my voice they said it was 'soft with an edge' and in a strange way it's almost a description of our music now!
Kim Acrylic: You guys are based in London. Do you have gigs yet, or have you just done Battle Of The Bands? What was that even like? Fill me in!
Cait -We’ve played a few small local gigs, our latest being a summery acoustic set in a park.
Battle of the bands was the first gig we ever thought we’d do although the second one which actually occurred chronologically. Picture a medium sized hall, half-dark summertime evening light enhanced by some disco style lights and a totally awesome P.A. . A raised stage stands in front of the main depths of the hall with a drum kit placed slightly off centre behind a mic stand and a guitar. This was our setup, and our set itself was short and sweet: Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club and Dreaming by Seapony. Safe to say no one knew the song Dreaming, but almost everyone was singing along to the TDCC cover and ah I just can’t describe how wonderful that felt. I think that was the moment I really realized how in love I was with performing and the response you could get from others.
Kim Acrylic: I really love the vocals. So spacey, sweet, and relaxing. Not at all what I imagined! Are you a self taught singer, or did you sing in some big church choir, with an amazing vocal coach I don't know about?
Cait -Thank you so much! Haha, that makes me wonder now, if I wasn’t being interviewed myself, I’d ask how you imagined my voice would be! I was initially self-taught, although about two years ago a friend introduced me to some vocal exercise techniques and since then I’ve had some singing lessons to explore other singing styles. My natural style used to be more talk-singing like Kate Nash, probably because her music was a big influence for me. However I've always loved different genres of music like r&b and musical theatre, and singing classical pieces plus artists like Marina and the Diamonds and Lana Del Rey have been super influential on me this last year or so. And I did in fact used to sing in a church! I was a ukulele player in the band, then progressed to shyly approaching the microphone and singing backing harmonies, adding flourishes to the songs. I fell in love with the acoustics of the space, the almost magical, hypnotizing reverb and the beauty of sound. I guess I was only just beginning to discover what the voice was capable of then.
Kim Acrylic: Where do the lyrics come from, what moves you to write what you write?
Cait -The lyrics are very personal, we write from genuine emotion and experience plus things we've heard about and see happen to other people in life. The subject of mental health comes up a lot because we believe that it is a very important thing to discuss and be open about , and not something to be covered up and ashamed of. We also try to write about the positive aspects of life and wonderful things like the power of happiness and support and love etc. I guess you could say the process of writing is like trying to make yourself feel better, in addition to giving something to the listener too.
Kim Acrylic: You are able to play one huge gig anywhere in the world with your choice of an opening band, where and who would it be?
Cait -We'd love to open for Two Door Cinema Club at the Reading music fest <3
Kim Acrylic: Your whole image seems very 'cutesy' are you guys into Anime? What image would you say you are trying to project if any?
Cait -I personally love anime and I think we both have a soft spot for the kawaii i.e. cute, except I'm more pink ribbons and fluffy pastel kittens and Nav is like kawaii kittens with Gothic black lace collars complete with bad-ass piercings. Overall I think we're trying to project a harmony, dark and pastel, symbolic of the good and the bad in life, how it makes you are and how we all need to find that balance in our lives.
Kim Acrylic: Given that we just had a horrible Terrorist attack on November 13th, do you think what happened in France will be inspiration for any upcoming tunes?
Cait -I really think it will, in fact we're working on something now. Just today I read a Facebook post by someone who was at the concert when the attacks happened - they had to play dead, trembling in the massacre, desperate playbacks of happy memories pacifying their fear. It made me cry so much when I read it.
I think that overall the events make us both sad, for Paris and for the world. Life can be so scary sometimes and it's unfortunate that it often takes great tragedy for anyone to take a moment to even consider helping out with problems that are not necessarily their own.
Kim Acrylic: Tell us about this EP you are in the process of recording. Try to sell it to me.
Cait -Our hybrid concept-normal album will be called 'In my head', after the title track that basically started off our band. The whole thing is meant to be like a dream, the first track will be a short where you hear someone telling you to 'wake up', and the songs are reflections of thoughts and inner monologues. It'll make you think, take you on a journey and the songs are layered and trippy... what is really the dream anyway? If you love to indulge in soundscapes and you are human and feel all the feels then I would definitely say check it out!
Kim Acrylic: What are some things that annoy you about the other member(s) of the band, come on, fess up!
Cait - Well if I have to say something, one thing is that Nav loves really crazy drumming which happen to feature in the songs which have many barre chords... so that can be kinda painful for a guitarist after a long practice session!
Kim Acrylic: Spotify or Pandora? And what's currently on your Ipod?
Cait -Spotify all they way! What is Pandora anyway? ;) Nah, but seriously Pandora's blocked in the UK so Spotify is kind of the only choice. My iPod is currently playing American lo fi bands like Starry Cat, some cute Varsity songs (in LOVE with 'So Sad, So Sad' atm), some Lucy Rose and Badly Drawn Boy, plus a mix of Lana Del Rey, Melanie Martinez and the Arctic Monkeys.. let's say that I listen to a lot of music...
Kim Acrylic: What is something , under no circumstance, would you do to get a record deal?
Cait -Music is an art form, so we'd never change ours for anyone! If we want to experiment with genres out of our own free will, heck we'll do it, but for a record company just to get money and gain fans who wouldn't give our normal music the time of day.. we don't think so.
Kim Acrylic: And... what WOULD you do? Hmm...?
Cait - Hahaha! Erm.. well we WOULD do our best to create the most wonderful music we can ^_^ No catching us out, I'm afraid ;)
Kim Acrylic: What are your other songs like? Describe them, are they like 'Ur In My Head' and 'All Of Your Friends' ?
Cait - Our other songs are a mixture of sounds, darker, sadder, powerful, sweeter and more uplifting. We have a wide variety of influences, from Tame Impala to Fall Out Boy, so there's quite a lot of fusion going on in our sound. ‘Ur In My Head’ showcases the Lana Del Rey-esque vocal style which I adore and crops up quite a bit, and I guess All of Your Friends describes the underlying emotive and more vulnerable side to our music. If you like the songs we currently have online, you definitely won't be disappointed with the album! You'll see a greater depth to who we are and the messages we wish to portray when you hear our other music - for now keep an eye on our YouTube channel for new uploads! ^_^
Kim Acrylic: You're on a podium, tell readers why they should listen to you guys...
Cait - We put 100% of our hearts into our music, lyrics and production, it's all us. We're creatives and we're human just like you. I think everyone has a place for music that helps us remember that we exist and that it's okay to feel the rollercoaster of emotions we all experience. So I think you should check out our music.
Kim Acrylic: Cait, thanks so much for joining me....
