#152 'a few words from... Heathers!'

Hi! I'm so glad to present you 2 amazing girls - Louise and Ellie from Dublin. I heard their first song and I knew that's the type of music i really really like! Beautiful voices, beautiful music and lyrics. If you wanna get to know them just read this interview! Feel free to leave the comment! :) Enjoy!

Almost 2 months ago you released your second album called ‘Kingdom’ (great job!). How long you’ve been working on it? Are you proud of this album?

We’ve been working on this album since we released our first album which was in 2008. It’s been a long time coming but both myself and Louise went to university for 3 years so we had to try and balance university work and Heathers. In Summer of 2011 Louise graduated from college and I, Ellie, decided that I would defer my last year at university so that we could record our second album. We did most of the writing during that summer and we then travelled to London in October to record with our wonderful producer, Max Dingel. It was an amazing experience! We worked non stop for a little over 2 months and produced ‘Kingdom’. We’re so proud of this album. It was a difficult second album because there was a lot of pressure from ourselves. It’s also very different to our first album. We have lots of new instruments and a much fuller sound. We also had the opportunity to experiment with different sounds and styles. We’re delighted with it!

What is the main message of this album, you wanted to give to people?

I think the album represents a lot of what we were going through over the past few years. It’s about struggle and trying to overcome and deal with all of the things we struggled with. It’s quite a hopeful album I thing the main message is…….whatever happens in life, things will be ok and you’re not on your own. I think this is really important to us because when you’re going through tough times, you have to try and remind yourself of this every single day so we wanted to be that reminder.

You’re getting more popular day by day . Aren’t you kinda afraid of popularity?

It’s strange, it’s something we’ve always felt a bit awkward about I think. More people are coming to our gigs and more people are listening to our music but although it’s reality, we never really believe it. We’re always so shocked when people come to our gigs and buy our music.

What kind of music are u playing? We can hear there a lot of different types of music.

It’s something we have always found difficult to put a label on. We grew up listening to a lot of Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen and also some traditional Irish music so I think they all show up in places. We love so many different types of music so in our new album ‘Kingdom’, we wanted to try out some things that we weren’t doing before. I think we were going through a 90’s dance phase when writing it because there’s definitely some of that going on. It’s quite a pop album, and then there’s some folky and more synthy stuff in there too. We always tend to focus on the harmonies and melodies.

What was the idea of band’s name? Why ‘heathers?’ ; )

When we first started playing music together we decided we had to come up with a name. I remember our brother, Martin, saying that ‘Ellie and Louise’ sounded boring and we needed to come up with something else. ‘Heathers’ is one of our favourite films. It’s an 80’s movie starring Christian Slater and Winona Rider. It is brilliant!

How did you get together? Since when you’ve known that music is your idea, way of life?

We were brought up listening to music and singing and started learning the piano when we were about 7. Music has always been very important to us. We started going to gigs when we were about 16, so, 2006. We were putting on gigs with our friends and lots of our friends were in bands. It was so great and completely changed our lives. I think, one day, we decided we wanted to do it too. Louise wrote a melody on the guitar and we both came up with some music and harmonies. That was the beginning of Heathers. I think that was 2007/2008.

What/who is your main and the biggest inspiration?

Probably our brother. He introduced to the music scene in Dublin. He’s been in bands since he was 14 and we’ve always looked up to him. Even still, whenever we write a song, we always look for his approval!

With what singer/band you would love to play on one stage?

That’s a tough one! There are so many amazing people we would love to play with. Probably Beyonce because we adore her. People are always surprised when we say this but I think she’s one of the most incredible women in the world! Definitely Beyonce!

Do you create new songs easily? Who writes the lyrics? are there often arguments between you (not only on the musical themes)?

Song writing is difficult. For me, and Louise too, we need to be in the right frame of mind to do it. But it’s also wonderful. Louise works on a lot of  the instrumental parts & melodies, and I work on a lot of the lyrics. We definitely have arguments from time to time, as we are sisters first and foremost but it works because we know each other so well. We can be completely honest with each other which is essential to songwriting!

Do u plan to conquer the polish music industry? I’m sure u will have a lot of fans here ; )

Yes, we have recently released our first single from our album over in Poland. It’s called ‘Forget me knots’. Hopefully we will get to come over in the new year and play some gigs!

What is the first thought when u think about Poland? Do u know any polish singers/musician?

I visited Poland years ago on a school tour. I think I was 15! That is the first thing I think of when I think about Poland. It was so beautiful and the people were so nice!! We visited a salt mine somewhere near Krakow and all I remember was people trying to lick the walls to taste the salt. Awful, I know! I definitely want to return, and bring Louise with me next time! I don’t think we know any Polish singers or musicians but we’ll will definitely have to check some out!

What kind of music do you listen to on a daily basis?

Everything. Pop, rock, punk, hardcore, electronic, folk…to name a few types. At the moment, I am really enjoying an Irish band called The cast of cheers, M83 and Rihannas new album which is quite different from her previous stuff!

When I listen to your songs I feel your power and energy. Are u are just as spontaneous and positive everyday? ; )

Haha, no way!!! We have bad days like everyone else, and a lot of our new album was written from some of those bad days. However, I think music is so powerful and it can totally determine your mood so, we wanted this album to be uplifting and positive, even if it has stemmed from tough times!

Are your fans a big support for you?

Absolutely! We have such wonderful fans and we wouldn’t be doing this without them. There are some amazing people who we see at pretty much every gig we play and then it’s also really nice to see new faces at gigs too!

What behind the music is your big passion? What would you choose if not the music?

That’s a difficult one. I think we’ve really always wanted to play music. We both went to university. Louise did music technology and geography and I did primary school teaching. I remember at one point wanting to be an archaeologist. It’s strange though. I think we started Heathers at that point where you’re trying to figure out what to do with your life and for us, it was to make music.

Do you consider yourself as an artist and what / who do you think the artist is?

I guess so. I think ‘art’ is a very creative thing. It involves a lot of feeling and emotion and it can be quite a personal thing. It’s a form of expression and communication. So I guess we are artists. Our songs are our way of communicating things which we can’t say. Every bit of our work involves so much feeling and emotion that it’s very easy to find yourself going mad! Haha. It’s personal so you’re very responsible for your own work, which is extremely liberating but also quite terrifying.

Are you happy? Do you think that is a recipe for happiness?

We’re happy. It’s so great being able to do what we love to do. I think for some people it’s a recipe for happiness and for some it may not be. Different lifestyles suit different people.

Do you had a moment in your life when you thought that music can be not enough as an idea for life?

All the time! We have to be able to get by too. So you’re always thinking about that side of things. But, I couldn’t  imagine spending my life doing something I didn’t love! It’s finding the balance that’s important!

Where you see yourself for 10 – 20 years?

Hopefully still playing and writing music! We’ve been very lucky so far and had so many wonderful opportunities so hopefully we will have more of that.

What are your plans for the nearest future?

We plan to release our album ‘Kingdom’ in other countries around the world and we’re very excited to start touring again.

At the end a few words to all readers:

Thank you for listening to our ramblings. We hope you enjoy our music! xxx

I just wanna thank girls so much and ofcourse wish them all the best ! :) 

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