Wolf Alice

Photo: Jordan Hemingway

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Wolf Alice On Their Rock Evolution, Why The Studio Is A "Toy Shop" & Their New Album 'Blue Weekend'

GRAMMY-nominated English rockers Wolf Alice were bundles of nerves when they cut their first album, but their vibrant, new release, 'Blue Weekend,' displays their facility as studio tinkerers

Morgan Enos

GRAMMYs/Jun 8, 2021 - 08:19 pm

What's the greatest opening track on a debut album? Is it the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There"? Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle"? N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton"? Whatever's your favorite, chances are it's the sound of a young, hungry artist with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove—not to mention full of jitters about being in a studio.

For better or worse, that's exactly what Wolf Alice sounded like on their 2015 debut album, My Love is Cool—and they readily admit it.

"It's a mixture of nerves, anticipation, excitement, and rage kind of blurring into one project," drummer Joel Amey tells GRAMMY.com. From an adjacent Zoom square, lead vocalist and guitarist Ellie Rowsell echoes his statement. "We're 10 times better than we were when we started off," she says. "For [bassist] Theo [Ellis], Joel and I, we were very new to our instruments, weren't we?" (Guitarist Joff Oddie rounds out the quartet.)

Flash-forward to 2021, and Wolf Alice are stumping for their third album, Blue Weekend, which dropped June 4 on the British indie label Dirty Hit. On tracks like "Lipstick on the Glass," "How Can I Make It OK?" and "The Beach II," the GRAMMY-nominated alternative rockers' studio vision finally catches up to their ambition—which they were never lacking in the first place.

Plus, they have a new, crack producer—three-time GRAMMY winner Markus Dravs—on the case. "When you're a garage band at home, you have vague ideas of reverbs and things like that," Amey says with a laugh. "It was really fun to explore those things with people who actually know what they're doing."

Throughout the interview, Amey and Rowsell speak with a sense of awe about the mechanics of music-making, from nicking a Sufjan Stevens guitar sound to paying homage to the Roches' "Hammond Song" to drifting along on an Arthur-Russell-style drum loop.

GRAMMY.com caught up with Wolf Alice's Ellie Rowsell and Joel Amey to discuss the creative trajectory that led to Blue Weekend, why the mercurial-yet-democratic Fleetwood Mac is a fount of inspiration, and how a demo blooms into a full-fledged track.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Wolf Alice | Photo: Jordan Hemingway

Congrats on the new album. How do you feel?

Rowsell: Super excited. It crept up on us, hasn't it?

Amey: It really has, yeah.

Is there a release show of any type? Or are you still doing the virtual thing a year and a half into this situation?

Amey: In the U.K., we can do a socially distanced thing; a very small capacity can come in. I actually went to one last Friday. It was cool to hear live music, but it was sort of strange. It was a bit like an examination hall layout in terms of tables and a rock band playing.

How do you feel the band has developed creatively across your three albums?

Rowsell: God, I feel like it's probably easier for someone else to hear it rather than us. We've been, obviously, fully immersed in being us as a band. But I think we've gotten better, for sure. As musicians, we're 10 times better than we were when we started off. For Theo, Joel and I, we were very new to our instruments, weren't we?

Amey: That's a polite way of describing how we were.

Rowsell: I think we sound better. [Knowing laugh].

How would you describe yourselves at the beginning—perhaps from the standpoint of your limitations?

Amey: I think we've always been in our own world—ambitious, considering what we can do. Maybe when we started—I don't know if "ideas bigger than our stations" is the right phrase—but we've always thought of the little details, I think. My Love is Cool was done in four weeks, and it's a mixture of nerves, anticipation, excitement, and rage kind of blurring into one project.

Then, Visions of a Life—actually, our guitarist, Joff, said something that was kind of interesting: It's quite experimental by our standards. We went on loads of different tangents and we were encouraged to have a real adventure in the studio by Justin [Meldal-Johnsen], our producer, who was super encouraging about going down the rabbit hole of loads of ideas.

I feel like there's a lot of each person's personality in Blue Weekend. We've kind of distilled it down to what we appreciate from songwriting and being in the studio. It's more focused.

On the topic of anticipation and nerves, I think of the Beatles or Joy Division on their debut singles. They sound jittery like they can't believe they're in the studio.

Amey: Yeah, it's like a toy shop for people, isn't it? When you're a garage band at home, you have vague ideas of reverbs and things like that. It was really fun to explore those things with people who actually know what they're doing. [Chuckles.] You get tips!

Which wells were you drawing from for Blue Weekend? Who—or what—were your inspirations, or archetypes in rock history?

Rowsell: [Long ponder.] I think we were thinking a lot about Fleetwood Mac and how, despite being a kind of rock band in many ways—or a guitar band, at least—[they] wrote these massive pop songs. They're a perfect marriage of the two genres, and that's inspiring to me, I think, in the same way that the Band are to us. Yeah, lots of stuff. All over stuff.

I don't feel like there's one thing that's overarching. It's here and there. We take inspiration from multiple different artists.

What are some of your favorite moments on Blue Weekend? Let's start with "The Beach."

Rowsell: Well, I love call-and-response. [Laughs.] So, I'm glad we got call-and-response on the album. When I listen back to that bit of the song, I imagine hundreds of people chanting it. I think we tried to make it sound a bit like that as well. It was always kind of funny! I'm proud of us that we were like, "Yeah, let's make it sound like hundreds of people are chanting this thing!"

Amey: I think it's one of the few songs we have where all four of us recorded vocals.

How about "Delicious Things"?

Amey: I think "Delicious Things" was a bit of a breakthrough moment for us when recording. We started working with a revered producer, Markus [Dravs]. We didn't do too much hanging out and drinking together. Your first relationship is making something off the bat and hitting "record." That's kind of how we started this.

We got to a stage where we listened back to what we were recording, listened to "Delicious Things" and said, "Maybe we're holding back a bit?" He said, "Less is more," and we had this thing about "Less is more." Then we decided, "No." This was the moment where we plugged in a MIDI keyboard and put on trumpets, put on strings, and just went for it.

I think there was something in the four of us we weren't quite doing up until that point. From then on, we had a new confidence to write the songs in a maximalist way if we wanted to. Not having to strip every song back to, like, four people, which we maybe tried to do at one point.

Moving on to "Lipstick on the Glass." Any thoughts or stories about that tune?

Rowsell: Yeah, we kind of struggled with this one.

We had a demo version, which was soft and slightly electronic, and we had a full-band version. I think Markus at one point said, "It sounds like Las Vegas," which we weren't really happy about! We got into the studio, split between these two versions. Sometimes, you can only really get the good ideas to come out when you're not supposed to be in the studio.

There was one night when we were supposed to be going home since it was late in the evening. I was talking to Iain [Berryman], the engineer, saying, "Please, can we just throw a few things at it? It's not going to be serious. It's just jokes." That's when you can feel confident enough to make things you were once scared of.

From then on, we kind of thought, "OK, this is starting to take on its own identity." We put strings in there. We programmed stuff into it. We'd just been listening to Sufjan Stevens' song ["Mystery of Love"] from Call Me By Your Name, and we were like, "Put those dry, noodly nylon-string guitar things in it!" Basically, just copy what he does.

Now, we get to "Smile." I'm curious how that one came about.

Amey: Early on, when we had a Dropbox of ideas, I had an instrumental with that riff. I brought an acoustic guitar and a fuzz pedal and was kind of mucking around and made it into an instrumental—just noodling and trying to practice my production a little bit.

It kind of hung around for a while. Ellie had these amazing lyrics from another demo called "Smile." It became one of those ones where we crossed them together. Then, we took it into the rehearsal room and [it] became much more of a live band song. It existed as more like an electronic piece before.

How'd you execute "Safe From Heartbreak (if you never fall in love)"?

Rowsell: We were kind of inspired by "Hammond Song" by the Roches. It's a brilliant song. I wanted something that had those kinds of dry, up-front, outsung, stepped vocals. We had the two parts, so it's a male-female part, because, obviously, Joel is a great singer.

We then struggled a little bit to know what music should be going on in the background because this is a vocally driven song. Again, Joff's noodling came to mind. He did it on two guitars—kind of a dueling fingerpicking thing—and it was really hard because it was mechanical. It needed to be precisely played.

Can you talk about "Feeling Myself"?

Rowsell: It came about from a little demo that I had. I didn't really think it was something we'd use. It was just synth-y stuff. The guys really liked it. We worked on it and we kind of fell in love with the middle-eight of it, the music of that and note choices and stuff. It became a favorite moment of ours. I think because of that, we really wanted it on the album. It's a new direction for us that's exciting.

We're almost done with the record. "No Hard Feelings."

Amey: It was something Ellie sent over as an intro to a longer demo. I remember when I first heard it; it sounded like [it had] a Motown-y, girl-group-y kind of vibe to it. Then, it moved onto a different track. We became really fixated with this intro and tried to do a band version of that intro vibe.

We just tried different things, you know? Happy accidents. Joff just felt inspired and came up with this Arthur-Russell-y loop that just kept going and going. He sent the vocals and we were all visibly moved.

Last but not least: "The Beach II."

Rowsell: Yeah, this came from one of Joff's demos that he made on his phone, I think. It had some classic Joff sounds in it: big reverb and distorted guitar noises, electronic drums. We really loved it; it sounded quite old school. We were struggling to find a good melody or lyrics over the top of it.

At the very end, while in the studio, I had another crack at it. It took this song to a different place that had much more of a home on the album. It had all the components of Wolf Alice in one tune: The shoegaze-y stuff, the pop stuff, the electronic stuff, the folky stuff, the rock stuff.

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Mike Piacentini

Photo: Screenshot from video

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Family Matters: How Mike Piacentini’s Family Fuels His Success As His Biggest Champions

Mastering engineer Mike Piacentini shares how his family supported his career, from switching to a music major in college to accompanying him to the GRAMMY ceremony for his Best Immersive Album nomination.

D. Mariah

GRAMMYs/Apr 26, 2024 - 07:17 pm

Since Mike Piacentini’s switch from computer science to audio engineering in college, his family has been his biggest champions. So, when he received his nomination for Best Immersive Album for Madison Beer's pop album Silence Between Songs, at the 2024 GRAMMYs, it was a no-brainer to invite his parents and wife.

“He’s always been into music. He had his own band, so [the shift] wasn’t surprising at all,” Piacentini’s mother says in the newest episode of Family Matters. “He’s very talented. I knew one day he would be here. It’s great to see it actually happen.”

In homage to his parents’ support, Piacentini offered to let his father write a short but simple acceptance in case he won: “Thank you, Mom and Dad,” he jokes.

Alongside his blood relatives, Piacentini also had support from his colleague Sean Brennan. "It's a tremendous honor, especially to be here with [Piacentini]. We work day in and day out in the studio," Brennan explains. "He's someone who's always there."

Press play on the video above to learn more about Mike Piacentini's support system, and remember to check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Family Matters.

How Madison Beer Broke Free From Pressures Of Internet Fame & Created Her New Album 'Silence Between Songs'

Mastodon's Brann Dailor

Photo: Courtesy of Brann Dailor

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Where Do You Keep Your GRAMMY?: Mastodon’s Brann Dailor Shares The Story Of Their Best Metal Performance Track, “Sultan’s Curse”

Mastodon drummer and singer Brann Dailor reveals the metaphor behind the track that snagged him his first golden gramophone, “Sultan’s Curse,” and how winning a GRAMMY was the “American Dream” of his career.

D. Mariah

GRAMMYs/Apr 25, 2024 - 03:42 pm

Mastodon's drummer and singer Brann Dailor assures you he did not purchase his shiny golden gramophone at his local shopping mall.

“I won that! I’m telling you. It’s a major award,” he says in the latest episode of Where Do You Keep Your GRAMMY?

The metal musician won his first GRAMMY award for Best Metal Performance for Mastodon's “Sultan’s Curse” at the 2018 GRAMMYs.

“‘Sultan’s Curse’ was the jumping-off point for the whole theme of the album,” he explains. “The protagonist is walking alone in the desert, and the elements have been cursed by a Sultan.”

It’s a metaphor for illness — during the creation of the album, the band’s guitarist Bill Kelliher’s mother had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and bassist Troy Sanders’s wife was battling breast cancer.

For the band, the GRAMMY award represented their version of the American Dream and culmination of their career work. Even if Mastodon didn’t win the award, Dailor was happy to be in the room: “We felt like we weren't supposed to be there in the first place! But it's an incredible moment when they actually read your name."

Press play on the video above to learn the complete story behind Brann Dailor's award for Best Metal Performance, and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Where Do You Keep Your GRAMMY?

Brann Dailor Talks 20 Years Of Mastodon, New 'Medium Rarities' Collection And How He Spent The Coronavirus Lockdown Drawing Clowns

Blur in Tokyo in November 1994.

Photo: Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images

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7 Ways Blur's 'Parklife' Served As The Genesis Of Britpop

On the heels of their Coachella return, Blur celebrates the 30th anniversary of their opus, 'Parklife,' on April 25. Take a look at how the album helped bring Britpop to the mainstream.

Jon O'Brien

GRAMMYs/Apr 25, 2024 - 02:33 pm

In April 1993, journalist Stuart Maconie coined the term Britpop for a Select magazine article celebrating the UK's fight back against the dominance of American rock. Remarkably, London four-piece Blur weren't even mentioned in the story. And yet, frontman Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James, and drummer Dave Rowntree would provide the catalyst for the scene's mainstream breakthrough.

Just a year later, Blur released what many consider to be Britpop's defining statement. Parklife served as a colorful, vibrant, and incredibly infectious love letter to all things Anglocentric, drawing upon the nation's great cultural heritage while also foreshadowing what was to come. And it instantly struck a chord with homegrown audiences desperate for guitar music that wasn't drowning in abject misery, and better reflected their day-to-day lives.

Remarkably, Albarn had predicted Parklife's success four years earlier. As he declared to music writer David Cavanagh in 1990, "When our third album comes out, our place as the quintessential English band of the '90s will be assured. That is a simple statement of fact."

Three decades after its game-changing release, here's a look at how Parklife forever changed both Blur's career trajectory and the history of British rock.

It Kickstarted Britpop's Greatest Rivalry

In one of those great rock coincidences, Blur's third LP hit the shelves just 24 hours after "Supersonic" gave a then-relative unknown Manchester outfit named Oasis their first ever UK Top 40 single. And the two bands would remain intertwined (perhaps begrudgingly so) from then on, culminating in the most high-profile chart battle in British music history.

You could argue that Oasis' Noel Gallagher threw the first stone, describing Parklife as "Southern England personified" in a manner that suggested it wasn't exactly complimentary. And according to his manager Alan McGee, Definitely Maybe cut "Digsy's Dinner" was written as a deliberate "piss-take of Blur."

An increasingly bitter war of words then broke out in the summer of 1995 as the "Country House" versus "Roll With It" war swept the nation. Blur emerged victorious, although Oasis had the last laugh when (What's The Story) Morning Glory spent 10 weeks atop the UK album chart.

It Brought Storytelling Back To Indie Pop

Heavily inspired by Martin Amis novel London Fields, Parklife was inhabited by a cast of intriguing fictional characters, essentially doubling up as a series of short stories. "Tracy Jacks," for example, is about a golf-obsessed civil servant who ends up getting arrested for public indecency before bulldozing his own house.

"Magic America" is the tale of Bill Barret, a Brit who commits to a life of excess during a Stateside holiday ("Took a cab to the shopping malls/ Bought and ate until he could do neither anymore"), while "Clover Over Dover" explores the mindset of a manipulative boyfriend threatening to jumping off the titular white cliffs.

Over the following 18 months, everything from Pulp's "Common People" and Space's "Neighbourhood" to Supergrass' "Caught by the Fuzz" and The Boo Radleys' "It's Lulu" were combining classic British guitar pop with witty Mike Leigh-esque vignettes of modern life.

It Originated The Big Indie Ballad

Dramatic ballads aren't necessarily the first thing that come to mind with Parklife, a record famed for its jaunty, "knees-up Mother Brown" ditties. But it boasts two examples: "To The End," an alternate Bond theme featuring a burst of Gallic flair from Stereolab's Laetitia Sadler, and the swoonsome "This Is A Low." Turns out the "mystical lager-eater" the record was designed to embody could also get a little vulnerable from time to time.

This appeared to give all of their laddish peers some pause for thought. Oasis, the most fervent advocates of the "cigarettes and alcohol" lifestyle, later scored their biggest hit with acoustic ballad "Wonderwall." And bands including Cast ("Walkaway"), Shed Seven ("Chasing Rainbows") and Menswear ("Being Brave") all enjoyed UK hits revealing their softer sides. No doubt Coldplay, Travis, and every other sensitive post-Britpop outfit that emerged in the late 1990s were taking notes, too.

It Paid Respect To The Greats

The Britpop scene was renowned for its slavish devotion to the first time British guitar bands ruled the airwaves, the Swinging Sixties. Oasis freely admitted they modeled themselves on the Beatles, while the likes of Ocean Colour Scene, Kula Shaker and The Paul Weller all released albums that sounded like they'd been discovered in a vintage record shop.

And while Blur would later distance themselves from the past with a sense of invention (which Albarn would also parlay into his various side projects, including the virtual band Gorillaz), they were more than happy to get all nostalgic on Parklife. See "Far Out," their only track to feature James on lead vocal, which resembled the trippy psychedelia of Pink Floyd in their Syd Barrett era, and the Sgt. Pepper-esque brassy instrumental "The Debt Collector," while there are also echoes of the Walker Brothers, The Kinks, and Small Faces. Suddenly, retro was the new cool.

It Turned Blur Into Britain's Biggest Guitar Band

The UK Top 10 success of 1991's "There's No Other Way" proved to be something of a false start for Blur, with the band soon falling by the wayside like every other baggy pop outfit that emerged at the turn of the decade. "Popscene," the 1992 single intended to revolutionize both their career and British guitar music in general, stalled at No. 32, while 1993 sophomore Modern Life is Rubbish sold just 40,000 copies.

But Parklife single-handedly turned Blur into Britain's biggest guitar band, reaching No. 1 in their homeland, spending 82 weeks in the Top 40, and eventually becoming a million-seller. It went on to pick up four BRITs, a Mercury Prize nomination, and has been recognized as an all-time great by Spin, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone. Further proof of its glowing reputation came in 2009 when Royal Mail selected it as one of 10 albums worthy of commemorating on a postage stamp.

It Spawned A String Of Classic Singles

Parklife's campaign was kicked off in March 1994 with "Girls and Boys," a glorious dissection of British vacationers — which, surprisingly in the days when genre-hopping was frowned upon — evoked the '80s synth-pop of Duran Duran and Pet Shop Boys. Rowntree was even replaced by a drum machine, not that he particularly minded, luckily.

This indie floorfiller was followed up by the hugely underrated "To The End" and then the much-quoted title track. Everything about "Parklife" the song is larger than life: the Cockney geezer narration from Quadrophenia's Phil Daniels, the festival-friendly sing-along chorus, and the brightly colored video in which James — perhaps tipping his hat to Queen's "I Want to Break Free" -– donned soap opera drag. But fourth release "End of a Century," a melancholic tale of domestic drudgery complete with mournful trombone solo, once again proved there was a depth beyond their cheeky chappy personas.

It Made Brits Proud To Be British Again

Unable to connect with the oppressive angst and flannel shirts of the grunge movement that had plagued their first major North American tour in 1992, Blur first started to embrace their inherent Englishness on the following year's Modern Life is Rubbish. Unfortunately, this throwback to the original British Invasion was met with a resounding shrug of the shoulders on both sides of the Atlantic.

Undeterred, however, the band doubled down on all things Anglocentric on its follow-up, from its original title of London, to its greyhound racing cover art, to its celebrations of bank holidays, Club 18-30 holidays, and shipping forecasts. This time around, they managed to capture the zeitgeist (at home, at least), as the rise of New Labour and the forthcoming hosting of Euro '96 made everyone proud to be British again. Within 12 months, the UK charts were littered with homegrown guitar bands selling the idea of the English dream — and it all started with Parklife.

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Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker play instruments and sing under red lights during a performance on the set of the Jimmy Fallon Show.

Sleater-Kinney perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on March 15.

Photo: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images

interview

On 'Little Rope,' Sleater-Kinney Still Wear Their Hearts On Their Sleeves

Sleater-Kinney's latest album delves into profound vulnerability, crafted in the wake of personal loss and global upheaval. 'Little Rope' showcases the band's enduring spirit, close friendship, and the approach that's kept them relevant over time.

Chloe Sarmiento

GRAMMYs/Apr 10, 2024 - 03:29 pm

Using lively, raw instrumentals as a vehicle for emotional catharsis, Sleater-Kinney’s Little Rope takes the lead as one of their most vulnerable projects to date.

The "Dig Me Out" singers approach their 11th studio album with a fresh perspective, influenced by their experiences during the pandemic. Despite the departure of drummer Janet Weiss in 2019, the band maintains their iconic post-riot grrrl take on rock music. Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker infuse Little Rope with reflective lyrics and raw energy, mirroring their personal growth and resilience.

While working on the album one day, Brownstein received a call with news that nobody ever wants to hear, nor expects. She had been informed that her mother and stepfather had been involved in a fatal car accident while on vacation in Italy. Faced with grief and a sense of unfamiliarity, the band turned to something that always brought them comfort: making music. Little Rope was born.

Despite such a tragic, major life change and trying to make it through a global pandemic, Sleater-Kinney’s motive remains consistent.

"We hope to find people where they're at," Tucker explains to GRAMMY.com. "And it seems like we have, in each stage of someone’s life."

After hosting a GRAMMY U SoundChecks event with the Pacific Northwest Chapter of GRAMMY U, Sleater-Kinney sat down with GRAMMY.com to talk about their perspective on the ever-changing industry and the legendary bands they pull inspiration from.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

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It has been almost 30 years since you all released your first album. In what ways has Sleater-Kinney changed since then and what has stayed consistent?

Corin Tucker: We still try to write songs that are emotional and that reach people. Our songwriting has developed over the years and I think we have different methodologies for writing. But, really the most important point of a song is that it makes people feel something. We still try to judge what we do by the same metric as we did 30 years ago.

Carrie Brownstein: One thing we set out to do is to have a unique sound and I think we created a sonic language with each other that we've tried to maintain, but also push the narrative forward and challenge ourselves with each album. That's been consistent from the beginning, we never — even in the early years — wanted one album to sound like the last one. Things change and the industry changes. We just try to stay true to ourselves, but also adapt.

Are there any of your early projects that you feel still resonate to this day?

Corin Tucker: The funny thing about streaming is that people are finding some of those older songs and really getting into them. We found out at the end of last year that people were really into one or two songs off of our very first self-titled record. A really nice thing about having your music available digitally is that it's available to everyone all over the world.

Path of Wellness (2021) was self-produced, as it was made during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and Little Rope (2024) was produced by GRAMMY-winning producer John Congleton. What was it like going from a self-produced project to having John on the next project? Was there a certain reason you chose to work with John?

Carrie Brownstein: Self-producing for us was very anomalous. We've always worked with producers and one of the reasons is to just have an outside perspective — somebody to come in and be the tiebreaker or to just bounce ideas off of. So, it was kind of a no-brainer to return to a producer after the solitary of the pandemic.

We have always been fans of John Congleton's work. We come from similar backgrounds and have been in talks to work with him for a while. Fortunately for this album, it worked out and we felt like these songs would be really well served by his productions.

Could you tell us a little bit about your dynamic as a music duo? When writing songs, do you both try to work on them 50/50 or is it on-and-off, where one of you may take the lead for certain songs? And what was this collaboration like specifically with Little Rope?

Corin Tucker: Our goal is always to make the song as strong as it can be. We’ve worked together long enough to know that that's the most important thing. Sometimes a song is more an idea of one or the other, and you need to wait until they’ve fleshed it out to come in with your parts. We have a bunch of different modalities and we just try to keep the conversation going. It's a lot about communication – it's an ongoing constant conversation between the two of us on where the song is at and what we think it might need.

Can you share any standout memories or experiences from when you were writing Little Rope?

Carrie Brownstein: My friend has an apartment in Downtown Portland and he was out of town. So, he let us use the space as a writing studio. And neither of us live in Downtown Portland, so it was interesting to be in this highrise in Portland looking out over the city — sort of being in conversation with the city and changing the landscape in which we were writing was nice to have.

As Pacific Northwest natives, how do you see your Pacific Northwest roots stick out in your music?

Corin Tucker: A lot of the sounds from the historic bands you can hear in our music. You can hear Nirvana, you can hear the Fastbacks, so you can hear so many of those Pacific Northwest musicians. They were bands that we grew up with and bands that we still try and emulate with what we do.

I feel like a good number of Sleater-Kinney fans have stayed fans and grown with you all over the years. What about your music and your brand do you think resonates with people even in different stages of their lives, and how did you foster this dynamic?

Carrie Brownstein: Sleater-Kinney’s a very earnest band. We wear our hearts on our sleeves and I think our audience appreciates that rawness and vulnerability. It's emotional music.

We have a lot of younger and newer fans. I think they relate to the emotionality and the honesty in the music, so that’s what we try to stick with.

You have said that The Showbox is one of your favorite venues to play at in Seattle. How does it feel being back at The Showbox for two sold-out shows?

Carrie Brownstein: We really enjoy the intimacy of a smaller venue, allowing the fans to get a little closer to the stage and feeling more connected with them. It's just nice to feel a sense of history, a through line with our career and our relationship with the city. We're really excited to be here.

I’m curious to know how your fans reacted to Little Rope. Have you noticed any common reactions to the project? Or any particular responses that have stood out?

Corin Tucker: People really relate to the emotion in the music. We've gotten a lot of people saying that it helped them through a hard time. Having that impact on people is pretty special when they feel like it's okay to be emotional and process things with music.

Lastly, you have the rest of your international tour to go, but what else is coming up for Sleater-Kinney?

Corin Tucker: We're very excited to play shows internationally. There may be some cool stuff coming up that maybe hasn't been announced yet, but we're looking forward to more touring.

Carrie Brownstein: For an album cycle, it's almost two years and so, for the most part it will be, it'll be touring and then we'll write something else.

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