credit: @hourglvssmusic on instragram
The duo of Sophie and Katie have formed, after a few years of working together, Hourglvss, which is something we should all be grateful for. Mostly based in Brighton, the two musicians are putting out music that they perfectly describe as 'technicolored alt-pop tunes that purposefully live in the divide fantasy and divide'. There have been three releases by them now and are really defining their sound that is both infectious and relatable. 'Super Beings' is Hourglvss's recent single and it leaves you wanting to dance the night away while loosing your inhibitions to such joy and fun. The dance and euro pop sounds of the song makes you fall in love with this band even more, it is really exciting to see what is next!
You had been writing together for sometime until you decided to start playing as a band? What made you all decide to finally take that next step into performing live as an outfit?
It was the natural next progression, really. We’d spent so long working on new songs and writing and recording, that naturally we wanted to take them out on the road and let people hear them in a live environment.
Live music is a massive part of both of our lives - we love going to gigs, shows and festivals - so last year felt the right time for us to showcase our music around the country.
We hope that the future of live music can flourish and return to normal as soon as possible. It’s such a sad time for music and the arts at the minute. We’re longing for the days where we can sit in a festival field and listen to our favourite musicians again, it’s such a special feeling.
Was your sound a natural progression from what you had been writing before Hourglvss was a thing or did it come after the first few rehearsals and gigs?
We are both very similar musically. We love the same things and we have this strange sort of telepathy that just makes writing so much fun and easy for us. We definitely had a vision visually and sonically of what we wanted Hourglvss to be. Obviously as we’ve gained more experience and worked with different musicians and producers we have found other creatives that have helped us achieve those things along the way, too.
Your first single came out last year, ‘Johnny’, has some really interesting and seducing vocals! What made this one being the first release?
Thank you! We definitely wanted to emerge on to the music scene with a track like Johnny. It’s moody, cool, dark, intriguing and just something we thought captured the mood and essence of Hourglvss perfectly for a first release. We had so many amazing responses from it, too. Jack Saunders made it his Next Wave Track of the Week on BBC Radio 1, and we have a ton of other radios and exposure for it.
How was the reaction from peers and people listening to the first single?
It was like all of our friends and family just turned to each other and said: “This is so Katie and Sophie.” After writing and working on music for so long, and people waiting for our first release, everybody thought it made absolute sense and thought it represented us perfectly.
The response from the public was great, too. So much radio play, so much love and just an overall feeling of “OK, this is us and now everybody knows it too.”
Did you feel like you needed to do something that was very different from other projects that was happening in Brighton?
It wasn’t necessarily a geographical thing. It was more of “OK this is the music we want to make, it doesn’t matter where we live in the country, we just want to make this type of music.”
We love pop music but we also come from areas of the UK that produce some amazing and unique talent. Essentially we wanted to create great pop music, but we also wanted to incorporate elements of other genres and music that we love.
I love the melody in Dead Man’s Hand! The chorus is both fun and eerie! Was this a fun one to record and write?
Thank you! It was such a fun tune to write. We wrote it in Katie’s flat in North Wales. We call her flat the Hourglass Treehouse. It’s a 70s dream space and literally just sitting in the living room feels like you’ve been catapulted back to a Jefferson Airplane music video. So obviously you can tell that we get mega inspiration from there and come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas.
How has it been being a female led band? It still feels weird and frustrating that so many get confused by it. Would you give any advice to any woman who want to start a band?
At the end of the day, all we really want to do is produce great music, and everyone we have been in contact with in the industry so far have respected us as artists first and foremost. We feel like it’s the same with most artists these days, especially the ones we have come in contact with. Everyone is so supportive of what you’re doing. Artists get it and know how hard it is, so there’s always an heir of respect, support and just general camaraderie.
The first single of 2020 of Hourglvss is soooo good! It feels like its all been stepped up another gear with ’Supreme Beings’. Can you tell us a bit about this song?
We basically just wanted to write a song that was super empowering and just made you want to dance. Supreme Beings is an ode to self love and self positivity. We wanted people to feel good about themselves when listening to it, and we feel like it’s definitely worked. We feel like, during these strange times especially, that people needed a bit of uplifting and distraction from everything that’s going on.
Was I right about the euro pop observation….
100%! The song is also an ode to our love for all things disco, glitter and fabulousness. Think ABBA’s ‘If it wasn’t for the nights’, Sylvester’s ‘You make me feel’ and Aneka’s ‘Japanese Boy’ and Supreme Beings is what you get!
Despite COVID flipping the world upside down and the bread and butter of the music industry, what’s planned next for the band? Hope you are and your families are okay!
We have been writing loads and have our first studio session in London next week in what feels like forever! We have a few little Supreme Beings treats up our sleeves and then hopefully an EP either at the end of the year or beginning of 2021!
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