INTERVIEW: Boyish 2023
Hey, India and Claire tell us what has been on your mind lately!
First, let's hear about how the group formed and how it has evolved since the beginning
- We met freshman year of college, I needed a guitarist for an audition, and my roommate at the time introduced me to Claire. We ultimately failed at the audition, but the judges suggested we keep working together. For several months we would meet up and work on music a couple of times a week, and then not talk to each other outside of that. It took us a while to realize that we could also be friends. That’s when we started our first band together.
As a group you have released two albums Carnation in 2018 and Garden Spider in 2020 can we expect any near future albums following the release of your single “Girls Are Mean”?
- Yes! We’re working on another EP that’ll come out this summer, and then it’s album time!
Who are some of your biggest influences in music individually and as a group?
- As a group, I feel like we’ve both been heavily influenced by the stuff that rocked our worlds when we were growing up. A lot of Lorde, The 1975, The Strokes, The Replacements, The Cocteau Twins, The Cure, and Taylor Swift. I’m sure there are a lot more but that’s what’s coming to mind!
- One of your most streamed songs “FUCK YOU HEATHER” is an emotional story about a breakup, what emotions did you face when releasing this song?
FUCK YOU HEATHER is more about a friend breakup than a romantic one. I feel like those are the most confusing. When you go into a romantic relationship, there’s always the expectation that it could end, and I’ve always expected that way less in friendships. So I think the ending of a friendship can almost feel sadder and more confusing and even more lonely.
The first single released by Boyish is “Brooklyn Red”, a desire to return home to Minneapolis is expressed, do you find any inspiration from your home place and did you return?
- India: I’ve always been enamored by the Minneapolis music scene. The people in that scene are just incredibly talented, and it’s such a supportive community. Our first-ever tour offers came from bands that are Minneapolis based. And we always go back to record at the Minnehaha Recording Company in Minneapolis.
- Claire: I love to write when I’m at home, it reminds me of the reasons I fell in love with music and I feel like a kid in my room just writing songs every night. My dad played in a band growing up and he helped me install one of his old PA systems into my bedroom ceiling I have written so much music in there over the years. The Minneapolis music scene is one of the strongest music scenes I’ve seen. It’s a super supportive and talented community, a lot of my favorite bands ever have come out of the Twin Cities like The Gully Boys, Babes in Toyland, The Replacements, Hippo Campus, and Adrianne Lenker grew up there. I think people in Minneapolis really value a strong local art scene, I think the fact that there is a store dedicated to only Prince merchandise in the Minneapolis airport shows how much we appreciate local musicians. Unfortunately, I have not been able to live in Minnesota again since the pandemic, but I try to go back as often as I can because I miss it dearly :(
You chose the name Boyish for your group, is there a story behind the name or how it came about?
- We chose the name Boyish because of the Japanese Breakfast song also named Boyish. There's a line in the song that says “here we are, we're just two losers” and that really captured how we felt at the time.
