Returning to Irish shores for a visit, GoldenPlec sat down with Wallis Bird for a catch up. Flying high on the release of her new album Architect, we had plenty to ask one of Ireland’s favourite songstresses.
Her latest album Architect is a step away from past albums. We asked Wallis what’s new in this record? “It’s got lots of elements of dance, but a lot of subtlety of dance. The most obvious examples would be two songs – Hardly Hardly and Gloria – which are just out and out dance tunes. The rest of it? Yea. There’s still a lot of my waltzing around kinda ballad-y shit. It’s ingrained in me.”
And was writing the album a step away from the norm for Wallis too? With her back catalogue featuring a lot of ballads, acoustic and guitar-based tunes, how did Wallis cope with writing a album with such a different sound-scape? “I had to find time to write the album when I wasn’t partying to be honest. It was really deadly. It was the first time I’ve done that actually. Usually, music and writing and work comes first, and life comes second. I spent a lot of time at my local bars and nightclubs getting to know my area, and got really into dance music because dance music is just really fucking tribal. All I wanted was to move my body, you know? Just move! “
Of course this change had to develop from somewhere. With changes of locations, and countless changing influences and atmospheres, what aspects had the biggest effect on the sound? Wallis explained the change a little further: “[I was] feeling kinda stifled, for a long time, and not realising that until I made the decision to move somewhere else. I was living in London, which doesn’t suit me now that I look back. It’s like an ant farm there. They never stop working, they don’t think about life. People don’t meet because they have to work loads of jobs to pay their rent. The art is very high brow, so you don’t look at where art comes from, which is absolute poorness.”
How does Wallis find being an Irishwoman abroad? Is it a hindrance or a quality to be embraced? “I’ll never lose it. I’ve no interest in losing it. I get away with murder with this accent!” But with her songs being in English, and her being based in Berlin and touring heavily in mainland Europe, does she ever find it hard to connect to international audiences, or sense that the audiences find it harder to connect to her? “No. I think music is the only universal language that we all have. It’s a body language, an unspoken word, you know? There’s lots of artists that I listen to that I’ve no idea what they’re singing about. It’s body language. People just kinda latch on to that. You feel it, you know? Everybody has that instinct.”
We all know Ireland to be a nest of top quality musical acts, and we’ve had this reputation for years, so growing up in Ireland, what were the musical influences that spurred Wallis on to become a big name in music in Ireland? “I grew up with fucking great bands! I only got into U2 in like 2000, I grew up with Sharon Shannon, The Cranberries, Kerbdog, they’re countless! It’s a hive! We’re constantly bringing out really really good stuff. Ireland’s never done anything shit from what I can see.”
But did Wallis find it harder to get noticed because of Ireland’s music? With a very competitive atmosphere musically, and countless bands trying to get noticed within the country, Ireland isn’t always the easiest place to gain attention as a band. Wallis shared her thoughts on her own rise: “I thought the Irish press and publications were very fair. It’s very hard to get on the radio, but the publications were very on top of what was happening. And not slating – they would give it time as much as they would give anyone time. I learnt so much about new acts coming up through reading about it. It’s hard enough to get gigs in Ireland. I started to get pissed off about that, and it’s one of the reasons why I took the chance to try out another country. You have to pay to play, or sell twelve tickets on a Tuesday night for €12.50 in some student bar. Stuff like that in not conducive to bringing out an energy in the town.”
So what’s next? With her fourth album just released and available to purchase now, will Wallis be taking a few weeks off? Of course not: “I’m on a roll. I feel like I’m good to go actually. I feel like writing.”
Wallis Bird will be playing The Academy, Dublin, on April 25th. Tickets are available from ticketmaster.ie.
Photo: Abe Tarrush