INTERVIEW: BIRDS OF PRRREY: THE BAND TO WATCH IN 2024

What are the chances that you discover a band before they take over the whole fucking world? Last September,  on a Thursday night, I decided (a very last minute decision) to see a band I genuinely love and had not seen in a few years: The Penske File. Little did I know, I was going to meet a band who immediately became a favourite of mine; Birds of Prrrey. Their heartwarming kindness, amazing work ethic, and well crafted songs will instantly make you want to support them for years and years to come. Discovering Birds of Prrrey's music was a source of inspiration and joy, one of my highlights of last year. Before biding farewell to 2023, on a December morning, a few days before the holidays, I was fortunate enough to sit down and have an insightful and wholesome chat with Clarence (guitar, vocals), Grace (bass, vocals), and Noelle (drums, vocals).  Let's learn about those incredibly talented musicians' hopes and dreams, their favourite show they played so far, what message they want listeners to take away from their music, and so much more.   

How long have you known each other? When did the band form? How long have you been playing your instrument?  Who inspired you to start playing your instrument? Where does your band name come from? 

N: Me and Clarence have known each other since high school; so since 2016. We were in the same program. Grace came along after high school. We met her through a mutual friend in 2022. Clarence and Grace started going to shows together more and I eventually joined them. 

C: We just loved going to live shows so much and it was such an interesting feeling; we wanted to be those people and be on stage, be the ones performing. What if it was us? 

N: The band formed in the beginning of January of 2023; that's when we started practicing. It's almost been a year. 

G: We had been toying with a bunch of different names. I wanted to give homage to Riot Grrrl. I thought it was super inspiring to see women playing loud music and saying what they felt on stage. 

C: I am afraid of birds. Grace proposed it and thought it sounded very cool. Then, I was like: we could add the 3 R to prey and it will sound even cooler. It's an ironic name! 

G: Birds are scary, at least birds of prey. I just imagine a huge hawk coming down and I don't think any of us really has that energy. 

C: It's the energy we have when we are playing! 

 

What would be your dream collaboration?

G: The Breeders; to play with them would be the best day of my life. 

C: I would say Slutever. We covered their song White Flag. However, they disbanded in 2018. That would truly be a dream come true because it will most likely never happen. 

N: Deli Girls! 

Birds on Prrrey on stage at Turbo Haus, October 2023, photo taken by Ariane P-G (aka me)

During one of your last shows, you mentioned how you started recording your EP, can you tell me a bit more about it? Have we heard all of the songs already? 

G: It will definitely be after winter. We were thinking of releasing it around March. 

N: Our first show was on March 24, 2023; we can kind of want to release it near then. 

C: It would be symbolic. If we can, we will aim for that date. It is corny but fun. We are super excited to hear and work on everything. I think it sounds good.

N: Our sound guy Ben was amazing to work with all throughout the recording session.

G: We definitely got super lucky with how everything worked out and now it is very much out of our hands. It's scary for me but I am super excited to hear how the EP sounds in the end. 

N: All of the songs we have been playing will be on the EP. There will be no songs we haven't shown to the public. 

Question for Noelle and Grace (What made you want to sing? Do you get nervous every time you perform?) 

G: I already find performing without even singing super nerve wracking. It could not get any worse, I am already freaking out. Originally, I had said I wasn't going to do any vocals. Clarence has such an amazing voice; I don't feel like I should infringe on that. We all have a role. However, I got bullied into doing it by Clarence (laughs). 

C: She has a beautiful voice! It has to be heard! 

N: I am glad at our last show Clarence was like: ''this is the song where Grace sings". I saw faces in the crowd lit up. It was so nice!  

N: I sing on one song; ''Noelle's Emo Song". I wrote the lyrics. I asked Clarence and Grace to hop on it because I didn't want to be alone.

C: You sing a lot! You do be singin'! 

N: I remember the first time I sang; it was on March 24. I was so nervous; I couldn't talk to anyone before the show. Everyone kept coming up to us saying: ''Are you nervous"? To answer your question, yes, I was shitting bricks; I was so nervous. For some reason, Clarence wasn't. 

C: I don't remember anything; I blacked out. 

N: Grace and I were super scared. I feel like now it has gotten to a point where we are less nervous and more comfortable on stage. We still get nervous to a certain extent.

G: I think it's more excitement! 

N: Excitement, adrenaline! I personally cannot talk to anyone 20 minutes before we go on. It's a rule. I still get super nervous but I would say it is controlled to a certain extent now.

What is your favourite show you have played so far? (+ favourite venue in Montreal)

N: I think our favourite venue is Turbo Haus. 

C: I feel like Turbo Haus is like a house, our home. Honestly, my favourite venue would have to be Esco (Escogriffe) or Foufs (Foufounes électriques). There are always amazing shows there. We got to play Esco twice this year which was pretty cool. Sir Chloe was insane. We opened for this band which I had been listening to since I was 15. It was an out of body experience; oh my god, we are opening for them! 

G: I think we have been very lucky with a lot of our shows. I haven't had one that I can look back on and say: it sucked; we played poorly! 

N: One of my favourite shows was the one at Traxide . We played with Family Man and Customer Service. Both bands are awesome! 

C: Also, the show at La Sottenerea with Ti Boeuf  and Worst Case was so lovely. Everyone was so nice to each other. We had supper all together. At the end of the night, we were in the group chat and everyone was saying: ''Have a good night! Thank you, guys! It was such a good show"!   

Live session recorded for CKUT fm, 2023

What is the one city or country where you would like to perform?

G: I have a lot of family in the states that don't get to see this part of my life so it would be really cool to do a show closer to them out west. 

N: I want to do a show in Paris! 

C: I would be down for Europe. I went to Spain this summer and saw some flyers for Punk shows. I just thought how cool it would be to perform across an ocean; it would be so fun; something completely different to what we are used to. 

What is your song ''False Hope" about? 

G: I think it can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. The way I see it is someone who is giving up on themselves and all of the people around them. They're at a point where they're pushing people out, feeling stuck and super alone. 

Have you ever experienced any form of sexism or discrimination on or off stage?  

G: I think there are undertones.

C: It's very strange because sometimes we know we are treated as token representation. Sometimes, we will play shows and the reaction of other bands or whomever booked us is very stagnant. You didn't actually choose us for our music, you picked us because we represent women. It feels sour. We have had some drunk guys who were super disrespectful. Aside from them, it was never misogyny in a way that was very upfront. It usually is layered under compliments and making sure we don't really notice even though we clearly do. It's a strange feeling. 

G: That being said, once we get on stage, I personally like that we can show them our worth; how we speak for ourselves and how our music speaks for itself. 

C: I think we have shown them! 

G: Yeah, definitely! 

      Noelle, Clarence, and Grace performing at various shows, photos taken by Ariane P-G (aka me) 

What is one song or album you have been obsessed with lately? 

N: It's this album by Lil Yatchy called ''Let's Start Here"! Every song is a banger!

G: The song I have been obsessed with lately is PCP by Pretty Sick.

C: There are so many! This is so hard! Combat, we are going to play with them in March and I have been listening to their album ''Text me When you Get Back". I just adore every song and how the album is mixed. They made sure every song falls into one another, it's so cool. ''Worst First" is just an incredible song.     

Do you have any ideas for future merch items?

N: Ideally, we would like to make new stickers.  

C: Real stickers because I draw them. It is kind of time consuming. We were talking with a friend of ours who is an artist who helped us design one. We have another friend who is also an artist who decided months ago to design a bunch of items for us like earrings, necklaces, chokers. They're handcrafted. We are so excited to have everything, do a photoshoot, and sell the items. It's going to be so fun! Also, the current stickers fade. Every time, somebody puts one on their phone case it takes a week for it to disappear.    

Do you have plans to release any visual content soon (vlogs, music videos)?

N: Clarence has a vision that I will personally not understand until the video is edited and sent to us at like 1 in the morning. ''Guys, look at what I did!" 

C: ''I want to make a movie!" I really love visuals. I study in cinema. I am always thinking about how to materialize songs. I haven't thought about a video clip specifically. We did one for False Hope. Vlogs are a great idea! That is very on brand for us; I feel like Noelle does vlog quite often. I want to do animation with this artist who is helping us design the sticker.

What are your hopes and dreams for the band? (Just being able to make a living off music or headlining arenas and festivals) 

N: I think we have been really following the flow. Where does it lead us? We don't know but we are excited about it. I personally would love to just do this. To me, this is not work; it's a passion. To be able to live off doing what you love doing and what you do best would make me so happy.

G: I think it's really just about seeing where it takes us; we have been super lucky so far. It's been pretty fast moving. Would it be awesome to one day do a huge tour, play a stadium or a big music festival? YES! We would not shy away from that opportunity but I think for right now we are appreciating what we have accomplished.

C: I think it would be super cool to be like rock stars but...We have been told we have potential so it's just about figuring out where and how to channel it in a smart way. Following the flow. Doing a tour would be really cool.

What message do you want listeners to take away from your music? 

G: I just want our stuff to be relatable to people not necessarily for reasons like: '' I am going through a hard time". I want someone to listen to our music and enjoy it, have a fun time listening to it but also to find themselves in the lyrics.

C:  I think lyrics are super important in our music. I think they're always written in a way that expresses things someone would be afraid to say. That's what makes you go: ''oh wow, that song is about me!" We collectively realize we are all so similar in our experiences. We wrote a song and I say it's about divorce. I One time we were playing it and the crowd was very much not a crowd for us; we were opening for another band ''older men band". This one guy who was probably in his forties or something, I saw his whole body feel the song. ''Oh yeah, this is about me." He was very pensive and listening. I love that! I wrote that as a 19-year old and this 40-year old man can relate to it; it's just so human and lovely.

Do you have any pets? If you don’t, what pet would you like to adopt in the future? 

N:  Me and Grace live together and we were thinking about getting a cat but Clarence is here often and they're super allergic to cats.  

G: We might foster cats.

C: I love cats though! I love them! I had a hamster (RIP). I loved him so much. He was amazing but also a little mischievous. I would not have another pet because of him. I am with him forever; he will be my one pet. I want a dog. I love ugly dogs; I just think they have so much charm and appeal. The ones that have their tongue always out and goofy looking; I want one so bad! I would care for it so much. 

N: I want to adopt a snake. I would adopt a snake if it wasn't for Grace. Snakes are super cool. 

And that is how my beautiful conversation with Birds of Prrrey ended; on a sweet and funny note. No matter how young or old you may be or where you are from, I hope this interview made you want to stick around to see how incredible it will be when those badass angels take over the whole world. I wholeheartedly believe this band has the brightest of futures ahead of them. I want to thank my friends for believing I was good enough to jump headfirst into something new: conducting an interview with a band for the first time ever. I also want to thank Clarence, Grace, and Noelle for not only agreeing to participate but to do it with such kindness and poise.  

Your favourite (and still active in 2024 despite life happening) blogger, 

Ariane 

                                                             

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