INTERVIEW: HOTGIRL, THE BAND REDEFINING DUBLIN’S INDIE SCENE “For me, songwriting is half a subconscious process, so I think that’s how the songs ended up being about what was actually going on in my mind, as opposed to a premeditated topic.”

Hot Girl was brought to my attention this week as our collaboration with Best New Indie’s Track of the Week with “The Stink.” Upon further inspection and a bit of light stalking, their energetic live performances and new EP have elevated Dublin upstart Hotgirl’s music from fuzzy melodic discord to new heights. Leveraging Ireland’s exploding underground music, the band not only amassed an army of adoring fans but also attracted attention from music industry moguls worldwide.

Led by enigmatic frontwoman Ashley Abbedeen, Hotgirl defines Ireland’s thirst for fresh ideas on the international scene. Backed by seasoned producer Neil Kennedy in their latest endeavors, Hotgirl dives deeply into intimate topics with unstifled passion and anthem-grasping production.

Your EP Blast Off has been met with incredible praise. How does having your work supported by such major names in the indie scene feel?

It’s so nice being a part of a scene that is so forgiving and welcoming to new bands. There’s a lot of hunger out there for new, unique ideas, and bands or musicians who are trying to push the boundaries a bit further. There’s also a cool spotlight finally being shone on Ireland and what’s been going on underground, and we have bands like Gilla Band and Fontaines DC to look at, and we can now say it is possible for an indie band to break out on a global scale. Having bands like SPRINTS backing us and coming to our shows, as well as local bands and artists whom we also look up to, supporting us and vice versa, is really encouraging and inspiring.

The singles On The Brink, In Your Head, and Sisyphus showcase intense energy and depth. Could you describe the inspiration and creative process behind these tracks?

Sonically, our tastes are super varied. I was approaching songwriting on a very song-to-song basis at the time. The songs didn’t start off as me trying to write a “Hotgirl” type of song, so what gives each song its style is how I hear it in my head and the skill set I have to turn it into something that exists in the physical world. I think about how Sisyphus came about, and what inspired it was my obsession with Angel Olsen and Beyoncé’s country album, which is just being played absolutely everywhere. It was an idea that came to me on my commute to work from Drogheda to Dublin. I just heard it in my head and sang it into my phone. A lot of ideas come like that for me. I just heard it in my head, and the lyrics followed naturally. I try not to overthink it too much, and if I’m starting to struggle, I leave it be until an idea comes back around again, whether it’s after a day or several months. For me, songwriting is half a subconscious process, so I think that’s how the songs ended up being about what was actually going on in my mind, as opposed to a premeditated topic.

Collaborating with Neil Kennedy, who’s worked with artists like Milk Teeth and Creeper, brought a sleek production style to the EP. How did his influence impact the final sound?

He understood our sound and how to bring out its best qualities. Despite our tendency to jump genre to genre, there are certain elements in our melody writing and production style that make things more cohesive. We learned quickly what those qualities were with Neil. It was like he was holding up a mirror to us that showed us exactly what made us distinctive in a way that we couldn’t objectively see ourselves. A lot of the ideas we brought to him were half-baked, and he was really involved in every stage of the production – from songwriting and demoing all the way to mastering. He took what made us good and made it shine.

Hotgirl’s soundscape has been praised for its noisy, melodic dissonance. How do you approach balancing chaos with harmony in your music?

We’re still learning the balance. I think dynamics and contrast are important when a song has a lot of ideas. You must know when to let certain parts shine and when to take them out or have them take the backseat. I think that from the experience of making this project, we’ve started to find our feet.

Live performances have been a major part of your journey, with shows alongside Sprints, Pillow Queens, and Lambrini Girls. How have these experiences influenced your growth as a band?

Playing in front of crowds who didn’t know us was an art we had to learn quickly. It takes a lot of patience because you must train people to respond to you in a certain way. Playing shows with bands who have been doing this longer than we have and who have mastered it has been really helpful for us, and we see how important it is to be absolutely mental to really captivate an audience.

As one of Dublin’s most exciting live acts, what’s your approach to creating an unforgettable stage presence and connection with the audience?

I’ve learned that you must lean as far into yourself and your personality as possible so people can understand you. You have to know yourself and not be the way you want people to be because crowds can see through you if you’re trying to be something you’re not. I hated playing live at first because I didn’t really know who I wanted to be on stage, but the band have really brought the best out of me, and now performing is my favourite thing in the world. I know myself more now, and the band does too, and we’ve become comfortable enough to be vulnerable with our audience.

The indie scene in Ireland has been thriving in recent years. What’s it like to be a part of this movement, and how has it shaped your identity as a band?

The DIY ethos of the Dublin scene is really inspiring. All our friends are talented, and everyone just wants to support each other. We’re growing together, and we encourage each other to get better. We all want everyone to do well; there’s no sense of competition. We all have space to do our own thing because we’re all different. I guess that helps us creatively because it’d go against us to try to be like anybody else.

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The track Sisyphus stands out for its thematic weight and title. What made you decide to draw from such mythological concepts in your songwriting?

Jake and I were working on the song’s second verse together, and after I wrote the line “I bare my father’s pain, it’s like a boulder”, he was reminded of Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the mountain. Jake does that a lot. Someone will say something, and he’ll link it to something in his mind and say it out loud. That’s how we’ve been writing a lot of lyrics more recently. We just go back and forth with funny ideas or cool wordplays. It wasn’t an intentional thing, but it just fit in the context of the song. I’m not very learned in philosophy or poetry, but I’ll draw from little things I pick up over time. Like in “In Your Head”, one of my favourite lyrics is “like a camel walking through the desert, I won’t stop until I’m dead”. I got that line from the book ‘The Alchemist’, which I’d just read and loved. It’s explained in the book how camels walk and walk for days until they suddenly drop dead, unlike horses, who will stop when they’re tired to recharge. That stuck in my brain and spat back out when I related it to my life.

With the London headline at The George Tavern coming up, what’s next for Hotgirl? Are there plans to tour more extensively or explore collaborations in the near future?

Absolutely. We can’t wait to bring the live show worldwide and work with people we admire. I’m glad we all get on so much because it doesn’t ever feel like work. It feels like I just have fun with some of my best friends. There’s so much we’re excited about, and we’re buzzing to get an international audience on board with us.

Tickets for Hotgirls George Taven gig are available here: sub:terra Tickets | £8.16 | 23 Apr @ The George Tavern, London | DICE