PALE WAVES’ HEATHER BARON-GRACIE:”I’M NOT A TYPICAL ROCKSTAR THAT WAY”
INTERVIEW | HEATHER BARON-GRACIE | PALE WAVES by Morgan Hermiston
Whether you’re into indie, alternative, or any genre of pop, Pale Waves are the embodiment and epitome of multi-genre experimentation. Ahead of the Still Smitten tour in October, I sat down for a chat with Heather Baron-Gracie, the stellar singer-songwriter behind the band’s most popular and infectious tunes. We spoke about famous fans, memorable live moments, and tour essentials. Read more below.
I began by asking Heather about the band’s recent performances at Reading & Leeds Festival. At the latter, they performed a secret set, and I asked her how these all went. “They were really fun actually,” she began, “I think it’s never guaranteed the crowd that you’re going to pull. It’s never expected that the tent’s going to be full, or it’s going to be huge crowd“. She continued, “every time we walked out for both Reading and Leeds, it was really busy. We were very thrilled with the turnout and the set went down really well“.
Heather mentioned that they “did a cover of ‘Zombie‘ by The Cranberries and that seemed to be the moment of the set“. I’d said that I saw loads of people talking about it, and asked her why she thinks that was the highlight. “Probably because it’s better than any of my songs,” she joked, “I think because it’s such a well-known song, there’s so many generations of people that know The Cranberries and ‘Zombie’ in particular“. “I think it just appealed to most people in that tent,” she continued, “the majority of people knowing it, it just went down really well“.
To stay on the topic of festival season, though it’s coming to an end, I asked Heather what her dream lineup would be. “Oh god, can they be dead?“. “Off the top of my head, I guess I would pick obviously The Cranberries. The Cure, Chappell Roan“. She elaborated further, “The Sundays, Kelsea Ballerini, throw a bit of country in there“. Garbage and Bon Iver also made the list. “A lot of 90s artists, I just live in that era when it comes to music. I try to escape it but I can’t“. I asked her if she’d throw Pale Waves in there too. “I don’t know,” she said, “part of me would just want to watch everyone and not have to think about having to be on stage, or prep myself. I think I would just actually enjoy it for once“.
Pale Waves are set to play the Away From Home Festival in New York. I asked her how this came about and Heather said they’d, “just literally received an email saying ‘he [Louis Tomlinson] wants you to play, will you play?’ We said absolutely!“. When I said that Louis Tomlinson was a certified Pale Waves fan, Heather said, “I know, who would have thought? I thought it was random too, but very, very honoured to be on the festival [lineup] and happy that he likes our music“. She continued, “I think it’s going to be a great festival. I think his fans are really committed and are really passionate about music, so excited to play in front of them“.
When the band get back from New York, they embark straight onto the Still Smitten Tour. Starting in Glasgow headlining the city’s Tenement Trail on October 11th, Pale Waves will head across the UK and Ireland. I asked her if there was anywhere she was particularly excited to play, or perhaps places they’d never been before. “Oh there’s a lot of places that we’ve not been before,” Heather began, “we tried to make that the whole point of Still Smitten“. She continued by saying, “we felt like we’d not played enough shows for ‘Smitten‘, the record itself“.
In terms of cities they were excited to play. “Wrexham, never been there. We’ve not been to Ireland in so long, literally years. For this tour, I was like ‘no, we have to’. We’ve abandoned the Irish for too long. We’re going back to Dublin, Belfast, Cork“. Heather also listed Southampton and Sunderland and mentioned how they’d, “not played Stoke [On Trent] in years“. She said, “it’s actually where our bassist [Charles Wood] is from. I’m sure the majority of that will just be his family, even though it’s sold out, but I’m sure he’ll have everyone down for that. That’ll be hectic“. She concluded that she’s, “excited to play Manchester, I’m excited to play Glasgow, and I’m excited to go back to Ireland“.
I asked Heather which songs on tour she thought people would be most smitten to hear. “I think people want us to play ‘Miss America‘, which is on the set list“. Continuing, “I mean ‘Glasgow‘ always goes down a treat in Glasgow, you know, it’s for them. I expect a big reaction“. If there wasn’t, “I’d be so disappointed, I’d kick off!“. Heather also added that, “the singles off ‘Smitten‘, everyone will be excited to hear. We’re going to play some old songs that we’ve not played in a while“. From these, “maybe, ‘My Obsession‘, ‘Heavenly‘, ‘The Tide‘, throw some of those in“. “I think it’s just going to be a fun tour, you know,” she furthered, “there’s not that much pressure on it. Smaller venues, more intimate, just pretty laid back, but a really fun time“.
On the topic of essentials for tour and pre-show rituals, Heather began by saying that, “usually, that’s the rest of the band. They’re usually popping a bottle of champagne or, like, joking around. They love to just have a blast“. In terms of her touring routine, Heather explains, “I’m at the other side of the venue, just like in my own world, just getting in the mindset and warming up. I always have a Vocalzone before I go on stage. I can’t not. They’re these little sweets that you just chew on and it opens up all your airways. I can’t go on stage if I don’t have one of those. I’m very particular about that“. Adding to this, “I drink loads of tea as well, it’s quite boring. I’m not a typical rockstar that way“. I, personally, don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. If it’s not broken, why fix it?
For my final question, I asked Heather what she liked to do when she isn’t touring or recording music. “I love nature,” she said, “so I enjoy going away on nature trips. I just came back from Loch Tay, in Scotland obviously, in the Highlands“. She added that, “it’s literally my favourite thing to do besides music. I hate cities, I hate people. I very much prefer being around animals, and around trees, and being able to breathe. So I place myself in nature whenever I can, really“.
You can catch Pale Waves, and see Heather after her Vocalzone, on their upcoming tour across the UK throughout October. Even though some shows have already sold out, check out the link below for remaining tickets.
