In Waiting
by Sarah.
You’re in waiting a long time. And then you just have to do it yourself.
When we released our first album in the height of lockdown, we had no idea the impact it would have. We had no label or solid touring plans in the pipeline, no money or financial backing to speak of, but we were determined. We decided to release the album independently and went about setting up Pillow Queens Records. We had no idea what we were doing and there was a lot of learning involved, but we sent out a mailing list asking if folks wouldn’t mind pre-ordering the album so we could front the funds for vinyl pressing, and we were blown away by how many people did exactly that. We contacted Irish photographer Faolán Carey and asked if we could use his photo for our album cover, and went about designing the inlay with Craig Potterton. It was really cool having full creative control over the record. It gave us great purpose during a weird time.
Within a couple of weeks we were pulling the trigger on pressing the vinyl for our debut record In Waiting and it felt amazing. It had been a labour of love and the product of months in studio in Donegal with producer Tommy McLaughlin, and we were incredibly proud of it. We’d recorded in bursts because we were all juggling full-time jobs so it felt a bit like a patchwork to begin with, and we did some serious editing towards the end. I specifically remember a guitar line I recorded in Holy Show not making the cut because we realised it was actually just Hero by Enrique Iglesias. What a banger. Here’s a video from recording I uploaded 5 years ago today.
Anyway. We couldn’t believe we were getting the opportunity to release on vinyl, it was a real pipe dream since we’d started playing music. We sold every record through bandcamp and packaged each of the 1500 records ourselves. What a time to be alive! Honestly, admin is at least 80% of being in a band. A virgo’s dream.
When the album came out, the reviews were magical. We weren’t sure if it was just happenstance that the record came out when nothing else was happening and everyone was home ready for new art, but whatever it was, we were so delighted that everyone was connecting with it in the way we did. The accompanying music videos from Kate Dolan definitely helped. I always remember the visuals of Gay Girls particularly when I think of that time.
A few months later came Quietly Waiting, a covers EP from artists from across the world covering songs from In Waiting. I remember hearing it for the first time and being completely blown away. We’d been fans of SOAK and Damien Dempsey for years, and were getting really into Merpire and Wild Pink over lockdown, so the culmination of their efforts on this release was spectacular for us. It’s not on our Spotify so not many people know about it, but I’d recommend taking a listen.
In Waiting brought about so many opportunities for us. Immediately off the back of it, we were invited to perform on the Late Late Show with James Corden in the US. We genuinely thought it was a prank but we recorded it remotely and did an interview on the show. It was bananas. It’s weird watching that interview back now. We’d drawn straws for who’d be the two band members interviewed, and set up a fake studio space in Stoneybatter with Bob Gallagher and Ber Quinn. I remember getting a call from Pamela a couple of hours before we were due to go live. She was having a covid scare so she couldn’t come to the studio and had to do it from her bedroom. I don’t think I’d ever been as nervous. I fell asleep on the couch immediately after filming.
So why am I talking about it now? I guess because we’ve been re-learning songs from In Waiting for this next leg of tour dates in Ireland. I had joined Pillow Queens as a guitarist but so had the other 3 girls. We had to delegate. In Waiting was the first time I’d written any bass and I started falling in love with it. I remember writing my bass parts for Harvey and listening to a lot of Frankie Valli looking for inspiration. Pamela had a playlist called few croons? that she’d made in 2016 and that was in pretty heavy rotation too. I reckon you can hear that throughout the album.
Anyway that was a nice little trip through memory lane. Thanks for coming along.
We’re starting our Irish tour in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we’ll see some of you there. We’ll be selling copies of In Waiting on our upcoming tour dates with all proceeds going to Uisce for Gaza, an initiative by the Kildare Palestine Solidarity Campaign that raises funds to deliver clean drinking water to communities in Gaza.
Please continue the recommendations for nice spots for specialty coffee, nice walks, good bars that won’t look sideways at us, delicious food, and anything else you think we should see.
Thursday, Nov 21 – The Crescent, Drogheda
Friday, Nov 22 – Crown Live, Wexford
Saturday, Nov 23 – Bank Lane, Waterford
Friday, Nov 29 – The Set Theatre, Kilkenny
Saturday, Nov 30 – Dolans, Limerick
Thursday, Dec 5 – Cyprus Avenue, Cork
Friday, Dec 6 – Mandela Hall, Belfast
Saturday, Dec 7 – Leisureland, Galway
Friday, Dec 13 – Vicar Street, Dublin
Also we couldn’t let the mail-out go by without acknowledging that our gal Cathy was the first Pillow Queen to tie the knot this weekend! Huge congrats to the happy couple, we feel like proud parents.
AND OF COURSE, we must not forget Pets Corner!
This is Radish. Radish is from Alabama. Radish was found in a backyard. He is 2 years old. He is a very good sleep buddy, and is a good friend to all cats. We love him.
Do you think your pet could be on pets corner?
I know I mentioned making soup in the last post but the truth is I’ve been pretty lax in my soup-making this past two weeks. My cooking has consisted mostly of putting together vats of savoury porridge. I know what you’re thinking, but you must trust me. Oats, cumin, white pepper, turmeric, garlic, ginger, rice wine vinegar and whatever MSG source you have floating about (I use aromat) and finish it with scallions, sesame seeds, coriander and some chilli oil if you have it. I swear by it.
Ok that’s everything. Hopefully see you at a gig soon. Lots of love.