Philly four-piece Church Girls recently landed on my radar by way of their single ‘Basement’ filling the mind with noise. It’s a great song, and with news of a new album on the way, I had to extend the invitation to interview them. Graciously they accepted and have provided some insights into the creation of Still Blooms. Out today, you can find out it below. Huge thank you to the band for this. Still Blooms is out NOW.
Hey Church Girls, how’s it going? Good! We’re in the midst of our 6 week US tour and it feels great to be on the road again.
You’ve recently released your new single ‘Basement’. What can you tell us about it? We started working on Still Blooms after our tour was cut short due to the pandemic. We wrote “Basement” when I think everyone was feeling a little isolated and hopeless. The song is a reminder to myself that life is short and not to be wasted away.
Our guitar player Mitchell had been sending me tons of instrumental ideas, and when I heard this one I knew it had to be included. I went through endless drafts of lyrics and vocal melodies because I wanted to do justice to what he’d written. It was very collaborative — Julien suggested adding trumpet and ending the song with just the two guitars, and Vince wrote one of my favorite bass lines. The song feels to me like it oscillates between despair and triumph, and we’re all happy with how it turned out.
It’s the latest track to come from your upcoming album Still Blooms. Could we expect to hear a similar sound throughout the record? Though the record feels pretty cohesive, “Basement” is the closest to a ballad that we have. Most of the other songs are heavier, but all have similar elements of big choruses with layered vocals.
Speaking of the record, what can you tell us about it? The title Still Blooms comes from a lyric in “Undone”: “Unwind the clocks, pull the blinds, and you’ll find that the sky still blooms.” The record deals with some darker themes but is ultimately about finding some light amongst it.
We spent more time on this record than previous ones. I worked closely with our mixing engineer / producer John Pfiffner and we ended up retracking a lot of vocals and adding more elements that gave the record some depth. It’s definitely the release I’m most proud of.
You guys have a pretty collaborative formula when it comes to the recording process. Was this always the case or something that has occurred naturally over time? I always wanted a collaborative approach, since that’s how to make something better than anything I’d make on my own. Everyone in this group is a pleasure to write with. You’re gonna hit roadblocks while writing but you just have to stay positive and trust you’ll make it to the other side. And that’s always a good feeling.
Finally, what’s your favourite fruit? I like them all. If we’re playing favourites I’ll go with pineapple.
My dad sends me monthly shipments of grapefruit in the winter. It’s sweet. But they’re tumbling out of my fridge. It’s too many. And I start to stress before the next shipment comes. I have to clear space in my apartment to fit the damn grapefruits! But it’s cool. I dig grapefruit too.