Doe have just released their new record, ‘Grow Into It’; it’s “an album about the ageing process and growth,” says singer and guitarist Nicola Leel. She and Jake Popyura fill us in.
How have you lot grown since your debut?
Nicola: I think we’ve grown into our sound since the last album and are a lot more at ease with the type of music we’re writing. Also, I’ve learned that you need to actually sit down and spend time writing lyrics in advance rather than winging them in a last minute panic at the studio.
Jake: We’ve also grown older since the last album, so what was once excitement has now become spreadsheets and backache. Actually, who am I kidding, we’ve always loved spreadsheets.
You’ve taken influence from bands like The Breeders and The Cars, what’s your music discovery process like? How did you end up looking to those bands?
Jake: The Cars were a band that both Nicola and I were exposed to from a very early age as both of our dads were into them. I don’t think either of us realised what an effect they’d had on us until we started this band! We’re classic rock enthusiasts at heart, Nicola in particular, so it was only a matter of time before those influences would show through. The Breeders have always been one of our main influences, and I feel like that becomes more apparent with time. We’re even named after one of their songs. Fact.
You’ve said you want the album to be the antithesis to cliche male bands wanting to stay young forever, do you have any tips for embracing adulthood? The real world is a bit much at the mo.
Jake: Remember that it’s okay to not know what the hell you’re doing. I feel like none of us ever really know, and people that say they do are full of shit. There’s a lot of pressure on everyone to feel like they have everything locked down once they hit a certain age but life isn’t that linear, and that’s the beauty of it.
Nicola: It’s totally normal to want to cling to youth for as long as possible and avoid facing the fact that life is tough, but when we were writing the album I started to think about adulthood from a specifically female perspective and how for a lot of women, youth IS adulthood. You’re trained from a young age to take responsibility, behave appropriately, grow up as quickly as possible while dealing with the shitty things that happen to you daily on account of your gender. As you age, you start to get to know yourself and peel off the layers of bullshit to realise your behaviour doesn’t need to be directly linked to ensuring men want to sleep with you. There’s a lot of power in that. Anyway aside from all that, even if you were able to stay young forever, it doesn’t the state of the world so you may as well try to evolve while it burns around you.
Do you think you’ll have a different take on this whole ‘growing up is good’ positivity when you’re older and worrying about age-related illnesses and the like?
Nicola: In this context ‘growing up is good’ goes far beyond physical ailments. I look forward to being even older and more comfortable with myself, steel hip and all.
Jake: To be honest I’m hoping that the older I get, the less of a shit I’ll give. I’m planning to start smoking again if I get to 70 so I have that to look forward to.
