Sitting on the table back stage at the O2 Academy with the noise of Chrvches sound check rattling in the background; seventeen year old Derry singer song writer, Bridie Monds-Waton AKA Soak seemed fairly relaxed. It may have been a familiar accent- I too am from Northern Ireland- that had put her at ease or perhaps it was being surrounded by her favourite things: an acoustic guitar and a skate board- not the typical must haves for an ordinary 17 year old. But then again Soak doesn’t seem all that ordinary. Despite her early success, however, this young artist remains approachable and endearingly sweet – not at all disgruntled, which is often the case with some musicians at the end of a long day of interviewing. So we launched in to chat about her time touring and her experience with Glaswegian tour mates, and record label owners Chvrches.
You have recently been signed to Chvrches new label ‘Goodbye Records’; how did that come about?
“We have the same publishers, Universal. They contacted me and were like; Chrvches have a song called Mother We Share, would you like to cover it? It was basically for TV syncs and stuff like that. And so I recorded that and Chrvches really liked it and so, I ended up signing with them to release an EP.
Will there be any further collaborations between you and the band following the Chrvches remix of your song Blud?
“I don’t know, maybe at one stage we’ll write a song together or something. I really loved their remix though; iv had a remix before by Ryan Vale and it was really chilled, and they brought my vocal down to like, a male vocal- it was really weird. But when Chrvches done Blud it was so much better – it made it like a disco song”
Do you think working with Chrvches and their electronic style with change your sound at all?
Em, I think I will just naturally differ with the kind of music I make; I don’t set out to make a particular genre or anything. What it is, it is. Everything transforms when you get it to the studio anyway. But I reckon over the years I’ll probably transform into something else; but I don’t know
Coming from Derry in the North of Ireland, how do you find touring in England in comparison?
Well I’ve only done a few tours prior to this, so I don’t really know what I’m getting myself into to be honest. We did two weeks in Europe and it was really big capacity venues; it was pretty sweet. Things like that don’t really make me that nervous. I mean like, England has much bigger venues that Ireland definitely. I mean, this is so much better than playing like Mandela- but yeah, this is strange because it’s an electronic band and I’m an acoustic artist; it’s a strange audience. It’s hard to get them to listen sometimes, but I think it’s pretty cool. I like playing bigger capacity venues though, it doesn’t make you feel so tiny. Like, if there’s a crowd of ten, and just me, then it’s terrifying.
You’ve supported a lot of great acts in your short time; who has been your favourite act to support?
Ah, that’s hard.
Tegan and Sarah were amazing to play with; when I was 13 they were like my heroes. I mean, they once played in Belfast and I couldn’t go because it was over 18. All my mates got fake ID’s, but my mum wouldn’t let me; so I had a tantrum. They were really cool people. Bombay Bicycle club were lovely to tour with as well. But out of all of them I really think Chrvches have been the best to tour with; they’re really down to earth and like nice people to chill with.
What has been your most memorable moment of touring so far?
I guess one of the highlights would be on the European tour. We stopped in the middle of the Alps and everyone got out and we just had a snowball fight; that was pretty amazing. The whole idea of a tour is pretty special to me – going to different places and having these opportunities to see other cultures. To do all that, and get paid – that’s a highlight in itself.
As a musician coming out of Northern Ireland, do you think it’s harder for bands to make it from such a small place?
In my experience I think it worked in my benefit. But in the way that, because it was such a small place and there wasn’t a lot of music coming out of it. So when something decent came from there, people flocked to it. What happened with me was whenever I released my first EP they were getting played on radio one and all these music industry people flew over to see me. I mean, Derry is smaller than Belfast and there is some great stuff coming out of Belfast that just isn’t getting recognition.
You’re such a young artist to be touring; if you weren’t here now what would you be doing?
I got to like, GCSE’s and in the middle of them I was doing gigs as close as 30 minutes before exams, and I didn’t care really – I didn’t like school at all, except for music and the artsy side. But I ended up with good result; I got more than enough to get into the Tech I wanted. At that time I was being offered such big gigs, like supporting snow patrol. I seemed like people at tech were thinking “Why the f#ck are you getting all that?”, so it was kind of hard to make friends. But with my career going so well, and all the flying back and forth – the school said ‘you can’t stay if you’re not here more often’. So I left. It worked out better for me though, I’ve done so much and Il only get this shot once.
Questions: Dominique Daly
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