We caught up with female fronted pop babes, Hourglvss, after their dreamy ethereal set on the This Feeling stage at Isle of Wight Festival on Friday. Dressed in their coordinated blue suits and owning the stage like their lives depended on it. One half of the singing duo, Sophie Williams, discussed their inspirations, the support they have received from This Feeling, and their positive experience as women in the music industry.
Tell me how you guys started out?
I first met Katie though her online vintage store Vintage Hearts. I bought a few items from her and we just started chatting and from there made it to the topic of music. We decided to meet up and have a lil jam and just realised we clicked musically, and from there started writing songs together and became Hourglvss.
How does it feel to have played Isle of Wight festival?
Isle of Wight festival has always been one of my favourite festivals. It’s always held so many happy memories. It’s funny as I worked the festival the year before doing interviews for the This Feeling stage so it was quite funny being on the other side of it this year. We absolutely loved playing Isle of Wight!
Where do you draw inspiration from?
We draw inspiration from so many places and not just sonically, visually too. We love drama and theatrical imagery, from western love stories to gothic and Victorian imagery. Our new music video that we will be releasing on Monday for our latest single ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ draws on all these influences and is basically a love song to all things western, witchy and magical. Musically we take inspiration from artists such as Roxy Music, Bowie, St. Vincent, PJ Harvey, Bat For Lashes, Nico and Francoise Hardy, however there’s so many more artists we admire. We are trying to forge our own way in pop and take elements from different genres and eras and make it our own.
How did you get involved with This Feeling?
After working for This Feeling at Isle of Wight festival 2018, I approached Mikey and asked if there were any gigs we could get on, as we only formed our live band early on this year. He put us on a show in May and we haven’t looked back since. We took part in the ‘This Feeling Alive’ tour and are booked to play their ‘Big in 2020’ shows next year.
Do you feel it’s important to have promoters like This Feeling within the music industry?
This Feeling have been super good to us this year as they have given us a platform to play our music and experiment with our live sound. They are constantly championing new artists and bands and have such a positive attitude towards young musicians trying to make it in the industry.
As women in music, has everything been plain-sailing so far or have you had any difficulties during your time in the industry?
For us personally, gender hasn’t even come into play. We are musicians and artists first and foremost and people have treated us exactly the same as they have treated the boys in our band. In this industry, especially the people we have met so far have just been a source of motivation. They have just allowed us to be who we are and let us roam free to be creative and bloody fabulous.
Cracked Vinyl 