Faye from Cardiff-based group Rosehip Teahouse talks about their upcoming EP and what inspires their wonderfully ethereal indie-pop.
The first single, ‘Regretting It’, is out now. It's a very honest and all-encompassing track. What can we expect to hear from the rest of the E.P.?
Thank you! That’s really kind. The rest of the EP comes along in a similar way: lots of feelings, lots of synths, lots of worrying about the world.
‘Too many emotions. Can’t keep floating.’ are lyrics in the new single. In terms of your writing process, are these emotional themes a big part of how you find inspiration?
Yes! Songwriting for me started off as a way to process my emotions, my life and everything going on in my brain. It gets pretty chaotic in there, and songwriting has always helped me to express how I really feel and kind of turn difficult thoughts and feelings into something else entirely. I think it’ll always be that way for me. Each song is really personal; about very specific events or people or feelings. I often write about my mental health and living life as a mentally ill person. Things that maybe would feel difficult to have in a face to face conversation come out in my songs a lot, feelings that I don’t let out anywhere else. It’s like a public diary in a lot of ways.
"Songwriting has always helped me to express how I really feel and kind of turn difficult thoughts and feelings into something else entirely"
You record all of your songs yourself in a very DIY way. Would you say recording in this way is essential to your creative process and is it something you plan on continuing in the future?
It started off as the way I made music mostly because it was the only way I could do it. I didn’t have much money and, even if I did, I was barely leaving the house because I was so anxious and isolated. Rosehip Teahouse as a project was essentially me processing my feelings because I wasn’t talking to anyone or really even seeing any
one. When I moved to Cardiff, I met the rest of the lovely band and we started recording in the same way because it was all I've ever known. When it came to recording the ‘full band’ songs, we actually went to a studio (Rat Trap) and recorded with the lovely Tom Rees (Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard) which was a huge change, but really important for us as a band. I think we would have carried on that way, but because of the dreaded Coronavirus all our plans changed, as they did with everyone of course. But in a nice way, it gave me the chance to return to the roots of how Rosehip started with this upcoming EP and it was really nostalgic sitting on my living room floor trying to figure out how to record again and feeling how I did the first time I ever did it.
The project began as a solo venture. Do you think now having the band as a five-piece has changed how you write?
I think the way the songs start initially are the same as they always have been for me. But now I get to present the songs to four incredibly talented people who help to elevate and colour the music in ways I never would have seen on my own.
In your music, there are echoes of Frankie Cosmos, Soccer Mommy and early Mothers. What would you say your biggest musical influences have been on your sound? Have any other bands got you excited recently?
Frankie Cosmos is definitely one of them!! I was listening to their album ‘Next Thing’ over and over in the summer of 2016 when I first started writing the songs that would turn into Rosehip Teahouse. One of my biggest influences is The Drums. They became my favourite band when I was 14 or 15 and I have loved them wholeheartedly since. I’ve also always listened to a lot of 60s girl groups like the Ronettes and the Supremes and I think that influence sneaks in too. Teddy Hunter gets me very excited and emotional. Her new song ‘Games’ is incredible, it made me sob. I’m also always so so excited about anything by TJ Roberts and Clwb Fuzz, not only because they are some of the nicest people in the world but because they make incredible music. Go listen!
The new Rosehip Teahouse single is out on 31st August ahead of the EPs September release via Sad Club Records.
Listen to Rosehip Teahouse on Spotify and Bandcamp