Interview: Carla J Easton on 'I Think That I Might Love You', the Sonic Sisterhood, and Picking up the Guitar - SNACK: Music, film, arts and culture magazine for Scotland

    Interview: Carla J Easton on ‘I Think That I Might Love You’, the Sonic Sisterhood, and Picking up the Guitar

    Carla J Easton wearing a light green jumper with pink hearts, standing against blue and gold patterned wallpaper.

    Long-term SNACK favourite Carla J Easton is back, and this time, she’s packing a six-string. Rest assured, though, she’s still pop, and there’s always space for synth. We chatted about finding permission to try something new, friendships, and shit-hot live bands.

    Your new album, I Think That I Might Love You, came from thinking about women who picked up a guitar and just went for it. When did you realise you hadn’t done that yourself?

    It’s kinda accidental, really. I play in The Vaselines – I joined their live touring outfit in 2017 – and Eugene [Kelly] said it might be good if I play guitar rather than keyboard on some songs. I thought: I’ve just spent about eight years of my life with women telling me, ‘I just wanted to be in a band’.

    So I got a guitar, I booked a gig before I’d even learned it, and off I went. And I’d been working at RIG Arts in Greenock with kids that were very new to music-making, just no fear, no cynicism. So when Eugene asked me, I thought, fuck it, you’re not too old to learn a new instrument.

    Did making the Since Yesterday documentary feel like permission to push yourself?

    One hundred percent. The whole project stems from me justifying TeenCanteen’s right to be on stage, right to belong. I really feel part of a family, of all these incredible women that have made music before me, after me. I call it a sonic sisterhood

    The album was produced by Howard Bilerman, who produced your Impossible Stuff album. What does that relationship give you?

    In the period between records, he’s been such a friend and mentor. Someone I can call if I’m ever feeling doubt in my creativity, or just to chat about a record I’ve found and think he’ll like.

    It was interesting to see what happens if you make a record together after all that time. We brought him here, involved my wider community of peers, gave ourselves a week in a studio, and saw what happened.

    I remember Susan Bear saying, ‘This has been one of the most brilliant recording experiences I’ve had in my life.’ I remember saying to her that if this record never came out, I wouldn’t care, because that week was so precious and brilliant and so about the process of being in a room making music together.

    The album ends on ‘If You Find A Thread’. Is friendship your thread?

    Connections can be platonic and actually sometimes friendships can mean more in your life than romantic ones. Even thinking about when a friendship ends – how the grief process for that can be a lot harder in many cases than a romantic relationship ending.

    If you find a connection, this thread, wind it in, see who’s on the other end. It might be for a fleeting moment, or it might last a lifetime.

    What can people expect from the live shows?

    People just seem to be really into the energy that we have on stage and the sound. It’s a whole new band. I’ve got Lesley McLaren from The Hedrons on drums, Katie Lindsay, Thomas Woods from West Princes, and Paul Kelly on bass.

    Throughout my career, men have been saying ‘get out from behind your synth’. And I’ve always been like, ‘as if anyone told Kraftwerk to do that’, but I guess it’s a barrier.

    So I’m really enjoying the freedom of the guitar and being able to move about and interact with my bandmates a bit more. They’re also just a shit-hot band.

    Carla J Easton standing against a plain background, looking away with her hair blowing wildly across her face. She is wearing a light blue sleeveless top with a colorful, ornate embroidered design on the chest.

    I Think That I Might Love You is released 8th May on Ernest Jenning Records

    Carla J Easton plays The Rum Shack, Glasgow, Friday 29th May

    Photo credit: Kat Gollock (top) and Craig McIntosh

    The band Kneecap performing live on stage at St Luke's. The stage is illuminated by intense red lighting and heavy atmospheric smoke. In the background, a large, illuminated stained glass window is flanked by a pipe organ on the left and a balcony with audience members on the right. On stage, a DJ stands behind a desk on the left, while two vocalists are at the front; one in a hooded jacket and sunglasses gestures outwards, and the other stands to the right in dark clothing holding a microphone.The band Kneecap performing live on stage at St Luke's. The stage is illuminated by intense red lighting and heavy atmospheric smoke. In the background, a large, illuminated stained glass window is flanked by a pipe organ on the left and a balcony with audience members on the right. On stage, a DJ stands behind a desk on the left, while two vocalists are at the front; one in a hooded jacket and sunglasses gestures outwards, and the other stands to the right in dark clothing holding a microphone.
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