Since first releasing material in 2022, Folk Bitch Trio have experienced a remarkable start to their career, steadily gaining popularity and establishing themselves as a unique blend of folk and indie music. Last year was particularly significant for the band as they signed to Jagjaguwar, a record label home to Indie superstars Bon Iver and Angel Olsen. Their intimate debut album Now Would Be A Good Time which was released last year is a confessional and introspective masterpiece that has set the tone for a promising career. As they gear up for a tour of the UK starting in March, the band discussed the record, their live shows, and the impact that the Australian music scene has on them both personally and professionally.
Previous to their upcoming headline show at Deaf Institute, Folk Bitch Trio’s only Manchester appearance has been in the Pink Room at YES, a venue close to the city’s Gay Village. “It was pride”, Gracie Sinclair reminisces, “we went out to get food before the show and walked through some of the street party, it was really fun. We’d heard that Manchester is a really big gay city”.
Between headline shows, the band have also played on tours supporting the likes of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Alex G. “It’s very different”, Sinclair remarked.“The headlines can be more crazy in many ways, and a support show feels like half a night off sometimes because there's a lot you don't have to do. You just get on stage, and then you get off stage, and then it's kind of none of your business anymore. When you play a headline show, you take into account the concept that people have paid money to see you and are familiar with your music, and perhaps have a preconceived idea of what that experience is going to be like. It's definitely more intimidating to go into as a performer”.
When asked how Folk Bitch Trio adapt their live show to suit artists they’re opening for, Sinclair reflected that “maybe our music is kind of really different, but the fans of King Gizzard are open-minded. As with their discography, which is crazily different over their 25 records or whatever they've released now, they’re just generally happy to hear some music and see a good show. In terms of changing yourself for the audience, there's only a certain amount that you can do. We don't change, but the setlist can. For instance, we played in Glasgow and we opened with a song that referenced the city. But that’s just about all you can do, as with life in general. You must just be yourself because you can’t please everybody, and if you're trying to, you'll please nobody, and definitely not yourself”.
While Australia remains the centre of support for Folk Bitch Trio, their Like A Version session for Triple J brought them to new audiences. “We have our second biggest headline show ever coming up in London, and it’s always the biggest headline audience we have second to Australia, almost matching what we've had in our hometown”, Sinclair states.
“There’s definitely a lot of ties between the UK and Australia”, Jeanie Pilkington believes, “and even more between Melbourne and London. There seems to be a strong cultural similarity with music, and people seem to be drawn to similar things. We've felt very embraced by the scene there, which has been amazing, it was a dream to go to London and every time we've played there our show has sold out. It feels a bit like playing at home”.
Some commentators hailed 2025 as the year of folk revival and perhaps this is what contributed to the rising popularity of Folk Bitch Trio across the globe. “If people who are fans of that kind of music perceive us as being a part of that revival, then I’m okay with that”, Pilkington affirms. “I don’t think we’re majorly concerned with being a part of any kind of folk revival, but I do agree that the type of music that we're writing and that resonates with us does seem to be kind of this folk style of songwriting and confessional writing that is falling into the indie mainstream. It’s very nice to see so many fantastic folk-style songwriters that are telling the truth, and we definitely feel a part of that”.
In addition to being one of the acts leading this resurgence, Folk Bitch Trio have also received comparisons since the beginning of their career to other singing trios, particularly boygenius. “I think we've steered away from it, or we've disagreed with it”, Sinclair states. “We get compared to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young all the time. And it's understandable, but in terms of a folk revival, we're probably more involved in that in the way that we're inspired by artists like Julia Jacklin or Aldous Harding, who are maybe considered folk revivalists in their songwriting”.
“I feel like boygenius is a lazy comparison, I feel like people compare because we’re three fem-presenting people”, she continues. “It’s a very easy comparison to make, and if you actually listen to our music, it's pretty different. I think we all understand the comparison, and it is just human to group people together and make links between different bands. But sometimes it can feel a little bit...not derogatory, but reductive. As musicians, we feel that what we do is quite unique to us because it's literally personal tales from our own lives. So I think when people compare us to other bands, it feels like you're getting boxed in, especially when they are bands of women because it just feels like that's kind of all we’re being seen as. But if people love these artists and they're hearing that in our music, then that's great”.
These “personal tales” are heard in Now Would Be a Good Time which is characterised by a resounding sense of intimacy, facilitated by the trio’s close harmonies and folk instrumentation. “It’s natural: it was a product of the tools we're working with, which is us all being singers and songwriters and really good friends”, Sinclair offers. The record was also recorded to tape, rather than digitally, something which Pilkington believes “contributed to the intimacy”. “Digital can take away some of that grit, and those little sounds”, she states. “In terms of the actual process, we were still quite modern and printed it digitally, but the recording process did help to cultivate intimacy and made it feel like a bit like a live show”.
Despite their efforts to cultivate a sense of intimacy in their debut album, one song in particular took on a life of its own as the soundtrack to a TikTok trend where users would attempt to manifest a romantic partner as ‘God’s A Different Sword’ played in the background. “Our label told us, they’re tapped into the TikTok side of things”, Sinclair says. “I think we were all a bit bewildered and didn't really pay attention to it. We're not really TikTok users; we're not really that online for our age, so it's pretty confusing. I still find it confusing, I don't really know what that was”. An understandable response, considering some of the videos posted racked up almost half a million likes, seemingly out of nowhere.
Switching the topic of conversation, Folk Bitch Trio began to discuss Australia and its music scene and the impact its had on them as a band. “I think to be from Melbourne is to be very isolated from the rest of the world”, Sinclair notes, “to live here and grow up here is to be extremely influenced by those around you. There aren’t many people who come through from Australia compared to the rest of the world, but Melbourne’s music scene is incredible; it’s very vibrant. There's a lot of really new, fun, innovative stuff happening. There's also other artists that have gone before us in the recent past and forged the way for intimate songwriting, people like Julia Jacklin, and also for crazy, do-whatever-you-want music, like King Gizzard: there's a lot of amazing artists to look up to”.
When asked about Australian artists that deserve recognition, all three members of the band concurred “Public Figures, our good friends, who have just released their EP” on the day this interview was conducted. “People are going to know that name very soon, because they fucking rock”, Pilkington added, before Sinclair agreed, highlighting they are “creative in every aspect. It's amazing music with amazing performance and amazing image”.
It's hardly surprising that Folk Bitch Trio share opinions and music taste, considering the band’s formation: the three launched the band whilst still at high school, following a message sent from Sinclair asking Peverelle and Pilkington if they’d be interested in forming a “folk bitch trio”. Since then, they have managed to balance being in a band with the friendship it was built upon. “It's lot of work, but also not”, Peverelle states. “We put in the hard yards early, and now we get to travel the world with each other and that's the best thing ever, it’s the dream”.
To conclude, Folk Bitch Trio delved into their own favourite songs from their debut record. Peverelle chose ‘Foreign Bird’, a song written by Pilkington, joking that “it would be weird if my favourite song was one of the songs that I wrote”. “I just like how we play it live”, they continued, “I like how it makes me feel and how expansive and intimate it is. It’s just kind of fun to play as well”. Sinclair opted for ‘Mary’s Playing the Harp’, the track that closes Now Would Be a Good Time. “I think it's the best-written song on the record, it's probably the most put together. But I also love ‘Sarah’ because of the journey we took making it. I love ‘Moth Song’ too, because it was like a puzzle that we filled in, all the pieces came together”.
Pilkington agreed with ‘Moth Song’: “I love the recording, and I love the recording we got on ‘Hotel TV’ too. They were both kind of old songs. and it was kind of hard to get there and feel like they were worthy of being on an LP. We had a difficult time with a bit of imposter syndrome as young songwriters figuring out how to make recordings that felt like the best version of themselves, so I feel proud of what we captured for all of them”. If the final recordings for Now Would Be a Good Time are any indication, Folk Bitch Trio are destined for further success, and it would be well deserved if they became as big a name as some of their label-mates. The band are due to return to Manchester at the beginning of March for a headline show at Deaf Institute, and it may well be the last time they play venues that size.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6SSsPPOxMvAiDA6B8AWH3y?si=sZS_avVLTcmNvGL7azmjUw
Comments
Powered by DisqusComments are provided by Disqus.