As the year draws to a close, it’s clear that 2024 has seen no sign of the Shoegaze resurgence fading. We caught up with Ben and Dottie of deary, one of the new generation of Shoegaze bands, on the eve of the release of their new EP.
Hello deary. Introduce yourselves and tell us how did deary come to be?
Ben: It started in lockdown. It was a very heavy time for everyone, but writing the music that became the first EP helped me through it. It was about a year later that I met Dottie through a mutual friend and we started working together.
Dottie: As soon as Ben sent me through some demos, I knew I wanted to be a part of the journey.
Like it or not, you are grouped into the shoegaze genre – what was your gateway to this and was it be accident or intentional? What did you both listen to growing up?
D: We bonded over our love for shoegaze when we first met but we also love a lot of other genres that influence us. I love folk and ambient music or anything slightly moody. But I grew up listening to a lot of popular music on the radio. I thought all the pop stars were the most beautiful people I had ever seen and didn’t seem real. My dad used to play Kate Bush and Meatloaf in the car and I did not understand it at all. But now I think they’re both absolute genius.
B: Being categorized is to be expected as a newer artist; it’s sometimes the only way someone can understand whether they like your music or not before spending time with it. We’ve had people accept us into the shoegaze community, but similarly we’ve had people reject the notion that we are shoegaze. It’s obviously had a very big influence on our music, but I think our intentions have always been a bit vaguer than just reaching for one style. It’s much easier making music we love and letting someone else categorise us later.
As a follow on to that, Nat who runs your label Sonic Cathedral has done more than most to keep the shoegaze flame burning, how did you come to be on the label? Was it a conscious move to find a home that would have such a receptive audience for the music you wanted to make?
B: Definitely a conscious decision to work with Sonic Cathedral, but not just for Nat’s work in the shoegaze world. He understood our music and I think that understanding gave us confidence. For example, he suggested a Saint Etienne remix for our first single which we were blown away by. He got it from the off.
The label have recently celebrated 20 years with a series of fantastic gigs which you were part of – how was that experience, and how is it in general playing with the older bands such as Slowdive and Cranes in large venues? Were you fans before hand?
B: We’ve always felt lucky to have learnt from experienced musicians so early on. Slowdive at Troxy last year was our maybe fifteenth show? So it was incredibly daunting at the time but such an important experience. Cranes too, those two shows were really rewarding. Celebrating Sonic Cathedral at EartH earlier this month for SC20 felt a lot more like a ‘home fixture’, we were really comfortable and the room was full of love for Nat so it was special.
If 2023 was you emerging into the world and working out who you were and wanted to be, 2024 feels like the year that you’ve really kicked on, particularly live where your sound feels a lot more deeper and fleshed out. Is that a fair comment? How do you feel you are evolving as a band?
D: We’ve definitely grown this year and we know what we want now. We kind of hit the ground running when we started, which we were very lucky to be able to do but we still had a lot of things to learn. I’m a little less terrified playing live now and have started to actually enjoy it!
B: The next thing is to experience making an album together which we’re both extremely excited for.
You’ve also been overseas playing in Paris and Rotterdam. How was that experience and is it a bit of a pinch yourself moment to be doing so?
B: I love the fact that Europe really takes care of bands, even if they’re from the UK, and it makes the experiences that much more enjoyable. We love it, definitely will be doing more soon.
D: Rotterdam was so amazing! One of my favourite cities. I can’t wait to travel and play more in 2025.
Moving on to releases and recording, you’ve released three 7″ singles and an EP so far with another EP just about to be released on 1st November. How has the way you write and record evolved over these releases? Is it a completely collaborative process or one does lyrics the other music and so on?
B: It’s moved around a bit over the past few years and we always want it to be a bit more collaborative so that one part doesn’t fall on one person’s shoulders entirely. We’ve also got a lot better at saying ‘no’ to each other when we don’t like something. The pleasantries have begun to dissolve ha!
D: Ben is an amazing composer and producer and normally starts the songs on his guitar. Then we experiment with vocal melodies and everything starts to come together. I’ve started feeling a bit more comfortable with the guitar and sending Ben some riffs or chords and he’s great at encouraging me to find a song in them.
Why two EPs rather than one LP?
B: The big question(!) People have asked us why we haven’t put out a full-length record thus far. The answer is it just hasn’t been the right time. Why would we want to rush something and regret it later? You only get to make your debut album once and the fundamental thing Dottie and I both agreed on when we started was to let everything come naturally and not force anything.
D: Second that!
The songs released so far from Aurelia, are a definite progression sonically. Can you talk me through the six of them please?
B: Ironically (looking at the answer to your previous question), I was hell bent on making the album at the end of last year! But it became apparent quite quickly that it wasn’t the right time. So, after a while, we realised there were some things we needed to work on; both in and out of deary.
I wanted the EP to be thematically connected, reflecting the transition we were going through as people. ‘Aurelia’ has been in our arsenal since just after EP1 was finished. It was quite an important song to record, because we worked on it with a load of different people at different locations. ‘The Moth’ was equally an important one because it showed this new direction quite clearly; a bit darker, and more gothic. ‘Dream of Me’ was a bit of a labour of love for me as well. It took a while to get it right but I always knew there was something there and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
D: For ‘Where You Are’, we wanted a stripped-back song to help bring this EP together. I began playing around on my acoustic and sang ‘I’ll be happy where you are’. I took about 10 minutes to write overall and felt very natural. We finished it up in the studio and it felt a welcome break from all the reverb! ‘Selene’ was also finished in the studio. We had it 75% there but I was struggling with lyrics. As Ben recorded the guitar I closed my eyes and saw a woman flying over the sun. We had a lot of fun finishing that off. I love the outro! ‘The Drift’ started completely differently. One day Ben sent me almost a remix of the original demo and I wasn’t sure at first but I always fall in love with the demos and the rawness of them. I quickly changed my mind when Simon (Scott from Slowdive) started hitting those drums and it all came together.
You have your first headline tour looming – what can we expect from that and what are you looking forward to most about it? Any outlandish rider requests going in?
B: Really excited for Manchester to finish the tour off on Sunday 24th – first time we will have played there. But buzzed for the whole thing really! Got some nice new bits in there – new songs, new merch etc. – so it’s going to be a lot of fun. As long as I have my square watermelons in the rider I’ll be good.
D: I’m looking forward to playing Bristol as I’m from Somerset. It’s going to be a week of celebrations to close a wonderful year.
What have been the highlights of being in Deary so far and what plans can you share for Deary in 2025?
B: It’s all a highlight really. We’ve got some more live dates lined up; this time further into Europe. And doing what we love the most – getting back in the studio.
D: It’s beautiful when people tell me how they’ve connected with the songs. Everyone had different stories and different favourites
Moving away from your own music, what has been your favourite Release of 2024?
B: I know the album came out in 2023 but I’ve loved getting into Chappell Roan this year. She’s like the Kate Bush of today, and it shows how far pop music has come. It’s actually good again!
D: Bright Future by Adrianne Lenker. She’s my favourite songwriter and has never written a bad song.
Finally, and most importantly, how many of the Sonic Cathedral “SHOEGAZER” t-shirts do each of you own?
B: Shamefully, 0. I do have a Shoegazer slipmat though…
D: I also have one!
Thank you!
The new deary EP ‘Aurelia’ is out 1st November 2024 on vinyl, CD and digitally on Sonic Cathedral via Bandcamp and all good record stores. They tour the UK throughout November.
https://deary.bandcamp.com/album/aurelia
Words and live photos by Geoff Shaw (IG: @gsmusicphotos)