STINA TWEEDDALE, the force of nature over the past decade behind the band Honeyblood, recently announced an expanded physical release for her solo previously digital-only EP ‘A Souvenir of a Terrible Year’ that she released post lockdown as Stina Marie Claire. RESOUND caught up with Stina to chat about the EP and how her fanbase shaped it, Honeyblood, and the music sector in general.
Hello Stina! You’ve just announced the first physical release of the Stina Marie Claire project that you created during lockdown featuring both the original songs and also new reimagined live versions. How has it been revisiting these songs to curate and expand it with the additional Memento versions?
It’s been great. Although I loved the process of making the initial EP with my Patreon, I felt like the songs had more life in them than what my production skills could offer (btw I’ve gotten MUCH better now)! I was learning along the way and I guess I just wanted to see if I could really make something all by myself. But what I really love is collaboration, be it with Laura Jane Wilkie doing a spellbinding arrangement, or Alice Allen with her unreal cello playing or Craig Harkness hard-hitting tubs; I can’t do any of that stuff so I’m awestruck by their contributions to these songs!
The project evolved with the support and creative guidance from your Patreon that you created early on in the pandemic. How much of a support have you found that and did you ever envisage it would still be active five years on?
I did not have a plan when I set up Patreon, especially to have it still running 5 years later! And frankly, It’s been a saving grace for me at times. Not only for the ongoing support, but it can feel pretty isolating at times as an artist when you aren’t touring and meeting fans face to face. I forget that I have made music that people genuinely like, and I’ll be sitting in my studio room cursing every song I’ve written in the past six months thinking it’s all trash. But to show that work to the Patreon community and use them as a sounding board for new songs is really wondrous. They know my work better than me and sometimes I need to sit the fuck down because I wrote a great song and I am being a little crybaby.
So did the Patreon take the project into any directions that surprised you and that you would not necessarily have considered?
Well, they chose the cover song which is a bit of a curve ball. I can’t even remember what the other options were now because that song is so burned into my brain. I just trust their judgement over my own nowadays.
You’ve made your name with Honeyblood and are working on a new album in that guise, but did working under a different identity lift the pressure and expectation that comes with the day job and allow creative freedom to explore a different side?
Honeyblood comes with a lot of baggage. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, It’s its own being, and although I’ve tried to veer the ship some ways, it’s never really gone there. The freedom that came with a new project (not to mention the logistical freedom) meant I was able to do crazy things like not put this entire EP on streaming because I didn’t feel like it. I couldn’t justify doing something like that for Honeyblood.
Talking of the new album, how’s it going? Last year saw you take time out from making it for Honeyblood to take your first album out on the road for a 10th Anniversary tour. Did playing all those old songs again prompt any changes to the new album and the direction you are taking it?
We loved the anniversary tour. It’s getting harder to make touring an option at times for Honeyblood and probably a lot of acts at my level, so I don’t take it for granted when we sell out a room and people sing along. We miss touring, it’s such an important part of the experience of music for me. As for the new record, I’m saying nothing on it because I believe in curses.
You have been making music for a number of years now in physical formats, is the magic of holding a new record in your hands for the first time still the same now as with that first record?
Of course! For this one, it’s really special as it’s the first physical release on ICEBLINK LUCK. And the team behind every part of this work are dear friends, so it truly has been a labour of love.
Music is clearly entwined in your DNA through your musical work, the positions you hold on musical councils and trusts, and also your involvement with MacArts, the music venue in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. How do you see the musical landscape in 2025 and going forwards?
We were very lucky to record this EP at MacArts which is a beautiful 19th chapel, with producer Stephen A. Watkins. If you haven’t already, get yourself down there to a gig as it’s a wonderful grassroots music venue too! The industry is going through a real crossroads at the moment, but it usually means we will see some awesome work come out of it. I feel like I’m becoming a bit of a dinosaur, reverting back to vinyl, recording to tape and even listening to CDs again, but there is something romantic in the slow digest of songs that makes me think it’s all the better to savour.
Finally, a slightly non-music question to end, as a proud Scot what single malt would you pair with listening to Honeyblood?
Caol Ila, obviously.
Thank you and all the best with the EP release!
Thank you!
The Stina Marie Claire ‘A Souvenir of a Terrible Year/Memento’ double EP is available to pre-order up until Sunday 31st May 2025 via the Honeyblood website and Bandcamp https://www.honeyblood.net/stina-marie-claire
Words by Geoff Shaw (IG: @gsmusicphotos)
Live Photos by Jack Geddes (IG: @jackgeddesmedia)