"We Draw A Lot From Each Other's Stories" Nasty Cherry's Sisterhood
Adjusting to lockdown with the alt-pop rebels...
Following an unconventional debut set in motion by founder and mentor *Charli XCX* the UK-meets-US four-some *Nasty Cherry* emerged onto the scene with a Netflix series in their impeccably stylish back pocket. Streaming now, I’m With The Band: Nasty Cherry offered a six-part docuseries which gave viewers an intense and intimate look into four girls on a journey to becoming a band.
A year later, with critically acclaimed debut EP ‘Season 1’ to their name, the quartet who describe the past year with the words “chaos, rollercoaster, and growing,” are back with their follow-up EP.
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Speaking of the recording process behind this latest collection of songs, aptly titled ‘Season 2’, the band - comprising of LA-based singer Gabi Bechtel and guitarist Chloe Chaidez, and London-based bassist Georgia Somary and drummer Debbie Knox-Hewson - explain: “The recording process was quite varied – we recorded in L.A, Stockholm and London. All the songs feel different yet they sit together in a way that feels like a natural progression from Season 1.”
“Since we already have a few years making music together under our belt, we’ve got a better understanding of each other’s tastes and where we are emotionally. Our sound and song writing is much more cohesive and calmer now instead of it being just as being very enthusiastic to make music.”
This intrinsic understanding between the foursome transitions easily into inspiration. Talking about what influences their song writing, Debbie says: “We draw a lot from each other’s stories, the biggest inspiration tend to be the group itself. Our music comes from a place of understanding that we all have the same feelings and thoughts, and having the comfort of being able to talk about anything even if it’s disgusting or angry we find a way to channel it into our songs.”
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Their music is a mix of emotional pop and moody, slow songs – a little bit for each member to love. On their favourite tracks from the album, Debbie says: ““Better Run” is such a bop but the lyrics are much more emotional than the beat suggests it’ll be. It’s that kind of emotional pop that you can dance to and also chill to.” Where Georgia and Gabi, describe the sad tinges of ‘Cardamon December’ as their favourite, Chloe insists on loving all the tracks equally.
Aside from their varied taste in music as individuals, another aspect of Nasty Cherry that sets apart as a group is their split between USA and UK. As Debbie puts it: “For me, Chloe and Gabi being from L.A gave this cool edge of American movie nostalgia. Anything I don’t directly relate to in our lyrics, I still find myself connecting it back to the culture I grew up with; understanding it from their perspective.”
Georgia adds: “It’s about having the ability to understand something that we’ve seen but can’t immediately relate to. Our American fans saw the British side of things and vice versa. It makes the project feel bigger. You have a wider view of culture and music.”
Nasty Cherry’s unconventional introduction to the music world through Netflix has allowed them to take this view of culture and elevate it even further, reaching people in parts of the world they otherwise may have never reached. This of course works out well in a time where livestreams and online reach has become the norm for the music industry.
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Reminiscing about the most memorable moment of their career, Chloe says: “Our first show - having it all come to life and realising that we can do this together was special. Touring was great because we’d been making music together but hadn’t toured. We’d been a band for so long in secret so the second we were able to meet people it was wild.”
“It feels like a different lifetime,” sighs Debbie. Only a week into their much-anticipated tour, everything was cancelled due to the pandemic. Debbie reflects: “It took a long time to grieve the loss of what we were doing. Now we’ve settled into the new normal – we know what it looks like. It took a long time to deal with and acknowledge the loss of what we had.”
The group didn’t let the sense of loss put them down for long though, jumping straight into Zoom, Twitch and Instagram lives. They say: “Live shows are how small bands survive so we had to relearn how to make things work. Through all the livestreams, we found ourselves almost more connected with people in parts of the country where we necessarily wouldn’t have been able to play a show.”
For now, the group are content with the online connection to fans they’ve blessed with, but the future lies ahead of them with the promise of much more though. Gabi says: “Obviously a full-length record would be amazing. But we don’t know where we’ll go musically. Our writing is evolving from the new, frantic energy we exuded, so it’d be exciting to see what we sound like five years from now but we don’t have any end in sight.”
Time will tell where exactly this quartet brought together by their love for music will go. But one thing is for sure- armed with brilliant talent, a heart-warming friendship and their message of encouragement for people to “truly feel at home in themselves in whatever they are doing”, the group will go far.
Inspiring themselves and those around them with genuine affection for each other and a fierce passion for their craft, Nasty Cherry are a fashionable foursome: there’s duvet-covered Georgia, or Gabi who wears whatever clothes are on her floor; Debbie alternates between dressing like Josie and Pussycats or Jeff Goldblum; and finally there’s Chloe, who’s currently on a little boy t-shirt and converse kick. Through their differences, though, Nasty Cherry remind us “to do whatever you want to do. If you want to start a band with some women in your life, do it!”
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'Season 2' is out now.
Words: *Malvika Padin*
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