Interview: Folk Bitch Trio's Debut Album 'Now Would Be A Good Time' + NZ Tour

Lucia Taylor recently caught up with Folk Bitch Trio via the magic of the internet, and today the Naarm collective's inaugural studio long player Now Would Be A Good Time arrives in our time zone via Jagjaguwar (also home to Bon Iver, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dinosaur Jr.). Read their conversation below, dive into Heide Peverelle, Jeanie Pilkington and Gracie Sinclair's debut album recorded with Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins), and don't miss them touring Aotearoa this September — joined by fellow rising star Georgia Knight...

Folk Bitch Trio - 'Now Would Be A Good Time' Album Tour
with special guest Georgia Knight

Friday 26th September - The Tuning Fork, Auckland
Saturday 27th September - San Fran, Wellington
Sunday 28th September - Loons, Lyttelton

Tickets on sale via moshtix.co.nz

Like many, I love the name Folk Bitch Trio, where did that come from? Also, where did the name for the upcoming debut album, Now Would Be A Good Time, arise? 

The name simply came from a text that Jeanie sent to a group chat to Gracie and Heide asking, “Do you want to be in a folk bitch trio?” It was a placeholder name in a way because in our minds we weren’t actively creating ‘a band’, but then suddenly we were and the name stuck. Much like the band name, the record title came about very organically in the evening after being in the studio all day. It’s a lyric from one of the songs on the album called 'Foreign Bird'. Jeanie suggested it, and we all knew it was just right.

The single 'God’s A Different Sword' was recorded while you were briefly in Auckland, what was that like?

It was a really fun and affirming experience being in the studio with Tom Healy. Sometimes finding the right producer can feel like dating, or a first kiss. You really want it to go well but sometimes it’s just not quite right. The recording session where we recorded 'God’s A Different Sword' was the first date with Tom. It went so well that we decided to make the whole record with him, both at Roundhead Studios and The Lab. We lived, the three of us, in Auckland for a month in the winter of 2024. We spent every day in the studio and most evenings at home watching movies and making comfort meals. The lack of distractions from the outside world made it really easy to lock in together, which is what we really wanted.

You’ve talked of having traditional folk inspirations as well as contemporary ‘folk bitches’ that reinvigorated the genre in the 2010s, such as Julia Jacklin and Angel Olsen. Are you able to tell me more about some of your inspirations?

We’re absolutely inspired by acts like Julia Jacklin, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, Cate Le Bon, Gillian Welch, Aldous Harding and Courtney Barnett… They are all excellent songwriters and musicians who command a room while maintaining a vulnerability too. We’ve had the privilege of now seeing all of these acts play live.

The first gig Jeanie and Heide went to as legal adults (around the time of the band's formation) was a Cate Le Bon show. We walked home from that show a couple of pints deep feeling so inspired and a bit overcome by what we had witnessed. Looking back it was a definitive ‘a-ha’ moment of knowing we wanted to do what she was doing. At that point, we had probably rehearsed 5 or so times together, so it really wasn’t a serious dream for us yet. Melbourne (Naarm) is a real hub for songwriters and bands that can truly articulate the experience of living in this city. We’re very lucky in that sense to be surrounded by such like-minded musos.

Between the three of you, what is the songwriting process like?

Usually our song writing process goes like this: One of us will write the bulk of a song. The melody, chords and lyrics. And then bring it to the group for the three of us to arrange and refine. We’ve started writing more collaboratively and will continue to do so, but often writing for us is a very solitary thing while keeping each other in mind. We’re our own greatest supporters and critics, so it’s still very nerve-racking bringing a song to the group even after playing together for so long.

The songs are so vulnerable. What has the experience been of bringing those feelings to the group to collaborate with like, and how does it feel to now have them coming out into the world?

The songs are pretty vulnerable but also a bit pathetic in a lot of ways. We try to toe the line of honouring our pains and grievances, while also noting the often trivial elements of our ‘hardships’. When we bring a song to the group it’s usually not a big surprise to the two other members. Our lives are so intertwined that a lot of these experiences of breakups etc. have been worked through and witnessed together. In terms of sharing them with the world, it’s both a liberating feeling and also there is a deciduous element. When you write songs, there is a sort of shedding where the song is no longer is yours and has nothing to do with you anymore. It’s for the listener.

It’s clear that the three of you don’t take yourselves too seriously, how is it treading the line between vulnerability and humour?

Simply, we like to have fun, to laugh and to enjoy our lives and play music together. We’re lucky that we’re best friends that work together, so we try to keep a balance between fun and taking the more boring work parts of being in a band seriously. It’s the best.

You’re playing in Aotearoa in late September, what are you looking forward to with these shows?

We can’t wait to be back in Aotearoa! It holds a very special place in our hearts and to return to where this record was made and see our wonderful producer Tom Healy will be a really beautiful part of this tour.

'Now Would Be A Good Time' is out today via Jagjaguwar.