interview: Sad Girls Aquatic Club
Dance away your winter blues with the debut EP from sad girls aquatic club. The Pittsburgh duo just released their new EP, and we took a break from constantly listening to ask them a few questions!
photo: Katie Krulock of Three Pigs Vintage
TGE: How did Sad Girls Aquatics Club come to form? And what inspired you to create a sound that's so different from the past projects you've been part of before?
SGAC: We went to college together (back when Chatham was all women holla!) and found we worked really well together in a previous project.
We worked super collaboratively and had a few guidelines in mind of elements we liked and wanted to explore, but we made a conscious effort not to become so married to an idea that it couldn’t be changed at any point during production, which allowed the project to become what it is and sort of direct itself.
Please explain the name of the band. And also, what additional sad girls would you want to join your club?
It was either that or happy boys land association. We’ll take anyone who can hang through our depressive writing and manic recording episodes! In all seriousness though, we want to create an inclusive environment where people can connect to our music and hopefully not feel so alone in their vulnerability.
What was it like recording the EP? Did you have any snacks, music, bands that inspired you?
It was grueling at times but really rewarding. Like we said, it was very collaborative and natural. We spent long hours trying to push our material to be the best it could. There was a lot of late night taco bell & wendy’s runs. Oh and we were also fueled by (get this) a drink we invented called vodkawine
How does SGAC beat the winter blues?
We both weirdly thrive in the cold weather. Our best writing material came from last year’s “winter blues”
Do you think it's important to embrace your sadness or even base the identity of a band around that? If so, why?!
The whole “sad” element is really a reclamation of clinical depression, mental health issues, and women’s issues that people brush off as “sad” or “quirky”.
We really allowed ourselves to be vulnerable and poured ourselves into these tracks, I think a lot of what we were going through at the time is reflected in the songs.
If SGAC was curating a festival, what bands would play, where would it be held?
POND, St. Vincent, Courtney Barnett, Connan Mockasin, They Might Be Giants, ELO, XTC, The Breeders, Sufjan Stevens, Juan Wauters, MGMT, GUM, The Lemon Twigs, Ruby the RabbitFoot, Mild High Club
melbourne, victoria, Australia, perth
Give the TGE readers a piece of advice?
Go to therapy <3