Like each Porridge Radio album earlier than it, Clouds within the Sky They Will At all times Be There for Me quantities to uncooked, blistering catharsis. The songs are frontwoman Dana Margolin’s approach of gnawing by the extremes of human emotion, which, on the brand new report, vary from private heartbreak to intense burnout following a interval of heavy touring behind 2022’s Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky. However the emotions don’t comply with a linear timeline: they tumble over themselves and into what Margolin calls “a dissociative fog,” blurring the road between fantasy and actuality. Margolin was capable of inhabit this liminal house by specializing in writing poems, which, of their transition to songs, stay both searingly literal of their descriptions of numbing ache and mundane magnificence, or edge into surreal, symbolic territory. “Ten years is simply the beginning, there’s no countdown, no restrict, no finish to the ideas,” Margolin sings on opener ‘Anyone’. “And I lastly discovered that my edges have been sharp, new methods to be mild, new methods to be exhausting.” Her bandmates permit her to offer kind to the countless stream of ideas, floor her feverish vocals, and hint a line to the sky, the place her craving can amply be directed as she repeats, “Attempting to achieve you.”
We caught up with Porridge Radio’s Dana Margoling to speak about a number of the inspirations behind Clouds within the Sky They Will At all times Be There for Me, together with the hill outdoors the band’s home, Led Zeppelin IV, meals, and extra.
The hill outdoors Porridge Radio’s home
Is that the “swamp-colored hill” you reference in ‘I Get Misplaced’?
That’s really the precise swamp-colored hill! We recorded the album in Frome, which is in Somerset within the UK. We might get a home, and as a band we’d keep in the home – there have been two completely different locations we stayed. I wrote ‘I Get Misplaced’ the day earlier than we recorded it within the studio. I used to be simply sitting on the desk one morning earlier than anybody had woken up, having a espresso, simply writing and looking the window. And yeah, it got here from that hill. It was a extremely stunning hill, really. It was behind this home we have been staying in. We have been sort of on the backside of this valley, so there was a river after which a giant hill. There have been just a few days of actually heavy rain, and the river fully swelled and burst its banks. It fully modified how the panorama seemed; it turned a swamp, mainly. It was superb and so stunning simply to look out the window each morning and see this massive, different factor. After which we’d go to the studio and be indoors for 12 hours, which was the other.
Do you’re feeling like being round nature or having that sort of view opens up your writing not directly?
With writing, I feel it helps to have the ability to see something outdoors of what you’re essentially used to or anticipate. An enormous a part of this album was nature as a result of, after we have been touring a lot, it was the one factor that felt grounding, that felt like I may maintain onto, that remained fixed all through all of the touring we have been doing and all of the exhibits we have been doing. It undoubtedly was actually inspiring, however I don’t suppose it was simply the truth that it was nature, it was the truth that it was outdoors of what was really actually concerned in. My head was so within the album-making course of – to then simply sit and stare out on the sky and on the hill was actually soothing.
Quite a lot of the album revolves round occupying or embodying areas in between, an instance of which may very well be that between inside a home or studio and the skin world. I’m pondering of the road “I’m the place the place the roofs meet the bushes” in ‘Lavender, Raspberries’.
Quite a lot of the album – in actual fact, not simply the album, however how I inhabit my life and the world – I’m actually tied to a way of craving. I feel that craving is current throughout all of the songs I’ve ever written, particularly on this album. However I feel that craving is sort of a liminal house as nicely — it’s a spot that’s not fairly the place you’re and never fairly the place you wish to be. You’re simply in the course of it. That line, “I’m the place the place the roofs meet the bushes,” really comes from a tune I used to be actually obsessive about and we listened to quite a bit on tour known as ‘My Canine’s Eyes’ by Zammuto. It was really a reference to that tune, which ended up being one thing we saved coming again to time and again throughout that 12 months of touring. I actually beloved the imagery of the roofs and the bushes. There may be that marginal house factor of these issues not fairly being inside or outdoors, not within the current or the long run, not at the beginning or the tip. Every thing is on the way in which, shifting, making an attempt, reaching, greedy.
Misty mornings, the river flooding, and the gnomes we by no means noticed
That one nearly feels like a Porridge Radio album title. It additionally appears to tie into the panorama you have been simply describing.
I assume it’s additionally tied to this liminality and this sense of not fairly being in anyone place. Quite a lot of this report was written in a dissociative fog – in a sort of heartbreak, melancholy, burnout from touring a lot, exhaustion. I feel the issues that saved me have been magic, these bizarre unknown issues, not fairly understanding — leaning into the fog, the thriller, the confusion, and permitting for the uncertainty and terror of all of it. These misty mornings, trying up at that hill, the flooding, and the tales we made up and lived round – these have been big inspirations.
them now, are these parts that enable you hint the emotional journey of the album as nicely, even when they continue to be mysterious?
Yeah, there have been themes that saved recurring that I wasn’t conscious of as they saved developing. it in hindsight, I can see all of the shapes and patterns that have been made and all of the issues that have been vital, that made themselves identified all through the method, however that I didn’t notice till afterwards. All of those concepts, ideas, and emotions did repeat themselves, and so they make themselves identified by these songs, however I don’t suppose I knew that was taking place till after we’d completed recording.
Radiohead’s Child A and In Rainbows, Led Zeppelin IV
Do you wish to separate the Radiohead albums from Zeppelin, or is there one thing that ties all of them collectively?
There’s something that ties all of them collectively. Which is that whereas we have been recording in January and February of this 12 months, I may solely take heed to Child A. I listened to Child A each single day, at the very least as soon as, for about two months. So, after we obtained into the studio, I used to be simply obsessive about Child A. It was like the one musical reference level I had at that second, and I couldn’t comprehend something outdoors of that sound. However after we have been calling out reference factors within the van, our bassist, Dan [Hutchins], who was sitting subsequent to me, shouted out In Rainbows. For me, it was Child A; for him, it was In Rainbows. Through the course of of constructing the album, we have been each serious about these two albums each single day.
In the meantime, Led Zeppelin IV turned an vital reference level due to the tune ‘You Will Come Residence’ on our report. Dom Monks, who produced the album, would maintain speaking about that tune, and we’d discuss that album and the way in which it’s produced. It sort of turned a reference level for us musically, though it’s fairly eliminated and possibly a bizarre one for us to decide on. [laughs] In the midst of recording, I went to a marriage. We had a full session that day, after which at about 9pm, Georgie [Stott] and I needed to go away to go to this wedding ceremony that was the following day. However earlier than we left, we have been speaking about Led Zeppelin IV, particularly within the context of ‘You Will Come Residence’, and I simply put the album on actually loud within the automotive and drove late at evening again to London with Led Zeppelin IV blaring. And I spotted that ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘You Will Come Residence’ are the identical tune.
It additionally made me consider ‘Wednesday’, with its sort of bluesy riff.
That’s humorous. The factor is, with all these reference factors, these have been all issues that have been lengthy after the songs have been written. The songs have been written about 9 months earlier than, apart from ‘I Received Misplaced’, which was written within the studio. However I hadn’t even considered ‘Wednesday’ in that context. The extra reside approach of recording music – a giant a part of what we have been making an attempt to do is to honor the second that we have been in, and in the event you’re enhancing and overdubbing the whole lot, you progress away from that. So there was a extremely robust give attention to not overdubbing a lot in any respect and protecting the unique reside takes of all of the tracks of us taking part in collectively. I feel that approach of truly recording and producing meant that that sort of reference level, Led Zeppelin IV, was a useful one.
Josh Cohen’s wedding ceremony
I do know Josh Cohen is your supervisor. How did leaving the studio and going to the marriage have an effect on the method?
I used to be actually pissed off that I needed to go away the studio. However Josh, my supervisor, can also be one in every of my greatest buddies. I’ve identified him since we have been youngsters; it’s been over 10 years of friendship and dealing collectively. I used to be clearly so completely satisfied and proud that he was getting married, however I used to be tremendous pissed that I needed to go away the studio. [laughs] Georgie, who performs keys within the band, can also be actually near Josh, so we each needed to go away in the course of the recording course of to go to his wedding ceremony. We even gave a speech collectively on the wedding ceremony. However we have been within the studio like, “We’re making an album! We don’t have time to consider a fucking wedding ceremony!” After which we obtained there, and it was so stunning. It was so beautiful to have fun our pal’s love and his getting married.
But additionally, I needed to go away the studio twice within the span of about 4 days. The primary time for the marriage, the second time for a funeral. They have been each proper in the course of the recording course of, however I actually needed and wanted to be at each of them. It was a bizarre factor the place, once you’re within the studio, you sort of shut down from the remainder of the world. It sort of occurs on tour as nicely. You’re in a liminal house, outdoors of actuality, or outdoors the remainder of your mates and households’ lives the place they get to come back residence on the finish of the day of labor and get into their very own mattress and be with their very own family and friends and companions. Whenever you’re working as a band, your band turns into your loved ones, and your complete life revolves across the place that you’re, whether or not it’s the band, the venue, the studio. Typically, that signifies that you’re separated from the remainder of your life.
However leaving for the marriage and the funeral meant that I needed to bear in mind what it was wish to not be within the studio. It was actually bizarre simply being jolted out of this atmosphere – being actually hyper-focused, working 12-hour days, solely pondering and speaking in regards to the report 24 hours a day – after which out of the blue being at one of the profound and vital occasions in another person’s life. You’re jerked out of your studio, and it’s like, Fuck, I’m out of the blue again on the planet, and the place I’m is so intense, after which zooming straight again into the studio once more. It was fairly a bizarre expertise.
You say it’s bizarre – do you’re feeling prefer it’s additionally vital or essential to have these moments of reconnection?
I feel it’s actually vital to reconnect with the true world and actual folks. And by “actual folks,” I imply individuals who aren’t in your band. [laughs] It was actually vital to me to be at each of these issues. However once you’re creating one thing, it’s additionally actually vital to totally immerse your self in that world and never step outdoors of it, to be absolutely immersed in your craft and your follow. Really, I discovered that I couldn’t take into consideration the rest for about six months main as much as the recording, and even after, I couldn’t take into consideration the rest. Each waking thought was this album as a result of that’s how in it I used to be. And the little bit of it that’s on the very core of that course of, which is being on the studio, after which having to go away – it was actually disorienting and complicated. But it surely was additionally only a reminder that life retains taking place, it doesn’t actually matter the place you’re or what you’re doing. It’s important to find time for it.
Sardines, potatoes, olive oil, roast rooster, tomatoes
There’s one thing grounding about together with an inventory of meals right here, which I’m guessing can also be tied to the recording course of?
It’s. It’s additionally associated to the time earlier than we went into the recording studio. We had this rehearsal studio in Portslade, simply outdoors of Brighton. It was in this sort of industrial property, in a horrible outdated warehouse. However me and Georgie, who reside in London, would drive down each week, and Sam and Dan, who have been in Brighton, we might go and spend two full days within the studio, simply writing and rehearsing, after which we’d sleep over at Sam’s home. We’d often exit for fish and chips or make dinner collectively. We might make these massive stews, often; there was plenty of homeliness. We’d return to the studio the following day, do one other full day of labor, after which me and Georgie would drive again to London. When have been within the recording studio as nicely, we’d take turns and somebody would make a giant communal dinner. We ate so many potatoes and salads. Usually, I’d simply make an enormous salad initially of the day, and it might simply be out for the remainder of the day and everybody may eat it. It was all very communal. We did a giant meals store collectively, we might prepare dinner for one another, we might eat collectively.
I feel consuming collectively – you’re sharing one thing that turns into a part of your physique, what you’re product of is what you eat. Whenever you’re all consuming the identical meals and cooking collectively, you’re additionally pondering collectively. You’re doing issues in tandem. You’re conscious of everyone else’s tastes, what everyone else can and desires to eat. By doing it communally, you’re taking everybody into consideration and also you’re bearing everyone in thoughts. It’s very a lot a factor that households do this retains you collectively and shut — consuming is the middle of the house. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, it’s the factor that ties me to the folks I like. We eat collectively, and that was only a massive a part of this album. And for us as a band, it at all times has been. If we’re on tour, we at all times discover a Vietnamese restaurant as a result of that’s the meals that crosses over everybody’s dietary necessities and style preferences.
Fatboy Slim’s cafe
Subsequent to our rehearsal studio in Portslade, there’s this place known as Hove Lagoon, simply earlier than you get to the seaside. It’s a man-made lagoon the place folks do water sports activities, and there’s additionally a restaurant that belongs to Fatboy Slim. I feel it’s known as Large Seashore Cafe. There was nothing actually round there, it was a bit lifeless apart from a petroleum station with some grocery store in it and that cafe. We’d usually discover ourselves going to the cafe, particularly in the summertime – we recorded the album in January, so after we began recording, it was possibly Might, however by the point we completed, it was full, horrible winter in England, which isn’t very good. However in the summertime we might usually go to the cafe and chill there in our breaks. It’s proper by the seaside, and it’s a extremely stunning a part of the seaside.
The Simpsons
Are you a longtime fan or did you get into the present round that point?
I’m a longtime fan. It was like my favourite present after I was a child. Once we have been having our sleepovers at Sam’s home, after we’d eaten, we’d usually simply chill and watch The Simpsons collectively. And plenty of instances after we had breaks, everybody would go round and identify their favourite second from The Simpsons. It was sort of a bit we have been doing, nearly making a joke of how a lot we favored it. However then we might go residence and lookup the episodes that we’d been speaking about that day and we’d watch them within the evenings. [laughs] That was actually enjoyable. I feel it’s one of many exhibits that we will all agree on as a result of it’s straightforward to look at and we’ve all seen it one million instances earlier than. You realize, we’ve been a band for about ten years, and we’ve been actually good buddies throughout that point. Quite a lot of my reminiscences hanging out with Sam, we might simply watch The Simpsons. It jogs my memory of the coziness and homeliness of getting inside after a protracted day within the studio and watching TV with your mates, and everybody going, “Can we watch this one?” And then you definately do, and it’s nice.
Listening to the album, as frantic and intense as it may be, I do come away from it feeling, if not a way of homeliness, then a sort of consolation or aid in the way in which it resolves itself. Is {that a} objective for you once you’re establishing a report?
I don’t suppose I ever actually have a objective in relation to what I’m making. I’m actually glad to listen to that there’s a comforting factor within the songs for you, I undoubtedly get that. Quite a lot of the album is understanding some actually exhausting knots and teasing out these actually complicated, painful experiences, and on the finish of it, what I’ve is simply plenty of reminiscences of spending time with my greatest buddies, making music that I’m actually happy with that I get to maintain taking part in and share with folks. There’s a sense of connecting and being seen and permitting myself to be seen. It’s probably the most terrifying factor to share these ugly elements of myself that I don’t need folks to see. However then I share them, and it looks like there’s some sort of aid by that connection, and thru that transformation as they get shared, as reflections of one thing actually trustworthy and true to me.
This interview has been edited and condensed for readability and size.
Porridge Radio’s Clouds within the Sky They Will At all times Be There for Me is out now through Secretly Canadian.
