PBY – Too Pink To Be Admired, Too Punk To Be Desired / Interview - Hinds
Upon the release of their latest single, Hinds chat to Post Brexit Youth about their personal and musical evolution, fighting stereotypes and getting to know The Strokes.
“You’re too pink to be admired, you’re too punk to be desired” sing Hinds in their latest single ‘Just Like Kids (Miau)’, a manifesto declaring that the Madrid band is ready to come back more witty and mature than ever. Four years from their debut album, the four-piece have seen their life radically changed, becoming one of the most successful exports in the history of Spanish pop music and influencing the rise of a home indie scene. Teasing their new album The Prettiest Curse with four singles, Hinds are not afraid of reaffirming their winning recipe of tongue-in-cheek lyrics, youthful energy and tremendously infectious and liberating choruses without neglecting their Spanish roots. Singer and guitarist Ana Perrote talks to Post Brexit Youth’s Lorenzo Ottone about challenging negative stereotypes, embracing a new aesthetic and touring with The Strokes.
Lorenzo Ottone: In your latest single ‘Just Like Kids (Miau)’ you reply, tongue-in-cheek, to some of the stereotypes – from being girls in the music industry to coming from Spain – that come up when talking to the press. Do you still face many of these issues?
Ana Perrote: ‘Miau’ isn’t just about interviewers, it’s a summary of all the conversations with random people, even those who are supposed to be our friends. It is not something that belongs to the past, at all. Just this morning, Carlotta [Cosials, vocals and guitar] got a text saying, “these girls wouldn’t say absolutely anything if they weren’t so hot.” These things have been so recurrent, that it’s come to the point where it’s so ridiculous that we now embrace and laugh about it. That’s why we called the song ‘Miau’. I don’t know if it’s a Spanish thing only, but when we first started the band loads of YouTube comments said that we sounded like kittens that were being tortured. That’s where the ‘miau-meow’ sound idea comes from.
Hinds unveiled their new tracks on tour with The Strokes - Neelam Khan Vela
LO: You started the band quite young and you’ve got quite far, turning into icons and evolving your aesthetics. Do you feel this transition in your personal life and also in your approach to music?
AP: I think with a project like this - which is very personal to us in the way we dress, in the way we talk, in the music we listen to - obviously over six years things change. From 18 to 25 things like the way you understand love and your approach to life can change. In regards to aesthetics, in the beginning there was a sort of fear about looking good. Coming from a Spanish cultural background, it felt that if you put effort in your looks you had nothing else to say. Girls have the pressure upon them of being attractive, but not too attractive. Being girls, this really resonated with us, so we’d always dress in big t-shirts and long trousers, it was kinda like we tried to hide the fact we were girls. With the years, growing up, security came. I realised I could play guitar, paint my nails, and wear lipstick, without having to choose. Aesthetics is something that helps me to perform better. Even in quarantine I wear rings, it’s about dressing up for yourself not for the others. Creating visuals for videos and stage design is something I really like to take care of. It’s big part of the artistic performance.
Hinds shot in New York opening for The Strokes, New Year’s Eve 2019 - Neelam Khan Vela
LO: Just before the virus affected your plans, you toured with The Strokes. How was it?
AP: It was amazing. The only time we played the new material was with them, so the only people who have listened to the new album are those who were there. It was a kind of promo tour for them, so there was a connection in the dressing room which maybe it wouldn’t have been possible if we had been in stadiums. Over the years I got used to be disappointed when meeting my idols, because you always expect them to be the best and exactly how you imagined them. But I understand that’s not fair, because I’m aware that maybe people are let down when meeting me [laughs]. The Strokes were the last heroes I hadn’t met yet, so I was fearing of being seriously let down once again and in the back of my head I didn’t want to meet them. When they offered us the shows, though, how could we say no to it? In the end they revealed to be the complete opposite to what I expected, they were the nicest of people. They came to see our show, invited us to hang out with them and had absolutely no big egos.
LO: Are your Spanish roots a defining trait of the band?
AP: I think they are, one hundred per cent. Everyone who knows about Hinds knows that we are Spanish. Apart from the accents, our personality says it all about us. We like to have fun, hang with people, it all comes from our culture. We value social life, also because of the weather we tend to isolate less and stay out more often meeting and chatting with people. In the new album, for the first time, we introduce singing in Spanish. I think that people will appreciate it instead of being confused, because it’s something intimate about us, it’s the way we talk, the way we were raised.
Hinds on stage at The Barclays Centre, Brooklyn, New York - Neelam Khan Vela
LO: At the moment the Spanish indie scene seems to be thriving. Do you think you contributed to it?
AP: I don’t feel there was much of an interest in Spain towards our genre. We contributed to raise an interest towards Spanish music. We were the first band in years to have an international career. Our audience abroad is made of autochtonous people, so to us it has been so shocking, and we’ll be forever grateful for that. If you were born in England being a musician is an option. You must know for sure of a cousin who’s got a friend who plays in a band. In Spain it’s different. I think that after we had some success people started looking at us with interest. However, we wouldn’t be who we are if we didn’t come from Spain.
Hinds’ The Prettiest Curse is out on June 5th via Lucky Number Music.
Many thanks to Neelam Khan Vela for granting the use of her photographs. Check out Neelam’s work on Instagram at @neelastica.