JACK & LILY WOLTER OF PENELOPE ISLES
Hi and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology. It can be said that whilst holed up in a small cottage in Cornwall as the pandemic raged on you were all processing some difficulties and drinking heavily yet rather than imploding from the weight of it all, you funnelled that pent up energy into producing this exquisite album. Can you explain some of the fly on the wall moments of what it was like locked up with one another, the creative outpourings and how you coalesced it into Which Way To Happy?
Lily - Yes….what a weird old time it was. I think when we imagined going to make the record in a Cornish cottage for 3 weeks we pictured surfing, pubs, visiting family down the road, day trips etc. to keep us all sane. Not being allowed to do any of those things, whilst sharing 1 bedroom with 1 bed, and eventually leaving after 2 months, was most definitely a real struggle at times. Of course I don’t want us to come across like a bunch of piss-heads, but like a lot of people throughout lockdown, the booze helped! (Or at least felt like it did.) We had nothing else to do apart from work on this record, which in many ways was a fantastic thing, but also meant that we struggled to escape from it. There was an old stagnant lake at the bottom of the cottage with an ancient, rotting rowing boat parked upside down on the edge. We would often blow off steam by rowing ourselves into the middle of it with a bottle of whisky and an acoustic guitar, screaming Neil Young into the empty countryside. I think if it wasn’t for that lake, it would have been a lot harder. It’s funny, a part of me wouldn’t change it for the world! (Despite the tragedy that the whole planet was experiencing at the time… that I would of course like to change.)
Perhaps the importance of a group dynamic cannot be overstated having lost two band members during the record yet conversely acquiring Henry (Nicholson), Joe (Taylor), and Hannah (Feenstra). Can you explain how the departure of the others and inclusion of the latter impacted the shape and sound of the record?
Jack - The group dynamic has certainly been tested during the last year. At one point we were a three piece wondering what we were going to do. Lily and I have always been the core of the band and the songwriters in Penelope Isles, and although we love and like to experience our project as a group/band, we know how lucky we are to have each other and to always have that solid base to our creativity. I think musically we were ready to expand and develop our sound ahead of the recording of Which Way To Happy. So the new penny isles crew that we worked with added fresh ears and different approaches to playing these new songs. We opened ourselves up to other suggestions on this album and that felt like a big breakthrough. Hannah helped us with recording some of the drums on the album and Joe is now our full-time drummer for the live shows. We spent a lot of time experimenting with drum sounds, recording sessions in various spaces and getting the drums right was important as it often really helps the rest of the sounds come together. I feel we definitely took for granted that our old line up was a very solid family unit. That takes time to create and years of touring and spending time together to solidify. We are just so looking forward to getting the new line up out there to play and play and play. We miss it so much.
And of your own dynamic, as siblings where have you found your strengths and for that matter limitations in terms of your creativity?
Lily - This record has most defiantly been more of a collaboration for Jack and I, which has been an amazing thing for both of us! Jack is definitely the more skilled producer by far, so when it comes to that side of things, he’s the boss! And I feel so lucky that I have a partner in crime that loves my songs enough to put as much love and energy into them as he does. I think because Jack has so much more experience and drive for producing than I do, it means that I am most likely going to remain in this role in this project, which is partially great because I can take a back seat and watch the musical magic happen whilst helping as much as I can, but also means I’m relying on someone else to translate my own ideas. Alas, as my mum always says- “You can’t be good at everything!” Plus… he does a bloody sterling job of it!
How much did your time travelling through Europe and America impart itself on the album, either subtlety in conceptual ways or explicitly in direct and traceable elements?
Lily - We have done a LOT of touring over the past decade, but the reality of a bloody good road trip song hit when we toured the USA. We found a new appreciation for bands like Wilco, The War on Drugs, LCD Sound System. That Americana, feel good, slow build really influenced us before beginning Which Way To Happy, particularly with tracks like ‘Miss Moon’ & ‘Play It Cool’.
Lyrically is there an overarching sentiment that runs throughout the record tying all the tracks together with a central narrative?
Lily - It’s hard to pin a central narrative on something that was made about lots of different things at different points over the years (Jack wrote ‘Sudoku’ about 8 years ago!) But I guess if I were to, then for me these songs represent changes in our lives, whether they be good or bad. There’s a lot of struggle in many of the lyrics, and a fair bit of working stuff out in our heads, as well as reminiscing of beautiful moments with beautiful people. I can’t say that we found all the answers at the end, but I’m starting to believe that’s probably just life isn’t it.
On the topic of the songs themselves, there is a sonic disintegration, and fraying of the edges in tracks such as Miss Moon yet moments of utter elation like Play it Cool and Have You Heard. Quite polar in their nature but perfect illustrations of your finesse and musicianship when focusing on particular sonic expressions. Is there a clear vision from the onset for the tracks you produce or more so a fluid, organic approach that simply evolves out of your collective approach in crafting each track?
Jack - Thank you. I think we are far too disorganised and too excitable to properly plan out the production! We were touring so much before that we were just keen to jump in and start recording! We spent two or three days building a studio and testing mics and spaces and stuff so I guess that was an element of prep but I’m personally not a big fan of referencing other songs and sounds and working things out too much before you make something. I think it’s important to seize the moment and just go in with an open mind and see what you catch. It obviously doesn’t always work like that though. Sometimes you have to sit down all puzzled as to what to do with the song! We had that on a song called ‘Rocking At The Bottom.’ We were trying different drum and bass patterns for weeks and nothing would work. But eventually something clicked one day and it was there.
The dreamy single Ice Gems is a beautiful track and one that embodies a lot of the sonic elements we hear throughout the record. On a technical level can you share with us some of the instrumentation / fx you employed to create it?
Jack - We mainly use guitars and traditional sounding keys like organs and Rhodes. But we wanted to purposefully change this up for Iced Gems and we used mainly electronic instrumentation. The main drum beat is done on a Teenage Engineering OP1 and then we recorded loads of samples for all the abstract percussion bits. Metal pipes banging together and Lily biting into carrots. A lot of sounds were processed with plugins. I use a lot of the soundtoy plugins - The Crystalliser is a lot of fun. We like making textures and out of time loops in our songs, often using multiple delays and pitch-shifters. We had fun making this song and I can hear that in its atmosphere. Henry had the Model D Moog synth app on his phone and was joking around on it a lot which we ended up putting in the song. Who needs to spend money on the real thing!
The wonderful beginning of the final track on the record In A Cage with its initial soundscape before it makes way for some gentle vocals and warm textures is beautiful track. A fitting way to finish the record which begs the question, how considered was the track listing and sequential order of the eleven tracks?
Jack - Thank you again! That’s a harp tuned down and put through a bunch of pedals. In A Cage is a special song for us as it contains a vocal sample of a dear friend of ours who is not with us anymore. His voice is the last thing you hear on the record. I found this recording just before we started making the album. We knew this was gunna be the end of the LP but we had a real struggle with the track listing!! We had a bunch of different options but ended up asking Simon to help us with the ordering. We were a little too submerged in the songs to finalise the track listings. Simon actually helped us with this on the first album too! Cheers boss!
Composer Fiona Brice features throughout the record and can you elaborate on Fiona’s influence; be it before, during or after the songs creations where her effect was the strongest?
Jack - Fiona absolutely rocks! Having strings on our songs has always been a dream. This was the first time we had ever really collaborated with another musician with our songs. It was slightly nerve-racking inviting someone into our world like that - the same with Fridmann with the mixing. But the trust paid off. Fiona plays on five songs in total and we totally fell in love with what she did. She adds a magic to the songs that we could never have created if we tried to. We had a chat before we sent her the tracks to work out what was the best approach. Due to lockdown limitations Fiona ended up recording the majority of her work from home, engineering the recordings too. Cellos were recorded by her friend Vicky Matthews. We only had a couple of moments we wanted her to re-create as we’d envisioned but most of the strings you hear are her own wonderful arrangements. It was like Christmas day listening to her recordings for the first time.
In what ways did you want to push the sonic boundaries on Which Way To Happy compared to that of your debut Until the Tide Creeps In?
Jack - From the producer side, I really wanted to make a bigger and better sounding album. It was important to make sure things were done thoroughly and without cutting corners. We spent a little bit of money on some new mics and borrowed a few bits of gear from friends to try get more quality into the recordings. When you are making a record in a pretty intense and tiring environment, I feel it’s easy to get a bit lazy and maybe you don’t mic things up properly or take the time to get things right before a take. We used multiple spaces to record these songs too. Some songs have three instruments recorded in four different rooms. This helped create a wider dynamic for sure.
It is often understated the influence mixing has on an album and Which Way To Happy was mixed by rock legend David Fridmann of The Flaming Lips and Tame Impala fame. Specifically what did David bring to the table that you feel really shines through on the record?
Jack - Dave really took the songs to a new level. It’s like he chewed them up and spat them out in a DF spitball! We have always been a big fan of his ballsy mixes and heavy use of compression and grit. The Mogwai and Flaming lips for example. It was an honour to have him work on our songs and there is no doubt he made the songs feel complete. It’s a really harsh sounding album, in a beautiful way. There’s lots of distortion that I feel Dave has crafted beautifully into the mix. It lends itself really well to vinyl and reminds me of Deerhunter records. It was a first for us to have someone mix our songs without our input. I recorded the songs and Dave mixed them. We only had a few hours as well to make decisions and to commit to the mixes as he was working with a lot of analog gear. It was a bit stressful too but I’m glad we went through the process. I mean, c’mon it’s Dave Feckin’ Fridmann for feck’s sake!
Having previously toured with likes of The Flaming Lips, Wallows, Lost Horizons and The Magic Numbers, during that time were there any particular moments that you shared which really stand out in your live career?
Lily - After the first show on the Wallows tour, we immediately had to re-think our set. Playing a 15 minute kraut-rock tune to a thousand 16 year old kids from Florida didn’t seem to grab’m by the balls as much as it did to our usual audience. We had a lot of fun mixing it up and getting a little bit silly. We included a ‘call and response’ bit whenever we played ‘Round’, and got everyone to wave their torches side to side (channeling our inner Coldplay). At one point we even gently introduced a cheeky Wallows riff and got them all singing along, getting them psyched! When it worked and they seemed to dig it, it was such an unbelievable high and felt different to the buzz we normally have. Damn, those kids can scream!
Working alongside so many greats (in and out of the studio), has there been any words of wisdom spoken to you that really resonated and in turn altered the way you approach your craft?
Lily - There’s a friend of ours on the Isle of Man who is a bit of a local legend, Mr Martin Critchley, the man, the myth, the legend. He once told me when I was about 16 to ‘never get big headed… and don’t become a dickhead’. I think about that sentence almost every time someone wants to say ‘hi’ after a show. I have seen it happen to folks along the way, and it sure ain’t cute! Anyway Martin, If you’re reading this, I promise that if we ever get famous I’ll do my best to keep my word.
