Chvrches: The Bones Of What You Believe

Chvrches specialise in a particular brand of bass-heavy, synth-wielding electro-pop. And while it may seem like the Glaswegian trio burst onto the scene out of nowhere, in truth lead singer Lauren Mayberry, multi-instrumentalist Ian Cook and synth/vocalist Martin Doherty have been knocking around the music scene for some time now.

Long-time mates Cook and Doherty had been waiting for years for the perfect time to collaborate on a project. Schedules finally aligned and they started laying down the bones of said project in September 2011, around the same time Cook was also working with Mayberry on her EP.

“I let Martin hear a couple of her tunes, which I probably shouldn’t have done but I did,” recounts Cook. “And we asked her to come down and have a listen to what we were doing and maybe try out some vocals. And it went from there. Quickly we were all kind of on the same page and liked working with each other and started writing as a three-piece.”

Chvrches made their worldwide breakthrough when their glistening single Lies was featured on music taste-making blog Neon Gold. Doherty explains one of the first people to hear the Chvrches sound was Lizzy Plapinger; co-creator of the site, as well as one half of fellow electro-pop wunderkinds MS MR.

“I mean we had no label, no money, nothing like that. We just sent a song. Just to see what happen, you know, one demo. And it literally went bonkers.”

The positive response was a confidence booster for the band says Cook, as they’d already written the bulk of their forthcoming album by that point. But the real test for Chvrches came next.

“The first thing we had to do in reaction to that was to figure out how on earth we were going to do it live. Because at that point we had never played a single note live and we didn’t know how we were going to do it.”

They figured it out pretty quickly and the accolades have continued to pour in over the past two years. They’ve played SXSW, supported acts like Passion Pit and Two Door Cinema Club and earlier this year opened for Depeche Mode on a European stadium tour. Chvrches were also featured on the BBC’s Sound of 2013 list, which described their sound as “electro-pop that shimmers only when the tears are washed from its speaker cones.”

But the three-piece are conscious of taking all this praise with a hefty grain of salt. “People are like ‘there must be so much hype, so much pressure, so much external influence,’” says Mayberry. “And I think you can make decisions that make that more a part of your day-to-day life but I think for me, it’s nice to have a separation between the two things. And probably, well hopefully, in the future that’s what will help us make music. Not completely immersing yourself in something which may or may not be genuine or real. And it’s always good to go home and talk to friends who know you’re stupid assholes.”

Apart from the grounding support from friends and family, Doherty says they filter out that noise by retreating to the solace of the studio.

“Being a three piece and a completely creative, self-sufficient project means that there’s never a situation where you have to extend our reach out of that one room.”

“You retreat to the studio and turn off the Internet connection and if you don’t want to read bad stuff that people write about you, don’t read it. And if you don’t want to get a big head, don’t read the good stuff. It really is that simple, in a lot of ways.”

This cautious attitude towards media attention perhaps stems from Mayberry’s experience on the other side of the aisle. She has a law degree and a masters in journalism, wrote her dissertation on the representation of females in the media and has three years working as a freelance journo under her belt.

“I feel like maybe if I didn’t have that kind of background maybe I’d be a little more trusting and naïve in some respects. Although I do think being in this band has been a learning curve because you’re on the other side of it,” she explains.

“If someone asks you a question, not that you shouldn’t be honest with people, but there are some things I don’t want to answer. Not because I think I’m Beyoncé and I shouldn’t have to, but there are things I feel are not relevant to what we are doing.

“I kind of feel like if you fixate on that stuff it’s just going to fuck you up, in the same way that if you read all those glowing reports you’re going to start thinking you’re the messiah and not be able to write anything good anyway.”

So has this whole trajectory inspired a batch of new Chvrches material? Mayberry says we’ll have to see what happens on the second record. But until then they’re committed to staying on track and avoiding the hype, less the trappings of success get in the way of Chvrches’ creative juices.

Adds Doherty, “It’s going to be an extra shock to yourself when you make your second record and everybody hates it. And you’re like “I just can’t understand! How is it possible that my second record it shit? How many people have told me I’m the best thing ever?” Like, well, you’re a fucking idiot aren’t you.”