Only hours before their first ever festival headline slot,
family trio made up of sisters Camilla, Jess and Emily take to a sunny corn
field to talk about who they are. They are, of course, The Staves. The band,
described as “youthful folk revivalists” arrived fresh from a Swiss plane to
play Barn on the Farm, one of the UK’s best upcoming music festivals.
They have an American-esque vibe to their music, as if the
Grand Canyon itself spat them out, so when the sisters begin in middle classed
London accents, creates a little confusion. If you haven’t checked these girls
out by now, where have you been? There’s a smart, yet natural sophistication to
their discography. They tell me that they’re not really folk, not really rock
and not really indie.
“We’re like a three headed singer songwriter,” one of the
sisters explains before adding “I’m so shit at this. We sing songs in three
part harmony with essences of singer songwriter rules.”
The trio, armed with harmonies that could probably melt
steel, formed after a friend suggested that they perform at their local Watford
pub’s open-mic night. “We grew up singing around the house and all our friends
were in bands and their parents were old, kind of rockers, I suppose there were
a lot of parties when we grew up when it as very much pass the guitar around.
We’d have a sing with our friends and just have a good time.”
Now eleven years later, the trio are signed at Atlantic
Records and have since released their sophomore album, If I Was. The album was
produced by Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) in his very own studio. On asking what he
was like, the three blurt out “rubbish, he’s a complete wanker. Ass. Not
talented or friendly at all,” before reassuring me that they were joking. They
described the venture like their childhood holidays “but without our parents
and with shit loads of beer.”
“It was really really amazing,” they
begin. “He’s managed to create a really fantastic place. His home/studio is
really secluded and surrounded by loads of lovely greenery and woods. It was
like that feeling when we were little. We’d go on holiday to Ireland or Wales
to somewhere similar where we could be as loud as we wanted to be and run
around and not have to worry about sleeping.”
Wisely and Slow, The Staves’ debut album
was recorded in the middle of London. They tell me that creating that album
felt like a working day, with the commute and acknowledgement that just round
the corner are a million other people getting on with their lives.
Barn on the Farm is a festival that
prides itself on its independency and intimacy, consisting of only three stages
at Over Barn in Gloucestershire. The festival even has its own strawberry
picking field and resident Ostriches. Yeah, those Ostriches…
“As we pulled in we saw two ostriches
fucking. The guy was like on her and she was like…” before the three all pull
the same face. “And he was like...” before the three, again, start acting out
the whole scene. It was like being there. “And his feathers were like...”.
I’m sure you can imagine. “She was not
happy. I felt like such a fucking child. You don’t get that at Glastonbury.
Shocking.”
Glastonbury becomes the largest town in
the South West over the weekend that it’s on, so for The Staves to go from
Glasto to Barn on the Farm must be a completely different experience.
“It’s so fucking nice to pull off a main
road and you’re here. It takes like a day to get into Glasto. It’s really nice
to come somewhere so immediately.”
From performing, to actually creating
music, The Staves describe the messages behind their ethereal harmonies as “the
moment when the shit hits the fan.”
“Basically we’re trying to figure shit
out, like everyone else really,” they begin. “We use our music to explore what
the hell it means to being a human being on this planet”, one of the sisters explains
before another sarcastically adds “unlike other planets.”
“We are ourselves, that’s all we’ve ever
been. The album at the moment is sort of when the shit hits the fan and what
you do. Yes, there’s the hurt and pain but what do you do with that? We turned
it into something positive and learn and grow from that.”
“Everyone’s had a time where they’ve
been struck by a band that has helped them through things. I would be happy if
someone used ours to help them.”
The Staves are, therefore, a three-headed-singer-songwriter-agony-aunt.
The trio were part of that famous
performance at Glastonbury, alongside Mumford and Sons, Vampire Weekend, First
Aid Kit and The Vaccines, but tell me that writing their newest album has been
the highlight of their career adding how “it’s meant the most and it’s been the
most fulfilling yet.”
Before dispatching to head off to headline
the Main Stage, we talk pre-gig rituals, like sacrificing a goat or watching
ostriches shag.
“It’s normally us and the guys in the
band queuing up for the loo and hastily putting on lipstick. We always have a
huddle and swig some whisky, beer or wine or all of the above. It’s bad luck if
we don’t huddle.”
After our chat, the sun set and made way
for these three songstresses to win over the masses. If you haven’t checked out
The Staves, what are you waiting for?
