Girl Ray are one of the hottest indie bands in the UK right now, with their debut album ‘Earl Grey’ rocketing them into the spotlight over a crazy Summer for the band. We caught up with the girls (Poppy Hankin on vocals and guitar, Iris McConnell on drums, and Sophie Moss on bass) at Greenman 2017 for a quick chat about wailing in the studio, ripped pants on stage, and not reading too much into straightforward lyrics.

​

Is this your first festival of the year?

 

Poppy: We’ve been doing quite a few this year, maybe seven? But we’ve been looking forward to this one especially.

 

Do you get to experience the festivals a bit or do you just play and go?

 

Iris: This one, we’ve been at since Thursday, taking in the festival goodness!

 

I did see on your instagram story a couple days ago you were having nachos with badbadnotgood or something??

 

*they laugh*

​

Poppy: I saw that in the morning and I was like ‘what have you guys been doing?!’ They shouldn't have been allowed out!

 

Congratulations on your debut album, Earl Grey, it’s been received really well, how are you enjoying all of the attention?

 

Iris: Attention’s lovely, yeah!

​

*they laugh*

​

Poppy: There is good attention, but then if you have any criticism I still take it extremely personally! Like, how could they? Death to all music journalists (which obviously, I don’t actually think) But yeah, it’s really surprising. When the album came out we weren't expecting so many big places to review it and like it, it's really flattering

 

Sophie: We haven't really played that many shows since, so we haven't really met many people who have listened to it like your average listener would? But maybe today will be nice for that potentially.

 

Is there a particular track on the album with an interesting story behind it?

 

Poppy: Oh god, i'm trying to think what's on the album now!

​

Sophie: There was one where you were like ‘Snake! Worm!’ Did that get in or nah?

​

Poppy: That didn't get in, but in the big long one, Earl Grey (Stuck in a Groove) we were all going a bit mad, and I went downstairs and was like ‘guys, I’m just gonna try, like, doing a bit of screaming and stuff?’ And I was doing the most hilarious operatic, really loud, crazy wailing! And then I had this little notepad, of things that I was going to wail! Conrad, our manager, and Sophie, were just looking from above and-

​

Iris: We had a camcorder and we were zooming in on poppy’s notepad.

​

Poppy: *laughs* Trying to see what was on the notepad, while i was like ‘WOOOOOO’

​

Sophie: It was something like ‘FUUURY!’

​

Poppy: I really let loose there, I’ve never sung so loudly! So yeah I guess that was a funny moment.

​

Sophie: Did it make it onto the song?

​

Poppy: Yeah it’s there! It’s kind of got loads of delay and stuff on it.

​

Iris: It sounded like Pink Floyd.

​

Poppy: Sorry that's not really a very interesting story, there's no song about all of us fighting or anything.

​

Iris: The song Ghosty we were really tired and couldn't be arsed so we just did it in one take, and we did the others in like 20 takes? ….. That’s not interesting either! *laughs*

 

Are there any lyrical inspirations, or maybe overall themes in the album?

 

Poppy: Obviously they're very personal lyrics, and it doesn't take much to get the lyrics, they're quite straightforward. I think to explain what it’s about too much is to take away whatever the listener is getting from it themself. But yeah, all I’d say is to just read the lyric sheets! It’s pretty straightforward, they're pretty miserable! In terms of inspiration-

​

Sophie: Courtney Barnett?

​

Poppy: No?

​

Sophie: You've been compared to Courtney Barnett in the past, which I think is quite funny because your lyrics are nothing like her's.

 

Do you have a standout moment so far of 2017 as a band?

 

Poppy: We played Rough Trade, and that was really special because we always go to them, and it was really full which was really exciting!

​

Iris: Glastonbury was cool.

​

Poppy: Yeah Glastonbury was really cool. That’s such a name-drop! *laughs* You ever heard of a little thing called glasto?! It was like a tick off the list of life’s moments kind of thing.

​

Iris: It was a good moment in my life.

​

Sophie: Even though we were feeling really terrible, and my trousers ripped right down the middle!

​

Poppy: So we gaffa-taped them up.

​

Sophie: Me and Poppy do this thing sometimes where we swivel in sync, and we hadn't done it for a while, and Poppy was like ‘alright let’s go’ and I was like ‘no no no!’ As we turned, you can just see my butt!

​

Poppy: They're yellow trousers, with just this huge piece of gaffa-tape up the butt.

​

Sophie: It was pretty embarrassing .

​

Poppy: Yeah that wasn't a highlight, but glastonbury was still so much fun.

 

Certainly memorable, if not a highlight!

 

Poppy: Yeah! Just her look of ‘no, please, no!’ but I’d already started turning!

​

*they laugh*

 

What musical instrument can’t you play but that you wish you could?

 

Iris: Oh my god literally all of them.

​

Poppy: Drums! *laughs*

​

Iris: Yeah drums!

​

Sophie: The saxophone, or the clarinet would be really cool.

​

Poppy: I wish I could play amazing jazz piano, or classical piano. Cause I can only play chords or pick out a melody, I don't actually have any technique.

 

And finally, could you describe each other in one word?

 

Iris: For sophie, I would say... ‘cresshead’. Because sometimes her hair looks like cress! No, I don’t know, come back to me please.

​

Sophie: …. Iris is an ice-cold-stony-heart.

​

*they laugh*

 

Is that hyphenated to make it one word?

 

Sophie: Yes. And Poppy… has moles.

​

Poppy: Thats right!

​

Sophie: This isn’t one word at all! Just ‘moles’. And ‘Ice-cold-stony-heart’. Actually, ‘generous’.

​

Iris: When i think of you I do just think of toes? Not your toes. You just always talk about toes.

​

*they laugh*

​

Poppy: I would say ‘savage’ for Iris, and for Sophie I’d say ‘nutter’.