Pillow Queens: More than just one of Ireland's best lesbian guitar bands
Sarah Corcoran, left, and the other members of Pillow Queens, who release their debut album today.
With song titles like ‘Handsome Wife’ and ‘Gay Girls’, it’s safe to say Dublin four piece Pillow Queens are not the typical guitar band coming out of Dublin at the moment. Their debut album, In Waiting, is released on Friday.
Offering early '90s Seattle vibes and anthemic singalongs, the four-piece also present something a little bit different to the likes of all-male outfits such as Murder Capital, Fontaines DC, and Girl Band.
And they themselves feel part of a different kind of scene anyway. “Anytime there’s a reference to Dublin guitar rock, we're like, ‘hold on, why are they not mentioning the lesbian guitar scene that's about to blossom in Dublin,’” ponders guitarist and vocalist Sarah Corcoran.
“It doesn't have to be a joke. There's as many bands in Dublin as there is in this post-punk guitar scene that's happening, which is obviously really exciting and is thriving. But then there's also this other really exciting thing that's happening all over Ireland, with female guitar bands.”
Corcoran is not trying to start a feud, however - she admits to being a fan of Fontaines DC and Girl Band and is delighted to see them attracting attention outside of Ireland.
“It's just really exciting because having Irish bands travel and succeed in what they're doing is paving the way for us and is paving the way for other younger bands who want to do the same.” In Waiting was recorded in Donegal over the last couple of years and, considering it’s their debut, is evidence of the progress they’ve already made since forming.
Corcoran points to a stadium support slot with Future Islands and Idles, when their guitar leads were too short to go from their amps to the front of stage, as a moment of growth and clarity. She adds: “Even though we take the band as a project really seriously, we don't take ourselves massively seriously.”
The album was due to come out earlier in 2020, ahead of festival season where Pillow Queens really shine and after slots at SXSW in Texas, but obviously, Covid-19 derailed well-laid plans.
And from BBC 6 Music playlisting to Australian radio, new fans are being made daily around the world. Reductive and presumptive terms like ‘all-female band’ need not apply, however.
“It's not necessary to be like, ‘this is four women, and they're all gay’,” says Corcoran. “We're happy to discuss it because it's something that's maybe not discussed as often… but we’re not experts on being women or being gay - or really being musicians.”
She doesn’t want to definitively define the band either, but, playing devil’s advocate, if say one of Pillow Queens departed, would it have to be a non-male queer person who replaced them?
“Ah yeah, it would have to be,” Corcoran shoots back. “When we were forming, We were like, ‘Oh, it does have to be four [gay women]’. Just because we've never done that before. We've all been in bands before with a group of guys or whatever. And it's obviously great because being in a band is great, but you have your own experiences that you want to share with like-minded people who you're going to travel with. And you want to make music with people who have the same interests and experiences as you do."
Corcoran says they all want to go to the same pubs after practice, and generally all want to talk about the same things. "We listen to a lot of the same music, so we love being around each other. It's brill.”
