Talking to CHILDCARE
CHILDCARE head out on tour this September playing at Boileroom in Guildford followed by The Fighting Cocks in Kingston. Bringing with them a whole host of innovative extras as part of their gigs, we caught up with bass player and vocalist Emma Topolski to find out more about the band’s Get Well Soon project…
For those who don’t know, how would you describe the sound of CHILDCARE?
Well, we’ve coined a soft-core psych genre. Even though we’ve got guitars per se, it’s a lot more lyrical, very linear. It’s lots of parts that slot together, rather than strummy-things. So its melodies built on melodies, and we use a lot of vocals to create textures. So yeah, a soft-core-psych quartet from London.
You head out on your ‘Wabi’ tour this September in support of your debut album ‘Wabi-Sabi’, released earlier this year. Am I right in thinking that it’s like accepting imperfection?
Yeah, that’s right. It’s the beauty in imperfection, and I guess the grace in ageing and things that aren’t supposed to be beautiful. Making sure that they’re not taken for granted and appreciating your flaws.
You’ve got some innovative extras as part of the gigs – can you tell us a little bit more the band’s Get Well Soon project?
The bonus features! So our whole project is called The Get Well Soon Project’ and Wabi-Sabi is just an element of that whole movement. We’ve been making candles at home out of lavender essence and we’ve got bath bombs. We’ve been running what we call Personal Glory Retreats, and we did those in the lead- up to the album release. They were weekly-ticketed events, where 10 – 12 fans at a time would come down and engage in a Personal Glory Retreat. These ranged from laughter classes, mindful eating classes, yoga, mindfulness, meditation, positive-affirmation and chanting. We’re going to try and make sure that on tour we include some of our personal glory retreats on the road. Sometimes that will be in the venue beforehand, or maybe we’ll find a yoga studio-space in the various cities. For anyone that wants to Get Well Soon, we’ll be here to fulfil all your needs.
How was the idea of the wellness campaign conceived?
I think it was probably two-fold. There was a lot of content on the record when we started to assimilate the songs and tie together a theme. Trying to work out what these songs are about and where are we at in our lives; I think those two things crossed over a bit. We were all making sure that our wellbeing was taken care of a bit more than we had in the past. Rich does a lot of yoga and Ed does a lot of mindfulness and visualisations, just to keep a track I suppose, of mental health and of wellbeing in general, and taking time out. We realised that a lot of the songs had a lot of that content – about betterment and self-improvement – and we just thought it was a really nice way to tie the record together, to interact with fans and with people and to have a flowing discussion.
How important for you was it to incorporate the wellness ideas alongside the music?
I think a lot of the content is so layered, but also almost hidden unless you’re on repeat listen. Sometimes things just sound like a catchy bop, and you might just enjoy the way that it makes you feel and you might want to dance, or it might be an earworm. It’s only on repeat listens that you realise that something might be about feminism, or toxic masculinity, or more observations about the world – things that you may not pick up on first listen. Some of the lyrics are quite unique, and they conjure up strange images, and you don’t necessarily think that what you’re listening to actually has a more serious layer to it. I think that’s a key part of CHILDCARE; it’s the marriage of a real tongue-in-cheek playfulness and fun, and then you’re caught off-guard with things that are actually quite profound and they mean something to all of us. It’s the same thing with the retreats; they are unnervingly funny and serious – I don’t think people know what to do with us!
You played The Boileroom in Guildford earlier this year as part of Independent Venue Week, and return to the venue as part of this current tour. What are your memories of the show, and have you got any other connections to Guildford?
It was one of the best gigs we’ve done. It was so brilliant. It was a freezing Monday night, and snowing. We had never played there before and we just thought this is going to be a washout. Everyone turned up and it was really sweaty, packed-out, and just so much fun. We’re really excited to go back there.
Our drummer did a summer camp at Guildford Grove Primary School when he was visiting his cousin. He won a talent competition for a tear-jerking performance of My Heart Will Go On. He’s definitely got a strong connection with Guildford.
What’s on you guys’ agenda post-tour?
We’ve already written the bulk of the second record, so I think we’re going to hone in in October on finalising those songs. Then come December we’ll be doing the ‘Sabi’ part of the tour where we’ll visit some of the more Northern territories, culminating in a London show at The Scala. That’s something that we really want to focus on – being super-interactive and having loads of the wellness elements within it. It won’t just be the music, it’ll be a big multifaceted show, which I’m really excited about.
CHILDCARE GIG DATES
SEPTEMBER 14 / THE BOILEROOM, GUILDFORD {TICKETS}
SEPTEMBER 18 / THE FIGHTING COCKS, KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES {TICKETS)