[Mary Lucia] Hey guys it's Mary Lucia
and I'm so happy to be hosting this
virtual session
with an artist that we just started
playing this year Beabadoobee
B, how are you?
[Beabadoobee] Hello I'm good thanks, how are you?
[Lucia] I'm fine I have so many things I want
to ask you but
first here you were at the beginning of
the year
January 2020 working on this new album
having all of these uh appearances
lined up Coachella all this stuff and
then
wham bam thank you ma'am a little bit of
a pandemic
kind of screwed that up so what did that
do to you mentally like
did you did it make you just feel like
oh lord I was the momentum was going and now
what?
[Beabadoobee] It was strange like I, I honestly thought that this like this
is gonna be my year like I was so
excited for
you know everything that was going to
happen but I think I really needed
time like obviously of course like
corona is terrible but I think
quarantine really helped me kind of
go through things that happened on tour
and just kind of get over that
um there was a lot of healing I had to
do because I
you know I went like, it went from like
playing a few shows and going to the U.S.
and touring and
then two other tours straight after and
it was super intense and I think
if you know none of this would have
happened and I went to Coachella and I
did all these amazing things
obviously it would still be amazing but
I think I wouldn't have time to kind of
you know like be in reality again like I
missed my mom, I missed my dad
and I missed my brother and I missed my
friends and my boyfriend and
you know things happened on tour that I
needed to get over and
I was like coming into terms of you know
things that would have that happened to
me as a child and kind of going over
that which helped me write the album
um but yeah it was I think overall it
was really a positive
outcome because it helped me mentally um
this time yeah.
[Lucia] And you did
openings for like The 1975 which I would
imagine that was sort of a
big arena um
I don't want to make you, I don't want to
make you relive what what was hurtful
about it but
was it um something that came unexpected
that you thought oh man is this part of
the deal
[Beabadoobee] Oh it was, I honestly the one thing that I love about that I loved about tour was
literally playing like I loved playing I
loved hanging out with my band
I loved the shows I think it was just
the mistakes I made as an individual
that I was you know I was just trying to
figure myself
out I was really excited about
everything you know that but then
you know that tour specifically that
1975 tour
was the best tour ever like the boys
were so amazing
the crowds were so welcoming and I
finally felt comfortable on the stage
despite it being such a huge stage
um but it was so empowering it was
amazing yeah
like that's like I miss live shows so
much
man I like I know yeah I want to play live
so badly
[Lucia] Well so having this time then to add to the record
Fake It Flowers, um is
have you pushed the release date back or
is it still just for later this year?
[Beabadoobee] Oh it's still full yes it's getting
released at the same day
October 16th I think yeah um
and you'll get I mean I finished the
album before
lockdown when lockdown happened in
London I mean I had to record one of the
songs at my boyfriend's house on like a four
track cassette cassette recorder with a super
fun um but yeah it was pretty much like it was
pretty much done um and mixed in mastering happened in the
space of lockdown but
I'm super proud of it and I think not
like time wise nothing's changed I feel like it's given us
it's given me especially more time to
kind of think about the creative vision
of it more
like you know I lived at my boyfriend's
house and he
he directs all my music videos and
you know um we pretty much inspire each
other so
I like we kind of collaborated and and
I really thought about what I wanted the
whole vibe and aesthetic of the
of the album Fake It Flowers would be and
especially Care um so yeah it was
actually turned out pretty okay
[Lucia] It's interesting because a lot of
artists who finish an album
don't really have any time to reflect
because they're immediately out
promoting it and playing it live
and maybe you've had that luxury if you
will of
being able to sort of visualize these
songs and how you want them to come off
live and that's something that maybe a lot of
artists don't normally get to have
[Beabadoobee] Yeah no especially
like I've definitely had that luxury to
kind of just live within
my album and really think about the
songs and
you know think about the visual side and
now I'm like rehearsing again I've had
so much time to rehearse all these album
songs and
um with my band and perfecting it so
when we
go back into live shows like it's going
to sound as perfect as I want it to be
um so yeah it's been a really nice kind
of
you know appreciating everything that's
happened so far and i don't think
i feel like i hadn't i haven't done that
for a while because i was
everything was just going so fast and
then all of a sudden there's all this
time to kind of just sit back and just
you know be really happy and content I
guess
[Lucia] So you are go you guys are going to play
a song uh
this is Beabadoobee it's a virtual session
on The Current
[Music: "Sorry" by Beabadoobee]
[Lucia] That was Beabadoobee doing sorry for The Current
virtual sessions and that will appear on
the
new full-length debut album called Fake
It Flowers in October
I want to know more about you well you
have a very interesting backstory and I
always find it
very interesting when a person
a young person has a real affinity
for like in your case
some of that Sub Pop
that cool stuff that it's it's not
always expected that someone like you
would go
yeah Pavement, Stephen Malkmus he's like
you know
he's it uh so where did all that music
just
come through to you like what was your
resource? Internet?
[Beabadoobee] Um it was definitely love the internet
but it was just the people i knew as
well like
I found Pavement through my boyfriend's
brother who showed me Pavement and I was like obsessed with the band straight
away
and like I think the music my mom used
to play in the background of my
childhood just kind of
you know I guess stayed with me like you
know The Cranberries and
but then also like The Cardigans and
Alanis Morissette
and you know just amazing women um
and I recently got into them and just
from that like you
it's through the internet I see like all
these little strands of other eyes like
I found Liz Phair and I found
you know um Juliana Hatfield and they
found Veruca Salt
and Sonic Youth and you know these
amazing bands
um but yeah it's definitely internet and
people I know
[Lucia] and you
started playing violin and
at what point were you like, "No I need a
guitar?"
[Beabadoobee] It wasn't I guess it was just I was
playing but it was
not force but I feel like it was
definitely that thing I was like an
Asian
stereo stereotypical Asian child doing
so many clubs and
and playing violin and i wanted to be a
doctor and I had all this pressure and
then
um thankfully my parents kind of
loosened up a bit and
just like let me drop all the clubs I
was doing
and I dropped violin I was just getting
super stressed and super anxious and
then
it took a few years for me to get on
guitar like it took me um
like all throughout high school and a
year of sixth form and also getting
kicked out of sixth form
and then being and then being able to
play the guitar because I had nothing
else to do and my dad was like
oh my god you look so bored here's a
guitar just play it
because you look so sad and I was like, "Yeah
true." And then I guess I think having
that history of playing violin
and because not like being forced to do
all these clubs I guess I was super
into learning how to play guitar and it
was super familiar to me already
because of the violin but yeah
[Lucia] And then you, I love the fact too that
you um
like anybody you you learned how to play
guitar
from YouTube tutorials
What was the
first song yeah what was the first song
that you thought all right
I've got to learn the chords to what
song?
[Beabadoobee] It was um this is so funny but yeah it
was "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer
and if you listen carefully they're very
similar chords to the first song I ever
wrote on guitar which was "Coffee"
so it's gonna happen it's gonna happen
um oh god like
it's very I guess it was so I, I'm a
visual learner so
if I typed in like um how to play
Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer I'd
watch how the person would play they
could
have how they play the chords and then
mimic it
and then just find my own way of playing
it and
you know I don't know any chord names
still
I just like know the shape of my fingers
that I play them in
um but I guess it works
[Lucia] I don't know any
guitar players that know how to read
music but you probably do know how to
read music from violin
[Beabadoobee] No I used to be
so good at reading music but I've
I think maybe if no because I
I was reading strings and I couldn't
read it
yeah I mean I used to do it so well when
I was a kid but for some reason I've
just forgotten, it sucks
[Lucia] No I think the brain
eliminates what it doesn't need
it's like I don't need you anymore you
know
I'll figure this out I'll figure this
out on my own yeah
so when okay so you also recorded
in Abbey Road what was that one
[Beabadoobee] That was insane because like I'm a massive um
Beatles fan like um like
one of the second posters I ever got in
my room um
and I have like all of their albums on
cassette
so I went into Abbey Road and I was like
ah and there was like a picture
I think of Paul and George I think it
was George
and by these steps in the room I was
recording in
and I was like oh my god they're
literally like
yeah it was it was pretty it was it was
pretty wild
yeah
[Lucia] I mean you know to go from like
which most artists are you know making
their records at home or in a basement
studio or a home studio and then getting
the opportunity
not only to go into a studio but then
you're going into Abbey Road it's like
did you feel like ghosts in there?
[Beabadoobee] Dude it was I honestly cannot
remember like I went out the night
before so I was like not hungover but I
was just super like
I was in a weird head space and to go
into
Abbey Road like probably being
awake for like 24 hours
I walked in I was like this is wild
I did feel like a ghost but I think I
felt like it goes before I even
entered so
[Lucia] Yeah oh god yeah
[Beabadoobee] It was crazy it was yeah man it was so fun I like recorded don't you like it like a cover of don't you forget about
me with my band and it was like
I was like don't want to leave
[Lucia] Have you seen the Martin Scorsese uh, Living in the Material World
with uh the George Harrison documentary
[Beabadoobee] No I haven't I haven't
[Lucia] Girl girl listen
[Beabadoobee] I'm gonna write that down
[Lucia] It's religion
uh I'm telling you it is it's called
Living in the Material World
Martin Scorsese directed it it's really
thorough
it's I watch it it's like I don't know
if you have movies or documentaries that
you will literally
almost like books you'll go back to
every couple of months yeah
remember exactly how it makes you feel
you
have to rent this and then you have to
let me know
how changed a person
[Beabadoobee] Oh my god okay
that sounds so fun you're making me so
want to watch it right now
[Lucia] I'm telling you right now it is, I could
give you a thousand I mean it's and it's
so comprehensive because obviously
and he's my favorite Beatle by the way
[Beabadoobee] Yeah same totally
[Lucia] Okay good um so you guys
you're gonna do a second
song for us here in the virtual session
and and which song is that gonna be?
[Beabadoobee] Um it's gonna be Care my new single off Fake It Flowers.
[Lucia] This is Beabadoobee, this
is the virtual sessions here at The
Current and the song is Care.
[Music: "Care" by Beabadoobee]
[Lucia] You just heard the song "Care" by Beabadoobee this is The Current virtual
sessions
and that uh is a song that will appear
on the forthcoming debut album Fake It
Flowers in October
B, you know who I think is one of the
coolest dudes and I think you think is
one of the coolest dudes?
Mac DeMarco.
[Beabadoobee] He's so cool.
[Lucia] Isn't he?
[Beabadobee] Yeah, he's so sweet
[Lucia] Yeah he's real! And you met him you met him in a
professional context or social context
or
[Beabadoobee] I think it was like both I like
so I supported him with my band at his
show
and like we were like geeking out
because you're like oh my god like
literally my like adolescent like
soundtrack was Mac DeMarco
and then and then it was super fun and
then we went out afterwards to karaoke
bar and he
did a stick and poke on my arm I still
have I was going to get on my forehead
because I was so
drunk I was like, "Do it on my forehead!"
[Lucia] Yeah that's a good idea
[Beabadoobee] But it's literally still in my arm
[Lucia] Unreal!
[Beabadoobee] It's an alien
[Lucia] And what song did he sing
at karaoke, do you remember?
[Beabadoobee] Honestly I know I don't know but I just remember
getting stick and poke in this karaoke
bar
in Dublin in Dublin
[Lucia] Yeah what's this what's the significance
of Charlie Brown to you?
[Beabadoobee] I guess it's just you know it was the
far like the first time people
really delved into the idea of mental
health and
but like kind of portrayed it in a
really in a way that
is super easy to understand and i think
it's just so
pure and innocent and just
real yeah man I yeah I remember going to
the exhibition and being like
this is amazing but yeah
[Lucia] That is so cool well I, I also know that
you're really interested in films and
and it would be very I think it would be
very probable
that with your music and with the way
you write and the way you
sort of compose music that soundtrack
should be in your future or at least I
mean
maybe somebody starts with just getting
a song on
um movie soundtrack which is incredible
but
if the goal or end goal for you is to
get some soundtrack in
let's just get cracking on that girl
cracking on that because that can be so rad
[Beabadoobee] I would love to I'd like my dream is to
be
that band that plays in the end of a
movie you know
when like the boy and the girls at a
party and then there's like a band that
plays in the background
or just like just being like the main
soundtrack for a film like
you know the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack by
um it's called Black Sheep it's just
that is such an amazing song Ijust yeah
man I would love
to soundtrack a film that'd be a dream
of mine
um yeah yeah I mean like the Juno
soundtrack
had such a profound effect on people and
you too right?
 
[Beabadoobee] Oh yeah The Moldy Peaches, Kimya Dawson
is like queen she's a queen 
[Lucia] Okay so tell me
about what you like about Kimya Dawson because
I'm not going to make any assumptions
but
um the simplicity and the purity
of her writing and playing stuck out at
that time
it was just like wow this is really
different is that what the appeal was to
you at first?
[Beabadoobee] Oh yeah definitely it was just like the
kind of stripped back
of the badness of it all like it was
just so
it was just so simple yet so endearing
and it just makes you listen because her
lyrics are just so honest and
you know that they're not like fancy and
they don't have the all these cool
metaphors that people really think about
she just said what she thought in her
head
and I am not like I was never really
good at english in my
in in school and Icouldn't write that
well
but when Iwrite songs I really I tend
to just
say things that come straight up my head
and
you know when i found The Moldy Peaches
it was like
that's okay like because it sounds
freaking cool it sounds like I relate to
this I relate to what she's saying and
um inspire, she inspires me a lot
very much. 
[Lucia] and I would imagine similarly Daniel Johnston.
[Beabadoobee] Oh yeah
[Lucia] For a number of reasons yes but
again the simplicity and the complete
purity of what came what came out of his
mouth um
uh do you have that pad of paper that I
told you about the George Harrison you've
seen uh The Devil Inside Daniel
yeah crazy crazy good
 
[Beabadoobee] Yeah he's a legend dude I've, I've got
tattoo
of an art artwork of his the eyebrow
[Lucia] Hi how are you? oh you're the eyeball oh
yes
yeah yes oh my god. Well I am super excited um
so the release of Fake It Flowers the
debut
full length is going to be coming out in
October so I just thank you so much for
doing this and
have you been doing a lot of these janky
uh
zoom things with people it's weird yeah
just let's just call it like it is this
is just weird if you and I were in the
room together
I don't know I think it would be a whole
different experience but
uh this is kind of weird
[Beabadoobee] It's so weird but I guess it's also
really like pure because it's like it
just
you know like I don't know it's also nice
doing it from home as well
um but then it is also really strange
like I would so prefer
if we could see each other in real life
and
wouldn't have that weird thing like oh
we're not allowed to hug and we have to
like stay away from each other
like right I miss I miss like
touch and I miss meeting people and I
miss stuff like that so badly right 
[Lucia] I hear ya, well
thank you B you're a delight and I can't
wait to see what you do in the future
and let's just hope that 2021 is like
the ass-kicking year that you deserve
and uh thank you so much for chatting
with me
[Beabadoobee] Thank you, thanks for having me thank you everyone
you
