Mercury Rising: SOAK talks from Hong Kong

A handwritten note dated 29/11/15 graces one side of Bridie Monds-Watson’s notebook. The neat, capped-up entry details her maiden adventures in Asia. “I woke up at 8am in Hong Kong, China (I thought I was in Japan),” she starts, before concluding that “I’m going to eat noodles or something.” Across the page is a comic book sketch of her view from the 31^st floor of the building where she’s staying.

When The Skinny meets her in Hong Kong later that morning, diaries are on her mind again. “I am fucking obsessed with Moleskine diaries. I love that brand, I carry them everywhere. I think I’ve filled about 16 of them on tour,” she says, alluding to the fact that three years of playing the same songs has left her itching to write and play new material.

The very fact that she woke up on this side of the world that morning, however, suggests that she may have to keep playing those songs for another while yet. Her debut album under her stage name SOAK, Before We Forgot to Dream, was nominated for the Mercury Prize – a fact that leads her to conclude that “life is crazy.” It’s easy to see why the 19-year old may think so.

"I like documenting something that’s not on a computer where it can be erased. It lives" 

Handwriting analysts claim that “all-caps writers are uncomfortable talking about their personal lives” and that “they do not want others to know about themselves.” Here might be the exception. SOAK songs are creations of simplistic intimacy. On the album, they’re sparse and lovely. They delve into issues of family troubles and sexuality. Songs about teenage isolation aren’t uncommon, but they’re usually not as fully formed and well-written as these. Teenage journals are usually greeted with a cringe. Not the case here.

“It’s not that I have to do it. I like doing it and I enjoy it. I draw a lot and that’s a part of it. I like documenting something that’s not on a computer where it can be erased. It lives. There’s something really great about finishing a book, you know? Most of the stuff that goes in there is a half-formed idea, the bones of something that I think could be something in the future,” she says, taking to the subject.

GROWNING UP IN DERRY

Monds-Watson started playing guitar at 13, writing songs in her bedroom in time-honoured fashion, before uploading self-recorded videos to YouTube and playing in bands and at open mic nights around Derry. Before she had turned 16, SOAK had created a genuine buzz among gig-goers and music bloggers. She came to the attention of A&R folks across the pond and after a few well received EPs, signed to Rough Trade and toured with, amongst others, Chvrches.

Musically, there are echoes of Laura Marling. The poppier moments recall the Concretes, while her crisp, accented voice is reminiscent of Lisa O’Neill, one of the finest Irish artists of recent years, and Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura.

Clad in a baggy black t-shirt, black shades and ear-studs, black Doc Martens and myriad tattoos, Monds-Watson speaks in a deadpan Derry twang. She talks glowingly of the sense of community in Derry – a city in which everybody seems to be involved in some project or other. As a student, this writer used to travel to the Maiden City from Belfast to revel in the creativity of others. A decade ago, the city seemed to be wall-to-wall art exhibitions, open mic sessions and club nights, with buskers on every corner. It was within this environment that SOAK was born.

“It’s a great place. Generally in Derry, there’s massive support everyone has for each other in terms of anything creative… it’s weird. It’s incredible... sorting people out, even though you don’t know each other. They know you’re doing something and want to help. It’s that whole thing where so much success comes out of such a small place, compared to England or London – it’s so concentrated,” she says.

Playing in bands even before SOAK helped Monds-Watson build connections and assisted her in getting a few early gigs. Local radio got on board, and she kept gigging, dedicating herself to music with the kind of devotion only a teenager could muster. As a creative 14-year old, music offered her not only a way of expressing herself, but a well-traversed rabbit hole into which to pour her obsession.

“I didn’t really have a main hobby before music and that was my thing. When you’re 14 you obsess over things. I started doing that, making things and demoing in my bedroom. I just found all my friends from doing music as well, it was a lot of fun doing gigs,” she recalls.

“I was learning a lot too – reading about music. I’d always be on Wikipedia, having dozens of pages open all the time, reading about music. It’s such a loser thing to do. But I think it’s cool to be knowledgeable about what came before, a lot of things are just adaptations. Nothing is new technically, depending on how you look at it. I just like knowing. It’s also a dicky thing – I want to be the person to be able to tell other people about music and bands.”

SONIC YOUTH'S INFLUENCE ON ALBUM NUMBER TWO

The Dark Side of the Moon tattoo on her arm is testament to her father’s love of Pink Floyd, an appreciation she inherited. Her listening tastes have evolved as she has. Playing with a band on tour has helped her develop musically and most of what she’s writing now is for that format. She says the new songs, some of which are demoed, others of which are etched in among mountains of Moleskines, are “influenced by Sonic Youth.”

“Having played solo for three years, it would be very hard to go back to that,” she explains. “Working with the band has helped me develop technically and I’ve been learning and reading and listening to so much other stuff over the past few years. I was very young when I wrote those songs, and I still enjoy playing them, but I’m looking forward to a new direction. We’ve definitely got a load of demos for another album. I only feel now that I’ve grown into myself and know myself well enough because you see YouTube videos which are like, shit. And I need to move away from that.”

Most of what she says is accompanied by a self-deprecating laugh. Talking of her excellent sessions on Seattle’s KEXP and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, she says: “It was quite cool to play. I didn’t realise how big a deal it was until after.” It’s a kind of understatement she takes to the main stage at Hong Kong's Clockenflap Festival later that day. The capacity is 60,000 and a fair portion of those have gathered in the afternoon sun to watch SOAK – a bolstered three-piece – play.

Gazing out over the skyscrapers, the docks and the ocean beyond, Monds-Watson seems unflustered. “This is really cool,” she says, relaxed as you like. The set presents her debut album in rockier and more experimental form. The performance is workmanlike, professional and very powerful. “She’s only 19, you know?” someone within earshot tells a friend. It’s remarkable indeed: SOAK, and the force behind it, is a real talent and someone we should be hearing a lot more from in the years to come.