Last week, Haiku Hands dropped their outrageously good self-titled debut album. The eclectic dance-pop trio’s first full-length LP sees them experiment with a broad range of genre conventions to create a euphoric, captivating record – as fun as it is self-assured.
To celebrate its release, we got the band – Claire and Mie Nakazawa and Beatrice Lewis – to interview themselves about the album… and much, much more. See how it all went down below.
Mie: Hey Claire, when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Claire: A comedian.
Bea: *badum tss*
Claire: Or a farmer or a soccer player.
Mie: Bea, who was your role model when you were ten years old?
Bea: This is quite embarrassing, but it probably would have been a sport player. It would have been someone from Geelong Football Club. I was really into football, because I used to go with my dad all the time.
Claire: Bea, which song from our unreleased album are you most proud of?
Bea: I’m really excited for people to have ‘Supervillan’ on hand. ‘Supervillan’ for me is a track that someone could say “Yeah, I’m gonna put this on really loud and just thrash about and shift some bad juju”. I mean, all of them, but particularly that one.
Bea: Mie, what is the most common thing that comes up in your Instagram discovery page?
Mie: Art, dance, and shoes. I’m having a shoe thing at the moment.
Bea: What’s your shoe thing at the moment?
Mie: I am quite interested in other people’s shoes and how creative they can be with them. So I’m starting an Instagram with my friend exploring the possibility of shoes. Keep your eyes peeled.
Claire: Mie, if you had to play one of our songs at every single gig you do for the rest of our lives which song would it be?
Mie: Probably ‘Supervillan’. I like getting into the crowd and love the audience’s reaction.
Bea: Definitely. Do you want to do that ever, Claire?
Claire: Yeah, I want to crowd surf. I tried once, but I fell on the ground. So I’ve been a bit scared to try again.
Claire: Which song, Bea, do you have the fondest memory of writing?
Bea: I have fond memories of all of them but ‘Jupiter’ is the funniest one because it was right at the start. Remember, we could not stop laughing at the pronunciation of ‘Jupiter’? And then the beat because it wasn’t a beat I would’ve normally listened to or written and we just kept going “It’s disco!” and I’m still not sure it’s a disco beat. ‘Manbitch’ was also very funny, along with all the different versions of ‘Mechanical Animal’ that happened. They’re all good memories, really.
Claire: What’s a one liner you would’ve liked to have told yourself before writing this album?
Bea: “Fuck this shit” [laughs].
Claire: Bea, would you rather live in the clouds or underwater?
Bea: Wow. Fuck. BOTH! Oh god, that’s so hard to choose. My first response is in the clouds.
Mie: ‘Cause you are.
Bea: Yup.
Mie: Claire, would you rather have balls hanging off your cheeks or a vagina in the middle of your forehead?
Claire: I would have to say vagina in the middle of my forehead.
Bea: Same.
Mie: Same.
Claire: The “erotic third eye”.
Claire: Bea, if you could give one of our songs to Kanye to remix, which one would it be?
Bea: I would do ‘Jupiter’ to hear his vocals on it, but I would also do ‘Manbitch’ because I would like to hear him say “manbitch”.
Bea: Mie, if we could have an extra three members of Haiku Hands and it’s anyone in the world, who would you get? Anyone. Anyone. Doesn’t have to be a musician.
Mie: I would have Whoopi Goldberg and Janis Joplin.
Bea: Mad.
Mie: And Rihanna.
Bea: Totes!
Mie: Claire, if Haiku Hands could be an animal what animal would it be?
Claire: A black panther. A big one. A giant one.
Bea: Mie, what is the most mundane thing that has changed your life?
Mie: Chairs.
Bea: Mie, who is your favourite visual artist currently and why?
Mie: Alan Fears. He captures simple moments and things with energetic lines and tasty colours and patterns.
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