Dreaming About the Future: Hattie Cooke Interview

The rising star of the electronic scene lifts the lid on her alluring new album for Castles in Space and plenty more besides

Despite the much-documented disruptions of the last year or so upon the music world, there’s still been a significant momentum building up behind Hattie Cooke. Like others in the Twitter and Bandcamp connected underground electronic music community, the Brighton-born-and-based artist has adroitly adapted to locked down living, to further finesse and expand on a noticeable niche. Whilst this hasn’t meant the same prolific sleep-dodging volume of releases that the intrepid likes of Polypores, The Home Current and Rupert Lally and others have delivered, Cooke has still made a distinctive presence felt.

This has manifested in a variety of ways. Last spring, through her own Patch Bae label, Cooke assembled the Help Musicians compilation, with contributions from other parts of the synth-centric scene, to raise funds for artists laid financially low by the onset of the pandemic. In turn, a standout appearance on another charity collection – Castles in Space’s still tremendous The Isolation Tapes – crystallised a sublime shift in her songcraft through mainlining the vibes of Covid-emptied streets.

Amidst growing media interest from Electronic Sound, certain pockets of 6 Music and elsewhere, Cooke has also overseen an expanded gourmet vinyl reissue on Spun out of Control of her much acclaimed imaginary film soundtrack album, The Sleepers, originally released on cassette and digitally in 2019. Cooke has also appeared as a guest on The Hologram People’s stellar debut album on Woodford Halse, with more collaborations almost certain to follow. On top of such direct musical activity, Cooke has also been marking out a characterful public profile on Twitter, mixing sharp wit with music industry challenging campaigns.

Most important of all, has been the gestation of Cooke’s long-anticipated third album, now arriving through a new label deal with the aforementioned Castles in Space, in the form of Bliss Land. Living up to the expectations of those seeking a fusion of and refinement upon the singer-songwriter settings of her charming 2016 eponymous debut download/cassette album on Third Kind Records and the more electronically-sculpted narrative explorations of The Sleepers, Bliss Land is a choice exemplar of someone truly finding their own voice and sound in a crowded field.

Intimate yet wide-open, streamlined whilst not being too slick, richly arranged without being over-elaborate and cool-headed but warm-hearted, Bliss Land joins the dots between Kraftwerk, The Human League, OMD, New Order, The Cocteau Twins, One Dove, Piano Magic and more. With Cooke’s words infused with thoughtful and wise beyond their years gravitas, channelled through her captivating and ripening tones, the LP’s ten pooled together pieces dig deeper with each airing and go far beyond the veneration of vintage sonics. Moreover, it suggests that this is an intensely creative person brimming with ideas, just waiting for the time and opportunity to bring them all to fruition.

Caught up with via email, Hattie Cooke eloquently explained the backstory of Bliss Land and her other past, present and future pursuits.

How has the last year or so of Covid-framed life been for you? Did it constrain as well as free you up creatively?

I was working in a pub before Covid hit and obviously that ended when everything closed, so I’ve had a lot of free time. But there’s really only so much time I can fill with creativity before I reach saturation point, I can’t usually do more than a few hours at a time before I start to feel a bit loopy. And finding inspiration has been hard in a world where nothing is really happening day to day, so I’ve mostly been reflecting on the past and dreaming about the future and observing the strangeness of a Covid world.

Was it an easy, logical and best-sized move up to Castles in Space for Bliss Land, after your two previous albums appeared on Third Kind Records and Spun out of Control?

Bliss Land was initially written for a different label, but quite early on I realised the project was growing into something else and so both myself and that label decided to go our separate ways. It wasn’t on bad terms or anything, it was just the wrong project for what they wanted. Then I put out a call to see if any labels would be interested in releasing something with me. Castles in Space got in touch and after some discussion it became clear that we were going to be a great fit for each other. So no, I hadn’t initially intended to work with Colin [Morrison] but I’m glad it panned out that way.

I’ve read that Bliss Land was originally conceived as a soundtrack project but morphed into a song-based affair. Can you briefly outline the overall creative arc and chronology behind its gestation?

Like I said, Bliss Land was a different project to begin. It was written for a label specialising in film soundtracks. But over the space of a couple of months, I began to feel like there was more to explore in some of the instrumental tracks and that’s when they became full songs. The whole process was probably about five months from the first note being written to the final mix in the studio.

Do you feel that Bliss Land serves to properly merge and expand upon the singer-songwriter strands of your eponymous debut album from 2016 with the deeper electronic settings from your recently reissued instrumental second 2019 album The Sleepers?

Bliss Land is definitely a bridge between my two other albums. It wasn’t a conscious effort but it makes sense that eventually the two approaches to music would meet in the middle at some point. I think people have been a bit confused by the fact that my debut and The Sleepers were such massively different albums. I don’t mind that they’re so different, I write what feels right at the time and try not to worry about the listeners in that respect. But I think that those people who found me a bit confusing will find that the three together makes sense as a collection.

Overall, the new album has an intimate nocturnal yet sleekly gliding feel without feeling overtly dark or murky. Does that partly reflect upon the circumstances and recording set-up in which you used to put it together?

It’s always really interesting for me to hear how other people interpret the music. People have such varied and different listening experiences. I think there’s a kind of ‘chiaroscuro’ going on in the music, a lightness and a darkness, a looking back and a looking forward. It wasn’t meant to be a dark record but it wasn’t meant to be all sunshine either. I’m a musical realist, I guess. Perhaps the sleekness comes from the production, it’s hard to say. In the last year I’ve been quite obsessed with the classic ‘sleekness’ of pop production and this record was definitely me experimenting with that and seeing whether I could imitate some of my favourite pop records and what it would sound like if ‘Hattie Cooke’ went a bit pop.

Where did you record of most of the album and what musical kit did you use to assemble it all?

In terms of recording the record, it was done at home using nothing more than Garageband, a Scarlett Studio mic that came free with my Focusrite interface and my Fender Telecaster.

“I Get By” is reprised from The Isolation Tapes compilation on Castles in Space, as the opening track to Bliss Land. In the spring of 2020, the song near-perfectly encapsulated that weird discombobulated ‘empty streets and solo outdoor exercising’ vibe of the first lockdown. How much did that piece set the tone and themes for the rest of the album?

“I Get By” was a bit of a magical song – I wrote and recorded it in one take, the whole thing took fifteen minutes. It’s very rare for me that something like that happens but when it does it usually means that you’ve stumbled upon something good. And so it became like an anchor for the rest of the record. It didn’t constrict me thematically or stylistically in any way but whenever I got a bit lost in one of the songs and wasn’t sure where to go production wise or whatever, I’d listen to that track and it would help to ground me a bit.

“Mistaken” is one of the poppiest songs on the LP, what do you think influenced that?

“Mistaken” is my attempt at writing a pop/dance anthem. I have this silly fantasy of standing on a festival stage with an epic light display and that’s the song that would be playing. It’s an ode to my fantasy, I guess.

Contrastingly, “Cars” makes me think of a less cloudy but more prowling Cocteau Twins with some 80s synth twists. What converged in the mix with that one?

As a writer, you can get lazy when you’ve found the little composition and production tricks and synth/drum sounds that work for you. And during the writing of Bliss Land, I found myself writing the same song over and over in various forms and I was just kind of getting nowhere with things. So, in an effort to stop falling into the same lazy traps, I decided to do something a little different. It wasn’t much but I included electric guitar and used live drum sounds. I just needed to mix things up a bit for my own songwriting sanity and that’s what came out. 

“One Foot out the Door” feels like another centrepiece moment. What inspired that musically and lyrically? Is it a close sibling to “I Get By”?

You could say that “One Foot…” and “I Get By” are like siblings, that’s a good way of putting it. “One Foot out the Door” is about the internal struggle of trying to move forward. Sometimes in life, we find ourselves doing things we know aren’t good for us because that’s what we’re familiar with. We stay in contact with people that don’t have our best interests, we carry out destructive behaviours out of habit. Humans don’t like change, and making changes is both scary and hard. So “One Foot…” is an acknowledgement of that but it’s also a note to myself – ‘look back if you have to, but make sure you’re heading out the door.’

“Fantasies”, the sole instrumental from the record, makes me of think of Kraftwerk’s percussively precise “Showroom Dummies” put through an ambient-noir filter. Is that a fair assessment? 

I’ve actually never listened to that song, although I’ll have to now! “Fantasies” had vocals at one point but something about it didn’t sit right and I decided to scrap them. But I kept the track on the album because I felt like the album benefitted from a bit of a palate cleanser. There’s a lot of emotion in the record and I think “Fantasies” is a chance for listeners to take a breath.

How has growing up and remaining in/around Brighton impacted on where you’re at now as a musician and how much has it changed in your lifetime?

I was very lucky to grow up in a place where you could go to a gig every single night of the week and see something amazing. I spent a lot of my teenage years sneaking into gigs. Seeing all these talented people up on the stage doing their thing definitely gave me more hunger and drive to become a musician one day. But Brighton has changed a lot since I was a teenager. It’s always been known for its hippy, alternative atmosphere but it’s also historically had a serious drug, drink and homelessness problem. So back when I was growing up it was pretty rough. Now it’s the second most expensive place to rent in the UK. So, these days it’s an odd mix of people really struggling to survive and then extremely affluent people who spout a lot of ‘woke’ statements but don’t want to acknowledge that they are an active part of a larger economic problem in terms of wealth inequality.

What sort of life do you envisage the songs from Bliss Land taking on once they’re properly out there? Are you looking forward to transposing things into live arrangements and the prospect of having the material remixed by others?

Oh, I have wild dreams for Bliss Land but I’m not holding my breath. I’m currently rehearsing with real life human beings to turn the songs into live arrangements, with the hopes of playing some shows, maybe doing a tour or perhaps even a few festivals if someone will have me. I’d love for people to remix the music but equally I’d really like to do some guest vocals or some writing with other artists. I’m basically open to pretty much anything.

You’ve described yourself as out as a bit of ‘outlier’ in an electronic scene dominated by men and in an older age bracket to yourself. Do you think that it’s made it easier or harder to find your own space?

I don’t think I would use the term ‘outlier’ but I am aware of the fact that I’m a young woman in a scene dominated by middle aged men. It’s hard to know to what extent it’s affected me. I think some people probably steer clear of me because they don’t think someone like me could write something they’d like to listen to, but I also think other people have been extra supportive because they can see I’m a bit of an underdog, so to speak. There aren’t tons of women composers or producers out there and in that respect I think it can be a bit of a battle to be heard, to be taken seriously. I can only hope that my music speaks for itself.

Are there other electronic artists past and present that you feel an affinity with?  

I wouldn’t say I feel an affinity with any artists necessarily, because it’s hard for me to feel close to somebody I don’t know in real life. But there’s an endless list of people who I’ve taken inspiration from, across all sorts of walks of life and different time periods. It would be impossible to try and list them all!

Last year you also established a label – Patch Bae Records – to release the charitable Help Musicians compilation on Bandcamp, featuring a lot of familiar and reliable faces from the underground electronic music scene. What did you learn from that experience and do you have plans for more releases eventually?

Setting up Patch Bae was just a way of me trying to do something helpful during the pandemic within my skill set, it was never really meant to be anything more than that. But it was definitely an insight in terms of understanding how a record label functions behind the scenes. The Patch Bae release was a very small project and digital only, so I didn’t have all the stresses of manufacturing and distribution but I still think it’s helped when it’s come to my own releases, what my expectations are and how I negotiate now. I don’t know if I’ll release anything else on Patch Bae, I think if the right artist came along and I felt like I could do them justice I would certainly want to give it a shot. But I’m just a small fish in a huge pond and good musicians deserve to be heard by lots of people – I don’t think I could currently guarantee that.

You’ve also started appearing on other people’s work, notably The Hologram People’s terrific Sacred Ritual to Unlock the Mountain Portal on Woodford Halse. Can we expect to hear you popping up elsewhere in the near future and are you open to more collaborative offers?

Dom from The Hologram People is a good friend of mine, he actually helped me with some of the mixing of Bliss Land. After one of the mixing sessions he asked me if I’d do some singing for him on a track that he was struggling with a bit, so as a favour I gave him some slightly drunken oohs and aahs. Dom spent a lot of time working with me for free so it was the least I could do! I actually helped him shop the album around a bit when he was looking for a home for it. I think Dom and I both feel that it’s important to help others out when you can and to foster a sense of community over competition within the industry. “It’s a shit business” as Les McQueen says but it doesn’t have to be. As for popping up on things in the future, who knows! I’m definitely open to working with others on some fresh projects and I have a couple of collaborative things in the pipeline which I’m looking forward to cracking on with.

You’ve garnered a strong profile on Twitter; which you’ve used as a campaigning mechanism for things that bug you in the music industry, for some quick-witted observations and for connecting with other likeminded artists. Is it an important tool to you, despite the toxicity that can go with the platform?

Twitter is a weird one. I made an account about ten years ago and then literally never logged on to it again. It wasn’t until about two years ago that I realised I had a bunch of people following me on there because they liked my music. That was very amusing to me to discover some fans I didn’t know existed! Since then, I’ve tried to use the platform to promote my music but also to connect with fans and fellow musicians on a personal level and to raise issues when I feel my voice can actually be a useful tool. It’s been really great in terms of connecting with others. Generally, I try very, very hard to steer clear from the toxicity that comes with the overtly political side of twitter. There’s no point in engaging with that aspect of it, there’s no point trying to persuade anybody – that’s not why people are on Twitter, they’re not looking to be convinced or persuaded.

Do you think you will continue to alternate between songs-based and instrumental modes? Do you already have some things brewing or ready to go for your next releases? 

I have literally hundreds of drafts of songs just waiting to come to life but nothing concrete for my next release yet. I’d really like to do a soundtrack project for an actual film, instead of just one I’ve made up in my head. That’s something I’m hoping may be possible in the next couple of years or so. But other than that, I can’t say one way or the other what my music writing will look like going forward, I have no idea what’s going to come out when I sit down and start writing. I think I’ll always write conventional song-based stuff as I love writing lyrics but I’d actually quite like to write for somebody else. I’d love to co-write a pop song for somebody like Sigrid.

Is there anything you’ve not mentioned already that you’re still keen to explore through musical routes or otherwise?

I need to compose for a chamber choir and hear it being sung in a church before I die.

twitter.com/hattiecooke

Main photo credit: Chris Standley