Breaking Through | 5 Questions with Birthday Card

Self-reflection in mainstream music feels fairly prevalent nowadays, with artists generally taking a more conscientious approach to songwriting - in pop music, 'feelings' have always been at the fore in tales of heartbreak and hardship, but self-doubt and introspection is no longer consigned to the grungers and shoegazers. 

Enter Aylesbury five-piece Birthday Card: straddling the fence between indie alternative and accessible pop, Birthday Card forge danceable anthems for the lost and lonely with a mixture of angst, 80s-inspired groove, and an enthusiasm for sturdy basslines. With an unabashed, genre-bending brand of guitar-based pop music, Birthday Card count the likes of Daft Punk, The Streets, The Superman Lovers, and Kanye West amongst their arsenal of influences - that explains the frequent use of vocoder at least. 

We caught up with the band's Leslie Adriaans to get to know more about the promising pop purveyors:

Who or what inspired you to make music?

When we were younger, my parents always encouraged my sister and I to play instruments and to get involved in the various musical activities which were offered at our church. From this point onwards it was a natural progression, and watching the mystery of music unravel as I got older had me longing to create and emulate the same sounds I resonated with musically at the time. 

How would you describe your creative process?

I’d like to think of our creative process as a continuous development.  We’re recently realising that each song we dedicate ourselves to may ask different questions of us individually and collectively. We’re always trying to push ourselves to our fullest potential and are always open to exploring new ways of creating. I think it’s good to be versatile. 

Which of your tracks is your favourite to perform live, and why?

We have a song called 'D.O.A' which always creates the most bizarre atmosphere amongst the crowd; it seems people don’t know whether to dance, laugh, or cry in response to it. It may have a sinister edge, but I quite like that about it. 

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

For me it’d probably be Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. He often works with numerous artists/producers on just one song and seems to have an amazing ability to take (what appears to be) a million ideas and delivers them all as one body of work. It would be incredible to work alongside someone of that calibre.  

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

Best advice I’ve been given is probably a reminder that, “Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack”. 

To hear more from Birthday Card, click here.