Dublin-based band Pillow Queens have been cultivating a buzz since they first formed in 2016. Their 2020 debut album In Waiting earned them the title of breakout indie rockers and landed them a chance to open for bands such as IDLES, Pussy Riot, and Future Islands. Now armed with a refined sound, the band are gearing up for the release of their anticipated sophomore album, Leave The Light On, which drops Friday.
The band, composed of vocalists Sarah Corcoran and Pamela Connolly, guitarist Cathy McGuiness and drummer Rachel Lyons, looked inward for inspiration on Leave The Light On. As a result, the cathartic and complex 10-track LP explores what it means to hold multiple truths within yourself: To be soft-yet-hard, delicate-yet-muscular, alone-yet-together.
Ahead of the release of Leave The Light On, Pillow Queens sat down with Uproxx talk about their weirdest tattoos, love for Harry Potter, and more on the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Anthemic, thoughtful, melodic, good.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
We would hope to be remembered as an important band who were very successful and have now aged beautifully and are living in ethically purchased sustainable mansions. Everyone bought our seventh album, it had outsold Michael Jackson.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
Dublin, so far. They’re the best crowds in the world. We’re open to being blown away by new crowds though.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
There’s no one person we could really pinpoint. I think we’re inspired by a plethora of artists that we listen to. Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, Christy Moore, John Martyn.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
There’s a food market in London called Pop Brixton that does really good ramen and gyoza. We overdo it there every time we have a gig in London.
What album do you know every word to?
We can’t decide on one. Cathay says Alanis Morisette’s Jagged Little Pill, Pamela says Casiotone For The Painfully Alone’s Etiquette. Sarah says All Killer No Filler by Sum 41. Actually we all know every word to Tegan & Sara’s The Con.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
Pam: Sufjan Stevens in the Olympia in Dublin.
Sarah: Mitski in Tivoli in Dublin.
Cathy: Alt-J in the Olympia in Dublin.
Rachel: Bon Iver in the 3 Arena in Dublin (I cried at the end when they played “The Wolves”).
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
Pam: Not stick-on sticker bras anyway. That was sh*t. Strapless adhesive bras? I don’t know what they’re called.
Sarah: Tracksuit bottoms and Doc Martens.
Rachel: The clothes of a 15-year-old skater boy. Literally what I’m wearing.
Cathy: Jeans and a t-shirt. The Dream.
Pam: …and a military jacket.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
Pam: I follow a lot of the US women’s soccer team and I really enjoy their content.
Sarah: Tiktok is the future man. Muna and Claud specifically.
Rachel: I know it’s bad but Barry’s Banter Bus post hilarious things. And Dr Smashlove for the dog content.
Cathy: I’m not really online (smug face).
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
Manchester Orchestra — “The Gold” from A Black Mile To The Surface
What’s the last thing you Googled?
Pam: “Is the queen dead?”
Sarah: physiotherapy near me
Rachel: “take-out food”
Cathy: Wordle…
What album makes for the perfect gift?
Pam: Frank Harte’s Dublin Street Songs.
Sarah: Songs About Jane by Maroon 5
Rachel: Speaking In Tongues by Talking Heads
Cathy: Solid Air by John Martyn
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
Pam: What like crashed the van?
Rachel: That was probably the M4?
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
Sarah: Pamela has a beast of a Simpsons tattoo on her thigh and sometimes she drops trou and shows it to people when she’s drunk.
Pam: I’m actually falling out of love with it.
Cathy: No it’s class. Mine’s my stick n’ poke Little Prince that I got on tour. We’re hoping to get a band tattoo.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Sarah: Any indie Irish artist.
Pam: Ariana Grande. I love her.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Cathy: Our manager brought us coffees the other day.
Pam: Jean who works in our practice space baked us a loaf of bread all to ourselves.
Sarah: Our friends in ARXX made us lego versions of ourselves and posted them to us. That was nice.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Pam: Stop kissing those boys.
Sarah: Stop plucking your eyebrows.
Cathy: I was living my best life at 18.
Rachel: Stay away from the poppers.
What’s the last show you went to?
Pam: For Those I Love in the Olympia in Dublin
Sarah: A sold-out Dry Cleaning show in Dublin
Cathy: A random jazz rock band in Bergamo in Italy
Rachel: Ailbhe Reddy
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
Cathy/Rachel: HARRY POTTER!
Rachel: Or Indiana Jones. Star Wars.
Pam: …Nerd sh*t. My posh answer is Goodfellas but my non posh answer is What Women Want.
Sarah: Clueless, Free Willy, Hocus Pocus, The Olsen Twin’s Passport To Paris.
What would you cook if Obama were coming to your house for dinner?
Sarah: Something impressive so he’d put us on his playlist.
Leave The Light On is out 4/1 via Royal Mountain Records. Pre-order it here.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.