SXSW 2015 Interview: SOAK
In the midst of the madness at Friday’s full Irish breakfast, I was fortunate enough to catch Northern Irish singer/songwriter SOAK, known offstage as Bridie Monds-Watson, for a brief interview at the end of her week in Austin. As you can hear in the interview stream below, Monds-Watson was at this point quite exhausted from the hustle and bustle of her busy SXSW 2015 schedule, but her performance on the BD Riley’s stage had showed no sign of fatigue, and her delicate, soft-spoken personal demeanor perfectly matched the graceful beauty of her songs.
Our previous coverage of SOAK at SXSW 2015 includes her spellbinding performances at Monday night’s Creative Belfast showcase and Wednesday’s BBC barbecue. The somewhat rowdier atmosphere at BD Riley’s Irish Pub might not have been the ideal venue to display SOAK’s fragile, introspective vocal melodies, especially as she played this and all of her SXSW showcases in purely solo style, with only her acoustic guitar for accompaniment. Nevertheless, her set was enthusiastically received by those of us lucky enough to be in the front of the room.
As she discussed in our interview, SOAK’s upcoming debut album for Rough Trade, ‘Before We Forgot How to Dream’, features more expansive song arrangements than we heard here at SXSW, including a full rhythm section and some electronic sampling. After a stop at home for some much needed rest, the youthful Monds-Watson will take those more extensive orchestrations on tour worldwide, including a brief trip to the Southern Hemisphere for two shows in Australia and a one-off show in Dallas, TX among her already scheduled European dates. Her summer plans include headline shows in the UK as well as appearances at The Great Escape and Latitude festivals.
SOAK’s debut LP ‘Before We Forgot How To Dream’ is due for release on the 1st of June via Rough Trade Records. You can find a full listing of her upcoming live dates here.
Many thanks to Sonya for helping us arrange this interview.
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