Q&A by Erandhi Mendis // Photography by Bronte Godden
If the word for 2024 was brat – Haiku Hands’ 2023 acclaimed sophomore album Pleasure Beast was ahead of the curve. The hedonistic, genre-blurring alt-dance record is a bitingly clever exploration of sound – one that is equal parts club friendly and heretical.
Released at the tail end of last year, Pleasure Beast attracted global attention for the chaotically unifying mix of electro-pop-rap-dance-etc – and the trio are back for more. A year after the album’s initial release, the Australian outfit is reflecting on the journey, both creatively and personally as they release their deluxe record. I had the chance to chat with Beatrice and Mie about the evolution of the album and the importance of finding pleasure in life.
Ramona: How does the concept of being a Pleasure Beast resonate with you a year on? What did it mean to you then and what does it mean to you now?
Mie: That’s a good question – we actually had two names – we we’re playing with pleasure Beast and Enjoy Your Life and to me they kind of like alternate [as philosophies] in my mind as I live my life and get older. The main thing is to enjoy all the little moments. I’m so unwell at the moment that I don’t know what a Pleasure Beast is today but I stand by the sentiment of enjoying every moment of your life as much as possible.
Beatrice: For me, we were at the tail end of finishing the album. It was such a massive journey and both of those titles were this opus of experience that I just wasn’t having much at the time because you’re just in the gauntlet of the music industry – finishing the record, creating content, touring overseas. This year it’s been a bit slower and for me that’s been more pleasurable. The concepts of the album have been more embedded in my life today as opposed to this paradise where I would like to be.
I can imagine – putting out a record is not just physical, but such an emotional undertaking and being able to kind of sit with it and enjoy it now is incredibly special
B: It’s so true, we played a show on Friday last week at the Royal Botanic Gardens and it’s nice to reflect on how much I just love all our songs from that album. I love Paradise, Grandma – I just love playing them live. Now that album has had a life of it’s own as well with other people it’s fun to be able to enjoy those songs [a year on].
Did you always know you wanted to put out a deluxe album? Were there specific songs left on the cutting room floor or remixes you wanted to revisit?
M: You know, we definitely didn’t set out to make a deluxe. But we absolutely had songs we loved that didn’t make it past the line for the album.
B: Yeah, I don’t think we had in mind that we’d do a deluxe. But we had these tracks, which led to remixes and the more we started to look into what we had and what we’d like to work on, we realised it was it’s own body of work. It’s nice to see tracks from that point in time go out together. Iit reminds me of a podcast that Four Tet did where he was talking about how he knows that the musical landscape has changed, but he still loves putting out albums – because for him it’s an opus of that part of his life and I quite like the idea that these songs are from this opus of our time.
Of the extension – do you have personal favourites?
M: There’s an alt version of Kicks, it sits in a different world to some of our other tracks. I think you’d probably end up playing it at a doof – like it’s not going to make the radio probably. Maybe that’s why I like it haha.
B: I agree. I love that beat. I also really love the remix of Geddit that’s about to come out. It’s by a band called Sextile.
M: They’re friends of friends we met in America, we got to play before them in Chicago. They’re kind of in a similar circle to us. And I fucking love them. They’re so great.
B: Yeah, they’re really awesome and they are awesome. They’re roots are DIY and kind of like electronic punk which feels so us. So I’m super pumped about that remix.
I wanted to touch on what you mentioned about certain songs not being as radio friendly. There’s been a big shift with alt electronica really having a moment in the mainstay. Gen pop is not just enjoying it but they’re seeking it out – EDM as an example has had higher streaming stats than rock music in the past year or two. How do you guys interpret that shift?
B: I’m obviously super into it – I think most of my music life has been in the alternate world, but I really love when I see artists like Beyoncé’s last album exploring all of the different electronic universes. Or Drake looking up Juke and Footwork. I’m really into that kind of amalgamation of very forward thinking pop music. Even Charlie XCX’s album, I love when I see that combination of electronic and pop music happen together. I do always hope that the artists from the alternative world get their dues when it comes to payment, publishing and respect, because otherwise it’s just the same kind of rehashing of colonialism, but in the music industry. But in short, I dig it. Sorry, that was a long answer haha!
M: I guess I don’t know what’s in the mainstream, but I do love electronic music and I really resonate with what Bea said about everyone getting acknowledged for what they’ve made previously. It’s funny because I’ve been listening to less electronic music lately – I don’t know if its because I find myself doing the opposite of what everyone else is trying to do. I feel a bit oversaturated with electronic music. In saying that I listened to Tyler The Creator’s new album for 24 hours non-stop. I couldn’t get enough and I also couldn’t tell one song from the next haha which was incredible. Been listening to the new Amyl and the Sniffers album and enjoying this kind of weird punk rock music that I used to listen to when I was sixteen – that’s where I’m at.
What about you Bea? What are you listening to these days?
B: I listen to a lot of ambient synth. I did Red Bull Music Academy and so heaps of people from that have ended up making, just very ambient synth or vocal drone music, there’s this one girl from France called Malibu, who I really like. A guy from LA called Hayes Bradley who makes very ambient piano stuff. I think I really like that kind of stuff because our music’s quite turbo so I like things that help my nervous system really relax. Similar to Mie, I’ve not been listening to heaps of electronic stuff – I really love Angie McMahon’s album and – I’ve got that weird Spotify brain where I can’t think of the exact song but I have the playlist, which is so gross but that’s what’s happening in my brain.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I don’t know how you both answered that because when people ask me what I’m listening to I go blank or my brain spits out the title of a daylist.
M: When I DJ, I have the same thing. I’m bad at reading, I can’t see words too easily, but I know pictures really well. So when I’m DJ ing, I’m either relying on the pictures and it’s no if there’s no picture, I have to listen. Me listening is quicker than me reading haha.
That’s amazing.
B: I just looked at my Spotify. I just realized I saw Thom Yorke the other day. So there’s so much Thom Yorke. People put up his set lists, so my recent listens are just Thom Yorke Christchurch, Thom Yorke Sydney and he did every show slightly different.
Ha! We currently have the exact same Spotify searches. I went along too and was doing the exact same thing – all my recent listens are just iterations of his setlists haha.
Ok speaking of live shows, you guys are about to go on your last run of shows – to finish up, what are you excited about?
B: Yeah, we just wrapped up one tour and I guess we’re gonna reconfigure for those next headline shows which are more of a DJ set. So we’re working out how and what that’s going to look like so I’m just excited to do a different style of show, way more intimate – so to reconfigure our show is cool. Those [smaller] gigs for us tend to go off – I remember this one show in Germany where the audience was so pumped up that the speakers fell down. Both our Sydney shows are sold out so I think it’ll really be cranking. It’s just a recipe for something pretty magic – we get a lot from those shows, they’re very symbiotic with the crowd. It creates this very alive energy that makes me feel kind of nauseous with anxiety because its scary but it those nerves are also just super happy adrenaline. Pre-fun nerves maybe?
Mie, what are you looking forward to?
M: I was just listening to you Bea, and yeah the shows – I feel the same thing, just focusing on the shows coming up and also pushing the deluxe album. The deluxe is a good way to get people to listen to the album again. A lot of my mates were still saying oh we need to listen to that and I’m like yes come on guys, we’ve popped a few little presents on the end now.
It’s kind of like the album gets a second life
M: Exactly
Thank you so much for making the time today, this was so fun and I’m super excited for you guys.
B: Do you make music too?
Not in any serious way
Both: Haha neither!
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Pleasure Beast Deluxe by Haiku Hands is out now.
HAIKU HANDS – CLUB DELUXE: PLEASURE BEAST TOUR
Thu 05 Dec | Sydney, NSW – Lord Gladstone [SOLD OUT]
Sat 07 Dec | Sydney, NSW – Lord Gladstone [SOLD OUT]
Fri 13 Dec | Melbourne, VIC – Miscellania
Fri 20 Dec | Brisbane, QLD – Valley Loft
Tickets on sale now at haikuhands.com.au
