You recorded Die Hydrated live off the floor at Deadpan Studios in Sudbury with Andrew Sowka and Matthew Wiewel. What was this experience like?

Vanessa: It was great! Deadpan Studios is a really awesome space. It’s recorded a lot of different people and is historically very important to Sudbury and the North. Matt Wiewel has worked on so many albums and tapping into that knowledge was really exciting for us. Andrew’s a longtime friend. He’s played in several bands but this was his first time producing an album. All of us were collaborating on it together which was a really unique experience. It was really important to us to work with guys in the industry who gave space to us wanting to experiment and being professionals in our own sense.

Holly: I think we were back and forth about live off the floor or not, but then we decided on that organic sound. There’s a lot of energy between us when we’re playing so we made sure we captured that on the record.

Linds: If you think about it, we’ve been a band for a really long time. Performing live is what we do and have done. We see folks come to our shows pretty continuously so I think choosing live off the floor made a lot of sense. It’s authentic to the experience you have when you come to see a Peach Pact show.

Vanessa: Punk is DIY. You want that raw sound when you record, so it worked nicely for that.

Maximum energy.

Linds: Totally!

Vanessa: We were jumping around, flailing around.

[laughter]

Vanessa: It was just the vocals that we did afterwards. We went back in and did a few vocal things to fill it out in ways that you wish you could do live when you actually get to hear it recorded. But otherwise, that’s what we sound like live.

This album’s been in the works for a few years now. Do you have a song off the album that’s changed the most during that time?

Vanessa: “For Ivy, For Now” probably changed the most.

Linds: We loved the riff. We focused on the riff and not the message necessarily at the beginning.

Vanessa: We’ve seen what’s been happening with the political climate. When we were writing as a band, it morphed into something totally different from where it started and is now a song about Roe v. Wade and reclaiming human rights, body rights, and things like that. The messaging definitely changed.

There’s other songs that started in my comfort level for singing this genre. My background’s not in punk or grunge or anything like that, it’s more blues rock and folk. Pushing myself to sing in higher registers and really going for it was something that Holly and Linds really encouraged me to do. There’s certain songs where if you hear the first renditions of them, they’re an octave lower. [laughs]

Linds: The organic manifestation of Peach Pact in this basement here in North Bay has been really cool to experience. Songs might have been the same because we’ve played them for a really long time but they feel different to play now. They feel really comfortable and authentic.

How would you describe your songwriting process?

Vanessa: Super collaborative. I find there’s no formula. It starts with either a riff or a lyric or something that’s happened in the world and we’re sitting and talking about it. It’s very organic.

Holly: It starts with a riff or something we jammed out and got down or a lyric. Then we’re sort of riffing off of it. It’s funny how quickly things come together between the three of us. While we were a band during COVID, we wrote a lot of stuff over Zoom. [laughs]

We formed as a band and maybe got more serious about it right before COVID hit in 2019. We didn’t wanna lose momentum and we couldn’t be together. We did a lot of lyric writing over Zoom. We used to have jams where we would all be masked up with the windows open in my basement. I’m sure my neighbours loved it.

[laughter]

Holly: But, you know, we had to figure it out. It feels very natural and very organic. It’s not forced and things come together very quickly.

Linds: It’s interesting. For me at least, I feel like when so much stuff is happening in the world, it’s tapping into that peace where it’s like, “I have so much to say and I’m feeling so much that I want to express it.” I’m really grateful to be a musician and to have pals who feel similarly. We all want to scream, sing, and strum a particular message.

Vanessa: It’s rare to find friends that you align with. We align in values and we align in musical styling. It’s really rare to find friends like this. It’s been really cool to make an album together.

What’s helped keep your friendship strong?

Vanessa: Grace.

[laughter]

Holly: Communication too. Being in a band is like being in a relationship and you’ve gotta have strong communication. I think travelling together and travelling for the album played a part. Really, really early on we all went to Palm Springs together. I think having those moments where you really bond helps.

Vanessa: Yeah, absolutely. And being ok when it’s like, “You know what friends? Burnout is happening.” We all work full-time. Music is a side thing for us; it’s a passion and we love it. We all have 5-6 things that we juggle so being supportive in that way for each other where week to week there’s so much flexibility helps. There’s a lot of love first. That’s what I meant by grace too, we care about each other first and what happens happens. I like the pace that we’ve gone with writing and putting it out into the world. It works for us.

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Is Palm Springs where the rock that looks like a peach is from?

[laughter]

Vanessa: Yeah!

Linds: The peach rock!

Vanessa: Dan Mangan had a rock in his last video that looked exactly the same. I messaged him like, “Dan, is this the same rock?”

Linds: The desert is a special space for us. Holly had been to Palm Springs and California before and it was our first band trip together. We just experienced that magic together; seeing those cool sunsets and having lots of cool chats by the pool. “A.ajax” was born out of that trip with the Cabazon Dinosaurs.

Vanessa: That was the first song that we wrote together as a three-pack. There are these massive, life-sized resin dinosaurs and it’s an attraction on the side of the road. It’s so quirky and campy and kinda brilliant to see how people get seduced to go off the highway and find these things in the middle of the desert.

One of the dinosaurs has this gift shop in the belly so it became a metaphor as we got to know each other and as we knew we wanted to speak in our music about very feminist things; about authenticity, about what we’re noticing in the world with human connection. It was just a very interesting jumping off point to talk about these dinosaurs in the middle of the desert. “Been there, bought the tee” is a play on that. It’s about fakeness.

Linds: And expectations of society.

Vanessa: Getting consumed by your own image and the ego and all those things. It was a really neat experience to go and find those things in the middle of the desert. We started philosophizing together. I feel like that’s the first time we three got to do that together which leads to fantastic lyrics and world views and connecting as friends.

Linds: Since the beginning of our friendship, Vanessa always kept a little note section on her phone of funny things we would say or interesting things we say. “Die hydrated” was one of them. That came from Palm Springs as well. We thought she had a water allergy.

Vanessa: I found out I might actually! [laughs] I’m allergic to peaches too, ironically. This is really a food journal for my naturopath. I went really far with it.

[laughter]

“Die Hydrated” is one of my favourite songs on the album. What’s the story behind it?

Vanessa: Apart from the hilariousness that is always being dehydrated and this being a play on that, “Die Hydrated” is about how as female-identifying people we talk a lot about the emotional labour that women carry in society. The idea of filling your cup is important for staying alive; that idea that you are supported, that you are giving yourself care, all these things that we believe in. That’s the hydration piece. Burning the candle at both ends and feeling burnout and carrying that weight and labour all the time as feminists, is the dying part of it.

To me, “Die Hydrated” as an overall theme throughout the songs is about having this project to fill that cup. If you’re going to burn out, burn out having helped yourself. That’s the “die hydrated” part. In that song particularly, we talk about dumping the poison. The poison is the patriarchy. “Pour her voice into the cup” goes back to old roots, women gathering, the symbol of the chalice, being water carriers, and all of those things.

Holly: It’s sort of a pushback on the fallacy of having it all. Women are told they can have it all and it’s like, “Make sure you do all these things and stay hydrated” but you’re going to burn out and die. [laughs] We’re pushing back on this idea that’s sold to a lot of women who are now pushing back.

Linds: Just to add to that, it's also about the sense of autonomy and hope that folks can live their lives the way they want to as they are and as they show up.

The imagery of women gathering is also very present in “Three of Cups”, which takes its name from a Tarot card. What drew you to that card in particular?

Vanessa: We actually drew that card when we were recording the album. That’s one of the songs we wrote in studio.

Linds: We wanted to write a song that represented being queer in the North and what that has meant. We can only speak to our own individual experiences. Every morning before we went into the studio, we would draw a Tarot card. We had Three of Cups and then we looked into it and were like, “Oh my goodness, this is pretty amazing!”

Vanessa: It was perfect!

Linds: Speaking personally, “They meet at the clearing” is like whatever in your life is causing fog and being in this place where you feel accepted to be who you are, you realize there are people who support you, and there’s people who care that you exist. It’s a song that I was like, “How do we write a song that represents my personal experience?” I think we did it. The first time I heard it, I remember exactly where I was and I cried because I was like, “Oh, there it is!” [laughs]

Vanessa: After such a heavy album it was important to end on a hopeful note and also experiment a little bit with sounds. We’re not going full scream in that song. It’s softer and more layered. It was a little bit of an experimentation. I think it gives way to the next album a little bit. [laughs]

Linds: We just played a whole album about what’s going on in the world and how we’re addressing it and then we're leaning into the future because there is a future and we need to be hopeful.

Like you mentioned earlier, “For Ivy, For Now” talks a lot about the ongoing fight for bodily autonomy. What can be done to keep that fight strong?

Holly: It definitely ends on a really angry, energetic tone. I think when we were writing it, we were thinking, “We need to be aware that this could happen in Canada.” It’s awareness of the fact that this is a fight that is probably going to be a long one and we’re not immune here. I think there’s a lot of anxiety in the song around what’s happened in the US and this swing over to the right that’s happening in a lot of places in the world, but it also does push back and literally says, “Fuck you.” [laughs] It is kind of a reclaiming of eventually things will settle on the good side.

Vanessa: We have a strong presence. “You ain’t never seen nothing like ‘em yet” is about the people.

Holly: There’s a flip in the song. The first part is more about what’s happening with people coming for your rights but it changes tones halfway through the song where it’s more like the people rising up now. There’s going to be a rising up that pushes the pressure to the other side.

Linds: I also think it’s a confirmation of support for anybody who feels like their rights are at risk. We support you, we hear you, we know what’s going on. We can do so much more than just sing a song, but it’s a call for support from others and a dedication of support from us.

You’ve said how it’s really important to make your shows and the community around the band very inclusive. What’s helped you do that?

Linds: Lived experience.

Vanessa: Not really having one growing up in the North. [laughs]

Holly: When we have played shows there’s been times where we’ve talked to other bands about making sure the moshpit is at the back of the room. This is a movement from riot grrrl culture, but women to the front; we say, “Girls, gays, and theys to the front.” Make sure they can feel like the space is for them because I feel like historically the punk scene, especially in Northern Ontario and around Canada, has been really male-dominated. Folks can feel excluded and unsafe in those spaces sometimes because there’s a lot of aggressive energy going on. We make sure to set the tone when we come in and play a show. I really love the all-ages ones we play because having young girls see us on stage and see the representation feels really important.

Vanessa: Yeah, certainly something I never had growing up. I was born in 1990, there’s been women in rock and all sorts of genres forever but I wasn’t exposed to them and I certainly never saw them live. It’s something that I wish I could’ve seen. Maybe I would’ve gotten into it a little bit earlier. Maybe I wouldn’t have defaulted to playing certain types of music because you see women in those spaces, like folk and classical. That’s where I stayed for a long time. But we’ve talked a lot about how we loved listening to grunge music and punk music and all these other types of genres. It took me a long time to realize if I went through my iPod - remember those? [laughs] - it was all male singers. Every single band that I listened to that was harder was all male-led. I think it’s interesting.

Linds: I think acceptability. If you want to play a certain type of music or you want to go to a certain show, it would be awesome if you felt it was accessible to you in any way. Why did I have to be 30-something to feel as though I could plug a guitar into a big amp and use pedals? Why did I not feel like I could do that before? That’s a huge conversation.

What would you say to girls or women or non-binary people who want to start a band or be part of a punk scene?

Holly: Play music with other people. Play music with your friends, just have a jam party! That’s what we did, that’s how this started. Invite your friends over for some drinks and some cake and jam out in your basement. That’s what it’s about; community. I always give advice to younger people to play the drums or the bass instead of guitar because everyone would play guitar back in the day. [laughs] Just learn an instrument and play with your friends.

Vanessa: I’m a believer that everyone can sing, you may just not have found your genre yet. [laughs] You might be some quirky contemporary singer. Everyone who’s like, “I can’t sing” you absolutely can sing, just try and don’t compare yourself to anyone. That’s something in all of art, just have so much fun and make something. Don’t compare it to something else you’ve heard or want to be or sound like. Just do it in your own way.

Linds: Perfection is a lie. It’s going to lie to you, it’s going to haunt you, it’s insidious. Try not to lean into it. I know that’s easier said than done, but just mess around on a guitar or bass or drums. Hit the wrong note. [laughs]

Vanessa: Then make it the right note! [laughs]

Linds: I feel very lucky that I play music with two people who I feel really safe around to make those mistakes. In my own life, making mistakes has been a journey. But you can make those mistakes and they’re not fucking mistakes.

It’s all a learning experience.

Linds: Yeah, like what are you taking from it?

Vanessa: It’s fun! It has to be for you before it’s for anyone else. We make music that we like.

Holly: Enjoy it. It shouldn’t be a chore, it should be fun.

Linds: Which is why we can hop on an interview after jamming.

[laughter]

Your album release show is coming up in September. What are you looking forward to the most about this show?

Holly: When people have had the album or the record for a few months, they’ll actually know it. That was one of the reasons for pushing it to September; we wanted people to actually know the songs. There’s something about going to a concert and being familiar with the songs that the band is playing. Some of the more die-hard fans totally recognize the songs but there’s something different when you’ve had it on your phone for a couple months and you’ve been listening to it constantly. The show’s going to hit harder.

Vanessa: It’s hard to hear lyrics at a live show and now you can read the lyrics. I know a lot of folks are excited to dive deeper into what we’ve been talking about. [laughs]

Linds: I also think in typical Peach Pact fashion, we don’t want to be rushed or pushed by any agenda. We want it to be all ages, accessible, and at a venue we want to present it in. We don’t want to feel rushed to do that and we want to ensure that all the promotion we’re doing is authentic. We can’t wait to party with you in September once everyone knows the lyrics. There’s a lot of special, authentic elements we want to ensure are involved with the release show.

Which part of Die Hydrated are you proudest of?

Holly: That’s a hard one! It just feels like a cohesive album. There’s a good flow. I’m proud of the whole thing.

Vanessa: This is really five-six years that we were writing together. So much has happened since 2019; COVID where we were all quarantined then political things then personal things. I got married. We’ve started new jobs and opened businesses. So much has happened that I’m just proud of the ways in which we put our personal selves into the music while also being very tapped into what’s going on with everyone else. It’s very us. I think we’re very hard-working, sensitive people who are creative. I’m really proud of us that we pushed through and did it despite everything that happened.

Linds: I can’t really get over how in 29 minutes we were able to say so much. With the way it’s curated the last song on the album is the hopeful part but we’re not done. That gives me a sense of resolve like, “Ok, we’ve said so much. I feel anxious about all the stuff happening but it’s not over yet. There’s still hope, I’m still working on it. I’m on my way.” Sometimes I feel like as an artist my work never feels done. I’m never satisfied but for whatever reason with this album I feel like, “This is it.”