After the release of her previous album, 2019's 'Woman', Berlin-based Irish musician, Wallis Bird undertook an intense period of self-evaluation focused on internal questions: 'Who I am, what I am, and what I don't want.'
It was a personal journey that led to a number of changes for Wallis (including quitting alcohol) as well as fostering a collection of songs that document the metamorphosis – the album is titled 'Hands'."'Hands' for me is a symbol of humanity, connection and time," Wallis says. "Humanity because, as babies, a first sign of our knowledge of existence is through our connection when we grip another human's finger.
"If we don't have hands, are we lesser humans? No. Connection, because hands represent tactility and expression, [is] a physical language that links our imagination and our reality with each other's.
"Finally, time, because some of the first examples of civilisations were hand paintings on cave walls, some of those hands missing fingers, celebrating their story of existence."
The album's artwork also showcases another personal aspect of Wallis, her own hand. "At 18 months old I fell under a lawnmower and cut all my fingers off," Bird states simply. "Four were reconnected. One was lost.
"This led me to relearn how to hold things, and, when the time came, to play the guitar differently.
"As a toddler, I remember seeing those cave pictures and being fascinated. What happened? How painful was that? This shaped me: I wanted to draw my heart like that, to celebrate time, scars, stories and humanity on a wall where others could too."
'Hands' is your seventh studio album; how does this release highlight you as a musician in this moment of time?
It shows my personality, my energy, my politics and my abilities in a very focused world of positive-pop protest music. I feel like I've found a definitive sound.
After the release of your previous record 'Woman' in 2019, when did you start compiling the ideas/ parts for 'Hands'?
One song 'Go' was brought from my previous album 'Woman' into this 'Hands'. I wrote it at the very last week before mastering and was in love with it, but I held back. Turns out that the song was an insight into a world of sound I wanted to develop into.
I love that about songwriting; you craft and craft, and many times there is a subconscious machine working it's design for your future. This was one such song. It totally guided 'Hands' to become the album that it is.
'Aside from 'Go', the whole album was written and recorded in 50 weeks. Fifteen songs were written in the first month and were whittled down to the nine and a half that made the record. The first day of studio for 'Hands' was 4 December, 2019, and the last day was 27 November 27, 2021. We mastered on the 28th.
Lyrically, was it a conscious effort to focus the songwriting on more personal aspects, to turn the spotlight inward to have some potentially difficult chats with yourself?
I think after the eviscerating pandemic that we universally experienced, we all turned a little introverted didn't we?!
I think to experience something together was humbling. There was so much tectonic geopolitical, social and environmental upheaval that I spent the whole first year listening, and the second exploring and sounding it out.
The lyrics for this are very of their time, which is important. I want this album to be judged for the time that it is so we can look back at it in a few years and clearly see where we've developed better or comparatively between now and the next album.
I want this to be a zeitgeist of an important historical experience as a white gay female migrating and now living in Europe, and for my words to finally live in a non-white supremacist, openly inclusive and emotionally intelligent world. So I invent the world I want through the lyrics.
Was their specific subject matter you wanted to tackle, to bring to the light (almost like a cathartic release) with this collection of songs?
That white people need to sit down and listen, we've had our day in the sun. That aggressive machismo has had its day in the sun. That the words we use can be non verbal, powerful and dangerous and that Mother Nature deserves her day in the sun.
The album artwork features your left hand, which many of your fans are aware was severally damaged when you were very young; given the personal nature of the record overall, was it simple decision to make your own hand the focus of the artwork?
Very! My subconscious kept saying the word 'hands' over and over. I would wake up saying it, I would dream of the word 'hands', so I had to simply ask 'ok, what does this mean', and it turns out that the meaning is connection, begging, humanity and strength.
Hands tell a complete and private story way beyond what I can explain.
The world has also changed drastically since you recorded 'Woman' for obvious reasons; how much did lockdowns and restrictions impact the recording process? And were there any unexpected positives that emerged from working in the new normal during these sessions?
The first week I found creative explosion and was working remotely all day with a friend on the other side of town. He'd send a beat, I'd make a song around it. This got old very quickly because we both realised the pandemic wasn't going away.
My creativity died shortly thereafter for a good year. After that I was browned off of my day drinking, tired of not visualising a future, tired of being tired and scared and I needed to develop music that would make me move so that I could think straight.
It's basically an exercise in using energy to clean the pallet and prepare for a world change far more important than music. I began to think about how I can be a useful human without my music.
I began to do therapy to ground myself for others, and doing sport to deal with stress, making furniture so I could better my motor skills if someone needed them. I began to think of the future helping physically not just esoterically.
You created the music video for 'Go' entirely on hour iPhone 13 Pro; what was that experience like and do you enjoy immersing yourself in new technologies (particularly for your music)?
Me and technology are best buds! I'm an avid learner. Terrible in school 'cos I need to learn by doing.
I'm fluent on the camera because I really don't care what anyone thinks and I simply want to document my development as a human for myself, using the most casual and handiest means possible to get the rawest art out. We're living in an age of immense technological possibility, so I use it in a non-precious and an enjoyable way.
You feature on the cover (with Panti Bliss) of the most recent Hot Press Magazine in Ireland; that must be a career highlight?
Absolutely. Panti is a great mind so to be interviewed by her was a privilege. To share space with her as a gay icon is an honour.
You also posted on your IG that you didn't tell your Dad you were to be a cover star; what was his response when he found out?
He sent me a gorgeous and simple text that said he was proud and it was a great photo; it was heart wrenching!
Another recent IG post you made was the opening of the barn doors of your old farm house for the 'Catherdal'; is that a venue project you're working on? What's the vision/ timeline to opening?
Yes, my girlfriend and I bought a farmhouse with two other couples so we could live and create a creative space together for a community.
This weekend we're digging a compost toilet so as soon as that's done we're gonna begin the 'proper' sessions! Up until now it's been friends and instruments around great bonfires.
The rest of 2022; what's on the menu for Wallis Bird?
Digging, dragging, drilling, gigging, laughing, sleeping!
Thanks for your time; anything else you'd like to add?
No, this was a gorgeous interview, thanks a million! Have a nice one Gareth!
