Q&A: Darcey Hope Brings Pure Serenity to the “Back of My Mind”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY ALEJANDRA MEDINA ☆
THE WORLD IS CONSTANTLY IN FLUX — And oftentimes, it can feel as if the clock is running against us. Queer indie-pop singer-songwriter Darcey Hope understands this feeling all too well. In her new single “Back of My Mind,” Hope offers us a warm, intimate and upbeat opportunity to reclaim our own headspace and build a safe space within ourselves.
After her debut in 2023, Hope quickly amassed popularity in the UK. Her songs have been nationally played on Absolute Radio, BBC Introducing and she was in the top five on the Singer-Songwriter charts. Her single “Late to the Party” went viral within the queer community on TikTok, sparking important conversations among young members of the LGBTQ+ community and assuring so many late bloomers that they weren’t alone.
We sat down to talk to Darcey about her songwriting process, the importance of mental health, and queer representation within the music industry.
LUNA: Congratulations on the release of your new song, “Back of my Mind.” What has that been like?
DARCEY HOPE: Thank you, it’s been so good! I was excited to release this one. This was originally going to be the first track that we released off of this project but then “Late to the Party” kind of blew up a little bit, so we decided to move it around. Even though the song is about overthinking, it’s been a nice song to channel all of that nervous, independent artist energy into. And everyone’s really loved it, so it’s been great!
LUNA: I’ve been listening to a lot of your music and you have a really distinct way of telling an intimate story through your lyrics, it almost sounds like I’m listening to your diary entries. Can you tell me a little about your songwriting process?
HOPE: Of course. It literally is my diary. I don’t keep a journal, I just write songs. I have a notebook that I take around everywhere, and I write down anything and everything that comes to my head, knowing I’ll use it to write lyrics later. I always write lyrics and melody together. When I was studying music, I learned about this thing called prosody, which is about how lyrics and melody move together, and it always really fascinated me. So writing them together means they’ll always fit nicely, and then I tend to build the rest of the music around that before I take it into the studio. But writing lyrics is definitely my favorite part of the process, so it’s probably why it sounds so much like a diary entry.
LUNA: “Back of My Mind” is beautiful. It’s soothing and it makes me feel like the main character in a movie. Is there anything that inspires your songwriting outside of music? Like books, films, nature?
HOPE: Oh my goodness, yeah! Absolutely. When I was writing these songs, I was really looking at the coming-of-age films that were more about the awkward character like Beanie Fieldstein’s character in “Booksmart.” Or the characters that start out as the ones that are sitting on the toilet, eating their lunch on their own. So, definitely things like that.
LUNA: Yes!
HOPE: And books, what books have I been reading at the moment? I was reading the “Magnolia Parks” books and I’ve been trying to really get into reading more queer literature because I feel like that’s really influencing more of the stuff I’m writing now. Another gorgeous film! What was it? It’s “Where the Crawdads Sing.” The visuals of that film really influenced the soundscape for this whole project. I was kind of watching that and thinking, what music could go under that? But all of these songs were written by the beach. I was living near Brighton at the time and it was my main place where I would go down to write. If I got stuck or anything I would just walk straight down to the beach and take my notebook, and it was like the words would float straight out. So I think whatever I was reading or watching or taking in at the time, the sea was that little invisible string that tied it all together.
LUNA: Oh, that sounds so beautiful, writing by the sea.
HOPE: I know, I love it. I’ve even got a wave tattooed!
LUNA: I love it. There’s something about the ocean that really puts you into that creative space.
HOPE: Yeah, absolutely.
LUNA: So you said “Back of My Mind” is a song about overthinking. Is there anything you do, besides going to the ocean, to practice mindfulness whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed and like you’re spiraling in your own head?
HOPE: Yes, watching Disney films. Watching comfort films. I think the main thing that really inspired this track was “Alice in Wonderland.” That was one that I watched at the time. I think going back to things that make you get in touch with your inner child, that’s always a place where I find myself feeling really safe because it reminds me to do what I wanted to do when I was a kid, and that was write songs and have fun with music. Finding comfort in the little things, even if it’s a little bath or a little time to myself. I love yoga, as well. But I think songwriting is definitely the main way I really air out all of my thoughts. And putting my phone down to touch grass is always a really good way to get through that.
LUNA: What are your thoughts on the importance of mental health awareness in music?
HOPE: So important. Especially for artists, we all seem to have that similar battle with mental health and we obviously write music for ourselves, but we write music for others as well and it’s a way for people to connect with each other through songs. I’m so glad mental health is getting to a point where it’s talked about more freely. But maybe for those who don’t feel like they can talk about it, having a song that they can listen to, that makes them feel less alone is really, really nice. Especially for people who don’t feel like they can share how they’re feeling. At least if they know there’s someone singing about it, then they get a little bit of an outlet. So yeah, it’s so important.
LUNA: Definitely. And I’m glad your music serves as that outlet for a lot of people.
HOPE: Thank you.
LUNA: You did mention that your latest single “Late to the Party” really blew up with the Queer community on TikTok. I know it did numbers on there. What was that like?
HOPE: It was insane. It was hard not to look at the numbers too much because, especially when it blew up, I didn’t care about how many views it was getting. It was just the fact that it was reaching that many queer people and that many were resonating with it, and that it was creating this little community of people who felt the same way I did or who had similar experiences. It was the most amazing thing ever for it to be one of the first songs I’d ever written as a queer artist, and for it to get that kind of reception, it was absolutely insane.
LUNA: I think you’re doing an incredible job, by the way, of giving the LGBTQ+ community pure and honest representation in music, because I think that’s really important.
HOPE: Thank you so much, that definitely means a lot. Especially because I’m new to it. It’s always weird to say, because a lot of older queer people on TikTok were like, “22? That’s not too late to come out.” But I think it was really nice to find other people that shared the same experience. Especially femme representation. Having a masculine presenting girlfriend, we experience two very different sides of the spectrum. I have a lot of safety in how I present my queerness. Like, I can go outside and I don’t really get any sort of homophobia, which is something I’m very grateful for. But it also means I’m trying to find my footing and feel confident owning my sexuality. It’s hard but I think trying to find that balance of having representation from where you sit but also creating that space for other people who have different struggles in the queer community was really, really important to me.
LUNA: Definitely. Were there any queer artists that you looked up to growing up?
HOPE: Oh my goodness, Brandy Carlisle. She’s my number one. Also looking at all the artists I used to listen to growing up and not knowing I was gay is insane because there’s Brandy Carlisle, Avril Lavigne… I know she’s not queer but like, I remember directing that to someone once and they said, “You listened to Avril Lavigne and you didn’t know you were gay?”
LUNA: Ha!
HOPE: But Brandy Carlisle is my number one. If I could support her one day or even just meet her, I could die happy. The work that she does for queer music in country is so incredible. Her and her wife are absolutely adorable and “You and Me On the Rock” is one of my favorite songs ever. She was definitely an icon for me. My mom loves Brandy Carlisle too, I got that from her. My mom’s a great ally.
LUNA: You’re releasing an EP in October. How exciting! Is there anything you can tell us about it without giving too much away?
HOPE: There’s two songs I’ve yet to release, I can say that. They’re songs about trying to find your footing and coming into your 20s. You’re freaking out a little bit and you’re stressed and burnt out and you haven’t seen your friends in months because you all have crazy schedules and you’re falling in love. There’s just so many different parts of me that were encapsulated in these songs of this little post-grad life crisis I was having when I was coming out and moving home. I didn't know what I was doing but at least I had music as a channel for me to push through that.
LUNA: You’re going to be supporting Fanny Lumsden on tour! How are you feeling?
HOPE: I’m really excited! That’s going to be such a fun week actually because I’ll be playing Manchester Pride just a few days after it. But she’s such a cool artist, I love her music. I’m so excited to play York, it’s a lovely town here. And it’s sold out too, it’s always nice to have a sold out gig in the books.
LUNA: Before we wrap up, anything else you’d like to talk about?
HOPE: There’s a new song out August 28, and it’s my first queer love song. So, we’re starting to get into that realm now and it’s something I’m definitely looking forward to.
