Q&A: Love and Grief Coexist in Pearl’s New Album
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA☆
LOVE AND GRIEF CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EACH OTHER — On Pearl’s new single “Spiral,” and across their forthcoming LP Love And Grief, the Baltimore-based punk band captures that emotional extremes are not opposing forces, but coexisting states that define and destabilize one another. The record doesn’t swing between love and grief so much as it lives in the charged space between them.
That tension comes into sharper focus on “Spiral,” the final single ahead of the album’s April 20 release. Built on relentless percussion, a driving low end, and a cyclical guitar motif that seems to fold back into itself, the track captures the sensation of being caught inside momentum you can’t quite control. It is, as vocalist Sienna Cureton-Mahoney puts it, “a jab in the ribs; quick, intense and unexpected.”
“Instrumentally the drums are relentless, the bass is driving and the guitar melody is cyclical within the chorus, lending itself to the title of the track,” Cureton-Mahoney says. “Lyrically, the song is all about wading through a sea of chaos, knowing fully that havoc often leads to necessary or positive change. Chaos like this makes me feel like I’m holding my breath underwater. Even though I feel slightly panicked, I know that the first gasp of air is going to be beyond satisfying.”
Love and grief are not opposites in Pearl’s world. Instead, they are intertwined forces, shaping and sharpening one another.
“[Love and grief] definitely coexist, and you can't really have one without the other. Love falls on one side, grief falls on the other of the emotional spectrum,” Cureton-Mahoney says to Luna. “All of the songs that are on the record are positioned between the two intense emotions.
Since forming in 2018, Pearl has become a defining force in the Baltimore punk scene, known for high-intensity performances that blur the line between hardcore precision and experimental chaos. The lineup consists of Cureton-Mahoney, Tommy Rouse (guitars), Jesse Hutchison (bass) and Flynn DiGuardia (drums). Their influences span decades of punk, hardcore, metal, and electronic experimentation, drawing from the confrontational urgency of Bad Brains, the energy of Bikini Kill, the weight and distortion of Black Sabbath and the abrasive experimentation of Public Image Ltd.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
SIENNA: Our sound is inspired by all of our collective musical experiences. For example, all of us actually have been in a multitude of bands. I generally play bass, so the way that comes across is usually pretty bass heavy for Pearl and the bassist and I sometimes switch off on creating the bass lines, which is pretty much the crux of how a song gets started. It usually will start off with a bass line, then drums will be added guitar and then vocals on top. Our sound is inspired by a lot of our other bands and our influences are inspired by punk and hardcore. We also like industrial and a lot of dance music.
LUNA: Your newest single release “Spiral” feels visceral and immediate, and has been described as “a jab in the ribs.” What emotions or inspirations sparked the song?
SIENNA: When I was considering the lyrics, it was definitely about chaos. I try to avoid chaos, but I sometimes work a little better under pressure, and I will stress myself out to get something done, but essentially it creates enough pressure to create what usually is a positive change. I was thinking about that immediacy, just really diving into something and letting it be chaotic and stressful in order to create something interesting. The visuals for the video were inspired mostly by Tommy, it was his brainchild, and Kate Lindsay, who is an amazing videographer. We were thinking about surrealist art and a lot of psychedelic imagery in order to create that chaotic movement and feel for the video.
LUNA: You are about to release your newest album Love and Grief and huge congratulations are in order! What inspired the album and what emotional or thematic ground did you feel compelled to explore?
SIENNA: I'm primarily a visual artist, so the album cover itself is something that I drew out. When I'm thinking about my artwork and my lyrics and sound, I think of it as a visual or sound-based diary. I'm thinking that each of the songs is a different facet of emotion, like it's a different facet of the spectrum of emotions that I've felt throughout this past year, whether it be yearning, whether it be chaos or frustration or envy or generally being manic or super excited. Each of the songs has a different emotion to it. It was more so about opening myself up and allowing others to enter into that train of thought, and hopefully be able to see some of themselves in that but it definitely is not there to spread a specific message to anyone. I'm not like trying to impose my opinions on others, just hoping that maybe it allows people to reflect or feel some solidarity in their emotions, or at least in being vulnerable.
LUNA: Love And Grief is a striking title. How do those two forces interact across the record? Are they in conflict, or do they coexist?
SIENNA: They definitely coexist, and you can't really have one without the other. Love falls on one side, grief falls on the other of the emotional spectrum. All of the songs that are on the record are positioned between the two intense emotions.
LUNA: You’ve recorded Love and Grief with producer and engineer Steve Wright at Wrightway Studios in Baltimore. What was it like bringing him into your creative process, and how did he influence the sound of the album?
SIENNA: He was awesome. He actually really helped us to get into this sound. We found that sometimes when we record — even if it's not anything professional, even when we're just looking at videos, or we record ourselves at practice — sometimes it either sounds really too polished or completely blown out. Steve Wright was able to get it so that there was a little bit of Lo-Fi quality, purposefully and intentionally to have the same effect as if you were in our practice space with us. Collectively we didn't want our sound to be completely different from our recordings. I think there's a time and place for a lot of artists to do that, but for us, we were trying to keep the authenticity of what our performances sound like live and in our studio to that of the recording.
LUNA: How do you protect your own mental and emotional well-being while consistently tapping into such intense subject matter?
SIENNA: Therapy is a good thing for everyone, so that's how I generally protect my mental health in conjunction with talking to friends and family. I prefer to just face my challenges head on though, as opposed to avoid. Also making music and visual art is really what keeps me occupied and sane. Having a good support system can be really helpful in that respect as well.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on Love and Grief — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who Pearl is right now?
SIENNA: I really like “Party.” It is a mix of a driving beat that makes me want to dance and punk. . When an audience is super stiff, which we haven't had much problem with, because everybody that comes to our shows has been pretty cool, it’s hard to maintain momentum within the performance. I'm into the idea of things not being stagnant, and that song is one that really gets people moving. I really like that it’s on the verge of maybe something destructive in terms of lyrics, deciding whether or not you're going to have a debaucherous night, or if it's just going to keep it light and fun. It's dynamic.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
SIENNA: I have always been in bands with other women, except for this one. It is really important and has always been in terms of my musicianship to talk to a lot of people who come to our shows, especially women of color, because I know that initially, when I started playing music, it was really rare to see Black women as frontpeople or playing instruments in a punk setting. I started because I wanted to be in a specific band, and had a need to express myself. People in my community were good enough to support me while I was learning and allowed me to perform while I was still too nervous to always face the audience when I was playing bass. They had faith and patience in the fact that I’d get better. I also gave myself some leeway with that learning curve. I don't think you need to be a highly trained classical musician , although they are amazing as well, in order to really express yourself. Some of the best music comes from people who are untrained and took a risk in order to create a totally new sound.
LUNA: How are you planning on celebrating the album release?
SIENNA: We are going to be having a performance that's going to be at Royal Blue in Baltimore. It's going to be a big old party on Thursday April 30 with us and three other performers, Father Sokka & T.A.T, Slot and Boom. We’re hoping lots of people get to go. We love a show that has various different sounds going on, so I think that there will be something for everyone.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
SIENNA: We're super excited to do the release. We never really had videos until this year, so that was really a new and illuminating process for us. What we're going to do is start making some new music that diverts a little from our norm this summer. We will be keeping our bass forward sound, but maybe with a little bit more electronic aspects to it. In August, we're going to try and tour, so we're planning on that soon, and we'll be taking our records on the road with us.
