Q&A: With Sugar And Charm, Wetsuit Mirrors Joy In Sentimentality In New Album, ‘Yarn For Future Scarves’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SYDNEY TATE ☆
A CALL THAT FEELS LIKE HOME — Wetsuit captures the plights and joys of love, reflection and daring to be anything in this world in their new album Yarn For Future Scarves, releasing through Brooklyn Indie label Substitute Scene Records.
The band began as an exploration of newfound love for songwriting, guitar, and front member Allison Becker’s meditations on life’s woes. Often packaged in sweets, the occasional yell, and most cherished cinematic memories, Yarn For Future Scarves acts as a marker for a tender place in time. There’s an ideal track companion for everyone who has been tending where they came from, looking for their next favorite vocal tendencies, or anyone in need of smiling through necessary tears.
Luna had the pleasure of chatting with Becker about their latest release. Read on to find out more about what confidence really feels like, joining physical art with digital, and all the best dresses.
LUNA: I was wondering if you've had any moments of nostalgia recently?
BECKER: What a great first question. Yarn For Future Scarves is a lot about teen nostalgia. I just saw Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Beacon Theater in July. I bought just one ticket to go by myself. They played all my favorites from Show Your Bones and It’s Blitz. I cried during Warrior.
The nostalgia hit me, because I would always go see them whenever they came to St. Louis where I grew up. I remember that after every time I saw them, I would think I need to change my life. I need to dye my hair, I need to start being more punk. And it’s funny because when I saw them this time I realized I actually don’t need to change anything about myself. I’m really happy with who I’ve become. It was a full circle moment.
LUNA: Major moment, amazing. I love your personal style and I love everything that you make. What does it mean to you to craft your visual world for your music and contribute in that way?
BECKER: I view them as going hand in hand. The music, the visuals, everything I wear. One can't thrive without the other.
It means so much to me to find this form of self-expression that is so holistically me. Before starting Wetsuit, I had an Etsy shop that I started because I was working an office job after college. I was sitting at a desk all day, and realized I wasn’t doing anything creative or with my hands. I used to do musical theater and choir in high school, and during college I interned in the fashion industry but got super burnt out.
So I started this Etsy shop where I was hand knitting and crocheting hats and scarves. I was hustling so hard I got a bad case of carpal tunnel, and while it was creatively fulfilling I felt like I was missing the performing that I used to do. When I started Wetsuit I got to combine the performing, the songwriting, the fashion. It’s a joy to see all these phases of my life coming together.
LUNA: Were you in any other clubs as a kid besides theater?
BECKER: Well, I was the president of my high school improv club. Yes and, baby! And I did show choir.
LUNA: Oh yeah, because you're from the Midwest. I grew up watching Glee and thought it was so funny when my friend from the Midwest mentioned doing show choir, I didn’t realize it was a regional thing.
BECKER: There was a time in my life where show choir was the pinnacle of coolness. I love going on TikTok now and watching early 2010s show choir clips, it’s the funniest thing ever. It’s all these kids going so hard to a Wicked song.
LUNA: Everyone was dedicated. Did you relate to Glee?
BECKER: I never watched Glee, I don't know why. I missed out on that, maybe it was too close to my real life.
LUNA: If you had to listen to only one song from Yarn For Future Scarves for the rest of your life, which one would you choose, and why?
BECKER: Oh, that's hard. It's a tie between the first and the last song, “Cider” and “The Fog.” For “The Fog” I want it to envelop me, and for “Cider,” I want every day to be like that song. I’m also proud of vocal performances in both of those.
LUNA: Yeah, your voice sounds like butter. And possibly an even more difficult question, if you could only wear one outfit for every show forever, what would it be?
BECKER: Amazing question, Sydney. I've been really into these 70s cape dresses. I have a couple of those that I've been rotating, and I buy them on Depop or Ebay and get them shortened so I can wear them with my white show boots.
So it would either be one of those or the dress that I wore in the “Sweet Sixteen” music video and at our “Sweet Sixteen” single release show. Which is by a brand named Celia B that I found through an Instagram ad.
LUNA: Plug. How has your confidence shifted as you continue to develop your musical project?
BECKER: I mean, it's a work in progress every day. Sometimes, as a musician, you take 10 steps forward and five steps back every day in terms of the ups and downs of the industry.
At the end of the day I'm so proud of what I'm creating, and it's a complete representation of myself. You have to have that confidence, because you're literally delivering yourself on a silver platter to everybody. Sometimes you fake it till you make it, but then the faking it actually becomes real once you hone your craft as much as possible and create something that you're so proud of.
LUNA: My friends and I were talking about that this morning too.
BECKER: I also really do enjoy performing, I sometimes feel like I’m playing a character which helps. I'm the most confident when I'm performing. I’m the least confident when I'm at a party and someone's like, “So how's the music thing going?” and I’m like, “Well…”
LUNA: Are there any other cities that you could see yourself living in?
BECKER: No.
LUNA: Respect.
BECKER: I've considered it. Maybe I'll move back to St Louis one day if everything goes to shit. I love St. Louis so much, but I've worked so hard to build a home for myself in New York and in Ridgewood. I can't imagine leaving anytime soon.
LUNA: How would you summarize your life so far in one word?
BECKER: Bouncy.
LUNA: How do you feel about the relationship between artistry and social media?
BECKER: I think there's a lot of conversation going around about how we're going to look back at everything artists are doing on social media right now and think wow, that’s so cringe. It is cringe, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. So many artists blow up on social media because that's where people are residing now.
Why not take advantage of it as a tool and go where the people are populated, in addition to being part of your community and playing live shows, which is so important. I think you can have a healthy relationship by understanding that it's just a marketing tool that you can use, and not a complete reflection of yourself or your artistry.
LUNA: I agree. I was curious because I know I've heard a lot of people talk about how it feels like there’s some pressure to be online [in a certain way] and I know that can be frustrating.
BECKER: I don’t feel it as pressure necessarily. I feel it more as I’m so proud of what I made, so I want to have it be seen in as many ways as possible. That’s my mindset right now. And I think there are ways it can be enjoyable—what Wetsuit does is so tied to the imagery and the visuals. We made six music videos this past year, so sometimes you gotta post the video as a tiny little clip with a caption over it in order to get people to go watch the whole thing on YouTube.
LUNA: Are there any albums that you listened to on repeat while you were making this album?
BECKER: I was listening to Hannah Sun by Lomelda on repeat. I love that record a lot, and I was listening to a lot of Waxahatchee’s Saint Cloud. Those are two big ones.
LUNA: Do you have a favorite vocalist?
BECKER: A lot of my vocal stylings come from listening to Yeah Yeah Yeahs growing up. Truly. That’s why I give a little shout out to Karen O in “Sweet Sixteen.” My choir teacher did not like that. He would say, “What’s this weird inflection you’re putting on?” but she’s my favorite. Also my friends Melody from Sweetbreads and Leah from OK Cowgirl give me full body chills every time they sing. We just played a show with Little Hag and I’m obsessed with Avery’s voice.
LUNA: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
BECKER: Our album release show is September 5 at Union Pool in Brooklyn with Ok Cowgirl and Go Home!
