We’re here today with a very interesting band that is appealing to the fans of Opeth, Deftones, and Spiritbox. They have a dark, deep, and mysterious aesthetic like no other, with songs streaming over 100K times. We are eager to learn more about this band’s origins, musicality, and background.
1. How did the band members meet and come together?
Garry and Mishkin met at music university and bonded over alternative music genres, both wanted to create something unique but it took years for the band to find its feet in the metal and progressive scene that we’re now in. Hana Piranha joined the band after her own band played with Birdeatsbaby many times and we became close, we still tour together now actually. Anna Mylee is our most recent member but probably the best fit for a drummer we’ve ever had, due to her prog roots.
2. Can you tell us about your musical background as a band? And as individuals?
Hana Piranha was classically taught as a violinist but has now applied all that training into rock music. Her string arrangements and orchestral additions are an integral part of Birdeatsbaby’s signature sound. On the new album she is now playing harp as well as cello.
Mishkin grew up singing in a protestant church, doing choral and organ music and then left London in her teens, and got involved in the punk scene in Brighton. After giving up on several bands she formed Birdeatsbaby, keeping the punk attitude but progressing into other genres and trying to make something more original. You can hear the gospel choir arrangements on tracks like “Mary”.
Garry Mitchell’s roots are in Jazz, and bands from the 60s/70s (his favourite being Pink Floyd). He’s also a huge Metal fan. As one of the founding members, he went from playing bass, (John Deacon was his main influence), and then moved onto the guitar. For this next evolution of the band’s sound he is playing an 8 string Strandberg. He also plays some brass, and upright double bass too.
Anna Mylee is our newest member – her father was very influential in the Prog scene in Belgium, but it was in London that she founded her own rock band Dorja. She delivers progressive and polyrhythmic drum parts to BIrdeatsbaby’s songs and creates a groove that is just so catchy that you can’t stop listening. We feel really lucky to have her in our band, she is an incredibly creative and brilliant drummer and percussionist.
3. Whom are you influenced by as a band and as individuals?
To be honest we all feed off each other – all of us have such different backgrounds musically and otherwise that we are always sharing our own musical findings and playing what we’ve found in the van when driving to shows or shoots. We have to do a cover for our Patreon page every month too so this always leads us to find undiscovered and interesting bands. Currently we’re all liking the new This Is Deathpop release from Give/Take records, it’s a great compilation. Oh, and Opeth, so much Opeth.
4. Why were there no releases those past 3 years?
Well technically we are releasing new music every single month, it’s just that it’s on our Patreon page, so you wouldn’t see it if you’re not signed up. We have so much content coming out there for our core fanbase that this is really where the action is. Officially we haven’t released an album for 3 years but that’s because public release take a lot more time and effort to release properly – you have to think about the campaign, the funding, the videos, etc so if you really want to hear the music we’re making just join our patreon Flock and you can hear before any of that stuff happens!
5. Can you walk us through your creative process? Who comes up with the musical ideas and lyrical context?
Mishkin is the main song-writer who comes up with the skeleton of the song initially, and maybe the vague concept – usually then she’ll create a synth project with a melody, and then the next step is Anna. She will create the drum parts to groove over this, and this is the base of the whole song. After that it’s up to Garry to make sure there are plenty of riffs and guitar patterns and Hana and Mishkin will usually write the lyrics together. Hana will usually finish the song with the string/harp arrangements which we leave space for as it’s easy to overfill a song and we’ve learned the hard way that sometimes our songs can be a little too much to process! I feel bad for our producer Evan who has to deal with all those ideas in the one song.
6. Can you tell us more about the idea and metaphor behind “Ribbons”, which did you choose this subject to discuss through your song and why did you choose the Shibari technique specifically to get your idea across?
Yes, Ribbons was written about all of the choices in your life creating pathways that then spread out in front of you like a giant spider web. Sometimes we can see having many choices as freedom, where as in this case the many threads have become a cage, and restrict you from your moving into your future. I think during the pandemic I (Mishkin) was feeling very introverted and strange and these songs have come from a place of feeling blocked in many ways, and unable to express myself on stage anymore, it was a weird time. It’s also a song about self-acceptance and your shadow side. If you look a little bit more into the music video and lyric content you can find a more esoteric meaning, but this is for the hardcore BEB fan.
7. I’ve noticed a dramatic flair in your song, a depiction of the theatrical and operatic scene, is that intentional?
I think as a true artist, it becomes almost impossible to not have some kind of theatrical side don’t you think? Going on stage itself is very dramatic, and I love to get into the character of my songs when I sing them, it’s quite cathartic for us. More recently we’ve been wearing demonic headdresses and decorating the stage like the lost woods from a forgotten place. It’s fun and I think it helps the audience feel moved visually as well as musically. I love a bit of theatre.
8. Can you tell us more about “HEX’, your new album?
Certainly. It’s an album of 9 parts: 9 songs, played in three formats. The first album will be heavy metal, and progressive with polyrhythms, cellos and multi-layered parts. The second will be the same songs but played on a piano, a string quartet and choral arrangements. Finally we will have an electronic remix album and these three albums will make up the three sides of HEX. It’s an album rooted in the occult, the esoteric and numerology. It’s going to be our darkest album yet, and we have made some very dark music. If you want to hear it before anyone else, then join our Patreon page. Thank you for having us.
