motel void

British-American singer-songwriter pb writes melancholic songs disguised in beautiful melodies. Folky with a sweet twist, she combines her calming sound with personal, relatable lyrics. pb’s music offers an observational and introspective commentary on life, carried by her warm and ethereal tone.

MOTEL VOID: Your debut album ‘neither prose nor poetry’ was released just a few days ago. Could you describe the writing and recording process of this record?

PB: ’neither prose nor poetry’ is a collection of songs that I’ve written from around the age of 16 until now, so the writing process technically spanned over 10 years! Although at the time of writing these songs, I did not know if they’d end up going anywhere.

In my writing I’ve always had a focus on storytelling – melodies and harmonic progressions come naturally to me, but if I can’t accompany the music with meaningful lyrics then I don’t consider it a good song. I’ve never put pressure on myself for writing songs – there’s was one year where I wrote 50 songs, and another period of 3 years where I didn’t write a single one – but I let them come when they come, and if it’s not a ‘good song’, I still let it be. It was only around last year in 2023 that I decided I wanted to release an album of what I considered to be my best pieces.

For the recording process, I wanted to find a producer who’s style was in line with what I could only imagine I wanted for the tracks. All my previous releases had been done by me alone and were mostly voice with only ukulele or piano. I knew I wanted a fuller sound for this album, so asked my friend Sam Williams if he would produce for me, as he had just done for his own band Bojockey’s first record (which is absolutely fantastic!). Between us the songs were fleshed out, and by collaborating with other London based musicians I had met through gigs (and also some of my family!) the tracks went from ukulele/piano to a full band experience. Where my focus was mostly in writing melodic parts such as for strings and clarinet, Sam was excellent at hearing the holes and exploring what could be added to support what was there. He’s was always thinking of new things to try, like “what if we added an omnichord??”, which was the perfect second opinion to have in the process when I had more of a narrow vision on it all. The mentality was give each and every idea a try, and if we don’t like it then just take it out!

MOTEL VOID: Your music reminds me of my favourite singer-songwriter Laura Marling. I suppose it’s your voice which sounds quite similar to me! Who is your biggest inspiration right now?

PB: Thank you! It’s always so nice to hear what musicians I remind others of, especially when they are musicians I also admire!!

I think my biggest inspiration is Billie Marten, in that there’s a certain style to her songwriting and the instrumentation of her songs that I strive to achieve. But also I really am inspired by songwriters like Lou Roy, Wes Reeve and The Staves as well.

MOTEL VOID: I like the artwork of your singles/album by Devin Lee. How and when did you start cooperating?

PB: Devin and I used to work in retail together first when we both lived in Washington DC and then also when we both lived in New York! She’s an incredibly talented collage artist and photographer, so after I moved back to London in 2020 and started releasing music I asked her to design some album artwork for two of my previous releases ’The Ex-Could-Have-Been Song’ and ‘I Miss My Accent’, and then for this album and its singles. I love all her work, so all I ever do is send her the track so she can listen to it and let her do her thing. We don’t usually discuss a concept, but for this album release I knew I wanted the 4 artworks to be related in some way, so Devin sent me her ideas and we ended up with what you can see!

MOTEL VOID: What are your other plans for the rest of the year? Do you plan a tour to support your new record?

PB: I have nothing planned for now. Being an independent artist, making and releasing an album as well as organising and running an album launch show the night before the release all by myself, it was a lot of fun but also a lot of hard work. I look forward to a small break from gigs while letting the album exist for the time being!

MOTEL VOID: You’re based in London, England. How would you describe the current indie folk scene there?

PB: I only started doing open mics in 2021 and hoped to book gigs from there, so at the beginning it was hard to know what venues would suit and support my style of music, and it all felt a little overwhelming in a city with so many diversely talented musicians.

As I started gigging more and more, I met more folk singer-songwriters and started to find the events that were more folk focused. There really is an incredible spread of curated nights of all music genres across London, and what I’ve found through mostly playing at more intimate venues is that I run into the same community of folk singer-songwriters. It’s a lovely little scene, but I have a feeling I only know a tiny portion of it still!