With her sophomore record, 'Faultlines', due out in a little over a month, we sat down with Pisgah to chat about fan interactions, small English villages, and being an emerging artist as part of the Seven Questions with Music Is To Blame series.
Introduce yourself and where you’re from.
Hi everyone! I'm Brittney, and I make music under the name Pisgah. I grew up in North Carolina in the U.S,. but moved to the UK in 2014 and have been here ever since. At this specific moment in time, I live in a small village called Potten End, northwest of London, in a region called the Chilterns. It's an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so it's something of a hidden gem on the edge of the city, and that means we have the best of both worlds - easy access to London and plenty of green and quiet when we need it!
What do our readers need to know about you?
There are so many things I could say, but I'll limit myself to two. The first is that growing up in the American South really shaped me deeply, and I still identify as a southerner even though I haven't lived there in over a decade now. So many of my songs are love letters, in an unorthodox way, to that place and its continued influence on me. And the second is that I'm an Enneagram 4, which, for anyone who doesn't know about the Enneagram (and it's so worth looking up!), means that I want more than anything to be known and appreciated for who I really am, not as I appear to be. This also means I don't do surface conversation - I want to go deep as soon as I meet someone. That really comes out in my music!
What have you got coming up that you’re most excited for?
The biggest news is that I'm releasing my second LP, 'Faultlines', on the 4th of December! I'm really proud of how the record turned out and feel like it establishes the 'Pisgah sound' I've been moving toward, so it feels like a debut for me.
The album is all about the emotional disasters that have fractured my life and sense of self, but also about the necessity of going through those things to find a stronger sense of who I am on the other side. There was a point that I never thought I'd release music again, so it feels really great to be here now.
What’s the best run-in you’ve had with a fan?
I've really just started sharing more widely, so hopefully I'll have more fan run-ins going forward, but the first thing that came to my mind is the first time someone covered one of my songs! He's since become a friend of mine, and I was really honoured that he loved the song enough to want to cover it. It's a song called '(It Always Feels Like) December' from my first album.
What’s been your biggest ‘I’ve made it’ moment so far?
I don't know that I've had one in the traditional sense yet, just because I'm very much an 'emerging' artist, but what makes me feel like I've made it is accepting that making music is part of who I am. As strange as it sounds, I fought it for a long time, because I was scared that I wouldn't measure up or be good enough, so metabolising ‘musician’ as a key part of my identity feels like a massive 'I've made it' moment for me! If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be releasing an album soon, playing gigs again, or doing this interview with you guys!
What are your three “desert island” albums?
Whew, what a great question that's so hard to answer because there are so many I could say! Off the top of my head, without overthinking:
'The Lonesome Crowded West' - Modest Mouse
'The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me' - Brand New
'Civilian' - Wye Oak
It's going to be a very introspective time on the island.
Sum up your sound in three words.
Spacious, melancholy, cathartic.
Lana Williams
@lanatakesphotos / @_lanaajade
Image: George Chapman
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