The theme for my next FREE online gig is “sad songs to make you feel better”.
It’s all a lot at the moment, isn’t it?!! – and I’ve always found writing and listening to supposedly sad music very cathartic. So, far from being a depressing time, it’s a chance to hang out with a friendly bunch of music fans and feel your feelings. Like any other gig, then, but the drinks are cheaper and the crunchy snacks won’t bother others.
Mmm, popcorn.
If you’d like to request a particular song from my Penfriend and She Makes War back catalogue please leave a comment below!
The day is finally here! I’m delighted to invite you to browse the Obey Robots “One In A Thousand” pre-order extravaganza for limited edition coloured vinyl, CDs, cassettes, hardback books, guitar pick tins, tees and hoodies.
Order “One In A Thousand” today and be the first to get “Not The Quiet Type” as an immediate download, plus a new song sent to your inbox every six weeks leading up to the album release date of 24th February 2023.
Rat says – “I never thought I’d be sitting here again saying the words “we’ve got an album coming out” – and I can’t tell you how utterly amazing it feels to say just those words, knowing what both of us have been through over the last three years.
It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, and I had to do a lot of soul searching about whether I wanted to do this again.
I can’t say that I have any words to describe this.”
I say – “The title track “One In A Thousand” sums up the album.
In a potentially very disconnected and lonely world, I hold onto the idea that every single one of us can hold a valuable place in our communities, offering the best of ourselves and receiving love and support in return.
Instead of clawing our way up to a lonely pedestal to be one in a million, we can stand together and be one in a thousand.
I hope you’ll join our friendly robot army.”
Launching new music into the world always brings a mess of emotions with it, and I really can’t thank you enough for your support.
From 2009-2019 I made music under the name She Makes War, releasing 4 and a bit solo albums and playing nearly 600 shows.
My third album “Direction Of Travel” was made in the cold months straddling 2014 and 2015 in Bristol, Brighton and London. It felt like a long time coming.
After releasing “Little Battles” in 2012 I’d moved cities, lived in six different houses, loved a little and lost a lot. Right before I went into the studio in December 2014 I tested my mettle with a 35 date tour, consisting of three weeks adventuring around Germany on my own, travelling by train, and three weeks supporting The Levellers in Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and all around the UK.
I survived to tell the tales contained within these songs, and sent them out into the world to find their own direction of travel. Thank you so much for listening.
This is your invitation to directly support the creation of new music. To join a genuinely supportive online community, to receive thoughtful, lovingly made limited edition art and music bundles, to be part of shaping the future of my Penfriend project, and to be treated like the VIP music fan you already are.
As I embark upon the writing and recording of my second album as Penfriend, I’ve just opened up some new tiers in my Correspondent’s Club membership – and I’d love for you to join us.
Visit this page to browse all the options, and keep reading to find out how this incredibly supportive group of people have completely changed my life as an independent artist.
In 2009 I started tentatively sharing my music on the internet – and I was immediately blown away by the generosity of music fans around the world, people who were excited to sidestep the corporate music industry and directly support this independent artist.
Are you familiar with the term “patron of the arts”? It’s nothing new; artists have been funded by patrons for centuries, and it makes sense – we all have something unique to bring to our communities, offline and online, and it was a real turning point in my life when I realised that being an artist, making music and videos and podcasts and zines and whatever else – that could be my worthwhile contribution to the community.
I funded the recording, mixing, mastering and manufacturing of my first four albums through pre-orders and crowdfunding campaigns – and then, at the end of 2018, a company called Pledge Music folded, taking £6000 of my money with them.
I was furious. Not just because I needed that money to make my next album, but because the whole thing was so disrespectful to my supporters.
(I fulfilled all the pledges anyway, obviously.)
I grew up really resisting the concept of rockstars, those people we’re meant to put on a pedestal and treat as the super special ones. That never resonated with me. So, realising there was another path, a path I could make for myself where I could be a normal person – well, sort of normal – realising that I could flip all that on its head and find more ways to contribute to my community? That was huge for me.
Instead of saying “look at me, aren’t I great, shiny shiny ads, buy my music!”, I could say “here, I made this with love, I hope it helps in some way”. That’s what music does for me, whether I’m processing my thoughts and experiences through making it, or when I find music by other artists that tips my world upside down.
Music = magic.
So, at the start of 2019 I launched my Supersub Club, and in 2020 I renamed it The Correspondent’s Club. It changed my life. From juggling freelance video and social media jobs with comment moderation shifts at a national newspaper (hi trolls!), I was suddenly free to spend all my time making music and videos and podcasts and zines and whatever else. Over and above making music, I could finally spend my time encouraging others in their own creative dreams.
I went into overdrive, producing 50 episodes of my creativity podcast Attention Engineer, completing my debut Penfriend album “Exotic Monsters”, delivering quarterly art and music bundles to my dear subscribers and starting my YouTube channel in earnest.
I’ve always been a grafter, and I’ve never thought that producing 12 songs every 18 months was enough of a job for me.
There was a time around 2015-2017 when I flirted with the idea of teaming up in some way with “the music industry”, bringing my music and my community and my knowhow onto a bigger stage. All that resulted in was money wasted on PR companies who didn’t stand a chance of getting coverage for an indie upstart like me, radio pluggers who get paid whether or not they get your songs played, and time and energy wasted on a manager who didn’t seem to want to do any actual work.
Giving up on that industry mirage was empowering. No more waiting around. No more crossing fingers. No more hoping someone would come along and make everything bigger, better, easier.
I already told you, I’m not afraid of hard work.
In 2021, my first Penfriend album “Exotic Monsters” went to number 24 in the UK Official Albums chart – without the help of any of the things musicians are told are essential.
I didn’t even post on TikTok.
This momentous thing, this lifetime dream come true only happened because people who like real music about real things chose to buy my album on vinyl, CD, tape and download. And the album only exists the way it does because my Correspondent’s Club members funded it right from the start of its creation in early 2019.
It’s normal to feel disconnected from things these days, but just like your local independently run cafe continuing to stay open because you and your friends go back again and again, I get to keep making music and videos and podcasts and zines and whatever because people like you subscribe, or buy music and merch from my shop or, in the not too distant future, buy tickets to come and see me play in your town.
I do all of this all by myself, with full-time cheerleading and occasional camera holding from my husband Tim. There are no middle persons involved, no team, no manager, label, agent or anything else.
It’s a lot, but I prefer it this way – I don’t have to try to become a supermarket in the centre of town and feel like a failure when I don’t “make it”.
I’m an artisan, small batch producer of music filled with love and care and hope, that I transmit to you in whatever form you prefer, be that vinyl, CD or digital file.
It’s really tough out there at the moment, and I’m feeling it too – but alongside my paid offerings I will always keep making things that are free for you to enjoy.
I’d love to welcome you into The Correspondent’s Club either today or in the future, but whichever way we stay in touch – I’m really thankful for being able to spend a bit of time with you.
The eighth edition of The Correspondent’s Club quarterly music and zine bundle was created in August 2022. I reworked three songs from “Exotic Monsters” for a collection provisionally titled “from The Upside Down”.
The only way to get access to future Correspondent’s Club releases is to become a member – browse member perks here.
Track listing:
1. Dispensable Body 2. Loving Echoes 3. Long Shadows
Let’s celebrate! It’s one year since my debut Penfriend album landed at #5 in the Independent Albums Chart and #24 in the Official UK Albums Chart, and got me a spot next to Billie Eilish in Music Week Magazine.
I couldn’t have done this without your support, so I’d love you to join me for a special FREE livestream event.
My first album under the name Penfriend (and my fifth solo album), “Exotic Monsters” marked the start of a new musical chapter. Written, produced and recorded in my home studio The Launchpad between February 2019 and September 2020, and funded by my beloved member’s club, the album was released on my label My Big Sister Recordings on 21st May 2021.
Thanks to the support of independently minded music fans, it reached #24 in the Official UK Album Chart the following week (plus #5 in the Independent Album Chart and #3 in the downloads chart!), a win for indie music makers and fans everywhere. We bloody did it!
Thank you so much for helping make my childhood dreams come true. Thank you for supporting indie musicians. We need you! Eternal thanks to all Supersub Club and Correspondent’s Club members for always having my back. 🖤🖤🖤
Wow. Hugest thanks to the Night Vale team for picking my song. What an honour!
I wrote and recorded “Black Car” alone in my home studio The Launchpad in September 2020. It’s a song about love and death, guilt and gratitude, taking time to figure out what’s most important, feeling desperately sad and isolated and grieving the loss of so many.
I don’t know what other bands “Black Car” sounds like, or have any clever phrases lined up to entreat you to click “play”. This is an honest, melancholy song about a universal experience that will be discussed in the history books of the future, guitars and synths centred around a heady electronic heartbeat, with a reverent Kurt Vonnegut reference (“loving echoes”) in the middle.
