Join us as we unravel the layers of Plantoid's sound, vision, and the pulsating heart of upcoming album Terrapath.

Comprising Chloe on vocals, Tom on guitar, Louis on drums, Bernardo on bass, and Nathan on percussion, this group of musical visionaries hails from the coastal town of Grimsby, where childhood friendships have evolved into a powerful musical force. Adding an international flair, Bernardo brings a Portuguese rhythm, and Nathan infuses a Spanish beat into the mix. As the band prepares to unleash their debut album Terrapath upon the world, we delve into the creative minds behind Plantoid. In this Q&A, we explore the album's themes, the evolution of the band's sound, and the creative processes that shape their music and visuals. From the conceptual depths of their music videos to the nostalgic wonder of their album artwork, Plantoid invites you on a journey through their imaginary world.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

Chloe (vocals), Tom (Guitar), Louis (Drums) are all from Grimsby and have known each other since being kids. Bernardo (Bass) is Portuguese and Nathan (Percussion) is Spanish. We like to think we make groovy psych rock with a jazz influence, but we’ve been called many things.

Congratulations on your upcoming debut album, Terrapath! How would you describe the overall theme and sound of the album, and what makes it stand out?

Thank you, we think that unintentionally the album draws a theme of an imaginary quirky world of it’s own, as different songs present the journey meeting different weird nature-like creatures and monsters on the plantoid planet. The overall sound is that of a modern take on a nostalgic feeling, same as we took a modern recording approach using old and analog equipment.

‘Modulator’ is described as an exploration into something more groove-oriented. Can you elaborate on the creative process behind this track and how it fits into the broader narrative of Terrapath?

Modulator sits 3rd on the album after the fastest and most tense track “Pressure”, giving a sense of fresh air and tranquility. Imagine the feeling of suddenly breaking through a dark and swampy forest to find an open valley with waterfalls and birds chirping away. That is the role of Modulator on the record. As most of the album, we tracked the song by everyone playing live together and reworking parts on top of that foundation.

The music video for ‘Modulator’ uses a blend of home videos and found footage to create a nostalgic aesthetic. How did the visual concept for the video come about?

The video was made by the wonderful Cali Titmas. She states - “The video starts from the depths of the sea and rises to the first reaches of space. If I dig deep, the video to me is a nostalgic visual approach of the body transcending to its soul form, exploring the way we navigate the topography of our humanness and beyond to then reintegrate coming back into nature. Including the many storms we weather in our collective lives. It’s about the connection we all share to one another and to the planet we call home. The big and small moments. We’re following a “terrapath” of life.”

The cover art for Terrapath is visually striking and seems to evoke a sense of wonder and nostalgia. Can you share the inspiration behind the artwork and how it ties into the music's atmosphere and themes?

We like the idea of imagining a world around a record, so the artwork fits in with this idea, giving a hint of what the world of Terrapath could be, but allowing everyone’s imagination to fill in the rest.

Chloe, as the principal lyricist, can you shed some light on the lyrical themes explored in Terrapath? How do the lyrics contribute to the overall storytelling of the album?

Lyrically, the album as a whole can be open to interpretation, however there are recurring themes of coming to terms with identity and a coming of age and understanding where our place is in this chaotic world or in our own minds. I imagine the ‘plantoid’ like creature on the front of our album cover as being almost a metaphor of this exploration of identity and honesty to oneself.

The band originated as Mangö before evolving into Plantoid. How has the band's sound and dynamics evolved since its inception, and what prompted the name change?

At the core it’s been the same band since it’s birth, (Tom, Chloe & Louis), so not much has changed in philosophy apart from writing and jamming ideas that we enjoy. We all have very vast musical tastes so our band has become a sort of melting pot of our favourite bits of what tickles our fancy. The sound is a product of that. I wouldn’t say were particularly trying to create anything in mind, it’s just an outer projection of our own tastes. The name change had to happen eventually as there were many other bands called Mango all over the world, giving us a major disadvantage if we ever wanted people to find our music. It was a logistical nightmare!

You mentioned that much of Terrapath was recorded live with minimal overdubs. How does this approach contribute to the album's authentic and immersive sound, and what challenges or benefits did you experience in recording this way?

There is a spontaneous and incredibly fun aspect to recording live, as it gives way to unexpected and imperfect things being recorded that add to the aesthetic and creative decisions. The challenge is capturing the energy on that one take that you are happy to keep, but it is easier and more fun to work with the limitation of recording a few takes to tape, than dealing with the potential infinity of takes and overdubs by building it from the ground up.

How does the energy of your live performances compare to the studio recordings, and what can fans expect from your live shows?

We like to think there isn’t much of a difference, and a reason why we recorded the foundations of the album live, as we wanted to capture the live energy into it.

What do you love right now?

Zelda, the outdoors and cooking and eating great food. I think we can all vouch for that!

What do you hate right now?

Extortionate costs of living!?

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Permission To Land by The Darkness. It’s outlandishly fun, zero shits given, and absolutely slaps! It just sounds like they did what the hell they wanted to do and because of that the personality on the record is just so damn infectious. That’s always stuck with me in a way. We try not to hide all our personal quirks in our music, and so what you get is weird and elaborate and us. I feel like that transcends.

With Terrapath marking a new direction and a homage to your past selves, how do you see Plantoid's musical journey evolving in the future, and what goals do you have for the band moving forward?

We want to keep writing what we love and keep challenging ourselves to be better and better, whatever that means… Who knows where we’ll go. I think we’d all love to see and explore the world, that would be the real dream, but as long as we’re having fun, we’re happy. I’m pretty sure we’re all just excited to see what we come up with next and how our world evolves, can’t predict it too much, people change, tastes change, just gotta ride that wave!