Start Listening To: Punchbag
Join Punchbag as they mix chaotic energy, raw honesty, and quirky humor into a sweaty celebration of aggressive hopecore.
Get ready to dive into the raw, unfiltered world of Punchbag, South London’s very own brother-sister duo who call their sweaty, noisy pop creation "Aggressive Hopecore." In this candid Q&A, they spill the guts behind their new single "Fuck It" (yes, really), share hilarious behind-the-scenes tales from late-night jams in Berlin to warming up with a yellow silicone straw and reveal just what it means to blend pop hooks with unrestrained, left-field experimentation.
For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
Hey hey! We’re PUNCHBAG, a brother-sister duo from South London. We make sweaty, noisy pop music, to purge your feelings too.
Congratulations on your new single “Fuck It”. Can you tell us a bit more about how this song was written and recorded?
Thank you! This was written in Berlin with our good friend Michelle Leonard. It was quite late and Anders had this cool industrial sound he played and we started writing the verse and chorus super-fast in about 15 mins. But then egos were settled when it took 4 more months to perfect it. All the vocals were recorded in my (Clara’s) wardrobe so you can imagine how intense it would have been for the jacket I was screaming at.
Your music is described as "Aggressive Hopecore." Can you break down what that term means to you both?
It’s about duality. Shouting something loudly and aggressively is cathartic and necessary to get over something, and being brutally truthful is a positive thing, it’s how people move on, so it is hopeful. Joy is one of the only things you can’t really argue with. Love that.
How do you balance the tension between pop accessibility and left-field experimentalism in your sound?
We love playing with contrast and also we are both kidz of the internet so I guess fast-pace, small attention spans has something to do with constantly trying to make a song exciting and having unexpected turns. If one element of the song is really soft and cutesy we want the next bit to be like boooom a lot heavier.
"Fuck It" seems to explore a lot of raw, personal emotions. How do you decide when to open up in such an intense way through your lyrics?
I don’t think it’s a conscious decision, it just happens, it’s total real-life, there's no filters when we write, and besides, I'm (Clara) horrifically bad at lying.
Clara, you’ve mentioned eavesdropping on people for inspiration. Can you share an instance where something you overheard directly influenced a song or lyric?
Yes! In our song ‘Used To Be So Sexy’ (out soon...) there's a line that goes ‘my best mate's cousin's friend's dog just went viral’ and I got that idea from seeing someone on the Tube watching cute dog videos on TikTok. So not eavesdropping but eyes-dropping? Is that a word?
Your live shows are described as having a mix of chaotic energy and controlled perfectionism. How do you prepare for a performance, and how do you channel that duality into the crowd experience?
I (Clara) blow into a yellow silicon straw for about 15 mins to warm up my cords and put on lots of pink eyeshadow. We spend a lot of time rehearsing the set so in that sense there’s control but everything else is not. We want it to be as sweaty as possible and most importantly fun so I do that by shouting until everyone starts jumping (hence the warm up straw).
Anders, your love of noisy post-rock bands like Godspeed! You Black Emperor seems to have influenced the production side of Punchbag's music. How did you manage to condense that sprawling intensity into tight pop songs?
I think most recorded music is pretty much the same volume, regardless of if it's 1000 people playing, or someone singing with a banjo. So we try to have both in the same song, and usually a few seconds apart.
Clara, you’ve said that you didn’t want to make escapist music, but rather something reflective of the present. What aspects of modern life are you trying to capture, and how do you want people to react to it?
It’s a fucking weird age to be alive right now and for different people in different ways and varying degrees - we are constantly shapeshifting to find our place in the world. Our music in some ways is observational of that, what we are interested in is people’s emotions and feelings towards what goes on in the world, instead of chasing the news. We hope that's relatable content.
In "Pretty Youth," you talk about the dark side of growing up in contrast to the romanticised version we’re often sold. How did that theme develop for you, and what do you hope listeners take away from it?
I don’t think I’ll ever stop drawing inspiration from my own teenage years because it feels like 8 lifetimes that were crammed into, like, 5 years. It's a strange time, it’s very dramatic. Sometimes amazing and sometimes awful - or that was mine and a lot of people around me’s experience anyway. I hope they feel like they have the song to shout along with. It’s all about catharsis.
You’ve had a short yet impactful journey so far, from your first show at Brixton Windmill to now. How has your approach to songwriting and performing evolved since then?
Yes big up The Windmill! I think we’re slightly less out of breath and a lot louder. Songwriting-wise we haven’t changed the way we write but Anders has about 4 more plug-ins.
What do you love right now?
When bus drivers pass each other in their buses and say hi to each other.
What do you hate right now?
The squirrels that are living in our roof.
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?
We always go back to Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective. We love how it’s just the most complex and mind-blowing production, but with the simplest melodies holding it together.
