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===Pale Waves===
===Pale Waves===
Originally called "Creek", [[Pale Waves]] was founded by Baron-Gracie and Doran in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Making Waves With Heather Baron-Gracie |url=https://themusic.com.au/features/pale-waves-heather-baron-gracie-cyclone/xJnX1tnY29o/06-07-18/ |website=[[The Music (magazine)|The Music]] |access-date=8 January 2022 |date=5 July 2018}}</ref> The band later expanded to include Hugo Silvani and Charlie Wood.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hemmings |first1=Jeff |title=Pale Waves – Interview 2019 |url=https://brightonsfinest.com/music/q-and-a/pale-waves-interview-2019/2019/ |website=Brightons on Fire |access-date=8 January 2022 |date=11 January 2019}}</ref> Pale Waves is signed to the independent label [[Dirty Hit]] and has released an [[Extended play|EP]], [[All the Things I Never Said (Pale Waves EP)|''All the Things I Never Said'']] (2018), and two albums, ''[[My Mind Makes Noises]]'' (2018) and ''[[Who Am I? (Pale Waves album)|Who Am I?]]'' (2021). A third album, ''[[Unwanted (album)|Unwanted]]'', was released in August 2022.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Fred |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pale-waves-mn0003604120/biography |title=Pale Waves {{!}} Biography |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=16 November 2017}}</ref>
Originally called "Creek", [[Pale Waves]] was founded by Baron-Gracie and Doran in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Making Waves With Heather Baron-Gracie |url=https://themusic.com.au/features/pale-waves-heather-baron-gracie-cyclone/xJnX1tnY29o/06-07-18/ |website=[[The Music (magazine)|The Music]] |access-date=8 January 2022 |date=5 July 2018}}</ref> The band later expanded to include Hugo Silvani and Charlie Wood.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hemmings |first1=Jeff |title=Pale Waves – Interview 2019 |url=https://brightonsfinest.com/music/q-and-a/pale-waves-interview-2019/2019/ |website=Brightons on Fire |access-date=8 January 2022 |date=11 January 2019}}</ref> Pale Waves is signed to the independent label [[Dirty Hit]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Al-Sardar |first1=Ali |title=Heather Baron-Gracie Net Worth: Career, Singles and Albums |url=https://rockinformer.com/heather-baron-gracie-net-worth-career-singles-albums/ |website=Rock Informer |access-date=20 August 2023}}</ref> and has released an [[Extended play|EP]], [[All the Things I Never Said (Pale Waves EP)|''All the Things I Never Said'']] (2018), and two albums, ''[[My Mind Makes Noises]]'' (2018) and ''[[Who Am I? (Pale Waves album)|Who Am I?]]'' (2021). A third album, ''[[Unwanted (album)|Unwanted]]'', was released in August 2022.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Fred |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pale-waves-mn0003604120/biography |title=Pale Waves {{!}} Biography |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=16 November 2017}}</ref>


==Artistry==
==Artistry==

Revision as of 17:52, 20 August 2023

Heather Baron-Gracie
Heather Baron-Gracie holds a guitar while singing into a microphone during a concert.
Heather Baron-Gracie in 2022
Background information
Born (1995-01-17) 17 January 1995 (age 29)
Preston, Lancashire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active2014–present
Member ofPale Waves
Partner(s)Kelsi Luck

Heather Baron-Gracie (born 17 January 1995) is a British singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the guitarist and vocalist for the indie rock band Pale Waves.

Life and career

Early life

Heather Baron-Gracie was born in Preston, Lancashire.[1] Around the time she started secondary school, Baron-Gracie experienced a debilitating back injury: "I didn't have an accident. It just happened," she told the Evening Standard in 2018.[2] "I was complaining for ages that my back was in pain but people just thought I was just growing. I was doing sports with a broken back for ages."[2] The injury – which was severe enough that Baron-Gracie required spinal fusion surgery – very nearly paralysed her, and it forced her to miss an entire year of school.[2] It was during her recovery that Baron-Gracie got deeply invested in music: "I was always into [music] ... But when that happened, I was staying in my house and wrote music loads. And ever since that, this is what I want to do."[3]

Baron-Gracie attended the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) in Manchester, where she met future Pale Waves drummer, Ciara Doran.[4] The two connected via a college-sponsored Facebook group and, thanks to their similar aesthetic and personality, they quickly befriended one another.[5]

Pale Waves

Originally called "Creek", Pale Waves was founded by Baron-Gracie and Doran in 2014.[6] The band later expanded to include Hugo Silvani and Charlie Wood.[7] Pale Waves is signed to the independent label Dirty Hit[8] and has released an EP, All the Things I Never Said (2018), and two albums, My Mind Makes Noises (2018) and Who Am I? (2021). A third album, Unwanted, was released in August 2022.[9]

Artistry

Influences

Much of the music Heather Baron-Gracie has written has been inspired by musicians from the 1980s, including The Cure, Prince, and Madonna.[10] When discussing Pale Waves's second album Who Am I?, Baron-Gracie further cited Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, Courtney Love, Liz Phair, Michelle Branch, The Chicks, and Kacey Musgraves as inspiration.[11][12] In terms of specific albums, Baron-Gracie has also cited The Cure's Disintegration (1989), Paramore's All We know Is Falling (2005) and Riot! (2007), Lucy Rose's Like I Used To (2012), Daughter's If You Leave (2013), and Muna's About U (2017) as inspiring both her and Pale Waves's musical style.[13]

In an interview with The Irish Times, Baron-Gracie cited Dolores O'Riordan as her main vocal influence, saying: "I love The Cranberries. They were amazing. I definitely looked up to Dolores O'Riordan. She has one of my favourite voices of all time. She gave off that attitude – she was totally herself. I loved her fashion sense, she was such a cool person".[14]

Musical equipment

Baron-Gracie is known for playing Vox Phantoms. She received her first of these guitars as a birthday present from Matty Healy of the 1975. However, due to the guitar's size, Baron-Gracie struggled to play it during live shows, telling Magnet magazine: "It sounded amazing, it played amazing, but it was a 12-string, and it was difficult to play live. I'm a tiny person and this guitar was just as big as me. It kept falling down." Jaime Oborne, the head of the record label Dirty Hit, subsequently reached out to a guitar enthusiast that he knew. This individual built Baron-Gracie a custom black Vox Phantom six-string that she could use during live performances.[15]

Visual style

Heather Baron-Gracie, performing with Pale Waves in 2018

Baron-Gracie is known for her visual aesthetic and fashion sense, which has often been described as "gothic".[16][17][18][19] In an interview with the Evening Standard, Baron-Gracie explained: "I've always been into dark fashion, the gothic side of things and vampires ... I like funeral clothes more than summer clothes. It comes from feeling like an outsider."[20] The juxtaposition between Pale Waves's "high-fidelity pop exuberance" and Baron-Gracie's "obsidian gothic aesthetics"[21] has engendered critical discussion: Owen Tanner of the Milwaukee Record described her look as "Taylor Swift going as Beetlejuice for Halloween"[22] and Jessie Atkinson of Gigwise called it "Avril Lavigne Gothicism".[23] Baron-Gracie's aesthetic has often led many to assume she performs in a metal, metalcore, or screamo band—an assumption that Baron-Gracie has deemed "one of the biggest misconceptions" about Pale Waves.[21][24] The contrast between Baron-Gracie's visual style and the style of her band has occasionally resulted in accusations of "goth-baiting"[24]—"on the first album," she told Nylon, "we received so much shit for basically ... wearing eye shadow and then playing essentially like pop music"[21]—but Baron-Gracie has rebuffed these criticisms many times: In the aforementioned Nylon interview, she emphasized, "I don't have to wear anything to play the kind of music that I want to play", and in an interview with Magnet, Baron-Gracie further stressed, "If I want to look like a moody vampire, let me!"[24]

Personal life

Baron-Gracie is an open member of the LGBTQ+ community, and in an interview with Vanity Fair, she exclaimed: "Too many people think I'm straight ... I'm not straight ... I've always been gay. When I came out of the womb I knew I was gay."[25] Baron-Gracie is in a relationship with singer and songwriter Kelsi Luck, who served as Baron-Gracie's "muse" when she was writing the lyrics and themes for the Pale Waves album Who Am I?[25][26] With Baron-Gracie, Luck co-directed the video for Pale Waves' single "You Don't Own Me", and the two starred together in the video for the song "She's My Religion".[27][28]

Discography

Further information: Pale_Waves § Discography

References

  1. ^ Stubbs, Dan (20 October 2017). "The 1975 and Pale Waves: Matty Healy introduces your favourite new pop band". NME. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Smyth, David (2 March 2018). "Pale Waves talk stardom, touring with the 1975 and rocking the goth look". Evening Standard. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  3. ^ Youngs, Ian (8 January 2018). "BBC Sound of 2018: Pale Waves interview". Billboard. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  4. ^ Turner, Cerys (18 January 2021). "Pale Waves' Heather Baron-Gracie chats growing up and falling in love for new album Who Am I?". The Boar. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  5. ^ North, Danny (15 May 2019). "Pale Waves talks about their friendship and life as "gothy" role models". Newsweek. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Making Waves With Heather Baron-Gracie". The Music. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  7. ^ Hemmings, Jeff (11 January 2019). "Pale Waves – Interview 2019". Brightons on Fire. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  8. ^ Al-Sardar, Ali. "Heather Baron-Gracie Net Worth: Career, Singles and Albums". Rock Informer. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  9. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Pale Waves | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. ^ Scott, Jason (6 December 2017). "Pale Waves on Upcoming Debut EP 'New Year's Eve' & Being a Band That's 'Actually Becoming Something'". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  11. ^ Smith, Thomas (20 November 2020). "Pale Waves: "I've been hiding who I am for so long now. I don't wanna do that any more"". NME. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  12. ^ Maldonado, Mar (20 February 2021). "Pale Waves' New Album, Who Am I?, Will Have You In Self Reflection". The Honey Pop. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  13. ^ RIML_TV (4 June 2018). "Pale Waves on Records In My Life (2018 interview)". Records in my Life. Retrieved 9 January 2022 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ Power, Ed (17 September 2018). "'I looked up to Dolores O'Riordan. She gave off that attitude – she was totally herself'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  15. ^ Fagerstrom, Bruce (15 February 2021). "A Conversation With Heather Baron-Gracie (Pale Waves)". Magnet. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  16. ^ Kochhar, Nazuk (24 May 2018). "How to stay goth in the summer". The Fader. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  17. ^ Kucharski, Eve (19 February 2021). "Pale Waves Frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie Is the Gay Goth Role Model the Community Needs". Pride Source. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  18. ^ ""This is only the start!" An interview with Pale Waves' Heather Baron Gracie". Exeposé. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2022. You've cultivated this amazing Gothic aesthetic. What does the term 'goth' mean to you?
  19. ^ Manno, Lizzie (6 September 2018). "Love Them or Hate Them, Pale Waves Are Unstoppable". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 10 January 2022. Pale Waves frontwoman and goth goddess [is] Heather Baron-Gracie.
  20. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (3 April 2018). "Dark but delicious — Pale Waves, the goth group with a sweet centre". Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  21. ^ a b c Wang, Steffanee (2021). "Pale Waves' Heather Baron-Gracie Is Ready To Let You In". Nylon. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  22. ^ Tanner, Owen (24 November 2018). "Pale Waves go goth at Black Friday show at The Rave". Milwaukee Record. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  23. ^ Atkinson, Jessie (14 January 2021). "Pale Waves continue the Goth Avril Lavigne vibe on 'Easy'". Gigwise. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  24. ^ a b c Fegerstrom, Bruce (15 February 2021). "A Conversation With Heather Baron-Gracie (Pale Waves)". Magnet Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  25. ^ a b Landsbaum, Claire (12 February 2021). "Pale Waves' Heather Baron-Gracie Is Music's Reigning Queer Emo Queen". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  26. ^ Balmont, James (5 February 2021). "Girl to the Front: Pale Waves". DIY. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  27. ^ Pale Waves (1 March 2021). "Pale Waves – You Don't Own Me". Retrieved 12 August 2021 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ Pale Waves (22 December 2020). "Pale Waves – She's My Religion". Retrieved 12 August 2021 – via YouTube.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heather_Baron-Gracie&oldid=1171364614"