Adelaide’s Caroline & Claude have been making waves in 2022 with their dreamy, unique brand of pop. The pair began making music together in 2020, thanks to pandemic-induced lockdown. Since bursting onto the scene with their debut single “Stir the Pot”, they’ve continued to create beautiful harmonies and sassy lyrics, with support from triple j and the BBC. With the arrival of their debut EP ‘Nan’s USB’ imminent, Claude gives us the lowdown on the latest single “Fuck You”, how the EP came together, and what they’ve learned about performing live shows.
Best Before: “Fuck You” is one of the first tracks you wrote together. How has the song evolved since its inception?
Claude: “Fuck You” evolved a lot since it was first made! It always had cheeky lyrics and melody, but the production certainly evolved the most. As my production was quite new, and I was still experimenting and learning at the time, the song sounded much more simple. Once it was ready to be released, we worked on it more and after its first mix by Steven Schram (Paul Kelly, San Cisco), it really came to life!
There’s a very spaghetti-Western vibe to the song. What were your main influences when putting it together?
Melody-wise, we were very influenced by Lana Del Rey. The almost ‘flowing’ and ‘up-and-down’ nature of the melody definitely was inspired by her. We were also inspired by Quentin Tarantino films.
Sum the track up in five words or less?
A sexy, fierce western banger.
You also announced your debut EP due out in December. How are you feeling about releasing ‘Nan’s USB’?
Beyond excited! These songs mean so much to us, and have been with us for so long. We think it’ll definitely give people an insight into who we are and the types of songs we’re capable of making.
Which track are you most excited to have out with the EP, and why?
We’re excited to hear what people think of track five, titled “UR NOT WORTH MY TIME”. It’s a banger – not to be up ourselves – and we think it definitely shows another side and genre to Caroline & Claude.
How did the EP come together? Did you find it hard to choose which songs were included?
The EP came together quite easily! When producing, if I’ve made a beat or song that I think is worthy of releasing, I’ll put it in a folder called ‘phase (whatever number)’. So most of the songs from the EP are from the ‘phase one’ and ‘phase two’ folders! I’m up to phase six now, so stay tuned for some bangers [laughs]. The songs we selected, we always kind of knew their fate, which was to be on a body of work. The difficult part, however, was reducing the number of songs down to eight. We knew we didn’t want it too long, especially since all the songs are new. So the hardest part was voting songs off the EP – like ‘Survivor’.
You’ve been playing live a fair bit recently. What have you learned about performing so far?
It’s not as scary as it looks. After the first few shows, I really got the hang of it. My sister has been playing live since she was a kid, so it comes very naturally to her. But I’m a studio rat, so I definitely was stepping out of my comfort zone. But I’ve met so many cool people, and find that I really enjoy playing live now. If you catch a show, you can even catch me doing a choreographed dance routine with Caroline.
Which EP track are you most looking forward to performing live?
We’re excited to perform our solo songs. On the EP, we both have a solo song, so it’ll be cool to play those live.
What can audiences expect from your upcoming shows over summer?
Sick tunes, dope dance routines, a slaying cover, and lots of fun.
What’s in store for Caroline & Claude in 2023?
More tunes! We have so many songs we want to release, so expect more. And more shows too, of course.
‘Nan’s USB’ is out on 2 December. Listen to “Dreams” by Caroline & Claude below:
Images by Georgia Griffiths.