American sisters Allison and Catherine Pierce are The Pierces, who came to the forefront in 2011 with their album You & I. Three years in the making, The Pierces are back with their brand of catchy melodies
and strong lyrics. The first two singles Believe in Me and Kings have whet the appetite for their much anticipated release of ‘Creation’, which is scheduled for a 1st September release. Back here in London, The Pierces sat down with FAULT Online to discuss the album and their plans for the future.

 

FAULT: How have the last three years been for the two of you?

Allison: It’s had its ups and downs, but it’s really gone quickly, we still can’t believe it’s been 3 years. We moved to LA, and we made a new record. It’s been good, we started making the record and we had a slight false start; we started with one producer, and the chemistry just wasn’t right…so we had a little moment of ‘What are we going to do? Are we going to get dropped?’, because the music industry is so shaky these days, you never know what’s going to happen – but then we got back on track and we started recording with Christian ‘Leggy’ Langdon and it just started to feel right, it just started to feel natural and that’s when you know it’s the right thing.

 

Have you found your careers change since the release of ‘You and I’ in 2011?

Catherine: I think our comfort level changed emotionally – we struggled for so long and then when we finally had that success it feels really good, really rewarding in every way – it was a nice, satisfied feeling…but then there was a lot of pressure to follow that up

 

What inspired the name ‘Creation’ for the album?

Allison: It’s one of the songs on the record and also we felt it was a really big, beautiful word that holds a lot of different meanings to different people and a lot of different meanings in general – the record is a creation of ours and life is a constant creation, we’re all constantly creating and I think it’s a really beautiful word.

 

What are your biggest musical influences and have they changed since you first started out?

Catherine: I think we still love a lot of the music we grew up listening to and we had a really broad range. We listen to what our parents love – they love The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, so we grew up on that. We also loved what was on the ‘Top 40’, like Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson – so I think we drew from lots of different kinds of music, and I still enjoy tons of different genres. If you ask me what kind of music I like, I say ‘good music’!

 

Given that the two of you don’t write your songs together, how does the writing process unfold?

Catherine: We put forward what we have, and see what works together and see what makes a complete picture – a lot of the songs I wrote, we were like ‘this is good but it’s not right for the record’ – so we bring it together and see what fits

 

What led you to choosing Kings and Believe In Me as the first two singles?

Allison: It was a really difficult decision trying to pick the first single, and everyone has an opinion – and you just never know what’s the best song to choose – you just kind of have to pick one and see what happens! Because nobody really knows what is the best song to put out first or second, or third.

What direction would you like to see the two of you head towards musically?

Catherine: You always go in with ideas, and then they always change so we could tell you something now – I think we both want to do solo records, and I feel that’s where we feel we could probably veer off a little bit more.

Alison: I would probably do something folkier and Catherine would do something a bit experimental.

 

How do you reflect back on your journey, and what lessons do you take going forward?

Catherine: I think you learn over time that something can come into your world that seems great and turns out to be not so good, or vice versa – so I think we’ve learnt to not take anything too seriously and just know it’s going to pass and it kind of gives you a Zen perspective on life – don’t take the highs with the lows too seriously

 

How have you found it as sisters working together?

Catherine: I think it’s probably the most challenging thing we’ve ever experienced, but it’s also really beneficial and if you’re in a relationship with someone and you’re being creative with someone, you’re going to be met with challenges and you have the opportunity to say ‘Fuck you’, ‘you’re pissing me off’, ‘I hate you’ and backing down from that and not growing, or the option of facing it and rising and growing – and it’s really hard but it’s good because it pushes us to be better people, because we do see each other’s faults! – and we challenge each other and call each other out on stuff…

Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?

Allison: I would love to work with Daniel Lanois, if I were to make a solo record – or Rick Rubin

Catherine: I find the best stuff that we’ve made have been with our friends – the last 3 records we made were with people we knew and love

Allison: They happened to be very talented friends C: (laughs)Yeah make sure your friends are highly talented and you’re good! – But then you have a connection and if you’re in the room with someone that you idolise, you might be intimidated and not be able to give your best – you need to work with people that draw out your best, and I don’t necessarily know who that is until I’m working with them….so try them all!

 

What is your FAULT?

Catherine: I worry too much, but I’m working on it!

Allison: I could probably push myself harder in some ways!

 

Photography- Miles Holder

Words: Kevin Lyster

Makeup – Emma Miles using MAC Cosmetics 

Hair – Natalie Viner