Q&A: PELOWSKA

Music producer, singer, and lyricist Aneshka is the powerful frontwoman of electro pop outfit PELOWSKA, after joining forces with David Tynan, the duo have become best known for channeling their passion of songwriting and creating sounds that delve into topics such as identity and mental health.

We caught up with Aneshka and Dave for a chat about all things PELOWSKA, their upcoming debut live show, and dream collaborations.

Hey Aneshka and Dave! Tell us how you started out creating music as PELOWSKA.

Dave and I have known each other for a long time. I was a part of a circle of friends that used to participate in co-organised by Dave so called Quiet Parties (as you can imagine said parties were far from quiet). We admired each other's separate music journeys in other bands for years. One evening we met at then still existing basement of the Red Dog music shop in Edinburgh Dave used to manage, to show each other music we wrote... It turned out that we have a very similar taste and love for sounds, and soon it became apparent that there's real synergy going on - the rest is history!

As PELOWSKA you only have 5 singles online, how has it felt to receive the reception you have, being played (and praised on) BBC Music Introducing Scotland, and being made Artist of The Week by The Scotsman?

We are very grateful for all the support we have received, and appreciate every outlet and a person that spends their time listening to our music, let alone talking or writing about it. Hearing our songs on the radio with such an amazing commentary gave us plenty of motivation to carry on, especially when things were tough, complicated and taking us what it felt like ages. Leaving my country and coming to the UK I knew literally no one from the industry... Not a single person. I had to start everything I built up in Poland from ground zero. It was very encouraging that despite all that our songs still managed to get through to people with the much appreciated help of the amazing crew at BBC Music Introducing, and that we have been given the chance of media coverage by Olaf Furniss and Derick MacKinnon (amongst others).

What was your favourite musical highlight of the last year? Any "pinch me" moments? How are you feeling about your DEBUT at Sneaky Pete's on the 4th April?

Musical highlights (Dave): headlining with my rock covers band on the Second stage at FyneFest in the picturesque west coast of Scotland on a rare roasting summer evening. Wonderful atmosphere that even the midges couldn’t spoil.

Musical highlights (Aneshka): tears in RAYE's eyes whilst she was talking about survivors of sexual abuse during her amazing gig I saw last year (I had tears in my eyes too). 

Watching Primal Scream perform, they are legends. I could feel the crowd becoming one in unity that music brings.

Pinch me moments:

- Accidently coming across a post of someone unknown to the band saying that our song helped them battle depression.

- Seeing our band's name printed out in The Scotsman felt pretty nice! It happened to fall on the very same day that people of Poland (my home country) voted themselves out of their law breaking right-wing government which made that day particularly special.

- My first ever royalties paid out on the day that Wide Days conference was happening. I was hesitant if I should buy the Pass in order to go to the conference... I got it shortly after reading the email from PRS, I went to the conference alone and had the best day talking to many people.

- Realising that our latest single 'Safety' was in Amazing Radio's rotation nearly every single day for eight consecutive weeks.

- Resonate Conference 2023: meeting Phoebe I-H in person for the first time, finally seeing Neverfine perform, meeting so many amazing musicians and people from the industry - I've learnt so much!

- Rehearsing PELOWSKA's songs and discovering a new vibrant approach to our songwriting. Those moments when we literally read each other's thoughts are goosebumps inducing!

Debut Gig: part wild excitement, part white knuckle fear.
The perfectionist (or control freak?  ) in us needs to master all the technical details and then somehow relearn the songs… But every rehearsal gets us closer and leaves us beaming with smiles.

Tell us your three desert island albums.

Aneshka:

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

Alice in Chains - Unplugged

Nirvana - Nevermind

Dave:

Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Tool - Lateralus

If you could collaborate with anyone on future music, who would it be?

Poison Ivory, Skeler, Sølv, Gefahrgeist, Francis Novotny, Tep No.

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are looking to establish themselves in the Scottish music industry?

I would encourage them to attend music conferences like Resonate and Wide Days. Events that facilitate learning useful skills, meeting like-minded musicians and people from the industry. Plenty of good vibes and motivation from there.

Going to gigs of local bands, forming genuine friendships with like-minded people in music. There's so much we musicians (and people who love music in general) have in common. I get excited and motivated seeing my friends play live and release new stuff, hearing a great new local band or just talking about music we love.

Also, something I feel it's really important just now: don't work for social media creating content you don't fully connect with to the point of burning yourself out. Make social media work for you instead. I believe that being consistent in the form one feels comfortable with, with the frequency that works for that individual will bring the right audience one way or another. Quality over quantity.

Lastly, what can we expect to see from PELOWSKA this year?

We are very excited to play with our amazing friends later in the year, we can't really talk about it yet but watch this space!
Our next steps after 'Resignation' is to release the single we're currently close to finishing, 'Deep Water'. It's a remote collaboration between Croatia and Edinburgh. Once the song is ready, a video for it will be released. Marko Tomasović is a renowned composer who's take on things is: you don't need a label to promote your music if you know how to promote it. This is exactly what he does, with his audience of 1,700,000 million followers on Facebook alone. The plan is to release the song along with the music videos through his Internet channels.

Check out their latest single ‘Resignation’ below and follow PELOWSKA here.

Q&A: Crashes

Hailing from the west coast, Crashes have established their name in Scotland’s flourishing alternative music scene. Taking influences from a range of genres from catchy pop-laced choruses perfect for singalongs, to heavy rock breakdowns, all tied together with dreamy guitar tones and relatable songwriting, there is something for everyone in the Crashes discography.

We caught up with frontman Craig Glover about the four-piece’s latest single ‘Living In The Future’ and dream collaborations…

Hi Craig! Tell us how you started out creating music as Crashes.

After a lengthy break from doing music, I started writing songs again in 2016 and decided they were decent enough that it’d be a waste not to see how doing them with a band might translate. Quite well, it turned out! That first batch of demos became our first live set, and Rory (drums) and I have been adding elements and expanding the sonic palate as we go until it became what it is today. A pop-fuelled, riff laden, frog loving WRECKING MACHINE. Joking, sort of.

Your latest release was 'Living In The Future', around 2 years after your EP 'Infinite', could you talk us through any musical/social influences that helped shape the track? (It is a belter btw!) Has the 2 year gap in releases changed how you create new music?

Musically, LITF is drawing on several long-standing influences (The 1975, The Band Camino, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, The Maine) but trying to make the vibe a bit bigger and more wild / exaggerated than before. Socially, really just getting older and more cynical is where the lyrics come from - trying to inject some deadpan humour into the lyrics is kinda a new thing for us too. The words in the first verse could viably be a synopsis for the tv show Severance, if you’re familiar. It was a good, if sobering, watch.

What was your favourite musical highlight of the last year? Favourite show to play, any "pinch me" moments?

Being on BBC Radio again was class, felt like we were a real band for a minute. Playing in HMV was awesome, hearing the guys from Bowling For Soup and the Blackout react (positively, I think) to our song on podcasts was so cool. Making the new songs with the guys and Bruce was also definitely and all-time band high too. Loads of excellent ‘hings.

Tell us your three desert island albums.

Being as reflective of the whole band as possible here will be a challenge / probably impossible…
- White Pony by Deftones
- After Laughter by Paramore
- Sundowning by Sleep Token

If you could collaborate with anyone on future music, who would it be?

In a fantasy world - I feel like Johnny Franck (Bilmuri) would be a dream. He has both the hooks and the memes. In the realms of reality (somewhat, maybe?) - Redolent from Edinburgh are dominating a fair bit of my listen time at the moment, they’re doing some really cool, unusual stuff.

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are looking to establish themselves in the Scottish music industry? 

Make more content and use TikTok more than Crashes do. Don’t rely on good tunes getting you all the opportunities. Ask people for things. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to be DIY. 

Lastly, what can we expect to see from Crashes in 2024? 

At least two more top-tier bangers, more live covers, hopefully lots more live shows, alt versions of old songs
(committing to it here so we need to finally do it), more weird content (involving frogs, probably), more stupid stage attire, generally remaining wholesome(ish).

Photo by Calum McMillan

Follow Crashes here.