We discussed Marika’s latest album Any Human Friend, (including her nudity on the over art), how this release represents her personal maturation as an artist (and a human). We also chat about body confidence, social media, queer pride, and coping with mental health.
“The idea was of accepting everyone – all flaws, everything. The album is called Any Human Friend to encapsulate that.”
“I wanted to desexualise nudity: to be body-positive, just ‘as we come.”
“I’m such a sucker for scrolling through social media. That’s the source of the fear I think – Twitter particularly. I don’t engage too much on Twitter (anymore).”
“The amount of queer female artists writing and releasing music is astonishing these days – it’s fantastic. When I was a kid and thinking ‘maybe I should play the guitar’, there weren’t really any artists who represented what I wanted to be. I think if I’d seen that, I probably would have picked a guitar up a lot earlier.”
“If you’re on the oppressed side, it’s always going to feel like you’re pushing against power, rather than being free to think entirely about what it is that you want to do.”
“I do think it’s changing; I was put in a box and I’m not in that box anymore. I just want to keep writing songs, not trying to fit into people’s expectations.”
“My last album was probably the hardest on my mental health thus far. I was really struggling all year. But the best stuff comes from the difficult stuff.”
“I’ve done shows where I’ve had a panic attack and then had to go straight on and perform. What’s good is that everyone’s talking about mental health now. Everybody just understands.”
