Interview: Beth Rettig of ‘Where We Sleep’

Hi Beth! What's your story?

I’ve lived all over a little bit, but I grew up mostly in Botswana, and then lived in South Africa until I was 21 - I lived in Jo’burg and then moved over here to London. Obviously, Botswana and South Africa are completely different worlds, cultures and ways of life - certainly Botswana in the 90s, when I was at school there…I went to boarding school in quite a controversial area in South Africa, and we didn’t get…you know, Loop weren’t touring these places when they released a new album!

So when I moved over here at 21, I had this treasure chest of music that I didn't know about, because I’d never heard it. There was some stuff that we had (in Africa) on singles by Pulp or Oasis, but there were so many bands and artists that I either didn’t know, or I didn’t know their whole catalogue. So, while everyone was looking at artists that were happening “now”, that’s a time period that’s lost to me because I just went backwards delving into Stone Roses, New Order, Joy Division, Talking Heads and bands like that. 

Considering I was so late to the party, it was actually a really exciting time for me!

Where We Sleep started kind of organically - it was really just a place for me to mess around. When my last band finished in 2016, one of the reasons was that I hadn’t written a song in over a year; I felt the universe had just stopped picking me as a conduit for its songs! About a year or two later, after having gone to quite a dark place trying to work out who I was without writing, I went on a bit of a burst - it really started off with me messing around with ideas, doing whatever I wanted.

That led to getting a couple of songs mixed, and then it was an EP, then it was an album and it just went from there and became an official project - then it became a live thing, which I’m now stripping back - that’s really how it started.

Do you feel that engaging with the arts helps your mental health? This is something we’re really interested in exploring

As I mentioned, when I had stopped writing and making music I really felt quite lost, and it was starting to write again that really gave me some kind of fulfilment. 

Songwriting (and performance, as well) gives me an outlet, and I feel like - particularly with performance, when I go on stage - that’s where I exorcise my demons a little bit. 

It’s not something I consciously think about, but It’s almost like getting some energy out.

What does London mean to you?

London means a lot of things to me. Because I’d grown up somewhere else, I didn’t feel like I belonged here [when I first moved].

It is really the first place where I’ve felt like I have some kind of home, and I have roots, so I’m staunchly defensive of London! 

I love its diversity, I love that you can see any artist or musician you want, you can eat any cuisine that you want. I love that it’s a mix of languages, I love that you can work with different people…that’s what London is to me - London is what the world should be, where we don’t care where each other came from, [but] we just get on if we get on and we don’t if we don’t.

What culture is calling you?

I like taking a bit from everything. I can’t always explain what it is about certain styles that really grab me - and especially in terms of art or photography. I'm clueless about it; I just like what I like.

When it comes to music, my obvious influences are these 90s acts like Garbage, Curve, PJ Harvey, but then I listen to a lot of hip hop because of the production, and what I love about it is that it’s that exact opposite of what I do. Sometimes it’s just a beat and a bassline, or a beat and a piano walk or strings, and the whole song can build around that.

So there’s little bits and pieces from all sorts of music coming in - you know, I’m not afraid of a good pop song! I’ll take bits and pieces into what I try to create, and it doesn’t always work - it might turn into something else - but that’s often where I’m starting from.

[In terms of current acts], definitely look out for Ms. Mohammed; I released a song with her - a collaboration - in July, but I’ve been a big fan of hers for a long time. She has managed to make a sort of fusion of punk rock and the women of the 90s - the clit rock and riot girl stuff - with Soca -more Caribbean and Trinidadian beats and rhythms. 

deux furieuses, who are touring t the moment…both these artists, I think - I hope - have new music coming out; they're promising.

I feel I've found community in other female musicians. I guess we've had similar experiences, a lot of those women have similar political views to me me, and I think as fellow musicians they also understand why I drink too much and get a bit…overexcited (laughs).

Do you feel independent (as an artist)?

I do feel independent…there’s always compromises to be made along the way, but when I started this project one of the things I promised myself was that if there’s something I don’t want to do, I’m not going to do it.

If I want to make a more easy guitar song with a loud bass that plays one note for the entire five minutes then that’s what I’m going to do.
If I want to do a song which is just one piano and a string sound, then I will do that too.

The point of this project is really just for me to write and to experiment, mess around and play around, and because I’m not beholden to any label there’s not really any pressure on me to produce a specific kind of album, or song. That gives me freedom - so yeah, I do feel independent.

Do you have anything to promote?

I actually have an album coming out in June - this will be my second album, and it’s taken me quite a while to get to this point where I can release it, so definitely look out for that!

It is called ‘The Arsonist’; none of the songs have that title, but I think over the last few years, particularly with the state of the world, I’ve definitely felt like there’s this budding little arsonist inside me. There have been a lot of times when…my first reaction had been: “Let’s just set fire to it!” (laughs).

I am playing a gig on the 26th of March in Clapham at The Bread & Roses for Loud Women. You can get tickets on their website, LoudWomen.org - that’s three artists, and it’s only £11, so you may as well!