Heather Baron-Gracie
Heather Baron-Gracie holds a guitar while singing into a microphone during a concert.
Heather Baron-Gracie in 2022
Background information
Born (1995-01-17) 17 January 1995
Preston, Lancashire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active2014–present
Member ofPale Waves
Partner(s)Kelsi Luck

Heather Baron-Gracie (born 17 January 1995) is a British singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the guitarist and vocalist for the indie rock band Pale Waves.

Life and career

Early life

Heather Baron-Gracie was born in Preston, Lancashire.[1] Around the time she started secondary school, Baron-Gracie experienced a debilitating back injury: "I didn't have an accident. It just happened," she told the Evening Standard in 2018.[2] "I was complaining for ages that my back was in pain but people just thought I was just growing. I was doing sports with a broken back for ages."[2] The injury – which was severe enough that Baron-Gracie required spinal fusion surgery – very nearly paralysed her, and it forced her to miss an entire year of school.[2] It was during her recovery that Baron-Gracie got deeply invested in music: "I was always into [music] ... But when that happened, I was staying in my house and wrote music loads. And ever since that, this is what I want to do."[3]

Baron-Gracie attended the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) in Manchester, where she met future Pale Waves drummer, Ciara Doran.[4] The two connected via a college-sponsored Facebook group and, thanks to their similar aesthetic and personality, they quickly befriended one another.[5]

Pale Waves

Originally called "Creek", Pale Waves was founded by Baron-Gracie and Doran in 2014.[6] The band later expanded to include Hugo Silvani and Charlie Wood.[7] Pale Waves is signed to the independent label Dirty Hit and has released an EP, All the Things I Never Said (2018), and two albums, My Mind Makes Noises (2018) and Who Am I? (2021). A third album, Unwanted, was released in August 2022.[8]

Artistry

Influences

Much of the music Heather Baron-Gracie has written has been inspired by musicians from the 1980s, including The Cure, Prince, and Madonna.[9] When discussing Pale Waves's second album Who Am I?, Baron-Gracie further cited Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, Courtney Love, Liz Phair, Michelle Branch, The Chicks, and Kacey Musgraves as inspiration.[10][11] In terms of specific albums, Baron-Gracie has also cited The Cure's Disintegration (1989), Paramore's All We know Is Falling (2005) and Riot! (2007), Lucy Rose's Like I Used To (2012), Daughter's If You Leave (2013), and Muna's About U (2017) as inspiring both her and Pale Waves's musical style.[12]

In an interview with The Irish Times, Baron-Gracie cited Dolores O'Riordan as her main vocal influence, saying: "I love The Cranberries. They were amazing. I definitely looked up to Dolores O'Riordan. She has one of my favourite voices of all time. She gave off that attitude – she was totally herself. I loved her fashion sense, she was such a cool person".[13]

Musical equipment

Baron-Gracie is known for playing Vox Phantoms. She received her first of these guitars as a birthday present from Matty Healy of the 1975. However, due to the guitar's size, Baron-Gracie struggled to play it during live shows, telling Magnet magazine: "It sounded amazing, it played amazing, but it was a 12-string, and it was difficult to play live. I'm a tiny person and this guitar was just as big as me. It kept falling down." Jaime Oborne, the head of the record label Dirty Hit, subsequently reached out to a guitar enthusiast that he knew. This individual built Baron-Gracie a custom black Vox Phantom six-string that she could use during live performances.[14]

Visual style

Heather Baron-Gracie, performing with Pale Waves in 2018

Baron-Gracie is known for her visual aesthetic and fashion sense, which has often been described as "gothic".[15][16][17][18] In an interview with the Evening Standard, Baron-Gracie explained: "I've always been into dark fashion, the gothic side of things and vampires ... I like funeral clothes more than summer clothes. It comes from feeling like an outsider."[19] The juxtaposition between Pale Waves's "high-fidelity pop exuberance" and Baron-Gracie's "obsidian gothic aesthetics"[20] has engendered critical discussion: Owen Tanner of the Milwaukee Record described her look as "Taylor Swift going as Beetlejuice for Halloween"[21] and Jessie Atkinson of Gigwise called it "Avril Lavigne Gothicism".[22] Baron-Gracie's aesthetic has often led many to assume she performs in a metal, metalcore, or screamo band—an assumption that Baron-Gracie has deemed "one of the biggest misconceptions" about Pale Waves.[20][23] The contrast between Baron-Gracie's visual style and the style of her band has occasionally resulted in accusations of "goth-baiting"[23]—"on the first album," she told Nylon, "we received so much shit for basically ... wearing eye shadow and then playing essentially like pop music"[20]—but Baron-Gracie has rebuffed these criticisms many times: In the aforementioned Nylon interview, she emphasized, "I don't have to wear anything to play the kind of music that I want to play", and in an interview with Magnet, Baron-Gracie further stressed, "If I want to look like a moody vampire, let me!"[23]

Personal life

Baron-Gracie is an open member of the LGBTQ+ community, and in an interview with Vanity Fair, she exclaimed: "Too many people think I'm straight ... I'm not straight ... I've always been gay. When I came out of the womb I knew I was gay."[24] Baron-Gracie is in a relationship with singer and songwriter Kelsi Luck, who served as Baron-Gracie's "muse" when she was writing the lyrics and themes for the Pale Waves album Who Am I?[24][25] With Baron-Gracie, Luck co-directed the video for Pale Waves' single "You Don't Own Me", and the two starred together in the video for the song "She's My Religion".[26][27]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Stubbs, Dan (20 October 2017). "The 1975 and Pale Waves: Matty Healy introduces your favourite new pop band". NME. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Smyth, David (2 March 2018). "Pale Waves talk stardom, touring with the 1975 and rocking the goth look". Evening Standard. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  3. ↑ Youngs, Ian (8 January 2018). "BBC Sound of 2018: Pale Waves interview". Billboard. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  4. ↑ Turner, Cerys (18 January 2021). "Pale Waves' Heather Baron-Gracie chats growing up and falling in love for new album Who Am I?". The Boar. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  5. ↑ North, Danny (15 May 2019). "Pale Waves talks about their friendship and life as "gothy" role models". Newsweek. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Making Waves With Heather Baron-Gracie". The Music. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Hemmings, Jeff (11 January 2019). "Pale Waves – Interview 2019". Brightons on Fire. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Thomas, Fred. "Pale Waves | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  9. ↑ Scott, Jason (6 December 2017). "Pale Waves on Upcoming Debut EP 'New Year's Eve' & Being a Band That's 'Actually Becoming Something'". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Smith, Thomas (20 November 2020). "Pale Waves: "I've been hiding who I am for so long now. I don't wanna do that any more"". NME. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  11. ↑ Maldonado, Mar (20 February 2021). "Pale Waves' New Album, Who Am I?, Will Have You In Self Reflection". The Honey Pop. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  12. ↑ RIML_TV (4 June 2018). "Pale Waves on Records In My Life (2018 interview)". Records in my Life. Retrieved 9 January 2022 – via YouTube.
  13. ↑ Power, Ed (17 September 2018). "'I looked up to Dolores O'Riordan. She gave off that attitude – she was totally herself'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Fagerstrom, Bruce (15 February 2021). "A Conversation With Heather Baron-Gracie (Pale Waves)". Magnet. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Kochhar, Nazuk (24 May 2018). "How to stay goth in the summer". The Fader. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  16. ↑ Kucharski, Eve (19 February 2021). "Pale Waves Frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie Is the Gay Goth Role Model the Community Needs". Pride Source. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  17. ↑ ""This is only the start!" An interview with Pale Waves' Heather Baron Gracie". Exeposé. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2022. You've cultivated this amazing Gothic aesthetic. What does the term 'goth' mean to you?
  18. ↑ Manno, Lizzie (6 September 2018). "Love Them or Hate Them, Pale Waves Are Unstoppable". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 10 January 2022. Pale Waves frontwoman and goth goddess [is] Heather Baron-Gracie.
  19. ↑ Hodgkinson, Will (3 April 2018). "Dark but delicious — Pale Waves, the goth group with a sweet centre". Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  20. 1 2 3 Wang, Steffanee (2021). "Pale Waves' Heather Baron-Gracie Is Ready To Let You In". Nylon. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  21. ↑ Tanner, Owen (24 November 2018). "Pale Waves go goth at Black Friday show at The Rave". Milwaukee Record. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  22. ↑ Atkinson, Jessie (14 January 2021). "Pale Waves continue the Goth Avril Lavigne vibe on 'Easy'". Gigwise. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 Fegerstrom, Bruce (15 February 2021). "A Conversation With Heather Baron-Gracie (Pale Waves)". Magnet Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  24. 1 2 Landsbaum, Claire (12 February 2021). "Pale Waves' Heather Baron-Gracie Is Music's Reigning Queer Emo Queen". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  25. ↑ Balmont, James (5 February 2021). "Girl to the Front: Pale Waves". DIY. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  26. ↑ Pale Waves (1 March 2021). "Pale Waves – You Don't Own Me". Retrieved 12 August 2021 – via YouTube.
  27. ↑ Pale Waves (22 December 2020). "Pale Waves – She's My Religion". Retrieved 12 August 2021 – via YouTube.
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