Aliens, pirates, a love of vinyl, Rocky Horror and cowabunga!
By Simon Pizzey
With her distinctive blend of vintage 90s indie rock, dream pop and shoegaze Stroud’s Pebble Daisy is the modern angst of heartbreak.
Her roots are in the Southwest of England and emerging from a strong feminist background, as reflected in her songs like GOOD TIME GRRRL – which won her the Stroud Song Contest 2022.
For her, music isn’t just about picking up an instrument, she sees music as an artistic collaboration representing attitude and anti-fashion. Music is a political statement to say ‘I’m not going to do what you want me to.’
Inspiration comes from bands like Wolf Alice, The Cure, Beabadoobee, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine. Featuring intimate confessional lyrics, guitar riff-driven songs incorporating shimmering textures of distorted guitar sound, commanding melodies, growly thick bass tone, marching and hard-hitting drums. Driving her songs forward with her unmistakable, sultry voice and raspy emotive vocals.
“I take almost all my inspiration from people really. People I meet, people I fall in love with, friendships, enemies. I feel incredibly deeply, always have. I find people fascinating, I just can’t figure them out. I’m inspired by all genres of music, what I make is just a mismatch of all the things I listen to. Stevie Nicks, Siouxie, Blondie, Kathleen Hanna, Haily Williams, Lana Del Ray, Shirley Manson, have all influenced me.
“Expressing myself is of huge importance for me. All my life I have dyed my hair, dressed however I felt like, changed my room around every few weeks. I even left school as I found it suffocating. Music is the biggest form of expression there is, it is limitless and undefined. That is why my work is so important to me.
“I have never and will never stop writing music, it is my creative outlet and how I come to terms with my feeling. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t let it all out in music, it is the only way I feel that people understand me and connect to me. This is the only thing I feel I am really good at and just ‘get it’. I’m dyslexic and have ADHD so in almost every situation in life I feel clueless and confused and out of place. But, when I write, play, or I am in the studio it just feels natural to me. It’s the only place where I ‘fit in’.
“Stroud is anything but boring, and I love that. I enjoy the surprises that come out of this town, I have a story and memory attached to every pavement, every coffee shop, every corner shop. It is the home to my formative moments.
“I love the pubs, my favourite place has got to be the Prince Albert. There’s nowhere else like it. The live music, the eccentric look, the interesting people that go there. It reminds me very much of my own home.
“I see the future of the town in young people. This town breeds artists I swear.
“I started at Stroud College at 14 on the Music Tech Course, I found it a very inclusive space and it pushed me forward in my passion and set me up for the world in professional studios, playing live, and the music business. Even though I was in college at the start of Covid there were many local young punk bands like Drifted, Bones like that, Cherry Lick, the Kick, Embroid and others. There was a bit of a scene going on at the time, as a result I spent all my time making music, going to the local gigs and art shows.
“Stroud Valleys Art Space is a huge part of every young person’s social life in Stroud I think. It’s where all the beautiful people go.
“I enjoy meeting new people, going to gigs, I am also an avid reader – fantasy, romance, non-fiction, feminist novels, thrillers, can’t get enough. I love books because I love stories, a good song writer is a storyteller.
As a child I adored playing – aliens and pirates were my favourite. I have a vibrant imagination. Even as a child you would find me getting on the stage (in our fireplace that was slightly raised off the floor) and singing my little heart out to my very own improvised songs.
“I was obsessed with musicals and dressing up.
“Rocky Horror because it’s just other worldly, completely outlandish. I love the undefined sexuality of all the characters.
“Moulin Rouge because it’s a spectacle and extravaganza. A beautiful sadness story.
“Sing Street, a musical about working class kids who form a band to impress an older girl, so romantic and has one of my favourite quotes ever ‘I feel happy sad’.
“I was raised on a canal boat but soon had to move as I was determined to jump off the boat and into the water. COWABUNGA!!!
“Upcoming, I have a single that will be released… Sweetness! If you have watched me live you will be familiar with it. The single is an anti-love song about not feeling that spark with someone. After that I have four singles ready to release one after the other. I am in the studio every week creating. I hope to one day live my life touring, playing my songs, connecting with people who feel the same as me, just living for the music.
“On August 21st, 6-10.30pm at The Prince Albert (known for supporting live acts) I’m putting on an event to support young emerging musicians. I am so excited to be working with them. I feel there are a lot of young people who are enjoying that live music sound, if we don’t nurture it and give it a place to flourish, they’ll be lost and we will all lose out. I will be playing, and I’m on the lookout for new musical talent. See you there!”
Some of my favourite albums that heavily influenced me are:
Love Worm by Beabadoobee
Love the lyrics and the grungy bedroom sound
The 1975 by The 1975
The ultimate teen angst album for every Doc Marten and fishnet-wearing teen girl
Please Please Me The Beatles
Got me into 60/70s music and The Beatles after finding it in a charity shop, fated!
The Queen is Dead The Smiths
The Smiths guitar sounds in incomparable. Completely original and sparkly and for all the sad girls and boys
Three Imaginary Boys The Cure
I love The Cure’s earlier stuff, a lot punkier and grittier. Robert Smith’s voice is so original and recognisable. So comforting
Blue Weekend Wolf Alice
One of the best modern releases ever. Her voice the lyrics the track list order flows so perfectly, a perfect album
It won’t always be like this Inhaler
Best live band I’ve ever seen plus they are bloody beautiful!
Souvlaki Slowdive
This album has had the biggest Impact on my recording sound, so mysterious and distinct and technically ‘wrong’ and that’s why I love it.
Some of my most treasured lyrics are:
She’s well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand, like a lizard on a window pane. Happiness is a warm gun by The Beatles
I’ve got the luck of a suicide bomber. Blonde by Sunday (1994).
I bet you thought your life would change but your sat on a train again. I always wanna die The 1975
The sun burnt hands I used to hold. Autumn leaves
Funny how the distance learns to grow. China By Tori Amos
To plant new seeds and watch them grow, so they’ll be flowers when we go. Flowers in the Window by Travis
