Doing the right thing: Pillow Queens on putting principles before success
The last time you'll have seen indie outfit Pillow Queens perform, the likelihood is that you'll have seen a quartet, not a trio.
The darlings of the Irish musical scene – fans include James Corden, Phoebe Bridgers and Damien Dempsey – have entered a new phase of Pillow Queendom, one in which three sets of eyes stare back at me as we speak, not four. Back in November, long-term drummer of the band, Rachel Lyons, decided to step away to pursue another career.
Things are amicable, and it's opened up the band to work with another excellent drummer, Darragh Tibbs. But the transition has not been easy.
'We were four from the very beginning,' band member Sarah Corcoran says. 'And like, a really tight-knit four as well. So, yeah, it's definitely been a weird transitional period, but it feels good that we get to keep going. In many ways, it would have been easier to just call it a day. And it was sort of like a series of long conversations, like, do we keep going? And we're like, yeah, this is still bringing us joy, so like, let's keep going. I think when we get to releasing another album, it will start to feel a bit more normal. But because it's kind of… just happened in the grand scheme of Pillow Queens, we're still getting used to it.'
The band, co-lead vocalists/bassists Pamela Connolly and Sarah Corcoran and guitarist Cathy McGuinness, has steadily grown in power since their inception in 2016, with their first gig, a dog rescue benefit, announcing their presence on the Irish scene as an authentic force for good. They joined forces from other bands when they decided they wanted to perform as a singular, queer outfit. But this presence tended to backfire when presented to a national audience.
'It used to annoy us [that we were always considered the queer band] because it became the focus, so the music wasn't the focus anymore,' Corcoran says. 'But at a time when the regression of rights for trans people is happening… we're happy to be out and proud, because that representation is very much needed.'
For some music fans, Pillow Queens became a kind of generational guardian angel, a flash of hope in an era defined by profit over people. They regularly decline opportunities that don't align with their interests, and often pay the price. Have they ever felt like their morals have gotten in the way?
'The only thing that stands out is Bono,' Corcoran smiles. 'I've always wanted to meet him, and now I don't even think I'd say hello,' she adds in response to his silence on the situation in Gaza.
Sometimes, these things work out. Like when they pulled out of the Suffolk festival Latitude due to one of their partners, Barclays, being on the Israeli boycott list. (The bank provides financial services to groups which supply defence forces to Israeli soldiers.) Latitude listened, removed the partner, and asked the band to return.
'That was great,' member Cathy McGuinness says. 'They saw the problem, got rid of it, so we said yes.'
This isn't the only instance that captures their essence. Back in 2022, when the band was at SXSW, an Irish politician, one who didn't share their views, tried to get in a photo with them.
'We were just like… that's absolutely not happening,' Connolly laughs. (Just one year earlier, the band responded to former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's resignation post, one where he wished they'd play an event he co-signed, with 'Off you fuck.')
'But it's also a tough one,' Corcoran chimes in. 'Because we were sent off the back of Arts Council funding, and so are we supposed to shake his hand to say thank you for that?'
Without resources from groups like Culture Ireland, 'there would be no Pillow Queens,' the band say in unison.
'There are entire tours of ours that could never have happened without even a little bit of Culture Ireland funding,' Corcoran says. 'It's a resource that we should really, really protect. Especially because we can see the outcomes; bands like Fontaines DC, acts like CMAT… they're all people who have probably hugely benefited from touring help.'
In the meantime, the band are writing music ('We're getting the cobwebs off'), enjoying being in one place at one time ('No matter how many things are put up against it, culture always finds a way to pierce through in Ireland') as well as working with a record label that doesn't pressure them to TikTokify their music. 'Would we benefit from that? Probably,' McGuinness says. 'Are we being pressured to? No, thankfully.'
'We do understand that it would be hugely beneficial,' Connolly says. 'But if you're writing with the frame of, 'will this do well on TikTok?', the intention of why you're in a band has kind of gone away. So we just kind of try and stick to our guns as much as possible.'
Pillow Queens play Forest Fest, Co Laois, July 25-27, joining headliners Franz Ferdinand, Manic Street Preachers and Travis. Tickets are available from forestfest.ie
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