INHEAVEN interview: Bassist Chloe Little on zines, vinyl and being in a 'proper' band

In a Polish café in New Cross near their rehearsal studio, INHEAVEN’s bassist and vocalist Chloe Little is explaining the DIY zines she puts together, as we pore over our favourite details from the autobiographies of Patti Smith, Kim Gordon and Viv Albertine.

The band’s first song came out a year ago but before then INHEAVEN spent a year penning material, with the aim that they’d build up enough to tour with. During this time Little began collecting images and photos, and curating them into short films, which her bandmate James Taylor would then watch and use as songwriting inspiration.

open image in gallery

Little says she moved to London to study for a film degree, but “I was more focused on being in a band and getting a gig at the Lexington” she laughs. “When we started the band I made a 15-second video, the first I’d ever made, and that’s how the song "Regeneration" (released on Julian Casablancas’ Cult Records) came around.

"I was really interested in the editing aspect of film because I felt it was closely linked with music. At the start I’d put little songs I wrote to a visual to distract from the fact that they were maybe incomplete… but now we’ve got really good songs," she grins. They're planning a tour in September where she wants to bring the visuals to the live performance.

The band all had full-time jobs until recently. But a gritty determination and genuine talent means they’re growing a loyal and engaged fanbase and can now devote themselves to their music. They released two EPs, "Regeneration" and "Baby's Alright", last year to critical acclaim, and will be playing a number of festivals this summer.

While it’s not unusual for bands to release an EP or two before going for a full album, the format in general is growing in popularity as even established bands drift toward it as a way to push out new music to satisfy hungry fans in between albums. "Especially fans online," Little nods. "They consume so much and want so much all the time. If it were up to me I’d spend six months on each one getting the visuals really nice and everything, but they want it now.

"The original idea before we started being a ‘proper’ band was to put out a song a week to cater to that demand, but then James and I just said let’s not blow it all, let’s really think about how we’re really going to present it to people."

"We've definitely hit our stride," she adds. "We're hoping to get an album out early next year, and I'm doing a video next week for "Meet Somebody", a "Baby's Alright" B-side that's only available on vinyl – through Flying Vinyl, a record company that works with new artists to send out 7" releases to subscribers each month, as well as giving copies to the band's themselves so they can give them out to fans. It's brilliant."

We head back to the studio to meet the rest of the band and, wonderfully of them, they put on a mini-gig so I get a preview of their summer shows.

Taylor is clearly a superb frontman with a clarion-call voice. The band are tight and play songs that feel anthemic without being oppressively "big", while Little’s lilting vocals are barely heard beneath Taylor’s but lift them perfectly: "Bitter Town", a personal favourite, comes after “Baby’s Alright” with its sunny Americana hooks, laced with Sonic Youth-esque fuzz.

Apparently it’s the first time they’ve played to one person, and likely the last. INHEAVEN are set to soon play a swathe of gigs and festivals, which you can find out more about here. You'll be glad you did.