It was 2019 when I first saw Pale Waves play on the Obelisk Stage at Latitude. Despite the midday slot, and consequently small audience, Pale Waves more than compensated with a dazzling set performing their debut album My Mind Makes Noises. Their upcoming Still Smitten tour kicking off on 13th October looks set to make quite the contrast with more intimate crowds and venues off the touring trail.

Coming off the back of a victory lap of the festival mainstages this summer, the Still Smitten tour marks a return to the small venue shows that characterised their earlier career. On a bright day in mid-September, a couple of weeks before Pale Waves hit the road, I had the opportunity to sit down and ask lead singer, Heather Baron-Gracie, what we can expect from the tour.

“It was painfully therapeutic”

For those unfamiliar with Pale Waves’ unique sound world, Heather describes it as “alt queer pop music” and cites The Cranberries and The Cure as key influences. Asked about the process of writing Smitten, and its nostalgic quality, Heather tells me that “it was quite a throwback. I wrote some of the songs about experiences from when I was 18 to 19, so it was kind of amazing – and annoying at the same time – to go back to those moments in my life that I thought I would never think about or talk about again. It was painfully therapeutic.”

Heather went on to explain the tour’s mission to go to smaller venues and overlooked cities. She told me passionately that “we had already done the first Smitten tour, and hit the usual suspects like London and Birmingham, but we felt like we hadn’t done enough shows for the album. So, we wanted to do the tour again but go to the places that people wouldn’t usually visit like Wrexham in Wales – beyond random. This tour is very relaxed, it’s very intimate. It’s all about having fun with the audience – that’s what I’m excited about”.

“They want to be as close as they can get; they want to be able to smell my perfume”

Looking back on my experience of seeing a gig at Chalk, a tiny nightclub in Brighton where the band are slated to perform, I asked how choosing a small venue changes a show compared to when playing at a festival or arena. “It’s a lot more relaxed,” Heather reflects. “When I get onto a huge stage and there’s a huge audience in front of me it feels harder to connect. But when you have those really small intimate shows, there’s nothing quite like that relationship between the artist and the audience – you can literally reach out and touch the person.”

She finds that hardcore fans especially love these small venues, as “they want to be as close as they can get; they want to be able to smell my perfume. And it’s really fun when they’re so close on the barrier to be vibing together”.

Beyond the move to smaller towns and venues, Heather predicted that Still Smitten will be less concerned with “production and huge music interludes. We want to really strip it back to we’re a band in a room and you’re the audience, let’s play some songs rather than putting on a whole world. It’s not needed in those really small venues; the crowd just wants to be there for the connection”.

“It’s worth it, but understand it’s not an easy ride”

Following up on the description of Pale Waves’ music as “alt queer pop,” I asked Heather what the role of the artist is in pushing for queer rights. She answered impassionately: “if it matters to you, it’s important that you speak about it, especially in a world that is becoming more hateful. I will always talk about it as prominently as possible as it is a huge part of my identity and my music.”

Having read that Pale Waves first started to coalesce at university, I wondered what words of wisdom Heather would give to student bands starting out in Cambridge. “Find people who are committed,” she advises, “people who have the same passion as you and are willing to put in as much time as possible. It is not an easy thing to do. Even now, four records in, there is still so much to do as an artist; it totally consumes you. It is not just write good music, go on tour. It’s music business at the same time: you’re doing budgets, talking to tour managers, looking at routes. There’s so much that goes into it. It’s worth it, but understand it’s not an easy ride.”

Our conversation concluded with a discussion of what’s next for the Manchester-based band. “Definitely music,” Heather tells me, “I’m not sure what format that’s going to be. We’ve started writing for it but it’s still so early days. We’ve got like nine songs but I’m not sure if it’s clicked for me yet. So, I’m just waiting for that moment to hit me. It takes time; I am just writing for fun right now. And, I never want write on tour; I find it too hectic. I like to either be on tour or be in the mindset of writing a new record”.