Bristol's latest experimental-industrial pop producer discusses her BBC Music Introducing debut, accidentally developing a distinctive singing style and zigzagging through genres - guaranteed to bring the noise
By Tom Adams July 2022
"I used to be a huge Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan and just wanted to be Sarah Michelle Gellar"
"When I first started making music I was too nervous to make anything under my name and wanted a kind of persona, so I thought I’ll be BUFFEE because Buffy is confident!" At just nineteen years old, BUFFEE - aka Beth - speaks with so much maturity and charisma for her love for music that it seems as if any previous scepticism of her own music has been long overcome. Within just minutes of jumping on a Zoom call with the Bristol-born, self-taught instrumentalist, her upbeat energy immediately matches that of her playfully explosive performances on stage at the likes of the Peer Hat pub and the Night and Day Café located within central Manchester just a matter of weeks prior.
In the basement of a Mancunian pub, BUFFEE’s unique blend of hardcore beats and captivating lyrics gave the impression she had been performing in such a way for years.
Yet, having only begun learning the tech elements of her sound within the last twelve months, it was even more impressive to learn how quickly she had become able to establish the experimental-industrial blend - whilst also deflecting a variety of genre-leading misconceptions. “I had one person describe me as ‘riot girl’ once to which I thought I’m definitely not… I may be angry but I’m not punky! I’ve also had people claim it sounds like trip hop but I always describe it using the same words: experimental pop with industrial club elements - which is a bit of a mouthful. It’s a clubby-arty kind of thing so I guess it’s not just one genre.”
Despite admitting she is yet to fully delve into the genre, Beth originally set out to inaugurate herself as a hyperpop producer (hence deciding to include the two ‘EEs’ within the BUFFEE name in true hyperpop form - in addition to acting as a nickname to her full name - Elizabeth) yet the name is secure. “I just had to stick with it because I can’t really go back now, but it’s actually good for search history optimisation” she jokes, “not that that was a part of my decision but it comes up as a misspelling which is generally a good thing.”
The longer our conversation went on, the more apparent it became that music has always remained a core component of her life. From an early age, singing as part of a musical theatre group to sitting down and writing piano songs and ballads as a child, her persistence to keep developing as an artist became increasingly understandable. “For years before I was able to produce, I would just be making up songs in my head but then I didn’t really have the patience with an instrument so I was only singing, and then I started making music with my friend - as we were an electronic duo. He was doing most of the producing and I was doing most of the singing, but I really wanted to try to have full control of the whole product so I got a Crack Ableton 10 and started using it and all of a sudden I realised this was the most fun ever! I literally spend all day on Ableton, now I’m beginning to hoard hardware so the technical side has really taken my interest which has come from a mixture of song writing and sound design and how that can make an interesting performance.”
Her drive to want to improve is infectiously refreshing yet she remains incredibly humble, acknowledging she still has a lot to learn. On paper, Beth’s switch from musical theatre to producing hard electronic-industrial pop would pose a few questions. However, the more she begins to dissect her passion for the technological components of her sound, it becomes clearer just how introspective she is at just nineteen.
“I’m really into hard electronic music, and I really like techno so I guess when I sat down at my computer to begin with I was basically making bad techno songs with no vocals because that’s what I was listening to so I was trying to emulate it. I tried to teach myself that because I wanted to hear and make something that went really hard because it would give me so much satisfaction! Although sometimes I’ll make something and it will be really late at night or I’ll get back drunk and open up Ableton and then be like ‘I’ve created a fucking banger here’, then the next day I’ll be unsure whether it’s any good so I’ll permanently flipflop between that. Even songs I’ve actually put out, I’ll think these aren’t any good anymore but then I’ll think actually they’re okay so I have so much music that I’m sitting on so I’m either in love with it or I’m completely sick of it and want to destroy it all of the time.”
BUFFEE’s thoughtful responses remain throughout the interview and encapsulate her honest personality, with the occasional question sending her down a detailed explanation to which she repeatedly apologises for “waffling on”. But in truth, it becomes fascinating to gain an understanding of how much she values the process of creating and layering when performing. “I use a sample pad (alesis sound pad 4) which is usually used by drummers with a bunch of built-in kits which you can use as drums and trigger stuff with it. It’s like a cheap dupe of a piece of really nice kit that Roland makes called the SPD-SX which a lot of live artists use - it's kind of like a cheap drum pad but makes a performance so much better. It’s the act of showing you’re doing something and not just hunched over when performing, like I just wanna be in producer-performer mode! So I think that bridges the gap quite well.”
Yet despite Beth’s evident knowledge surrounding the construction process of her music, the story of how she settled upon a singing style to match her energetic beats is almost too absurd to be true… “It honestly came as an accident because I used to record on plugged earphones because I didn’t own a microphone and I’d wrap a pair of pants around them and because I was just in my bedroom I didn’t want anyone to hear me, I started singing really whispery and quiet. I didn’t sing like that as I did musical theatre and used to belt songs out so of course that wouldn’t fit at all now if I was all out singing and pronouncing things. The way I sing came from my original process of making music because it was that limitation and I was being very secretive about it, and then now I’m like okay it sounds kind of cool when I speak in a softer way and compress it then put an overdrive over it.” And it really does!
After some careful consideration, she delved into the individual artists and albums that have helped influence her unique blend of singing and producing alchemy. “This is the minefield question because I’m gonna pick all the people that I’m super derivative of and it’s gonna be really obvious” she jokingly confesses. “Obviously Jockstrap made the blueprint for that kind of techy-fucky-pop as I saw Jockstrap perform in 2018 and thought this girl has the most beautiful voice and she’s singing over gnarly sounds - so that was definitely an influence. Production wise, I’m really obsessed with Giant Swan (coincidently a techno duo from Bristol) because whenever they perform, it’s never the same as they’re always layering with loop pedals and stuff but their vocals are really buried.
In terms of albums: James Blake’s ‘Assume Form’. I don’t make music like that but I like that he’s super emotional and kind of mopey and I’m obsessed with that album, yet that’s something I’m continuously trying and failing to emulate… but maybe that’s not a bad thing!”
We’re almost a full half hour into the call before even acknowledging her own discography which includes her debut track ‘SICK’ (released in 2021) followed by ‘play nice.’ (released earlier this year). It was the latter that earned itself a breakthrough place on BBC Radio North West’s weekly BBC Music Introducing slot, with ‘play nice.’ deservedly earning Beth her radio debut… even if it was predominantly to her surprise.
“It was really cool and it’s just nice to get some confirmation that my song was actually alright! You’re just kind of uploading your stuff online and don’t expect it to end up somewhere like that but yeah it was nice that they liked it! Although I actually missed it being played because I didn’t check my emails and found out two days later and thought ‘oh wow it made the BBC!’ I did listen to it on catch-up but it would’ve been nice to actually hear it. It’s also interesting that I made something that can be played on the radio because originally my intention was to make something that was not intended for the radio” she laughs. “SICK is not getting on there anytime soon…”
It soon became clear just how hardworking the person behind BUFFEE really is. Regardless of whether it's creating new music in her bedroom in the early hours or performing at live venues across Bristol and Manchester, she is also balancing the dual roles of artist and university student. Yet she remains adamant her lively schedule allows for practical experimentation with new ideas already in mind.
“For ages I’ve been thinking ‘I’m gonna put out a new EP, I’m gonna put out a new EP’ but then I thought actually I’m playing live quite a lot and so it takes a lot of work and energy to put together the sets so I can’t really do both at this moment. But I’m playing loads of the stuff I’ve already got and seeing what works, plus that way I can kind of measure the reaction to the music I’ve made. I’m gonna break into all my songs by playing them live and then when I think I’ve got something to put out then I will do that. But if I’m doing an EP or that kind of holistic art project then I’d like it to have something visually well thought through, and maybe a video accompanying it… but that’s labour intensive right now!”
Regardless of whether it’s new music, artwork or even a first music video on the horizon, BUFFEE is an incredibly talented artist. Face-to-face she demonstrates the drive and determination that can take any artist far, and by continuing to perform with the kind of confidence and style Sarah Michelle Gellar had at nineteen, then what else truly matters?
Stream 'SICK' and 'play nice' on Spotify now.
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