WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY EVA PENTEL
Matilda Cole started releasing music during lockdown, building a fan base from her bedroom, the Brighton-based, indie-pop artist has really shown she’s one to watch! Whilst shooting, Eva Pentel caught up with the Queen of Halloween, Matilda, on her journey from Camden to LA and with her latest single 'Halloween' out now, they had lots of spooky things to talk about!
Matilda will be preparing for her debut gig at The Courtyard on 14th August 2022. Follow her on Instagram for ticket details.
Eva Pentel: Tell us a bit about your new single Halloween ...
Matilda Cole: I wrote Halloween last year, on my first ever writing trip in Copenhagen. I’ve always loved Halloween season and the folklore that surrounds it. I was reading a lot about old pagan and Wiccan traditions around the Samhain period at the time so I started writing a song about Halloween (kind of as a joke) and then I ended up loving it!
EP: It’s one of my favourite times of the year too. Will you be dressing up?
MC: Yes! Not sure quite what my plans are yet, but I was planning on being Marilyn Monroe (very scary, I know). I also still have the costume from the music video we shot - so might go out wearing that!
EP: Love that! What will be on your Halloween playlist to get you in the mood whilst you get ready?
MC: I’ve been curating my Halloween playlist for a very long time! Around autumn I always listen to King Krule’s album Six Feet Beneath The Moon, a lot of Fleetwood Mac, Mazzy Star, and Vampire Weekend. The Spotify playlist is called Halloween 4ever if you wanna check it out!
EP: Sounds perfect! Do you have any fave Halloween memories?
MC: Last year on Halloween my friends and I blagged our way into a uni party (at a uni we don’t attend) and made up fake names and fake degrees. I spent half the night convincing people that I studied astrophysics. I don’t think anyone found it funny but me. Me and my friends also tried to hold a seance one year and I think I got myself permanently haunted.
EP: Favourite scary film?
MC: When I was younger I was deeply traumatised by the film The Hole which really isn’t very scary but at the time it was. These days, if I want to be properly creeped out, I watch Sinister but my favourite Halloweeny film is The Craft.
EP: We love your song, Camden. I grew up there too! How was it spending your childhood between Camden and LA? Do you think the two places had different influences on your music?
MC: I was pretty young when I lived in those places but even then the two very different cultures have coloured my music. Camden is more of a feeling for me, whereas LA is such a visual landscape - I try to draw from both in my music.
EP: Your career has really taken off during lockdown. How has that been?
MC: It’s been mad. It was so weird because my whole life changed but physically I was still just in my bedroom on my computer. I still get surprised when people say they listen to my music because for so long I was stuck in the house with it. The whole thing feels pretty intangible but in a good way. I’ve been able to ease into it alongside the reopening of everything.
EP: So exciting! What can we expect from you in the future?
MC: More music! And my first ever live show! (tickets are out now). I’ve been on a roll with writing recently and can’t wait to share it with the world.
EP: And finally … what’s your favourite F Word?
MC: Besides the obvious - at the moment it’s festival! Dreaming of next summer when I can go to them with my friends (another good f word) .. and maybe play some if I’m lucky!
