FORMING an indie band, especially in Malaysia where the scene is still growing healthily – is hard enough as it is, but keeping one together is an entirely different ballgame.
Falling out over creative differences or just having differing life trajectories is often cited as the reason for how a band could be there one day, and completely fall off the face of the earth the next.
It’s a question often pondered by members of indie-folk band The Impatient Sisters. The trio of – as their name indicates – sisters have somehow kept their band together for well over a decade, despite changes in their personal lives.
In an interview with theSun, the trio – Soraya, Nazeera and Irena – spoke candidly about the process and changes they have experienced, both individually and as a band, through the years.
Transitioning to adulthood
The year was 2011 when The Impatient Sisters made their splash in the indie scene. It was, according to Irena, when they were all still in school.
“I just finished high school when we first wrote Comets and Stars,” she said. The song is considered one of the band’s most popular songs.
What followed was numerous live performances, before a lull occurred when Irena left to complete her studies in Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music.
This took place at the height of their career, and Irena’s (temporary) departure led to headlines that were quite gloom and doom.
Once she came back, however, Soraya says that they began slowly writing and performing again.
Their individual lives in the years since have developed the sound of their music, and that shaped the narratives of their songs.
Nazeera explained that their life stages and experiences were quintessential in forming The Impatient Sisters’ music, and despite the transition of being a bit more “grown up”, she said: “(They still have) the childish quirkiness that I hope our audience is able to relate to as they grow with us”.
Soraya explained: “While the debut album had mostly fictional songs or songs we wrote based on observations of other people, now, we tend to write from experience. From [once] writing about innocent love, now we write from a more mature perspective.
“There are some songs we wrote for my daughter, Layla.”
Same but tweaked process
In an old interview about the group’s first album, the sisters claimed that they did not “sit down and write songs” – at least, not in the traditional way.
“Back then, writing music sort of happened when we’re mostly hanging out. Even now, we don’t really want to put pressure on ourselves when making music because being a family band, it’s really important that it’s still a fun thing being in a band together,” said Soraya.
“Don’t think our mom would like us fighting over music!”
Now, due to being saddled by worldly commitments that come with adulthood, Irena noted that it’s not as easy for them to sit down together and write as they would years ago. Despite that, though some songs start from one individual, all three of them have to come together to finish them.
“There are a few more personal songs in this album where one person will work on it initially, and then we will finish it together. We make time for each other,” Nazeera explained.
A follow-up
The Impatient Sisters self-titled debut came out almost a decade ago, and since then, they have released several singles and an EP. In the very near future – within a month – the group will release their next album.
Questioned on whether there is a degree of anxiety that comes with releasing a second full length after so long, all three were in agreement.
Some of the songs have not been performed live, Soraya explained, and there is the slight added element of “wanting to fit in” with the younger acts, but she is confident in the music that has been crafted with her sisters.
“At the end of the day, if one song brings joy to one person, I consider that a job well done,” she says.
For Irena, it sounds like the anxiety is slowly being eclipsed by the excitement of putting new material out, as the trio had poured their hearts into each song.
“When we did the first record, we had people guiding us through it like [local record producer] AG Coco. But this time around, we have basically lived and breathed the music for more than a year! So it is nerve wrecking, but it is also very exciting”.
The Impatient Sisters next full length album, 7 Years, is expected to release on Oct 28, with an album launch being planned in November. Distributed by TongTong Asia, the new album will have 13 songs, in English and Malay.
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