“Songwriting is like therapy junior“ – An Interview with Little Hag

The excellent new album from Little Hag showcases the songwriting talents of Avery Mandeville with a diverse collection of new tracks. Taking time to clear her head after a breakup, Mandeville traveled to Durham, N.C., to write a song every day for a month before moving to South Philly. The results became Now That’s What I Call Little Hag, out now on Bar/None Records, which mixes punk rock bangers with deep disco dives, torch songs and folk ballads. Our favorite tracks include recent single “Suck Out The Pain” where Avery imagines surgically removing heartache and the rage against capitalism of “1000 Birds”.

Little Hag were formed in 2016 in Central New Jersey by Mandeville, guitarist Matt Fernicola, and drummer Owen Flanagan and have since been joined by bassist Mitchell Warren-Devlin and keyboardist/vocalist Cara Introcaso. After signing to Hoboken’s Bar/None Records in 2020, Little Hag released Whatever Happened To Avery Jane, a compilation of older tunes including the summer bummer pop single “Tetris.” Their following EP, Breakfast, and sophomore LP Leash, were raw, abrasive and daring and saw Little Hag take the stage performing with Bright Eyes, Alex G, Interpol, and Spoon in their hometown of Asbury Park, with Naked Giants in L.A,. and at Feile Na Greine festival in Limerick, Ireland. 

We caught up with Avery to talk about the new album and her approach to songwriting.

Hi Avery! How’s everything going right now?
Hi! I have wicked cramps but otherwise am good!

What classic album cover art is your current mood?
I love everything Talking Heads ever did, especially for Little Creatures.

Loving the new album which is out this Friday. Where did you write and record the songs?
A majority of the record was written in January 2023 in Durham, NC. I got an Air BnB there with my best friend Noah to visit some friends and write a song every day for the month. We tracked the 13 songs with 8 different producers at 8 studios in NY, NJ and Philly. It was chaotic in the best way possible and resulted in a really diverse sounding record.

It’s your third full-length release – what did you learn from the first 2 records that were useful when it came to approaching Now That’s What I Call Little Hag
I think in the past I’ve gotten hung up on small details in the recording process (like getting the perfect tone) and in the visuals (like making my low budget look high budget) that have lead to unnecessary stress. On this record, because there were so many producers and collaborators, I did a lot more of putting these songs and videos in other peoples hands and trusting them to do their thing, which lead to some insane and genius moments that wouldn’t have happened if I kept everyone in a vice grip of my ideas. And of the 13 songs I made like 7 shitty music videos myself that have more charm than something you spent thousands on.

If you could only listen to one record, what would it be?
Nilsson Schmilsson by Harry Nilsson

There are some very personal songs like “God I’m So Annoying” and “Suck Out The Pain.” Is it difficult to be so open in your songwriting and do you find it cathartic in some way?
I’ve just got to be brutal! All the songs are just my true recounting of events but I guess sometimes it’s more transparently embarrassing. Songwriting is like therapy junior. Except please go to real therapy.

There are a lot of different sounds and genres on the new record – who are your inspirations that made you want to be a musician?
I was an ABBA kid. I lived for the drama. I started writing because I didn’t know what to do with my big gay psycho feelings but now I do it because one day I hope to write something half as good as a Fountains of Wayne song.

You just had an album release show in Asbury Park last week – how are the new songs to play live and do you have any more shows lined up
These new songs are more electronic so we’re playing to tracks for the first time, which is bonkers and makes everything sound huge. We’re playing on 9/7 at the Bond St. Block Party in Asbury Park and 9/8 at Jack’s Music Shoppe in Red Bank for an in store performance/vinyl signing. Fall tour dates are coming…. eventually 🙂

Like us, you recently moved to Philadelphia and there is a lot of great music coming out of the area at the moment. Are there any local bands/venues that you really enjoy?
I love Johnny Brenda’s (duh) and the South Philly basement venue Tralfamadore. R.I.P. to The Grape Room and shout out Mose of Manayunk. Listen to The Lunar Year, Comprador and Greg Mendez

What would go on your signature pizza and what would it be called?
Yellow tomatoes, mozzarella and burrata, spicy italian sausage and a metric ton of lemony arugula on top. Sesame seed crust if you could please. It’s called Little Baby’s Big Dream.

What else do you have planned for the next 12 months?
Some touring, a mystery trip my girlfriend is planning and hopefully I win the lottery and never have to work again. I just wanna hang out with my besties Emily, Mike and Ali and play TV Guide (we each pick an episode of a show and watch all day).

You can find out more about Little Hag by visiting their website and follow them on Instagram and Facebook for all the latest news.

Feature Image Credit – Kelsey Ayres