Interview: Cherym @ 2000trees
CHERYM by Jez Pennington
We had the pleasure of sitting down with CHERYM on a buzzing festival afternoon at 2000trees, where the band had just come off an electrifying performance opening the main stage. With a whirlwind of recent milestones, including the release of their debut album Take It or Leave It and tours with Enter Shikari and The Undertones, CHERYM is a band that’s quickly making waves. We chatted about the incredible reception they’ve received, the deeply personal and political themes explored in their music, and what it means to come full circle at 2000trees.
With their distinct blend of ‘Girly Pop’ and punk energy, CHERYM is a band you can’t help but fall in love with—just as their growing legion of super fans has.
It is so lovely to finally get to meet you! You’ve had a big day today, how are you feeling?
Alannagh: We opened the main stage this morning, which was lovely. It was brilliant, really, really good crowd, amazing reception. It’s lovely.
Hannah: It was definitely an experience. It was so exciting. We played here two years ago on the new stage, so it feels like it’s come full circle now that we’ve opened the main stage at 2000 Trees. It’s such a huge deal. We’re buzzing!
It’s still early in the festival, so people aren’t too worn out yet. And everyone’s always so hyped. Plus opening the main stage, assume it was packed?
Alannagh: Yeah, we had like a bunch of super fans at the front as well. They come to every show, which is so amazing to see.
That’s so cute, we love them! Your debut album came out earlier this year. How was the release and how have things been since?
Hannah: It’s been really exciting. I feel like we’ve really started to come into our own as a band and find our people, especially after putting out the album. It’s been really nice to hear how people have connected with it—everyone’s taken a little something for themselves. Do you know what I mean? Everyone has a different favourite song, and they relate to different things for various reasons. It’s been really lovely and surreal to hear what people think. We’re loving it.
How long was it in the making?
Alannagh: About two and a half years? Yeah, it was a long time. We worked out every intricate detail of every song. We didn’t just want to throw something together; we really wanted it to represent us. This needs to be, you know, the moment where we’re like, “This is CHERYM, by the way.” We had an EP before, which was like a little taste of CHERYM, us finding our sound, and then Take It or Leave It is quite literally, “This is us. Take it or leave it.”
I’ll take it! I was just listening to it last night as I was getting ready for this, and just remembered how much I like it. It’s like…fresh but familiar and girly, pop…
Hannah: Yeah! Exactly.
Alannagh: Yeah, no, it is. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. It’s not ‘girly pop’ is Girly Pop.
If I can figure out how to write :woman-tipping-hand: into Girly Pop, I will.
Alannagh: Snaps fingers, Girly Pop.
You mentioned that you were here at 2000trees two years ago, and now it’s come full circle. Is there anyone you’re hoping to see this time?
Alannagh: Static Dress. I think they’re on right now, actually. I was excited to see them. Tomorrow, I’m really excited to see Crawlers and Nova Twins, which should be good.
Hannah: Yeah, I’m excited to see No Bro, and I’m super excited to see Sløtface as well. I love international bands, bands traveling from long distances to come and play here.
Alannagh: We’re just here until tomorrow.
Hannah: But we’re definitely going to see what we can while we’re here, making the most of our Trees experience.
So in addition to debut album, you also had a couple of dates touring with Enter Shikari, which is a big deal!
Alannagh: That was like a childhood moment for me. Seeing them for the first time and just being like, “Wow, I’ve been listening to them since I was seven years old.” It’s incredible—they’re such lovely guys. They all came down to our dressing room and introduced themselves. The first time I walked past Rou, I just opened the door, and he was on the other side, and I was like, “Oh, hello,” and he was like, “Oh, hello,” and that was it. That was the interaction!
Hannah: Yeah, you don’t get that very often in this industry, where people actually go out of their way. The kind of blanket rule for support bands is that you, you know…
Alannagh: Leave the main act alone!
Hannah: Yeah, and they came seeking us out. And that was really lovely. Just sometimes it doesn’t happen that way. It was really lovely to have that experience with them.
They do seem like really nice, supportive guys. And you’ve got more touring coming up this fall, supporting The Undertones?
Alannagh: We do, yeah. We’re going to Europe with them in September and November, going around Germany, Czech Republic, the Netherlands—it should be really fun. I’m excited, so excited. And Mickey Bradley also handpicked us personally, which is amazing.
Hannah: Derry bands unite! We’re from the same town, so it’s really lovely having that experience—Derry punk bands just on the road together. It’s going to be really cool.
Going backwards a bit, I’ve got some more questions about the album. You explored a lot of themes like queer identity, neurodivergence, and social politics. What inspired all of that?
Alannagh: I think it’s not necessarily looking outwards—it’s going to sound so cringy, but it’s more about looking inwards for it. It was the year you got your ADHD diagnosis. I’m autistic, and I got diagnosed with OCD very recently as well. We’re both neurodivergent and queer, so when people ask, “How do you write songs about liking girls?” we’re just…that’s normal to us.
Hannah: Yeah, we were literally asked in an interview one time, “What makes you write songs about fancying women? Like, where does that come from? Is it just trying to be different?” We were like, “Wow.”
Alannagh: The core of my existence!
Hannah: What are you smokin? What are you even on?
Alannagh: And then there’s the social politics as well. Growing up in Ireland, the Catholic Church still has a massive hold over education facilities. Like 96% of education facilities are run by the Catholic Church or have some sort of influence. So it’s about stepping outside of that and saying, actually, we don’t like the way we grew up because now we have religious trauma from it. We want to put our stamp on that to say we don’t like that you’re doing that to the younger generations either. We’re just taking a stand against it. So the album is all stories from us growing up and who we are now, finding ourselves.
I heard that you said it’s was your most honest work to date. It sounds very much autobiographical?
Hannah: I think it is, yeah. It pretty much is. It’s completely raw. We knew, especially with the first song on the album that we were going to upset a lot of people, but we felt like it needed to be said. It was an important topic to cover.
Alannagh: The opening lyric to the album is, “They said I was a slut.”
Hannah: I know, so true. But even within Ireland’s reference to things like abortion rights in our country. We only got abortion rights in the South in 2019, and in the North, it was a little later. And it took so long to actually find doctors willing to perform them, so still, so many women and pregnant people still had to travel to the UK for abortions and healthcare. Which is a joke! You’d like to think the country you grew up…
Alannagh: Can support you.
Hannah: Yeah, can support you. But it’s a mess. We felt like we needed to write about it.
I also heard that making the album was a very collaborative process? Was that collaboration right across that two-year period?
Alannagh: Yeah, 100%. We don’t usually write a song fully and then bring it to the practice room. We always bring an idea and we work it out together. The lyrics are very personal to us as individuals, but someone might step in and say, “Oh, actually, this is how I see this,” and we’d go, “That’s a really good point, let’s put that in.” It was the most collaborative thing we’ve ever done. We’ve never written like that before, and it was so much fun seeing the light bulb go off for all of us once we got into the room together.
Amazing. So, when you’re not making the music, what are you listening to that other people should be listening to?
Alannagh: I’m going to have a look at my Spotify... Chappell Roan!
Hannah: Chappell Roaaan! She’s taking over the world
I mean, who isn’t??
Alannagh: I’ve been talking to straight people, and they don’t know who she is, so I’m really disappointed. I’m also listening to a lot of Uninvited—they just released a new song, “Holly,” which I think is great. Their drummer was on I Kissed a Girl. We’re really good friends with the guys, and we think they’re amazing. If you haven’t heard of Uninvited, definitely check them out. I’m also listening to…well a couple of bigger bands like Bad Omens and Bring Me the Horizon because they both released albums recently. And a new band I just found called Fat Dog, which is like a mix between Enter Shikari and The Prodigy but slightly more satirical. Their drummer wears a dog mask on stage—I don’t know how he doesn’t sweat in it?
Hannah: That’s really cool. I’m listening to loads of Charli XCX because I am a raging gay. And what else? Shy Girl. Loads of Avril Lavigne, as always. And No Bro, because they’re playing at 2000trees, so that’s a good one to end on.
Alannagh: The straightest thing I could possibly say is I’m listening to a lot of Sabrina Carpenter.
Album by Band is out XX Month via Label. Pre-save the release on Link and Link.
