Interview: Exit Child @ Misery Loves Company
With their distinctive blend of angsty and grungy soundscapes, Exit Child is a newly minted band offering an emotional release like no other.
At last month’s Misery Loves Company, we chatted to Anya, Joanna, and Talya about launching the band and prioritising their mental health and the quality of their work over industry demands. With their focus on mental health, authenticity, and inclusivity, Exit Child is proving that there's a brighter future for the music industry—one where artists can take their time, nurture their creativity, and connect with their audiences on a deeper level.
For anyone hearing your music for the first time, how would you describe what you do?
Anya: Angsty? Very very angsty.
Joanna: Grungy?
Anya: I've got a lot of trauma, so it's just an absolute release of trauma and enjoyment in that.
Talya: Big old outlet of emotions really.
You've had your debut single out this year, "Dormant"?
Anya: "Dormant" came out in March; it was the first single we've ever put out. We only launched the band in March this year. We're still super new, actually. And we've got another couple songs in the bag, but we're just sort of waiting. There's so much pressure, I think, from the industry to keep putting stuff out and keep putting stuff out. We just want to alleviate that a little bit with this band. I've gotten caught in that cycle before. And what was it we said at Trees? "The people will wait!"
Talya: They'll wait. If they will.
Joanna: Please wait. Please.
Anya: If they don't wait, that's cool. You do you. Please wait, though.
It’s a tough one, though. I even feel it when we're talking to people and interviewing, always feeling the need to ask "what's next", even when you've just released something. You could just, take a nap. Enjoy your release.
Anya: It's tiring! It's takes so much money and time and effort. And there's so much pressure to time things correctly, and keep feeding people stuff. The idea that you can't tour unless you've got something to shout about. It's endless. It can really drain you. Compared to my old bands, the thing I'm focusing a lot on with this band is protecting our mental health as musicians and just taking our time. I want to be happy with the end result. I don't want to just put something out that's not quite...not perfect, it's never gonna be perfect. But just for the sake of getting something out there. We want it to be thought out and to mean something and to matter to us, I guess. And that's more important now than pleasing the industry. Whatever that is, the being that is the industry.
It's super interesting; the industry side of things is really formulaic. We can guess what news is coming in the next press release, because it all follows a formula. Do you feel that what you want to be doing isn't following that formula?
Joanna: Yeah not really.
Anya: So much to do with how we feel.
Talya: We're outside the formula man.
Anya: Think outside the formula! We were going to put the next two singles out earlier. But thought, you know what, we don't have the proper funds to do this right now and we're not where we want to be with it. Let's just wait. Let's just wait until that is right and not force it and make sure that when it goes out there, we're just proud of it and happy for it to. You know, it's like...
Joanna: Our baby.
Anya: A little baby bird, isn't it? Gotta wait til like a fly before you push it out to death!
Joanna: You're sounding a lot like Jack Black today. School of Rock vibes.
It's not the first time we've talked about that today
Anya: Really?! We watch it a lot.
Joanna: We're very passionate about it.
So, formula aside, releases aside, you have played some rather big festivals already this year! How has that been?
Anya: It's been fun.
Talya: Scary.
Anya: Big old steep learning curve.
Talya: Trees was my third ever gig. So, terrified. Don't really know how else to say that. Shaking in the whole way thinking, what is happening?! But it was also the best. There's nothing better than seeing people watch you play. We've been working hard at this for so long. And people were finally seeing it and being like, "that was alright, that's nice, that's good".
Anya: I think Trees especially it's such a safe little space for us. And like, I feel really held in those environments. It's scary, but it's not. I don't know, it's scary like you're showing your parents the work you did at school. But you know, they're gonna be like, "Oh well, you did really well", even if it's a piece of shit.
Trees totally has that vibe, though.
Anya: Yeah, it's super wholesome. Super loving and super inclusive. I feel really grateful for that. I think that the shows we've done so far have been pretty wholesome and well received.
Is there anything you hope people take away when they hear your music? And experience your show? Do you want them to feel anything? Some people don't like to think about it.
Anya: I do care. I definitely always want to make music that matters. Whether it's just creating an environment that people can lose themselves in for 30 minutes, or whether it's something that they take away and relate their trauma to whatever it is that I'm projecting. However they relate to it and choose to engage with it is beautiful to me. It's really important to me, and I revel in seeing that and I revel in knowing that I'm somehow perpetuating this beautiful kind of force that music has given me. This safe space to express who I am and how I feel, completely unfiltered and unjudged. I'm going through a process at the moment, emotionally and mentally, where I'm learning to unmask. I'm realising that I might be autistic…
Talya: Might…
Anya: Okay I'm definitely autistic.
Joanna: The signs were there. We've diagnosed her.
Anya: I've always felt like being on stage is the only place where I get to truly, truly be myself. And I never really understood that what that actually meant was that I'm not masking at all when I'm on stage. I wasn't doing that in any other area of my life. And I think it really matters to me when other people can feel that in those spaces and can experience that a gig or when listening to the music. It's the place that I've felt the most truest connections, because it's the only place that I've been my authentic self. Music really does provide those spaces for people. I hope that people feel included and safe and happy. We always work to make sure our gigs are safe spaces. If we see bullshit...
Joanna: Call it out.
Anya: Call it out. It happened on tour didn't it? The first night of tour, someone was groped and it was just like, fuck sake, really?
Joanna: Why is this still happening?
Anya: Especially in these spaces, because they're so safe for us. If anything, gigs are the places where I've experienced that the least, compared to clubs or bars or whatever. So we try to speak out about it and make sure that everyone's okay. I feel like we shouldn't have to say that, but unfortunately we do. And people do respond. We mentioned it to the other bands and they, bless them, they were so lovely. They picked up on and said something in their sets as well. It was so lovely to feel heard. I feel like there's a corner being turned a little bit with that now.
Talya: I want people to enjoy themselves, honestly. When you're at gigs we'll have a good time. There's a lot to take from music itself and the meanings behind it. But also just enjoying yourself, having a nice time with your mates and feeling happy without anything else being on your brain.
My last question for you is, if you can listen to any song in the whole world for the first time, what would it be? There's no wrong answers!
Anya: That is difficult though. Because first one that comes to
Talya: The first one that comes to mind is that Queens of the Stone Age song.
Anya: Songs for the Dead? That was the first artist that I got our Dad into. He's really into music and got us into a lot of the artists that we’re into. That Queens of the Stone Age album was the first album I bought him that he didn't tell me to buy, basically. And I remember sitting in the car with the outside Tesco Express, just listening to that song and just be like, "damn!"
Exit Child is comprimsed of Anya Pulver (vocals/guitar), Joanna Bacon (guitar), Aron Newell (drums), Talya Pulver (bass).
