Interview: Bonnie Kemplay

After recently signing to Dirty Hit and touring with pop giants The 1975 on their lauded At Their Very Best arena tour earlier this year, Bonnie Kemplay is preparing for the release of her second EP, a series of diaristic musings on love and life, along with a sprinkling of festival appearances throughout the summer.

Having relocated to Manchester four years ago she explains: “My university experience got cut short because of the pandemic so the only live gig we got to do in the first year was in January 2020, at Deaf Institute. That was with a college covers band, where I played guitar. At the last minute we put ‘Straight Up and Down’ by Bruno Mars in our set with the acapella intro. It was quite difficult and we just threw it in. But we probably won’t be incorporating that again!”

In contrast to the bravado and theatrics of The 1975’s tour, Bonnie’s opening set, intermingling soft acoustic tracks with full-band indie rock provided a stark and welcome contrast. It also marked Bonnie’s first ever UK tour, as she took to the stage in massive venues like the AO Arena in Manchester and The O2 in London. “It was awesome. The best thing I’ve ever done. It’s kind of crazy that that was my first tour.”

Though Bonnie is backed by a band of uni friends, her lyricism is very much a solo effort, as she draws on personal experiences and past relationships. Her most popular track, ‘Blushing’, she explains was written in 2020, during lockdown: “For a long time, I was writing mellow sparse songs instrumentally and ‘Blushing’ was the first one where I thought we needed a band!” The song was mixed by Kemplay’s drummer before being uploaded to BBC Introducing where it gained traction.

Bonnie’s second EP is still in working stages, but she promises it will differ from running out of things to say, running out of things to do.

“That was a collection of songs over four years, with bits of teenage me and then a bit of 20-year-old me. My music taste has changed over the years and I’ve gathered new influences.”

Where songs like ‘19’ and ‘Winter’ bear resemblances with Clairo and Soccer Mommy, Bonnie’s newer material will take a leaf from Adrienne Lenker and Big Thief.  “I’ve shifted over to slightly more alternative stuff, but I’m still into the indie girls too!”

As students in Manchester, its unsurprising that when it comes to discussing favourite venues in the city, we both land on Fuel – Withington’s bustling cafe/bar/live music venue.

“I’ve seen so many good small gigs there. The Albert Hall would be my dream venue though. I saw MUNA and they were absolutely class.”

Summarising her music in three words, Bonnie ponders before landing on “mellow, sad, and journalistic.”

You can stream Bonnie Kemplay on Spotify here.