Do you ever miss dialing up your friends and making casual chikka? In our new series “Dialing Up,” we talk to our Preen friends and try to emanate that same kind of snug and warm atmosphere. It’s a cozy show, one you can watch while knocking back a mug of hot cocoa and nestled inside a huge blanket.
For our pilot episode, our associate editor Zofiya Acosta talked to indie singer-songwriter Beabadoobee. She just released her single called “Last Day on Earth”—it’s a lot cheerier than it sounds! Pondering on what people would do if they knew they were facing, well, the last day on Earth, Bea penned this extremely relatable ’90s alt-inspired jam that wouldn’t be out of place in a houseparty playlist. (Remember house parties?)
Because we’re v generous, we’re sharing you some outtakes that didn’t make it into the episode:
Let’s talk about the single.
Sure. I collaborated with Matty (Healy) and George (Daniel) from The 1975 [and we] touched base on just this idea of this “summer of love” that we thought was going to happen after COVID. We were missing intimacy, all sorts of fun. We wanted to create a song [about] what we could’ve done if we knew lockdown was going to happen. But obviously [it’s] an exaggeration because I’m not going to burn down the church. *laughs* But yeah, it’s talking about that and wanting to be free and what it means to be alive. It’s just so strange right now because it’s so apocalyptic.
Are you ready for post-vaxx summer?
[Laughs.] Dude, I cannot wait. That means I’ll be playing at festivals and I’m scared but [also] I cannot wait to be in the sweatiest venue rubbing against loads of bodies, just being gross.
Hear, hear.
Yeah, cannot wait for that and not having fear of getting COVID. I know it’s going to be awhile but it’s going to happen sooner or later.
The music video for “Last Day on Earth” looks so different compared to your previous MVs.
I wanted this EP to be an experimental one and I wanted to work with people I never usually worked with before, and Division was one of them. I filmed in Paris and we got all these amazing Parisian kids. I didn’t want any actors, I made sure we had real kids that dressed sick already. So they all came in their own clothes and we all became friends towards the end of it. It was a really lovely time. And yeah, it was really fun creating with the Division boys because we really wanted to make a cinematic type of music video. “Skins” was definitely a reference.
“Skins!” I’m curious now. What are your favorite teen shows and movies?
I remember watching “Freaks and Geeks” when I was 14. I pretty much grew up on that show. I think that’s a really good teen sitcom that everyone should watch. I know that it stops abruptly because they canceled the show but it’s so great.
Movie-wise, anything from “But I’m a Cheerleader” to a really heart-wrenching love story like “Submarine.” Just all that good, good stuff.
If you could do the soundtrack of a teen movie, what would you fill it with?
I was actually talking to my boyfriend’s brother last night or the night before, and we were like, “Why is there no movie that has Duster as the full soundtrack? Why has no director used Duster?” Directors are sleeping on that band! [They make] the most cinematic music ever and it [would be] really great for an indie film that has a very sad atmosphere to it. I could just picture a suburban town and a sad group of friends and like Duster’s the soundtrack. Yeah, that should just be a movie.
Check the episode itself below:
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