The Stockings interview

An interview with Stockings frontwoman Lucy Robertson-Reid on honesty and hosiery.

Words by Katerina Poupounaki

Photo courtesy Stockings

Do you wear stockings?

I’m wearing stockings right now.

What kind of stockings are you wearing?

I'm wearing thermal stockings to keep me warm.

Do you have a favourite pair of stockings?

I have an argyle pair of stockings that I stole from my mum. They’re really cool.

Why Stockings?

I wanted something that was one word. Maybe it was Pippi Longstocking? The band thinks that the cover band should be called Leggings. That sucks.

How would you describe your music?

It’s gone from a folky solo project to a more dynamic sound now that we’re working as a band. With Iggy’s intricate guitar arrangements and Aspen’s maximalist drums we sound much louder and softer. Our music is indie rock, but I feel like you could say a thousand-million things. Maisie from Bel Air Lip Bombs calls their music limerence rock. That’s awesome.

I love that. Is it a thing or a feeling that inspires your music?

I’d say that after I left my high school band, it was important for me to work out how I wanted to sound by myself.

How do you prioritise your music?

It’s different now that I’m done with uni, but it’s hard. I have to block out time for the band otherwise I’ll do other things––like hang out with my friends. It’s kind of isolating in a sense, but if I want to write, I have to take the time to do so. On the other hand, when we’re jamming, I’m spending time with my friends, which is a cool way to hang out with each other.

Is your music a pathway or project?

I have an aversion to the word ‘project’.

Do you think it’s nullifying?

Music is more than a thing to work on, you know. It’s such an expression of yourself—that sounds wanker-ish—but the idea of music being a pathway feels terrifying. I enjoy making music and I’ll do it until I don’t enjoy doing it.

I guess that’s the way things go.

I love making music, and I love seeing bands and meeting new people. It’s such a nice way to live in this city.

What’s it like being in the Naarm music scene?

There are so many of us that do music and have become friends because of it. It’s hard to escape the scene and I love that. I think it’s slept on globally how much impressive music comes out of Melbourne and the rest of the country. Hell yeah to all things that uplift it.

What’s been difficult for you?

Getting [Stockings] started was difficult because I had this immense fear of starting something. It’s not even failure as in numbers or streams, but failure in an abstract sense—that I might make something and not like it, and then get annoyed and feel like I’ve wasted time.

What’s next for the band?

New music? Recording in October. Album? Yes. Release? Unknown. We’ve been writing so much together as a band, and our sound now is so different from the Extended Play (EP). I’m excited by the collaborative aspects of this album.

In your song ‘These Days’ you say that you ‘take what (you) can get’. What was the sentiment behind these words?

I wrote that song on GarageBand—it’s literally on my iPad—at a time of change. Friends were disappearing and I wasn’t getting thrown any bones, if that makes sense. I also remember listening to Swapmeet’s Oxalis at the time, which was my inspiration for that song.

Do you feel like you compensate as an artist?

If I could go back, I would spend more time on the EP, but I just wanted to put something out. Those songs belong to one point in my life, and I look back and cringe, but it was me, so I can’t cringe. Now we’re writing new stuff, and I’ll probably feel the same in three years about these songs.

What course has your new music taken?

More collaborative, dark and dynamic arrangements—I’m getting better at the guitar, which means I can write better music. Everyone in the band is playing an important and beautiful role. The songs that we’re writing feel so cohesive, it’s exciting.

Do you want anything from your music?

I want joy and happiness. I want to look back and be like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome’. And I want to show my kids and be like, ‘Mama made that’.

Is there a pair of stockings from your childhood that you remember fondly?

I think we should bring back a patterned stocking, and a fun-coloured stocking, and also a woollen stocking––I don’t think I’ve worn stockings on stage for a gig yet.

I wanted to address this.

I had this idea for a photoshoot where a bunch of people are standing around in their stockings and I’m on the floor. But then that’s going to look like—

Upskirting—

Upskirting. And I can’t do that.