Throwing laptops across the room with Lauren Mayberry, Bartees Strange, Ellie Rowsell and Hannah Reid

Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry, US indie star Bartees Strange, Ellie Rowsell of Mercury Prize winners Wolf Alice and London Grammar's Hannah Reid discuss writing routines, throwing laptops across the room, falling between musical worlds, why polarising art is the best, and the realities of touring.

Lauren Mayberry fronts Scottish band Chvrches. Their glittering career has seen them release four albums, tour with Two Door Cinema Club, Depeche Mode and Passion Pit, and collaborate with the likes of Marshmello, The National, Paramore, Death Cab For Cutie, and The Cure’s Robert Smith. Ellie Rowsell is the vocalist and guitarist with British rock band Wolf Alice, whose 2017 album Visions of a Life won the Mercury Prize; their latest album Blue Weekend came out earlier this year. Hannah Reid is a singer and songwriter best known for her hypnotic vocals in pop band London Grammar. They released their debut album If You Wait in 2013, which turned them into one of the most popular bands in the UK. Bartees Strange is a producer and songwriter whose sound blurs genre and boundary. During the mid-2010s, he was a member of New York post-hardcore band Stay Inside, before embarking on a career as a solo artist in 2017 with the debut EP Magic Boy. He had his breakthrough moment in 2020 with the Say Goodbye To Pretty Boy EP, and he’s remixed tracks for the likes of Phoebe Bridgers and Illuminati Hotties.