On Our Radar Q&A – Coolgirl: "I've done these little challenges where I have 24 hours to write, mix, master and make a video for a song, and then just put it up"

How does your Coolgirl work differ from Bitch Falcon?

While I was in Bitch Falcon, I felt that I couldn't get music out fast enough.

Bands are great because it's a collaboration and meeting of minds, but for the exact same reason, it's more difficult. You have a long process.

With Coolgirl, I can record, mix, master, and upload it the same day. I've done these little challenges where I have 24 hours to write, mix, master and make a video for a song, and then just put it up. I did that for one of my tracks, ‘I’m Glad’. It’s really up to me how fast I can do it, but it’s down to me to make it good enough.

What inspired the shift from rock music to electronic?

I've always loved that ‘70s and ‘80s heavy synthesiser sound. There's nothing I love more than a square wave that's detuned. I love trying to find songs that would be played in karaoke bars in Italy or France. The songs that you don't really know, but they just have an amazing synthesiser backing. That's what I hunt for as much as I can.

What drew you to composing for films?

When I was about 16 or 17, I watched There Will Be Blood. Scores back then used very orchestral stuff and this were still string sections, but it was done so differently that I loved it. That was the game changer for me.

It kind of opened up film for me, and I could see more interesting films that were done back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The whole soundtrack is just sheet metal that they either hit or wobble and it sounds terrifying. I love different kinds of sounds like that.

Where do you see your career headed next?

I've done a couple of short films and a documentary, but it's definitely something that I’d love to do more. I love composing to an image and trying to convey an emotion. I'd love to work on gigs as more of an art-form.

I want to delve more into the experimental side of it and incorporate a lot of sound art. Maybe you could walk through different rooms and experience the gig in different ways. That would be something that I'd love to work on, but it needs a lot of work.

Experimental, art house, horror, psychological, stuff that’s a bit more intense - that’s the kind of vibe that I'd love to do.

'Silverlight' is out now. Coolgirl plays Féile Na Gréine in Limerick (August 18–20), and the Black Jam at Bello Bar, Dublin (September 15).