As their debut album Mondegreen launches this week, Rebecca Waterworth and Kath “Quinta” Mann from Brighton-based band Collectress talk about the group’s origins and the reason why they chose Brighton’s Little St Peter’s Church as the location to record their album.

“We met in Brighton when we were all living there in 1999. We were doing disparate things – art, music and research – finding ways to be creative, think and earn a living. We had all grown up playing classical music and shared a desire to experiment while keeping some of the craft of music making. We seemed to just connect. Everything was very intuitive and we quickly arrived at a natural way of collaborating.

“Individually we have quite diverse influences. From Steve Reich and John Adams to Bach, The Rachels, PG Six, Animal Collective, Delia Derbyshire, Final Fantasy, Morton Feldman, Daniel Levin… “Our music comes about largely through sharing and responding. It’s basically chamber music, a conversation between four people, and in that sense doesn’t necessarily work in a recording studio. It’s as much a sharing of sound as of ideas. We use samples and electronic instruments, but play mainly acoustic instruments which not only create sound but resonate in response to each other’s instruments. The reflections of a small stone church act like a glass of wine in inspiring conversation. The only downside is it is freezing, even in summer.

“We recorded most of the album in three days in August 2012 but it has taken time to put everything in place for release. Self-releasing is a big undertaking and we do everything as a collective so every decision from art-work to mixing, distribution to PR is done with everyone involved.

“We recently played at the Southbank Centre as part of the Women Of The World Festival and also at Union Chapel, London, which has the most beautiful acoustics. While making Mondegreen we have been busy collaborating with film-makers, archivists, curators, artists and museums. We worked with the National Portrait Gallery to celebrate the Man Ray exhibition, which was a real honour, and we will be releasing a film for the track Owl in the next few weeks, which we produced and directed ourselves. We really enjoy these sorts of collaborations and invitations to play in unusual and inspiring places.

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Collectress’s debut album Mondegreen is out now on Peeler Records. The band play a Brighton launch show at Little St Peter’s Church, in Preston Drove, on Sunday, March 30 from 5pm. The show includes guest appearances from Mary Hampton, Joanna Burke, and Joe Watson’s analogue loop installation The Long Loop. Tickets £5. Visit collectress.co.uk