Ellie & Hannah
Words by Willow Shields Photographs by Rosie Carne
Ellie Bleach (real name) and Platonica Erotica (stage name) are two people who I stumbled upon completely separately and by accident. I was introduced actually to Ellie Bleach because an old housemate pulled up her Instagram and said, “oh my god, look how similar this girl looks to you” or something to that affect. I then made it my life’s mission to meet her and we’ve met several times since then and never acknowledged it once. Hannah, I met through her music – same as Ellie obviously but I had ulterior motives – we met in the park on Highbury corner and then spent the next few hours sitting in the sun, smoking cigarettes and drinking tinnies.
When I found out these two music makers were also house-sharers, I cannot tell you, because I don’t remember. But ever since that time I’ve been wondering how they function as a unit and how it affects their music. I pitched this idea to the pair and they then invited me over to their house for dinner at my earliest convenience. I was intrigued by this slightly odd interview setting so obviously, I agreed and we set a date, 28th February. I had been to their house before, to shoot with Ellie and on another occasion I can’t quite recall now.
On the day of the interview, it was raining. Not heavily, that type of rain, though, that feels like you’re walking through a cloud. I scurried from the station to their front door. I somehow was still sweaty, probably because I was wearing a leather jacket; I think it was that kind of weather where it’s mild but raining and cold at the same time. Their house is a gorgeous Victorian townhouse. I climbed the steep slippery steps up to their front door and knocked. Their housemate Zak answered the door and called up to the two upstairs. The house smelt like cooking vegetables and warmth. You know when you get home and someone’s cooking a huge meal and you didn’t realise you were even hungry and you’re just so glad you’re not outside anymore. That’s what walking into their house felt like. Although I barely knew these people I felt a blanket of comfort around me, just from a warm home. We sat up in their living room for a while. Discussing things I cant even remember now, while Hannah finished making dinner. The table was set and we ate, it was ratatouille. I had to stop myself making joked about the film because I felt like I was pretending to be an adult, having inner with adults in an adult house. I’d never had it before that evening, it wasn’t what I was expecting but a lovely warm home cooked meal. Their house is a mishmash of antiques and vibes. I remember a lot of beige, contrasting with their sofas and the dark wood of their grandfather clock, and dining table. High ceilings, walls covered in odd and beautiful paintings and artworks of medieval people, and some ironic royal collectibles. It’s a different version you get of someone when they’re at home, I think. Totally relaxed and social guard completely down.
After we had finished dinner, Zak went out for the evening and we sat on the floor of their living room talking about their lives together. Most of which, now, is lost in the voids of memory because my recording has corrupted. But there we sat, rain splattering on the window as I nervously asked them deeply personal questions. It’s summer now; so recalling those memories feels like a very distant dark maroon dream. I fist asked them how they met, Ellie began, “we met at the Cozy Drive gig. Our friend James has a now de-funked music project called Cozy Drive. And I think I’d just met Zak as well, maybe had met him one or two times. Then met Hannah at this gig with her boyfriend at the time.” Hannah replied, “Jesus Christ, I did not remember that! A very embryonic phase, so we met during that. And then I suppose, we just hung out.” Ellie continued, “I didn’t live in London until two years later maybe, I’d come to visit London all the time, because I was bored in Norwich. And there were better gigs here, I remember when I moved here, everyone was like ‘oh yeah I forget you actually don’t live here’. I’d always just crash in Zak’s room. Which I could actually never do now because I hate not sleeping in my own bed.” Laughing, Hannah reminisced, “I used to sleep over in my second year at Zak’s house a lot because it was a party house and I was partying a lot at that time. I was there more days than at my own house probably.” Ellie, looking to me, said that Hannah wasn’t doing music at that time. Hannah then expanded, “No. I didn’t do music until quite late. But then [Ellie] asked me to do percussion in [her] band, like hand percussion and backing vocals! And I was like ‘maybe I’ve got a taste for this.’ And then I joined on keys, when it became apparent that I could play piano. One day I woke up and my fingers itched, and I knew it was time! That’s not true.” Ellie joked, “it was like a child prodigy, but she was 22.”
When they finally moved in together, Hannah recalled, “we moved in together in 2019, to that horrible flat with that horrible cat.” Ellie expanded, “we lived in a flat in Clapton that was disgusting, but we were all in denial about how gross it was, which is probably for the best, for morale. But when we moved here to this much nicer flat, we were all just like ‘oh my god I can’t believe we survived in that house for a year.’ We had a cat that was Zak’s family cat that came to live with us but Hannah’s allergic.” Laughing, Hannah responded, “so I just never went in the living room, which was a really bad arrangement for me.”
It is at this point, dearest lovely reader, my phone decided to delete the rest of the recording. Here at Groupie we are not the most technology apt so you’ll just have to forgive me I’m afraid. The relationship between Ellie and Hannah is an interesting one, I think. If you listen to the first Platonica Erotica single ‘Marriage of Convenience’ I believe you might be able to pick in some similarities to the Ellie Bleach discography. However, the two have very much deviated to their own developing styles and stories. Ellie, I find, can paint a clear picture of characters in her universe. And maybe let you slip into the fantasy of being a rich celeb wife trying to off her much-hated husband, that’s what I get from it anyway. Whereas Hannah creates a galaxy of unique noise, and mind opening sound-scapes. Her music is like getting into an isolation tank and just, floating. Totally different but, to me, equal in my affection. We spent the rest of that evening discussing the intricacies of their relationship, their history and what makes them, them together. Perhaps it’s better left unknown, over half an hour of combined rambling and genius, left where it was meant to stay.
The last 4-ish minutes of the interview have been separated though, and it was there that Ellie said that depending on what trash TV someone watches, it tells you everything you need to know about someone. So, in turn, I asked what their media recommendations are. Ellie said, “my friend showed me this really, really wacky cartoon from 2007 called Xavier Renegade Angel and its one of the most bizarre adult swim-y shows I’ve watched. It has really bad early CGI animation, kind of like those YouTube glitch videos. It’s just super surreal and self aware in a way that’s really ahead of it’s time for 2007. So that, and I recently watched that film ‘The Worst person in the world’ that’s out at the moment, it’s a Norwegian film, and it’s really beautiful. It’s got me thinking about shit. Films with lead female characters where nothing really happens is my absolute bread and butter.” Hannah then said, “Right now, massively Liquorish Pizza. I’m smashing the soundtrack, I shed a little tear after. It’s so, so good. Also the depths of Wikipedia, really recommend that. There’s also this one Instagram account, it’s like ER notes and they’ve isolated them so they’re like poetry and it’s so funny.” She went onto read some out from the Instagram account and we all giggled at ‘Elderly partner acts as husband and dog.’ And that was a wrap.
I walked back to the station in the rain and was still soggy by the time I got home.
