Slack-rocker Opal Mag weaves starry layers of sound with bright lyrical introspection to craft something that sits blissfully between angelic dream-pop and commanding fuzzy grunge.

Tinged with woozy, sunny nostalgia, Opal Mag plunges you into the divine world of The Breeders, Mazzy Star and Vivian Girls whilst adding her own contemporary edge, focus on strong song-writing and impossibly perfect vocals. We were lucky enough to squeeze into Opal Mag’s overflowing Rossi Bar basement set as part of Brighton’s inaugural Homegrown Festival back in April - a multi-venue day of celebration showcasing the incredible, eclectic talent that resides in our seaside city. 

Attention grabbing and bop inducing; the set delivered seven single-worthy songs that totally entranced the audience. Opal Mag kicked things off with 'parking fines', a jangly tune about cruising into joyful and unstoppable abandon, ignoring all constraints and just not giving a damn. This infectious message of stepping into your own power was sprinkled throughout the set both musically and lyrically; 'i don’t like you, but i love you' ringing round our head for the rest of the afternoon. A fun false start to the first live play of 'feel it all' got the engaged audience giggling along, who really cares for overly cool perfectionism anyway? Certainly not Rossi Bar basement when treated to Opal Mag’s synth drenched shoegazey rock. Ending with the same sentiment of where we began with 'parking fines', the set was rounded off with “love to see you shine”, a gorgeous ode to self-love and self-discovery. Opal Mag has arrived.

We caught up with Opal Mag over coffee and had the pleasure of discovering that having fun is at the top of the agenda. Right from the start, her approach to making music has been shaped by an ethos of give it a go, make some noise and believe in yourself. I mean, who else could pull off a debut show booked with four weeks to go without a band name or any band members? Happy-go-lucky determination at its contradictory finest. A “song person”, Opal Mag is melody oriented, creating memorable and emotionally resonant music to cater to those who seek solace in meaningful, gutsy songs rather than TikTokified trends. 

Being part of a community and collective musical force has underscored Opal Mag’s first year of writing and playing music with a rotating live set up. With upcoming shows including Loud Women’s Minifesto and South Lanes Studios’ Womxn in Music showcase, holding spaces and stages for women remains vital, exciting and frustrating. Afterall, if the industry was a more equitable and inclusive space - both historically and presently - there would simply be no barriers to dismantle. Grateful for these shows and progress in the Brighton bubble, Opal Mag hopes these stages can be used to inspire the next generation of electric guitar wielding girls to believe that they can do it too, and just as well as anyone else.

From one kind of mag to another, where did Opal Mag begin?

So, it began last year. I'd just come out of a band I was in before and it was due time to open up my creativity again because it had felt a little bit stifled. It was really freeing because there was no guideline or anything set in stone. I just started writing. I use Logic mainly to write; I’ll set up a backing track and then try to write the topline and lyrics to that. I find creating the vibe first really helps bring out the right melody and the right lyrics. I'm very focused on melody.

That really shines through.

Oh thank you! I’m glad because that’s what I put a lot of focus on. I find lyrics really difficult sometimes. There have been so many songs, so it feels like people have already said what I want to say in the most perfect way. So it's like, how do you then do that? Anyway, I was writing with a friend to begin with and then just kept writing on my own but it was good to have someone else prize my creative side open again. I had to think of a name really fast because I had booked my first show in for January - they needed to announce it and I needed a name! I had written down lots of random words and asked friends what they thought stuck out and lots of people said Opal Mag. There are a few meanings you could take from it, like literally Stone Magazine or even a name.

You’re keeping the people guessing! So, how has Opal Mag’s first year in the making been?

A year of trying to write, trying to decide the name, trying to decide how I want to put myself across. I guess I was having a little bit of an identity crisis and not really aligning with where I was putting my creativity. So, my ethos was: if it comes out, as I've naturally written it without overthinking, then that's what it's meant to sound like. I just want to write whatever comes out.

That’s so exciting. Is this the first time that you’ve independently led your own project?

Yes, this is the first time. I don't have anyone else to answer to which is very freeing, but it's also very scary. You have to trust in yourself that you know what you're doing, or that what you're doing is good enough without having a band. Luckily, I have a lot of friends and people who play with me who are a great sounding board. I’ve also found it a much quicker process. I thought it would be slower but in a band you have to go through the politics to get to a decision. Whereas with myself, I’m only arguing with myself. My voice will always be heard because it’s just my own voice. It’s a very different experience.

How do you find the process of having a rotating lineup of musicians?

Consistency is good but it’s also exciting having a shake up of energy every time we play. There are probably two people for each instrument so it’s quite a lot to organise and there are a lot of group chats. Thank god I’m an organised creative! It’s funny because I still feel like a band - maybe just because I’m used to that. I think “solo artist” is quite a scary world to put yourself in, and almost a bit more limiting. But it’s definitely living life a little bit on the edge - when I accepted my first show in January I didn’t have a band yet! Or a name! I think I had about a month to pull it off. 

It sounds like you’re having so much fun with it! Your approach melts into your sound which is also fun and dreamy and optimistic. I wonder what you were listening to to land on this style?

Well, I pick the music in the cafe that I work in, so I’m always listening to something. I feel like what I listen to isn’t exactly what comes out in my music but it definitely feeds an aspect of it. There's this album called Strange Country by Kacy & Clayton, it’s actually a country/folk album, but I put it on a lot. There’s also a band called Ex Pilots - the vocal’s quite quiet in the mix but it feels very dreamy and a little bit brash, it could come across as a clunky production but in the best way. I love Julia Jacklin and I always go back to Mazzy Star. There are a lot of people I look up to as examples of women in music playing electric guitar, like PJ Harvey or St Vincent. I like albums but I’m definitely a song person. Like, can you call someone an influence if you only like one of their songs? I think people can be so concerned about what other people’s references are all about, and although we obviously absorb what we hear, it’s not a conscious thing when I’m writing.

That’s really interesting and nice to have some new recommendations. I would probably say I’m more of an album person but the industry loves a hit single.

We’ve definitely transitioned into song culture, rather than album culture. And TikTok song culture… I’ve heard it’s dying anyway!

TikTok is a fascinating, horrible thing. The push-back is definitely here. 

It’s not community building. There's no longevity to a TikTok song because it’s trend-based, and the trend will go and the song will disappear. It just doesn't feel sustainable as a musician to get recognised through that avenue. I think I’m going to stay away. Maybe for pure pop singers it could be great, and I’ve got a couple of friends who are doing really well on TikTok with electronic music, mixes and mash-up stuff.

Maybe it’s more about using it as a tool depending on your art form, rather than labelling it as inherently bad for all. 

Yeah! Just because you’re on TikTok, it doesn’t mean you have to do a dance challenge.

Thankfully! So, we caught you at Brighton’s first Homegrown Festival last month. Your set had a real sentiment of arriving. It was so nice to hear and relate to. I wonder if that was the intended message, or whether I’ve just interpreted that from my own perspective?

Thanks! The first set of songs I wrote were about coming into yourself, freedom, and just having your place to shine and not dim your light. I have the song 'love to see you shine' where I’m talking about myself but I could also be talking about someone else. It’s nice to be able to share the feeling that I had when writing that song. It’s nice that you’ve picked up on that and taken it into your own life. It’s about coming into your own, like you say, arriving and showing who you’ve always been but haven’t been able to be outwardly. So yeah, I’m glad you noticed that.

The feeling was also there in your song about parking on yellow lines and not giving a damn about it!

Yes! 'parking fines' was written around the same time so the sentiment was similar. No more parking fines / I can park on the yellow lines / forget about traffic signs / for me it’s green all the time. I was trying to mirror the feeling of everything going my way with when you get lucky and every light is green and there’s nothing holding you back or stopping you.

I love that! There’s space for all the emotions in music but listening to music that makes you feel good is great. You’ve played pretty relentlessly since your first show in January, how’s it been?

Really fun actually. It’s a very different experience being the only one that’s going to speak to the audience but I’ve found it quite natural and just say whatever comes into my head. On my second show, I was in the middle of a song and I twisted my neck but I kept going. No one noticed but I had to tell people so I was just like “oh god, I twisted my neck in that song...” I just thought, who cares about trying to appear a certain way or cool? It’s good to have a laugh about yourself. Like at the Homegrown gig, we started the new song and completely messed it up. But you know, who cares! It was a light moment of silliness. Not purposeful but oh well!

In June you’re playing the Loud Women Minifesto at Daltons with a great line-up. I wonder how important a stage like that is for women in music?

I was actually talking about this today with my housemate. These shows will enable girls or non-binary people in the audience to actually see themselves on stage and then encourage them to get up on stage as well. Seeing women playing festivals and playing guitars is what inspired me. I don’t think it was ever David Bowie that inspired me to get on stage - even though I think the performance is amazing - I’d actually say that Madonna inspired me more. There are obviously loads of female musicians out there but I don’t think that they’re given as much of a stage and I still feel like there needs to be more of them. It’s quite an intimidating space sometimes but now that I’m older I don’t feel that, I’m just doing what I’m doing. I think it’s more important for people who are just starting to see these shows and to just keep creating.

Visibility is so important. I definitely didn’t have that growing up in a rural area.

Me too, I’d have to actively find these people to watch on YouTube. The guitar element is a huge part of it too. There’s the expectation to be a singer, or to not know anything about the music-side of things or be involved in the writing. Like, I’m not an amazing guitarist but I do write and play my own songs. I think encouragement on that side is really important because even now, I definitely still get the feeling of being judged as a guitarist. There’s the unsupportive side of the music scene but there’s also such a big community that outweighs it in the end. 

It’s encouraging to hear that you’re feeling generally more empowered now than a few years ago. Do you think that’s the environment changing or you changing?

I think it’s a mix. I think the environment has changed but I’m in the bubble of Brighton, so I can’t speak for the rest of the industry or elsewhere in the UK. I think the industry narrative or what you were fed when you were younger can still be hard to shake. I also feel like I don’t really care anymore! I don’t want people to like me because they feel like they need to support me because I’m a girl. I’d rather people just like the music, because that’s just what you do with male musicians.

We just need equal representation and to treat musicians with the same merit. 

Exactly. I don’t want to be known as a female musician. We need these female shows because of the industry but it’s just annoying that we even need to have them. I want to be as much a part of the industry as anyone else. The thing I want the focus to be on is inspiring younger girls to make them know that they can do it.

That’s all so interesting, thank you. Finally, do you have any future plans to record your songs? 

I’ve already recorded! I was hesitant about releasing too soon or on my own but I just decided to not worry about what you're told about bad numbers and being a flop. I’m writing a lot and I don’t want these songs to get lost so I want to put them out so they don’t fall behind. Hopefully, they’ll be out this year. It’s a very new plan, I only decided last week.

Follow Opal Mag (Instagram / Faceboook) to keep up to date with show announcements and future releases.