We’ve asked bands/artists to share with us their highs and lows of 2016 and what they hope the New Year will bring to them. Here’s the year in review with Nandi Rose Plunkett of Half Waif.
On a scale of 1-10, how was 2016 been for you?
This year has seemed particularly kaleidoscopic – I don’t think it even fits on a linear numerical ranking system! It’s more like a fractal.
Have you learned any life lessons this year?
This year, I quit my job, gave up my home, and moved out of the city I love. It’s been full of lessons of risk-taking and expanding boundaries.
What was the highlight of 2016 for you?
We did our first full US tour this summer, after releasing Probable Depths. Despite the fact that I still haven’t figured out how to kick my stage fright, we had a lot of fun. It was an honor to get to share what we do with so many new people.
Any low points for you?
Like many of us, I really didn’t want to believe that our country could elect a president that stands for such blatant hatred. And yet, here we are, rounding out the year inside an unfolding horror story. Trump’s election and subsequent appointments have opened a deep vein of racism, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, and violence. Simultaneously, the Dakota Access Pipeline and the response to the protests at Standing Rock have reinforced the insidious themes of corporate greed, police brutality, and a lack of compassion for minorities. For many of us—who believe deeply in love, equality, the basic rights of all humanity—this means our lives are now being shaped around activism. We are committed to doing whatever we can to protect communities whose lives are now directly threatened by our government. At the moment, if you download any music from our Bandcamp page, 100% of the money will go to the Standing Rock Medic & Healer Council.
What was the most overhyped thing of 2016?
Pokemon Go.
Worst of 2016?
The trajectory of the presidential election, starting with Bernie Sanders not winning the Democratic nomination (because the party itself didn’t want him to).
Best of 2016?
The stunning concept & artistry of Lemonade.
Best albums of the 2016?
My top three are:
James Blake, The Colour in Anything
Andy Shauf, The Party
Weyes Blood, Front Row Seat to Earth
Worst albums of the 2016?
Everyone gets an A for effort because writing and recording music is a vortex of pain and joy!
Any new year’s resolution for 2017?
I tweeted this recently, but my mantra right now is “don’t be afraid to be the girl with the piano.” Which for me translates as not shying away from the parts of me that I think people won’t like. I don’t want to expend any more energy wondering if what I’m doing is acceptable; I just want to do what makes me feel the most me in the present. And if I don’t know what “me” is, at least a part of it is hidden at my roots: at a piano in my living room where I spent many days and nights as a child.
Half Waif’s forthcoming EP form/a is due out on February 24th 2017 via Cascine.