W: Zoe Harrison

From garage rock roots to a 28-minute kaleidoscope of home-recorded jangle pop, psychedelic soul, and lo-fi warmth, Manchester-to-London transplant Chateau is letting the muse lead the way. We sat down with the mastermind behind Sometimes We Wander to talk DIY recording, vintage tape machines, and why creative restlessness is both a superpower and a curse.

I’m still trying to figure out what Chateau is myself… Ultimately, it’s a project that allows me to wander aimlessly down whichever creative avenue the muse takes me. It all stems from being a total music lover—I’m inspired by so many different genres and artists. I started off playing in various bands, but I was always fantasising about getting my own sound going. What started off as a holiday home has become a full-time place of residence. Combined with the fact that the project was recorded entirely at home, it made total sense to call it Chateau.

"What started off as a holiday home has become a full-time place of residence."

For anyone yet to discover the project, Chateau’s music is constantly evolving and chameleonic—it’s whatever influences drip through at the time of writing and recording. With this new album, Sometimes We Wander, it feels like a sunbaked cassette of lo-fi indie pop that has washed up on the beach. Listeners can expect guitar-based tracks tucked inside a whole cabinet of sonic curiosities.

At the moment, I’m in the process of moving from Manchester to London, so I’m not currently playing live. But once I get a band together in London, the pre-show routine will be whatever we can afford… laughter is always free! Pre-Chateau, the routine was always enjoying good food and drinks somewhere local to the venue—maybe a few Margaritas to get the party started.

Aside from feeling like I’m sailing in my own sea, I’d like to believe I slot into the current indie landscape spanning LA, NYC, Australia, and England. I feel a kinship with artists like Drugdealer, Kate Bollinger, Paint, Tex Crick, John Myrtle, and Willie J Healy, to name a few. I also love the Earth Libraries family and their associates—people like John J Andrews, Rubber Band Gun, and Sam and Louise Sullivan. All that silky, lo-fi goodness.

"I’d like to believe I slot into the current indie landscape spanning LA, NYC, Australia, and England."

The backstory to the debut album began in 2024, after moving from the city to the suburbs. The change of scene inspired me to teach myself home recording—something I’d always wanted to do because I love DIY records. I don’t do well with instructions; I prefer learning by doing and enjoying the freedom that comes with it. I began crafting each song in the moment, whenever inspiration struck. Instead of demoing, I’d just hit record and build each song up right then and there with whatever instrument was closest.

There are also two collaborations on the record with singer-songwriter Bebe May: Laissez Faire and Mystery Of You. The former sounds like a Yé-yé jazz track playing in a Parisian café, while the latter was inspired by ’70s Californian FM radio—two very different vibes. That’s where the title Sometimes We Wander comes from: every track shares that same sense of spontaneous wandering.

"Instead of demoing, I’d just hit record and build each song up right then and there with whatever instrument was closest."

When asked to name my greatest strength and greatest weakness as an artist, the answer to both is the exact same thing: creative restlessness. Hands down.

Looking ahead, I’ve always come from the school of pop songwriting—I’m a sucker for all eras of pop. My earliest memories are hearing early noughties pop on car radios, and by 16, I was studying everything from The Beatles to Trevor Horn’s bombastic ’80s production. In past bands, I wrote to match our collective listening habits. In The Big Peach, it was Nuggets-style garage rock, The Kinks, and ’70s Laurel Canyon. In The Be Positives, it was Nick Lowe, Robyn Hitchcock, and the Stiff Records scene. With Chateau, I gave myself carte blanche to go anywhere. Listeners from previous projects might be surprised to hear synthesisers and drum machines—or to find out that I performed all the instruments on the album myself!

"With Chateau, I gave myself carte blanche to go in any direction I wanted."

The album's influences stem from a revolving cast of characters. Haruomi Hosono’s Tropical Dandy was constantly spinning—I even caught him live in London last summer. Legend. I also discovered Toro y Moi’s Mahal, which influenced Feeding Sarah’s Cat, and the low-fidelity ooze of Paint’s debut album inspired the worn-out cassette feel of the record. On top of that, Air’s Moon Safari was a big touchstone for the synths and sound design on Safe As Houses.

Dream collaborations are high on the wish list. Top of the list is Parisian duo Papooz—their album Papooz & Friends was recorded entirely with friends they were hanging out with at the time, so Armand and Ulysse, if you ever want to record something, count me in! Then there’s the GOAT, Drugdealer—I’m a huge fan of everything he puts out. I’d also love to cook something up with Jonathan Rado, whose work with Pearl & The Oysters is incredible. And if the Dust Brothers ever want to make another record of grooves, samples, and weird shit, I'm ready.

Over the coming months, alongside promoting the record, I’m stepping behind the recording desk to produce for other artists, including singer-songwriters Bobbie Wonder and Bebe May. I’m also diving into songwriting for other acts—so if anyone wants to collaborate, hit me up!

"It’s an eclectic, whimsical 28 minutes of creative spontaneity... We even used a pouch of cat treats as percussion!"

Fans diving into Sometimes We Wander can expect the sound of me making it up as I go along and having a blast. It’s an eclectic, whimsical 28 minutes of creative spontaneity drifting from the jangle-pop of You Keep Me Dreaming On to the psychedelic soul of Safe As Houses and the lysergic lullaby of Man of the Country. On Feeding Sarah’s Cat, I even used a pouch of cat treats as percussion! To capture that vintage warmth, my longtime compadre and engineer Borja Regueira at Glue Recording Studios ran the mixes through a '70s tape machine, letting all that analogue character seep into the tracks.

Looking further down the road, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t already thinking about what’s next. Without giving too much away, the next batch of songs is going to be funkier, with a heavy focus on the groove. I want every album to be completely different from the last—surprising my current audience while bringing in a whole new crowd of listeners. The future of Chateau is wide open.

‘Sometimes We Wander’ is out now on all major streaming platforms.