A bit of Fi
London’s own musically gifted, ethereal goddess, Fi McCluskey, takes on a new kind of sound for her upcoming eponymous EP, including the gorgeously lyrical ‘A Bit of You’. We sat down with Fi in-between eclectic outfit changes to discuss queer spaces and what happens when trip-pop meets psyche.
Interview Sufiyeh Hadian-Clarke Photography JC Verona 
How would you describe your aesthetic?
It's very witchy; female empowerment - strong - power to the sisterhood. I would describe myself and my attitude as a combination of admiring and celebrating other womens’ beauty and the animalistic, raw power that all women possess. Fuck the control! Fuck the patriarchy! Let's fight back. Let's reclaim our power. I just find it really sexy how you can crawl through the mud at a music festival, have a shot of tequila then get back on stage, it’s my absolute definition of feminism. It's part of the reason I did the collaboration with Horsemeat Disco. I discovered my creative partnerships on dance floors, in the backrooms of nightclubs - especially queer spaces. I love the queer scene, you’ve got people in the backrooms relaxing and then it would just be mayhem on the dancefloor. For me, music is fundamentally human communication. As an artist I have the ability to turn the emotion into something tangible to really communicate those emotions to other people.
What other female artists do you look up to?
I love women like Patti Smith. The Spice Girls, 90s that redefined and changed so much.
Powerful women like this have always been present. I've got a six-year-old niece and she’s started asking questions like ‘Why can't I wear trousers to school?’ And rightly so! She should be able to wear trousers to school. What are they going to do about it? Even down to things like Lego being gendered, gendered toys, it starts so young. It's so conditioned. To abolish that would be an absolute dream of mine. To truly embody empowerment; loving your sisters - celebrating each other.
What best describes your genre?
I would say it's Trip Hop meets Psych. So, it's like, if Pop and Psych had a baby, that’s where I’ll be. I would like to think I’ve really honed in on the transportive element to music.
“Fuck the control! Fuck the patriarchy! Let's fight back. Let's reclaim our power.”
What was the creative process like?
I worked with a really amazing producer for this EP called Johan Hugo. And we (my agent and myself) went on a musical adventure to Mumbai - it’s a place, in my opinion, that you cannot beat for psychedelic sounds. We travelled and gathered a hugely different array of sounds and reconstructed them. We got really trippy strings in Mumbai, then I pieced it all back together again. They have a whole different way of listening to music - Bhangra music uses a ⅜ beat in comparison to a Western 4/4 - when you use it it already sounds trippy.
How would you want the audience to feel when they hear your music?
I want them to feel empowered. I want them to feel like they’re not alone. In emotion and in thought. I want them to feel a kindness, like someone gets it. Once you have that then we can turn it into something positive. It is about giving power to the people - that's what my music is about.
“Bhangra music uses a ⅜ beat in comparison to a Western 4/4 - when you use it it already sounds trippy.”
What do you love about London's club scene?
I think London has some of the best nightlife. Unfortunately, a lot of it is getting closed down because of all the luxury apartments. Save our spaces!
What I love about London's club scene is the DIY element of it, the looks that people create themselves. I think London has the best of that. I think it always has had that ingrained in the culture. It's multicultural - the music that comes from the underground of London is really great. It was the first place to really take punk to heart after Lou Reed birthed it. So many amazing movements started from right here.
It's so sad that due to COVID, so many places have or will have to close down. We need to go back and support these smaller independent venues. People need these spaces to live and to grow. I just hope that we can save our spaces in time.
So how did you first get into the queer scene in London?
It was the best way to go out! Growing up in Essex, I used to go to a few clubs when I was about 16, 17. I found it really oppressive. Not so viscerally but just in the way the men spoke about women and to women. For example if a woman had sex with two or three guys then she was labelled a ‘slag’. With queer spaces, they really celebrate sexuality. It felt like freedom. That and just being creatively stimulated and mentally stimulated while making and building relationships out on the dance floor.
The thing I love about going out in London now is it’s where you can really feel that the love is in the room. Where you can lose your friend that you walked in the club with and you can make new ones, feel safe, and have the best night.
Since becoming part of the queer community I've never looked back. It’s also down to drag performers that I've been given the opportunity to work with; I find the artistry of drag just completely beautiful, the DIY element to it. Again, it’s the transformative power it gives humans.
“We need to go back and support these smaller independent venues. People need these spaces to live and to grow.”
What's next for you?
So, I've got my releases coming out! My EP. I'm also hopefully recording/ creating some music with an absolute powerhouse of a woman. Her name is Amy Douglas and she's a New York badass. She's just done an album with Joe Goddard (of Hot Chip fame) and she co-produced and co-wrote Roisin Murphy's latest album - Machine. I adore her, she's a like-minded soul that I cannot wait to work with so this next project is going to be epic.
About Fi
Her eponymously titled EP is an empowering, uplifting journey that draws from her experiences in life and from the wealth of talent that surrounds her. “I work with the underground queer community. It’s a scene full of free forward-thinkers. It’s expressive, it’s unforgiving. I like how powerful it is.” There is a need for powerful women to be present at the moment. It is a time of seismic change and McCluskey is a contributor to the cultural dialogue at large, simultaneously rejecting the binary definitions of gender and embracing the community where these social norms are challenged.
This is the message that she takes to the stage. Her performances are powerful and charged, drawing from her years of experience on stage first in Proud Mary (signed to Noel Gallagher’s label) and then as the front woman of her own band, Nostalgia of Mothership.
To see more of her work, follow her on Instagram
Credits
Photography JC Verona Styling Kate Barbour Hair and Make up Ruth Mannion-Palmer Fi’s Agent Ian Loughram at Idal Bts Georgios
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