Madge is a DIY musician and Clare is a DIY multimedia artist. Both have created a series of characters and alter egos in their respective fields and, outside of being real life friends, they find their worlds overlapping all the time. Most importantly, the two share a mutual interest in cats.Ā
MADGE: Clare, I feel like you can literally do anything – dancing, singing, modeling, acting, comedy, styling, photography, voiceover, cat-speak (hehe)… Do you have a favorite form of creative expression?
CLARE: Wowwowow hi Madge, thank you Madge, I love you Madge. I always struggle with “favorites” the same way I struggle to only order one dish at a restaurant. Cat-speak is probably the longest standing hobby of mine. I do REALLY enjoy creating characters and making videos – I feel it throws almost all of the aforementioned things into one. I can dance, sing, and act as someone else… I get to style the character and create a world and a voice for them in all the senses. Now that I’ve blurted all of that out though, voice over is the thing I want to do MOST and be great at. You’re a singer, songwriter, composer, actor, producer, dancer and fellow cat-speaker. Which is your favorite form of expression if any?Ā
MADGE: Oooh yes this is tough for me, too. Iām generally a musician but all of my music is based on visuals from my mind. More than anything I think I am a narrator. A lot of the stories I tell through music are actually just dreams and daydreams put into song form. My actual dream would be to make a feature film that I also score. Iām already in the process of turning some of my upcoming songs into a short Italian-style slasher film. I think that film is the clearest way for me to express all the characters that I feel inside. Speaking of, Iām in love with your universe of characters on Instagram. It speaks to me so much because I feel like this is something I also do but through music. Do you see your characters becoming something bigger in the future?
CLARE:Ā I started creating and sharing my characters in a very casual way just for fun, but I would absolutely love for them to evolve and grow. I recently took my one character āAngieā on vacation with me to Italy and honestly that was so much fun. I could see her having a mini series of her own. She could do anything!!? I just love being her. Do you feel like you have multiple characters within a singular music project or do you assign a certain character to each one? Would you call Madge a character or just a dramatized version of yourself?Ā
MADGE: I love Angie so much! āMadgeā is certainly a dramatized version of myself but it is also kind of a mother character of many other sub-characters that are all part of the Madge Multiverse Menadgerie. I have been developing these characters for a while now and I will be debuting them in an upcoming release. The only character I am that is not part of The Menadgerie is my catperson persona which is maybe too embarrassing to put on display hahahaā¦ I know that you love cats and animals in general. BUT if you WERE an animal, what would it be?
CLARE: I have always loved hedgehogs. I think maybe because of the Beatrix Potter character Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. I had a total of four hedgehogs as pets growing up and my first one was named Tiggy, obviously. My mom even called me “Hedgie” when I was a teenager. Long story short – I would be a hedgehog. Very curious to know what animal you would be as well….spill the tea!
MADGE: Oh a cat. Obviously. Hot take: what is your favorite song?
CLARE: Oh gosh FAVORITE SONG???? Are you serious?? How is that possible??!!! I love so many songs. Here are some songs that consistently make me so happy that music exists : Stevie Wonder (any song bc love that guy) “Do I Do”, Grover Washinton Jr. “Just The Two Of Us”, Joe Hisashi “One Summer’s Day”, He Fang “ččč±”, Axelle Red “SensualitĆ©” the list obviously goes on forever…. What’s your favorite song, pray tell?
MADGE: I love old movie soundtracks and piano scores. I donāt know if I could be a favorite either but recently Iāve been in love with Sufjan Stevens + Timo Andres āThe Decalogueā piano album. What about other hobbies Is there anything you feel passionate about in the activism world? I have always admired your dedication to sustainable practices!
CLARE: Yes the environment and animal welfare. Ya hit the nail on the head. I am trying to reduce and stay educated etc., so thank you for noticing! Animals just make me cry. They’re so special and we truly do not deserve them. Same goes for the beauty of our mother earth, of course. What gets you hot? Or makes your blood boil? Or both? Do you ever incorporate politics or activism into your music?
MADGE: Oh yeah, baby. Everything I do is probably the product of rage and politics. I get mad about inequality and injustice. It all makes me deeply sad sometimes. The song Iām putting out today called āCry A Lilā is kind of about that. Thanks for chatting with me, Clarey! Love you.Ā
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Photos / Tanner K. Williams / @tantron
Story / Madge & Clare