“I have had so many tantrums,” Lauren Tate admits when we ask how she’s really doing.
It’s an understandable reaction, given her workload for the impending album from her alter-ego Delilah Bon, the bluntly titled Evil, Hate Filled Female.
Not only does she perform as Delilah, but Lauren is responsible for pretty much everything behind the scenes, too: from designing merch and fulfilling the orders, to creating costumes for live performances, marketing, content creation, social media… and that's before we even get to the fact she's written and produced the entire record herself.
To stop herself burning out, Lauren has since hired her younger sister to help with merch orders, such is the demand of Delilah Bon. She's been traversing the UK all summer, too, dominating stages at Download, Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds.
Ahead of the imminent arrival of Evil, Hate Filled Female, we caught up with the brat-punk trailblazer to discuss throwing paper penises from school balconies, and how that inherent lust for mischief informed her new record…
You’ve been so busy this year, but it's paying off big time. Are you decompressing a bit now?
"Uh, I’m trying to? I find it really hard. If I go out on the weekend, I’ll be thinking about all the things I need to finish, but I know the pressure is all my own. Sometimes it’s easy to always be looking forward, and I have to remind myself to look back at the things that I’ve done – I played Glastonbury and Download this year! They’re such huge moments, and when you do them, you enjoy them in the moment, but then you’re on to the next thing. I started writing in my diary more, and journaling, so when the year has ended, I can read back and take it all in because it’s all happening so fast, and you just get lost."