Debby Friday finds fortune in Good Luck's falsetto experiments
Photo by Katrin Braga
BY GREGORY ADAMS
There’s a fearlessness to Debby Friday’s artistry. From her early breakbeat tapes to the industrial club rap she’s been honing since 2018's Bitchpunk, through to high-concept audio-visual plays, interpretive dance-imbued experimental films, and commerce-and-art-examining NFT drops, the Toronto-based multi-hyphenate has confidently plunged herself into an ever-widening oeuvre. On the upcoming Good Luck — Debby Friday's first formal full-length, which is likewise connected to a short film of the same name — that fearlessness manifests through perhaps her softest vocal take yet, found on the album's first single, "So Hard to Tell."
The falsetto approach is an interesting pivot from the rest of Good Luck's sleek, sinister bars and full-bore hollers, but it's yet another way for the rapper/producer to expand the palette. With that in mind, Gut Feeling reached out to Debby Friday to find out more about adding another voice to Good Luck's cast of characters; collabs with producer Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck) and Uñas; and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
It’s not that melody hasn’t been part of your vocals in the past — there’s that lower range on Bitchpunk songs like “Medusa”; you also bring that out on Good Luck pieces like “Hot Love” — but both the compositional and vocal aspects of “So Hard to Tell” take on a different kind of pop. How did you go about bringing that kind of falsetto vocal to the forefront?
Honestly, it was kind of a fluke. I was sitting at home one night just tinkering away in Logic and I found the main sample, the one that’s very nursery rhyme-esque; and I went from there. I built the skeleton of the beat, and then I just opened my mouth and the falsetto is what came out. I didn’t think about it too much; I just let my instincts take over. I think that’s when music-making works best. Actually, that's when everything creative works best — when you’re not thinking about it too much. I definitely had that voice inside of me, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to access it if I was thinking too much.
How had you developed that side of your voice over the years? Did you grown up singing pop in private?
If you mean singing at home to myself for fun the way anyone does, then, yeah, I did sing pop in private. I love pop music. Britney, Beyoncé, Gaga — I grew up on these women. I respect the artistry that goes into making something that is capable of having such mass appeal while still being objectively good music. It’s much harder than it looks.
As far as my vocal range, no, I’ve never done that before in any real capacity. It’s a new thing. Even these days while I’m working on new music — I’m always working on new music — I feel myself leaning more into a melodic and pop space, something I haven’t really done before in earnest. There’s always going to be that edge to my art because it’s just who I am, but I’m finding different ways to express myself and to use my voice. Some of it is turning out really interesting and draws inspiration from musical traditions I’ve always found beautiful, like opera. I like taking things that seem mutually exclusive and showing the ties that bind everything together, so taking my more raw and guttural voice into a context like [opera] or like pop is a fun experiment for me.
How about the vocal percussion at the top of “Hot Love” — it’s almost like a chirrupy, raspberry kind of sound. Was that charted out way in advance, as a foundational part of the intro, or was that something you ad-libbed in the studio?
“Hot Love” started out as part of an audio-play/sci-fi podcast project I made in 2021 as part of my graduate thesis project, LINK SICK. I loved that section of the project so much that I just decided to turn it into a song. The vocal intro you hear is my own voice that I’ve just pitched and distorted. If you listen to LINK SICK, I took it right out of the project that way. I think of it like a siren song, leading the listener to the jagged rocks and dangerous cliffs that are the rest of the beat. As far as the thought process behind it, again it’s this not-thinking thing. Making a project like LINK SICK, which is essentially 40 minutes of music that has to blend and bend and morph into itself seamlessly, requires me to let go of being too concrete about it all. I just do what feels right.
What came easier to you while tracking the album: the bars or the melodies?
You know what? I’m gonna say the bars. I’m a writer and I love words, so even if I just have the barest of beats I can write a whole song out, start to finish. With melodies, it’s harder for me to finish them and feel like it’s complete. I learned that I liked having a second set of ears on that, which is why I ended up working with Graham Walsh, who co-produced the entire album with me. When it comes to melodies and the musical elements of a track, I think at least four ears are often better than two. At the same time, you don't want to get too crazy and have too many outside opinions — that can muddle things.
How did you connect with Uñas for “I Got It”?
I’ve known Uñas since my Montreal party girl days. Everyone is kind of aware of each other in those scenes. She actually did the door at the very first live show I ever played, which was this festival called Slut Island back in 2018. I love what she does in Pelada. She’s an Aquarius. I respect her a lot. She works fucking hard!
Thinking on the production, there are some hard-edged synths and beats going on throughout Good Luck, but there are also some seriously shredded guitars on the record's “What a Man". Who’s cutting that up?
That is my friend Will Ballantyne, also known as city. I knew he played guitar, but then I saw this video of him on Twitter doing a cover of some song, [and] it was soooooo sick. He’s really a talented guitar player, like next level! So I asked him if he wanted to work on something together. I sent him the skeleton of the beat for “What a Man” and the rest is history. I found out later that he played so hard while recording the guitar parts that his fingers were bleeding. He's a maniac!
Speaking of edges, what’s the story with the sword you’re swinging in the “So Hard to Tell” video?
Lol, no story. I was supposed to have a bow and arrow, but during the fittings we all just thought the sword looked cool.
Debby Friday's Good Luck is out 03/17 through Sub Pop.