Fun + Friends = FIZZ: Joy in the Form of an Indie Supergroup
May 30 | Written By Jess Wilkinson
FIZZ is an aptly named band; their music injects bubbling, joyful energy into not only the listeners, but into the artists themselves. Built up of adored indie artists Dodie Clark, Orla Gartland, Greta Isaac and Martin Luke Brown in 2023, FIZZ is a supergroup formed with the motto of “just having a laugh with friends.”
The members have all put out a variety of indie/folk/pop hits in the past: Clark is well known for songs such as “Would You Be So Kind?”; Gartland for “Why Am I Like This?”; Isaac for “You” and “I Think You’d Hate It Here,” and Brown for his chill acoustic album “damn, look at the view!” So why did they form this group, when their solo careers are so successful?
While all four artists have met widespread acclaim for their music, the pressure of expectations from fans can understandably get to be too much. Plus, keeping up with the standards of the music industry can suck out the joy of making art. Brown said that all four members of FIZZ have felt boxed in by their niche of music: “...you create your own box to live in and it felt like such a shame that I was stuck in such a narrow little lane… there was this unspoken thing of us all wanting to invert how we’d been doing things for the last ten years, and just go back to being 12-year-olds in the garage, hashing it out and having a laugh.” And invert things they did; during an impulsively-booked stint in a studio in Devon, FIZZ threw all the rules out the window and slapped together a full studio album in just two weeks.
All four members had been friends and musical collaborators (and housemates in Clark, Gartland and Brown’s case) for around ten years prior to forming FIZZ. So when the pressure of their solo careers started to take over, their Devon studio holiday was booked, with the intention of just blowing off steam and having fun with their mates—still doing what they love, but just with no expectations. During their BBC interview, they explained that they didn’t have time to “overthink” what they were creating, and just focused on enjoying themselves. They recorded their vocals as a group; voices are usually recorded individually for a cleaner result, but FIZZ’s priority lay in having a good time and creating as a collective, not in being polished and perfect. This cathartic, free approach shines through in their music.
It is unlike anything all four members have created before. They all scream, yelp, chatter, giggle, play their instruments with wild abandon
Again, the aim of FIZZ from the beginning was simply to have fun. Brown even said that, “If anything, it’s gotten a bit out of hand! We weren’t expecting to sign a record deal.” But when they heard the finished result of their two-week recording session, they decided it was only right to share the joy. Gartland also said in their NME interview that “There were points where I was thinking ‘I would be so happy if this music never came out’; it was all about the process and about the time.” This exemplifies the heart of FIZZ; they make music for themselves, and for the love of creating music in itself. The fact that they get to share their creation is just a plus.
Everything about FIZZ is joyful: their wacky costumes and makeup; their high-concept single and album covers; their wild harmonies; their fictional dwelling of FIZZville; laughter at the end of songs; the spoken word infomercial-esque prologue to their album; their songs dedicated to the small pleasures (afternoon tea, video games, etc.); their songs dedicated to hashing out their frustrations (like in As Good As It Gets), and even their promotional pictures where they all sport genuine smiles. They have an element of storytelling and theatricality, rare traits in the modern musical climate. They reportedly draw inspiration for their camp-ness from 70s-80s groups like Queen and Abba, who also embraced theatricality through their costumes and performances.
In an industry that tends to force artists to churn out hits for profit, FIZZ is bringing back the fun into creating music. In that NME interview mentioned previously, they called this project “an act of rebellion against the industry,” a way to forget marketability, “TikTok-ability,” and even making money. It was all about the process, and spending valuable time with friends.
All in all, the fundamentals of FIZZ are blowing off steam, subverting expectations and conserving their passion for art, and having a laugh while doing it. Because of their genuine desire to just enjoy themselves, the listener can’t help but be infected with their positivity. Welcome to FIZZville!