Having landed key spots at international showcases like SXSW and The Great Escape, as well as invites to perform at festivals as renowned as Glastonbury and Reading/Leeds, British duo Baby Said have achieved a lot in the year-and-a-half since they formed.
Led by 20-year-old singer/guitarist Veronica Pal and her 18-year-old sister Jess on bass guitar, the Italian/Punjabi siblings started out playing covers in their AstroModa project before finding their own sonic footprint.
This year’s debut album, BS!, shows them mixing elements of Royal Blood and English indie heavyweights Arctic Monkeys with Italian disco rockers Måneskin, who also inspired the name behind the new band.
“We learned a lot from those covers,” Veronica says. “It’s quite natural how you find things you like in other people’s music. Arctic Monkeys, for example, use a lot of pentatonic patterns. When we started writing our own music, I was looking out for those patterns. My teacher in Italy always told me to sing my solos first. That really helped with phrasing.”
For the debut album sessions, the singer/guitarist relied on her G&L Comanche, an instrument she describes as “the most beautiful guitar I’ve ever held in my arms.”
Though a handful of parts were recorded through a combo, the majority of the tones came direct from her Line 6 Pod Go, which came with a ton of amp models and effects built in and ready to go. Ultimately, the digital option felt easier and more reliable.
I used my G&L for everything. It has three Z-coil pickups, which look weird but sound amazing
“I used my G&L for everything,” Veronica says. “It has three Z-coil pickups, which look weird but sound amazing. There’s a switch that turns them all on, but I haven’t found it yet. For the solos in Burn, I wanted a specific reverb that I’d heard on Dakota by Stereophonics. We recreated it using plugins. Since then, I’ve programmed those settings into my Pod Go so it’ll sound just as good live.”
When asked about her ultimate guitar hero, the singer/guitarist says she’s more passionate about the songs that have inspired her than the guitarists who played on them. But, if push came to shove, there is one person worthy of such a crown.
“I don’t have heroes, but I adore Queen, so I have to mention Brian May,” she says. “My dream would be to work with him. I think you can hear bits of Brian in my solos; our manager even joked it’s him playing on the album.
How the triple-guitar threat of the Texas Headhunters is keeping a Lone Star tradition aliveI also admire Thomas Raggi from Måneskin. His simple ideas can sound complicated and beautiful at the same time. It’s very strange. I’d love to be able to do that one day.”
- BS! is out now via Pal.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
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