Last Updated on 2025-05-29 by a-indie
Encounter with Savages and the Birth of Goddess
-Yuuki Takita: On this album ‘Goddess’, Ayse Hassan, also the bassist for Savages, plays bass on nearly every track. Could you tell us about your relationship with her, how you met, and what kind of influence she has on your music?
Fay Milton: I met Ayse for the first time at the first Savages rehearsal, I remember her wearing a Sex Pistols T-shirt and being so kind and chilled out. Ayse and I shared rooms together on tour for many years and became very close and comfortable around each other in the way that is usually reserved for family members. Sometimes band life is tricky, but Ayse was always by best friend in the band and I think that also translated to how much our drums and bass gel together. For me, nobody plays the bass like Ayse Hassan and the Goddess sound is built around the starting point of our drums and bass. I love Ayse!!
Origin of the Project Name
Fay Milton: I practice Buddhism and read and listen to a lot of Dharma talks. One of the talks was talking about everyone who is living a helpful, kind and good life is carrying ‘Bodhisattva’ light inside fo them. I really connected with this idea and thought about how all of the amazing female and non-binary musicians I was working with were all carrying a beautiful light. I couldn’t really call the project ‘Bodhisattva’ because that would come across as cultural appropriation, so looking for another name to share the same feeling, I landed on ‘Goddess’.
I have always wanted to know how to produce music and so when Savages went on hiatus, I started to learn how to use Logic. It became my new obsession, taking over from drumming.
Challenge as a Producer
-Yuuki Takita: How would you describe the musical style and nature of the ‘Goddess’ project? In this project, you are both a performer and a producer. Regarding the comment from the album materials, “With this project, I stepped out from behind the drums and into the role of producer, infusing a strong feminine energy throughout the creative process from beginning to end,” could you elaborate further on that?
Fay Milton: I don’t really know what the musical style is, I’ll let you describe it as I”m sure you’ll do a better job than me!
When I started the project I was trying to make really heavy music, Nine Inch Nails style, but that’s not really what came out of me. What came out was more feminine, still with a hard edge. It’s quite melancholy in a lot of places.
When I say I ‘stepped out from behind the drums’ I think it’s a big test of my confidence to do a project where I’m at the centre. I like being in the back, so it’s a big leap for me to be ‘in charge’ and running a project myself.
Awareness of Social Issues
-Yuuki Takita: You co-founded the climate change activism charity ‘Music Declares Emergency’ in 2019. The issue of climate change is addressed by many artists like Billie Eilish and Radiohead, and in films, and we recognize its importance. However, compared to Western countries, awareness in Japan arguably still lags behind. Could you please share your own thoughts on climate change?
Fay Milton: When I Co-Founded Music Declares Emergency, it was out of a desperation to raise awareness and to try to get people to take the climate situation seriously. Alongside many other organisations that started at the same time, we have succeeded in raising awareness and making people realise that climate change will affect them. I used all of the tools I had available to me to do the most useful thing I could at the time. Like most people who have engaged in climate activism, I go through waves of hope and despair.
What I understand is that caring about the environment is essential to living a good life. It’s the same as caring for other people and animals, if you don’t care for others, you will be living a very sad life. Caring for the delicate beautiful Earth we live on is just an extension of caring for other things beyond yourself.
If I can give your readers some advice, I would say that some huge changes can be made by looking at how you bank, does your bank invest in fossil fuels? If so, move your money elsewhere, it’s a very powerful thing to do that is free and doesn’t require any lifestyle changes.
I feel optimistic because there are millions and millions of people worldwide working together to find solutions and because change is happening and it’s inevitable. I don’t believe the whole world is going to burn, but I do think the beauty of the world is slipping through our fingers, for example, the weather is so fundamental to how we feel and we’re really messing with it, nobody wants bad weather!
Every moment we create the future with our actions.
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