We get it. Nothing gives your outfit an edge and sophistication as gold jewellery does. And since gold-plated pieces became popular, now it’s easier than ever to exhume luxury without breaking the bank.
Unfortunately, though, plated jewellery can tarnish over time. Although sad, this is a natural process in which the gold reacts to external factors like air and moisture, causing it to oxidise and appear darkened. Your jewellery starts losing its shine, and that luxurious feel becomes duller by the minute.
Sound familiar? Don’t worry. Regardless of whether it’s chains or bracelets, we’ve got some tips and tricks to help you preserve your favourite men’s gold jewellery sets’ brilliance for longer.
Taking Care of Your Gold-Plated Jewellery
Gold-plating vs Perfumes & Moisturisers
They just don’t go together. So make sure you apply any personal care products well before you put your jewellery on. These products contain alcohol and other chemicals that can cause your chains and pendants to tarnish. Just allow them to first fully absorb and dry on your skin to prevent any contact between your pieces and the substances. It’s such a simple step, yet it is one of the most efficient in prolonging the longevity of your gold pieces.
Keep Away from Moisture
Do you like the sharp look your pieces give you? Do you like the top-quality shine? Then, you will have to avoid wearing your gold-plated sets while showering, swimming, or exercising. Expose them to water or sweat, and the gold layer will very quickly erode and discolour.
So, even though your new chain would look amazing in the gym, you better leave it at home.
Keep Them Cool & Keep Them Dry
However, just leaving your pieces at home before you hit the gym won’t do either. You have to make sure you store them properly.
Most of your sets probably came in soft pouches or jewellery boxes to protect them from scratches. You better learn to keep those around and place your jewellery back in them when you don’t use them. They provide the perfect cool, dry place that keeps your jewellery safe from unnecessary exposure to air, humidity, and heat. All of which will simply destroy its lustre.
Clean Them… The Proper Way
Start by using a jewellery polishing cloth. You can find one of those in most jewellery stores. They are specifically made for cleaning gold. Rub gently, as going too hard can damage the gold plating. In most cases of light discolouring, this practice will be enough.
If your pieces already show signs of tarnishing, you can use a soft cloth and a small amount of mild soap and water to clean away any dirt or residue that might have built up over time.
Allow your pieces to dry completely before wearing them again. Otherwise, you risk causing moisture damage.
However, if your piece is more heavily tarnished and you can see signs of the gold plating wearing off, then consider seeking professional help from a jeweller. They have the right tools to restore it to its original condition.
How Often Should You Clean Your Gold Pieces?
It really depends on how often you wear your pieces and what conditions you expose them to. Here’s a general guideline you can follow:
Light Wear: If you swap your pieces often and you end up only wearing each rather occasionally, then cleaning every 1-2 months should be enough to keep them in an impeccable state.
Regular Wear: There is nothing wrong with wearing your favourite gold chains more often. Just make sure you clean them every 2-4 weeks to remove any dirt, oil and tarnish that might have built up.
Heavy Wear: Just can’t get enough of your pieces? In that case, clean them every 1-2 weeks, especially if you have exposed them to harsher conditions and moisture.
In any case, try to avoid over-cleaning. Excessive rubbing can just as easily damage the gold plating. Keep it regular and gentle, and your pieces will keep your look on point for longer.
The Difference Between Tarnishing & Wear
We’ve mentioned both terms a lot in this guide, but they are not entirely synonymous. Both are processes that affect your pieces differently. If your gold chain and bracelets start to look dull or darker, but this can be easily cleaned with a jewellery cloth or mild soap and water, then we are talking about tarnishing.
However, if it seems like the thin layer of gold has rubbed off and your jewellery is starting to look patchy and discoloured, unfortunately, this cannot be reversed through cleaning. If you’ve tried to polish it and nothing happens, then professional replating might be due.
The Secret to Lasting Gold Jewellery
Keep your pieces dry, clean and cool at all times. Such simple steps go a long way and significantly prolong your jewellery’s longevity. So, try to incorporate regular maintenance, and you will be sure to keep them polished, lustrous and always ready to be the statement piece of your impeccable style.
Over the last few years, men’s jewellery has gradually transformed, bringing masculinity to meet modern trends. This year is no exception, with bold designs, thoughtful details, and personalisation in the limelight.
Without further ado, here’s a short list of men’s jewellery styles you will see everywhere in the new year!
Chunky Chains
Last year’s subtle jewellery is out—well, sort of. Thick necklaces and bracelets with chunky links have become wardrobe staples for men who want to convey a message of confidence.
Whether a broad sterling link peeks from behind a white shirt or a gold bracelet pops with a relaxed outfit, classic men’s chains like the Cuban are becoming increasingly popular again.
Minimalistic Designs
For those with a penchant for minimalism, subtle jewellery for men still has its place and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Think simple rings, plain bracelets, and even pendants without much detailing. Men are now choosing slender, geometric designs, like Art Deco-inspired pieces, that feel both modern and classic. Popular materials include silver, platinum, and white gold—lighter-tone metals that provide a clean but sophisticated touch.
Personalised Jewellery
Now that we’re celebrating individuality and parading around our uniqueness, personalised jewellery and bespoke pieces are proving to be very popular and common—unironically.
From engraved pendants to customising signet rings, men are leaning towards pieces that tell a personal story or hint at sentimental value.
Popular options include necklaces with initials, coordinates of a special place, or bracelets engraved with meaningful dates.
Beaded Bracelets
This one can be a bit polarising, but whether you like it or not, beaded bracelets have been making a comeback in a big way.
Modern beaded bracelets embellished with onyx, tiger’s eye, and other semi-precious stones are more stylish than their early-2000s counterparts. They can also be stacked with other pieces, allowing textual combinations like wood, metal, and leather.
Statement Rings
Expect 2025 to be the year of statement rings, from oversized geometric signets to pinky rings with delicate engravings or gemstones.
While yellow gold and silver remain classic options, black titanium and matte finishes are slowly gaining buzz for their edgy, contemporary feel.
Layered Necklaces
As the new year rolls on, ‘the more the merrier’ continues to be a common theme in men’s jewellery. Layering is still a big deal and looks great when executed with finesse.
The trick to layering is to keep everything close and balanced enough for each piece to sing without overwhelming one’s outfit. Consider layering a thick chain with a delicate pendant necklace or stacking two or three skinny chains of different lengths together.
Just try not to overdo it. Please.
Masculine Pearls
Yes, pearls are no longer just for women. Classic, soft and often regarded as feminine, pearls are rounding off men’s contemporary jewellery trends with their natural elegance.
Men’s jewellery continues its shift into eliminating boundaries and expectations, allowing men to explore different styles.
Vintage Inspiration
Like every year since the beginning of time, 2025’s biggest trend is… vintage.
From heirloom-style signet rings to retro chain designs, some men are shamelessly embracing nostalgia over modernity. These pieces have bold engravings, intricate patterns, or a vintage finish, adding character to any jewellery collection.
A few of our 2025 ultra-fashionistas are taking vintage to new heights (or lows) by selecting antique pieces like Victorian garnet rings and Edwardian gold chains—hopefully without the addition of lead and arsenic.
Men’s Earrings
From minimal studs to hoops with charms and gem-embellished cuffs, earrings will play a major role in defining men’s jewellery trends this year.
As men diversify their jewellery collections in 2025, they’ll try bolder pieces for everyday wear, which lend themselves to a more rebellious, fashion-forward view. How edgy.
To Wrap Things Up
Men’s jewellery in the new year represents self-expression, personal identity, and the dual adoption of tradition and contemporary.
In a time when individuality is celebrated like never before, men’s jewellery is no longer just an accessory—it’s an equivocal expression of self-style (or whatever that means).
Whether you’re layering necklaces like tinsel around a Christmas tree or embracing pearls like a Johannes Vermeer painting, this year’s trends prove one thing and one thing only: Do what you want.
For years, the classic wedding suit has remained largely unchanged—dark, structured, and often heavy. While these formal looks work well in grand ballrooms or church settings, they don’t always fit the vision of today’s grooms, especially those planning outdoor or destination weddings. The modern groom wants more than just a traditional black tuxedo; he wants style, comfort, and practicality.
That’s where linen suits come in. Lightweight, breathable, and effortlessly stylish, linen is becoming the go-to choice for grooms looking to strike a balance between formal and relaxed. Whether off-the-rack or custom-tailored, linen suits offer a fresh take on wedding attire. Brands like Wedding Tropics cater specifically to grooms who want something elegant yet suitable for warm-weather celebrations, proving that comfort and sophistication can go hand in hand.
Why Linen? The Fabric That Suits Every Groom
Linen is more than just a summer fabric—it’s a statement. Made from the fibers of the flax plant, linen has been used in clothing for centuries. But in recent years, it has made a comeback in menswear, particularly in wedding fashion. Here’s why grooms are embracing it:
1. Breathability and Comfort
Weddings can be stressful, and the last thing any groom wants is to feel overheated in a thick wool suit. Linen allows air to circulate, keeping the body cool even in humid climates. This makes it the perfect choice for beach weddings, garden ceremonies, and outdoor receptions.
2. A Relaxed but Refined Look
Linen suits offer a unique texture that gives them a relaxed yet polished aesthetic. They don’t have the stiff, overly structured feel of traditional suits, making them ideal for grooms who want a more natural and effortless look.
3. Lightweight and Easy to Wear
Unlike heavier fabrics like wool or tweed, linen feels light on the skin. This makes it a practical choice for destination weddings where mobility, travel convenience, and comfort matter.
4. Versatility in Styling
Linen suits can be dressed up or down. Paired with a crisp dress shirt and leather loafers, they exude sophistication. Worn with rolled-up sleeves and open-collar shirts, they create a laid-back, stylish vibe.
Linen Suits for Different Wedding Styles
One of linen’s biggest advantages is its adaptability. Whether you’re planning a beachfront ceremony, a rustic barn wedding, or a modern rooftop event, linen suits fit seamlessly into any setting.
Beach and Destination Weddings
Nothing beats linen for a tropical wedding. Its airy feel and natural drape create the perfect balance of elegance and ease. A beige or light blue linen suit complements the ocean backdrop beautifully, while barefoot styling adds to the relaxed ambiance.
Rustic and Outdoor Ceremonies
For weddings in vineyards, forests, or countryside settings, linen offers a grounded, organic aesthetic. Earth tones like olive, tan, and soft grays work well against natural landscapes. Paired with brown leather shoes and a textured tie, linen suits can look both refined and rustic.
City and Modern Venues
Linen isn’t just for casual weddings. A well-tailored linen suit in darker shades—such as navy or charcoal—can look just as sharp in an urban setting. When paired with a formal tie and polished shoes, linen maintains a structured, contemporary feel without being overly rigid.
How to Style a Linen Suit for a Wedding
A linen suit may have a laid-back reputation, but when styled right, it can be just as sophisticated as any other formalwear. Here’s how to elevate your look:
1. Choosing the Right Fit
Fit is everything. While linen has a naturally relaxed look, an ill-fitting suit can come across as too casual. A well-tailored linen suit should skim the body without being too tight or too loose. Opt for a slim or modern fit to maintain a polished appearance.
2. Picking the Right Color
Linen suits come in various shades, but certain colors work best for weddings:
Beige and Cream – Perfect for beach or garden weddings, offering a soft, timeless appeal.
Light Blue – Adds a subtle pop of color while staying fresh and elegant.
Gray and Charcoal – Great for urban or evening weddings, giving a more refined look.
Olive and Tan – Ideal for rustic or bohemian themes, blending beautifully with nature.
3. Pairing with the Right Shirt
A linen suit pairs well with different shirt styles, depending on the formality of the wedding:
Classic White Dress Shirt – Timeless and elegant. Works for any setting.
Light Blue or Pastel Shirt – Adds a touch of softness without overpowering the suit.
Linen or Cotton Blend Shirt – Keeps the overall look breathable and cohesive.
4. Choosing the Right Shoes
Linen suits allow for flexibility in footwear:
Loafers – A stylish yet relaxed choice.
Derby or Oxford Shoes – For a more traditional and formal touch.
Accessories can complete a linen wedding look without overcomplicating it. Consider:
A Linen or Silk Tie – Keeps the aesthetic lightweight.
A Pocket Square – Adds a pop of personality.
Minimalist Watch or Beaded Bracelet – Complements a relaxed but put-together look.
Custom vs. Off-the-Rack Linen Suits
Deciding between a custom-made and an off-the-rack linen suit depends on personal preference, budget, and timeline.
Off-the-Rack: Ready to Wear, Budget-Friendly
For grooms with limited time, an off-the-rack linen suit is a convenient option. Many brands now offer well-tailored linen suits that require minimal alterations. The key is to find the right fit and make necessary adjustments with a tailor.
Custom-Tailored: Personalized Fit and Style
For those who want a completely unique look, custom tailoring is the way to go. A made-to-measure linen suit allows you to choose the exact color, cut, and fabric weight. It’s a great choice for grooms who want a perfect fit and a distinct style.
Caring for a Linen Suit
Linen’s charm lies in its natural wrinkles and texture, but proper care ensures longevity.
Steam Instead of Ironing – Linen can easily scorch under high heat. Steaming keeps it fresh without damaging the fibers.
Store on a Sturdy Hanger – Prevents unnecessary creasing and maintains the suit’s shape.
Dry Clean Sparingly – Too much dry cleaning can weaken linen’s structure. Instead, spot clean or hand wash when possible.
Why More Grooms Are Choosing Linen
The rise of linen suits in wedding fashion isn’t just about style—it’s about rethinking what formalwear means. Today’s grooms want attire that reflects their personality, setting, and comfort. Linen suits provide that perfect balance, allowing men to feel confident without sacrificing ease.
From beachfront ceremonies to elegant city weddings, linen is proving that sophistication doesn’t have to come at the cost of comfort. As more grooms embrace this fabric, linen suits are no longer just an alternative—they’re becoming the new standard in men’s wedding attire.
Pancragen, a synthetic tetrapeptide bioregulator, has garnered attention for its prospective impacts on pancreatic function and metabolic regulation. This article delves into the hypothesized mechanisms by which Pancragen might influence pancreatic cell differentiation, gene expression, and metabolic pathways, offering insights into its potential implications in scientific research. Additionally, possible interactions with cellular processes involved in pancreatic maintenance and metabolic homeostasis are explored, positioning Pancragen as an intriguing subject for future biochemical investigations.
Introduction
The pancreas plays a pivotal role in maintaining metabolic homeostasis, primarily through its endocrine and exocrine functions. Dysregulation in pancreatic activity is often associated with metabolic disorders, affecting various physiological processes. Pancragen, characterized by the amino acid sequence Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp (KEDW), has been synthesized to target pancreatic functions. Research indicates that this peptide may hold promise in modulating pancreatic activity and metabolic processes. The biochemical foundation of Pancragen suggests that it may interact with cellular mechanisms involved in pancreatic regeneration and metabolic regulation. However, its precise molecular mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated, warranting further study.
Potential Mechanisms of Action
Gene Expression
Investigations purport that Pancragen might penetrate cellular membranes and interact with nuclear components, potentially modulating the transcription of genes essential for pancreatic cell differentiation. Key transcription factors, such as Ptf1a, Pdx1, Pax6, Foxa2, Nkx2.2, and Pax4, are integral to the development and function of various pancreatic cell types. It has been hypothesized that Pancragen may upregulate these factors, thereby facilitating the maturation of acinar and islet cells.
Experimental data from studies involving embryonic cultures of pancreatic acinar cells suggest that Pancragen might support the expression of Ptf1a and Pdx1, proteins vital for the maturation of these cells. These interactions may provide a new understanding of pancreatic cellular function and its regulation through peptide bioregulation.
Epigenetic Modulation
Research indicates that Pancragen may influence epigenetic regulation, potentially restoring gene expression patterns associated with youthful pancreatic function. Studies suggest that by modulating DNA methylation and histone acetylation, Pancragen might promote the expression of genes that support pancreatic activity and metabolic regulation. This epigenetic modulation may be fundamental in counteracting cellular age-related declines in pancreatic function.
Moreover, preliminary analyses suggest that Pancragen may interact with non-coding RNAs, which have been increasingly recognized as significant regulators of pancreatic cell fate and metabolic processes. Such interactions may offer a deeper perspective on how peptide regulators contribute to cellular adaptation and functional maintenance.
Implications for Metabolic Research
Glucose Homeostasis
Studies suggest that Pancragen might regulate blood glucose levels. By supporting the endocrine function of the pancreas, Pancragen may contribute to better-supported insulin secretion and sensitivity. This potential impact on glucose homeostasis positions Pancragen as a candidate for further research in metabolic disorders. Additionally, research indicates that Pancragen might influence glucagon secretion, a counter-regulatory hormone essential for maintaining glucose balance, in the research model. Investigations purport that by potentially modulating both insulin and glucagon signaling pathways, Pancragen may provide a novel biochemical framework for understanding glucose regulation.
Melatonin Pathways
It has been theorized that Pancragen may influence melatonin expression, which is believed to play a role in metabolic regulation. By modulating melatonin pathways, Pancragen seems to contribute to the synchronization of circadian rhythms and metabolic processes, offering a novel avenue for research into metabolic syndrome and related conditions. The interplay between pancreatic peptides and circadian rhythms remains an emerging area of interest, as disruptions in these cycles are often linked to metabolic imbalances. Pancragen’s potential to stabilize these interactions warrants further investigation, particularly in relation to energy homeostasis and endocrine signaling.
Lipid Metabolism
Recent research suggests that Pancragen might have implications beyond glucose regulation, potentially impacting lipid metabolism. It has been hypothesized that the peptide may influence lipid mobilization and storage through regulatory interactions with pancreatic lipases and adipocyte signaling pathways. Investigations purport that by modulating lipid metabolism, Pancragen may play a role in lipid utilization and energy expenditure. Further studies are needed to explore its influence on key regulators such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), which are essential for lipid homeostasis and metabolic adaptability.
Future Research Directions
While preliminary findings are promising, comprehensive studies are necessary to elucidate the precise mechanisms by which Pancragen influences pancreatic and metabolic functions. Future research should focus on:
Molecular Pathways: Detailed investigations into the signaling pathways modulated by Pancragen may provide deeper insights into its possible role in pancreatic cell differentiation and function.
Metabolic Profiling: Assessing the broader metabolic impacts of Pancragen may reveal its potential in addressing metabolic dysregulation.
Epigenetic Studies: Exploring the epigenetic changes induced by Pancragen may uncover mechanisms of gene expression modulation relevant to cellular aging and metabolic diseases.
Protein-Protein Interactions: Identifying key interaction partners of Pancragen at the cellular level might shed light on its possible role in metabolic regulation and pancreatic maintenance.
Impact on Mitochondrial Function: Given mitochondria’s critical role in metabolism, Pancragen’s potential influence on mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergetics may provide novel insights into its possible role in cellular homeostasis.
Conclusion
Pancragen presents a compelling subject for research into pancreatic function and metabolic regulation. Its potential to modulate gene expression, influence pancreatic cell differentiation, and interact with metabolic pathways underscores the need for further scientific exploration. As research progresses, Pancragen might emerge as a valuable tool in the study of pancreatic science and metabolic disorders. Understanding its biochemical properties and molecular interactions may pave the way for innovative research directions in regenerative and metabolic sciences. Read this Pancragen study for more educational peptide data.
References
[i] Patel, D., & Bhatt, A. (2021). Melatonin signaling and peptide regulation in metabolic homeostasis: New avenues for pancreatic research. Endocrine Research, 46(1), 42-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/07435800.2021.1873240
[ii] Schmidt, K., & Jones, H. (2020). Peptide bioregulators and their effects on metabolic pathways in pancreatic diseases. Pancreas, 49(6), 879-888. https://doi.org/10.1097/MPA.0000000000001427
[iii] Tran, L., & Yang, M. (2021). Epigenetic modulation of pancreatic function: A look at peptide-based therapies. Molecular Medicine Reports, 24(4), 808. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2021.12056
[iv] Marquez, L., & Karam, S. (2020). The role of peptides in pancreatic cell differentiation and metabolic regulation. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 121(3), 2189-2203. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcb.29610
[v] Gurumurthy, A., & Soman, S. (2019). Peptide-based regulators of pancreatic function and glucose homeostasis: Current perspectives. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 10, 375. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2019.00375
The mother of the bride holds a place of honor at weddings. Her outfit of choice is much more than mere fabric and threads—it symbolizes her important and irreplaceable role in the romantic union.
As tradition dictates, whites are for brides, and blues and greens often are for bridesmaids. This poses a sartorial challenge in selecting the perfect outfit for the bride’s mother. You need something that stands out, but not too much, it outshines the bridal gown.
In such dilemmas, floral dresses come as an exquisite solution. They are not only true to the celebratory spirit of the ceremony, but they also flatter the feminine role of matriarchs to her daughter’s special day.
In this blog, we pronounce floral dresses as the best mother-of-the-bride outfit. Read on to find out why it’s in our top spot and how to pick ‘the one.’
Why Floral, You May Ask?
Beautiful, delicate, and graceful—truly, flowers poetically mirror feminity. With mothers’ nurturing and tender nature, floral dresses are easily the best option for nailing the perfect bride’s mother look. But let’s not confine the floral charm merely to the matriarchs. Floral attires are also perfect for friends or family members, whether they’re part of the procession or enjoying the ceremony from the back rows.
Picking the Perfect Floral
The color counts but it’s not the only box you should tick when finding the best mother of the bride dress. To help you make the best sartorial decision, whether you are the bride’s mother or the bride yourself, we’ve rounded five tips to guide you.
Keep the Theme in Mind
Weddings aren’t the best time to bend rules. Start by knowing the theme of the event and make sure your outfit aligns seamlessly. Black-tie weddings require more glamorous choices like floor-length mermaid floral dresses, while asymmetrical midi floral dresses go well with laid-back bohemian-themed ceremonies.
Consider the Venue
The venue should have a say in the bride’s mother’s outfit choice. This is non-negotiable. For outdoor weddings, opt for sleeveless floral dresses with light and airy fabrics. For air-conditioned indoor venues, long-sleeved floral dresses make for the most comfortable choice. The more coverage, the better.
Pick A Flattering Fit.
Look for a silhouette that accentuates your body. A-line dresses are considered as universally flattering. They cinch the waist and flare out, giving the illusion of a proportioned body. At MONDRESSY, we have a broad range of A-line floral dresses for weddings. Browse our collection for our exquisite line of bride’s mother dresses.
Know Your Best Feature.
Weddings allow us to dress up and show up in beautiful dresses and accessories. Knowing your best features will help you pick the right style to maximize your outfit. Flaunt your toned shoulders in a sweetheart neckline floral dress or flex your collarbones in an off-the-shoulder floral outfit. Understanding what’s best for you will help you narrow your options.
Showcase Your Personality.
The dress should not only be appropriate for the occasion but should also display your personality. As long as it aligns with the theme and occasion, you are allowed to make the rest of the decision. Pick a dress that is true to yourself and that you are comfortable in for later in the ceremony, there might be hitting the dancefloor, indulging in a slice of cake (or two), and potentially tearing up during speeches. You are the mother of the bride, after all.
Accessories and Final Touches
Floral dresses are beautiful on their own. Nonetheless, we all know the right accessories will pull the overall aesthetic together. Pearl earrings and necklaces go well with silk floral dresses. For shoes, think comfort. Silver or white platform heels can easily tie a floral dress look.
Beautiful braided buns or soft waves are classic for formal wedding updos. For beach weddings, a textured low bun can withstand windy conditions.
Lastly, choose a clutch in one of the less dominant colors found within the floral pattern of your dress. This ensures that the bag enhances the dress’s palette without clashing.
Weddings are a mix of emotions, but they should not be a mix of outfit dilemmas. At MONDRESSY, we believe that the dress you wear is half of your wedding experience.
Check out our carefully crafted selection of floral dresses designed with the mother of the bride in mind. For soirees and other luxe occasions, browse our Prom Dresses and Cocktail Dresses Collection.
Exploring Personal Contract Purchase options can seem overwhelming. With over 80% of new car purchasers choosing PCP deals, a significant number face disadvantageous terms because they lack proper advice. Although dealerships provide direct access to pcp car finance, working with car finance brokers is crucial for obtaining the best terms available.
Understanding PCP deals
Personal Contract Purchase revolutionized car financing by allowing lower monthly payments compared to traditional car loans. The key difference lies in its structure – instead of paying for the entire vehicle, you pay for the depreciation during your term of ownership, plus interest. This arrangement requires careful consideration of several critical factors that can significantly impact your financial commitment.
The foundation of any PCP agreement rests on these essential components:
Initial deposit – typically 10-20% of the vehicle’s value
Monthly payment structure – based on predicted depreciation
Final balloon payment – the guaranteed future value
Annual mileage allowance – affecting the car’s end value
Contract length – usually 24-48 months
Understanding how these elements interact helps avoid costly mistakes. For instance, a lower deposit might seem attractive initially but often results in higher monthly payments and greater total interest charges over the contract term.
Why brokers are essential for PCP deals
Car finance brokers bring invaluable expertise and market access that can transform your PCP experience. Their role extends far beyond simple loan comparison, encompassing detailed market analysis and personalized financial planning.
Consider the case of Michael Parker, a London-based IT professional. After receiving a dealer quote of 6.9% APR, he consulted a broker who secured a 4.2% APR deal with better terms, saving him £3,400 over the contract period. This real-world example demonstrates the tangible value brokers provide through their market knowledge and lender relationships.
How brokers match you with the right PCP deal
The broker’s approach to finding your ideal PCP deal involves a comprehensive evaluation process. They begin by assessing your financial situation, including income, expenditure patterns, and credit history. This thorough analysis helps identify deals that not only fit your current circumstances but remain sustainable throughout the agreement period.
A professional broker considers several key factors when matching clients with PCP deals:
Current and projected income stability
Credit score and financial history
Vehicle usage patterns and requirements
Long-term ownership preferences
Flexibility needs for future circumstances
These assessments ensure recommended deals align with both immediate needs and future plans. The broker’s expertise proves particularly valuable when navigating complex scenarios like self-employment or limited credit history.
Broker’s expertise in PCP specifics
Professional brokers possess deep knowledge of PCP agreement nuances that many consumers overlook. Their expertise covers crucial areas such as balloon payment calculations, mileage allowance optimization, and end-of-term options evaluation. This specialized knowledge helps clients avoid common pitfalls that could lead to financial stress later.
Finding and working with a PCP specialist broker
Selecting the right broker is crucial for securing an optimal PCP deal. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates professional car finance brokers in the UK, providing a framework for consumer protection and service standards.
When choosing a PCP specialist broker, certain qualifications and characteristics stand out:
FCA authorization and registration
Specialist experience with PCP agreements
Strong relationships with multiple lenders
Transparent fee structure
Proven track record with client testimonials
A broker’s experience specifically with PCP deals can significantly impact the quality of service and outcomes they deliver. Look for professionals who regularly handle PCP arrangements and understand the nuances of different manufacturers’ finance programs.
Steps to secure the best PCP deal through a broker
The journey to securing your ideal PCP agreement involves a structured process that professional brokers follow meticulously. It begins with an initial consultation where your requirements and financial situation are thoroughly assessed. This preliminary discussion helps establish realistic expectations and identifies potential challenges early in the process.
Throughout the process, your broker will:
Conduct a comprehensive market search
Compare offers from multiple lenders
Negotiate terms on your behalf
Review and explain all documentation
Guide you through the completion process
This systematic approach typically takes between 3-5 working days, though complex cases may require additional time to secure the most favorable terms.
Cost considerations
Understanding broker fees and their value proposition is essential for making an informed decision. While some clients initially question paying broker fees, the potential savings often significantly outweigh these costs.
Consider the example of Sarah Mitchell, who financed a £30,000 vehicle through a broker. The £299 broker fee seemed substantial initially, but the reduced APR they secured saved her £4,200 over the four-year term – a net saving of £3,901.
Long-term benefits and protection
The advantages of using a broker extend beyond the initial transaction. Professional brokers provide ongoing support throughout your PCP agreement, helping navigate potential challenges and ensuring you understand your options as you approach the end of the term.
Their expertise becomes particularly valuable when:
Considering early termination options
Assessing whether to purchase the vehicle
Planning your next vehicle finance arrangement
Dealing with excess mileage considerations
Managing maintenance requirements
Conclusion
Car finance brokers play an indispensable role in securing the right PCP deal. Their market knowledge, negotiating power, and ability to access exclusive rates often result in significant savings. While the upfront cost of using a broker may seem like an additional expense, the long-term benefits – both financial and practical – make their services invaluable for anyone considering a PCP agreement.
For potential car buyers, particularly those with unique financial circumstances or specific requirements, working with a professional broker can make the difference between an acceptable deal and an exceptional one. Their expertise helps navigate the complexities of PCP agreements while ensuring your financial interests are protected throughout the term of the contract.
XL Recordings owner Richard Russell, aka Everything Is Recorded, has teamed up with Florence Welch and Sampha for the new single ‘Never Felt Better’. It’s the final single from Everything Is Recorded’s new LP Temporary, arriving Friday (February 28), and it comes paired with an accompanying video by Kristian Mercado and Mela Murder. As you’d expect, the combined effect of Florence Welch and Sampha’s voices is spine-tingling, and the song lets it subtly unspool. Check it out below.
Roberta Flack, the R&B icon behind a string of hits including ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’, has died. “We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025,” her spokesperson said in a statement. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.” A cause of death was not provided, but the singer had been battling ALS in recent years. She was 88.
Born to a musical family in 1937 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, Roberta Cleopatra Flack started playing the piano at the age of nine. At 15, she entered Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she conducted the student choir. She began graduate studies in music there, but her father’s death forced her to take a job teaching music and English in Farmville, North Carolina. She went back to Washington, D.C., and taught at Banneker, Browne, and Rabaut Junior High Schools, while also performing at nightclubs in the area. She gave up teaching in 1968, when she was offered a residency at Mr Henry’s Restaurant on Capitol Hill.
Soul jazz pianist and singer Les McCann introduced Flack to Atlantic Records, who released her debut album, First Take, in 1969. Flack’s early Atlantic recordings didn’t sell particularly well, but when Clint Eastwood used her version of Ewan MacColl’s ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ in his 1971 film Play Misty For Me, the song became the biggest hit of 1972 and won the Grammy for Record of the Year. Around this time, she began collaborating with fellow soul legend Donny Hathaway, and the pair scored two US Top 5 hits with ‘Where Is the Love’ and ‘The Closer I Get to You’. When Hathaway died by suicide in 1979, Flack and Hathaway were in the midst of recording an album of duets; ‘Back Together Again’, released posthumously in 1980, reached No. 8.
Flack remains the only solo artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year two years in a row, winning n 1974 for ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’. Her third and final No. 1 hit, the self-produced ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’, arrived in 1974. Though the popularity of her musical output waned in the ’80s, she scored a hit with ‘Makin’ Love’, co-written with Burt Bacharach as the theme for the 1982 film of the same name. In 1983, she recorded the end music to the Dirty Harry sequel Sudden Impact at Eastwood’s request.
In 1996, ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ was introduced to a new generation of fans when Lauryn Hill’s the Fugees included their cover on the album The Score, and the group performed the song with Flack at the VMAs. Flack’s final album, a collection of Beatles covers called Let It Be Roberta, came out in 2012.
At the age of 81, Flack released her final recording, ‘Running’, which she served as the closing credits song for the documentary 3100: Run and Become. “The music remains my lifeline,” she told Billboard at the time, after suffering a stroke in 2016. “And the lyrics for ‘Running’ speak to where I am now, working to keep going through music.”
It’s one thing to write music from the stomach versus the heart, as was Will Wiesenfeld’s intention for Gut, his first Baths album in seven years. It’s not a guarantee the songs will actually hit like that. In Gut’s case, though, there’s really barely any separation between the philosophical and the guttural, the feeling and its translation, eschewing the fear of being lost in both. Since releasing his first album under the moniker, Cerulian, in 2010, Wiesenfeld’s work has always been characterized by an unshakeable and downright mimetic physicality, boundless in its erosion of boundaries between real and fantastical worlds. But the self-released Gut – which features live drums on more than half its tracks – is newly unfiltered and unruly in a way that carves a path forward for the project. The intricate nature of his music is still there, but its elasticity serves to stretch the feeling until it gnaws and bubbles through the body. Gut strikes, excites, and soothes in almost equal measure; it’s stomach music, to be sure, but it can’t help but speak to the heart.
We caught up with Baths to talk about noise rock, underwear parties, exercise, ex-Christianity, and other inspirations behind his new album, which is out now.
Rigid noise rock
I understand this is more of a formal or philosophical influence than a strictly musical one. You namecheck groups like Gilla Band and Protomartyr in press materials.
Exactly. I think it’s about the execution of a musical endeavor. I’m very inspired, constantly but especially with this record, by the idea of intellectually or deliberately delivered chaos. The thrill of something like punk rock or metal or noise music is often about cathartic release, where there’s just as much as you can put into it. It’s a wide breadth of sound and experience, this thing that’s understood as entirely unfiltered. What I’m talking about is this almost a futile effort, but not really – it’s a means of trying to cage that feeling, to still have some degree of ownership or building a contraption around it. To parcel it into pieces to make it more digestible or understandable, or to say more things with that chaos. I talk about Gilla Band all the time because their newest record hits that for me in a weirdly specific, brain-itching way. It’s my favorite thing, at least in the past few years in music – that kind of chaos and explosive intensity, but notched off. You’ll have sections that are the loudest thing you’ve ever heard, cut to something completely dry or different, or shaped differently even if it’s still intense, and then move through the next thing.
If that same Gilla Band record was at a constant flip with infinitely less dynamics, it wouldn’t be as interesting to me. It would be cool, and I’d enjoy it as a record, but the thrill of so much of what they do is the tempered nature of it: the holding back is half the intensity. That’s my thesis statement on it. That’s the obsession, like all this influence and inspiration I’m going to talk about – I don’t know how directly that translates to my record, maybe not at all. But it’s something in my brain that I think about. Some measure of it probably leads into what I did on my record, but nowhere near the same. It probably doesn’t even sound the same.
Whether consciously or not, did you find yourself making space for that controlled chaos? I hear the sturdiness of rock instrumentation in the record, but the chaos is often more lyrical.
I think there are a lot of moments on my record that are heightened emotion, but most of those moments I don’t want to let ring out. It’s almost a reflection of how anger exists for me in my own life. If I feel angry, I don’t let anger happen to me – just as an adult and a courteous person existing in the world, I try not to let anger be the way I move through things. But when I’m angry, what happens is I recognize the anger and immediately tell myself that if I need to experience it, I don’t need to force that on other people. I need to go somewhere or go away for a bit. That often happens if I’m in a really intense argument with someone, I’ll say, “Hey, I can feel how angry I am right now. I want to take ten minutes.” This is a very rare occurrence because I’m not an angry person, but when I experience it, it’s like, “I need to not be angry at you for no reason. Let me be angry for a little bit, and I’ll come back.”
The way I execute a lot of those more intense emotions, especially anger on this record, is almost that same idea of having to pull back and keep it tempered, and maybe explode in a moment, but then the next moment isn’t still there. I go back to some semblance of normalcy or pull away entirely and try to do something else. To have anger written into the album at a full clip the entire time is not only disingenuous to how I experience anger, but it’s almost emotionally irrelevant. That doesn’t get you any closer to how I feel or think. The only time I’m wildly, openly emotional and unbridled in that way, and I let it ride out, is maybe in the very last song. And that’s not even anger anymore – it’s more like a brutal acceptance. It’s the sound of having to deal with it, of how upset it made me, but I’m just like, “Okay, fine.” I feel like the way the record ends isn’t necessarily on a positive or negative note, it’s just acceptance. Which is still a tough thing for me.
There’s also the opener, where there’s this burst of an intense vocal, but then it’s quickly bottled back up.
Yeah, where it builds to me saying, “Could you find the patience?” But the first part of “patience” I get really angry on. It’s like, obviously, I’m not patient anymore. I’m very impatient.
Gym
Exercise has been a part of my life for more than 10 years now, probably closer to 12 or 13, in a very serious way. If not every day, I’d go three or four days a week; now I’m on a program where it’s every day, but it’s less intense, and that works really well for me. What I’m talking about here is how the idea of a gym has skewed my listening. Most of my listening used to be in my car, and I’d listen to music in my car all the time. When I wasn’t a regular gym person, I’d have music on at home. I think, as a person, I was way more into ambient or experimental electronic stuff that comfortably fills the room and creates an atmosphere. I’m still obsessed with atmosphere, but the tone of the music was much more subdued and reflective. But going to the gym more regularly, and also using my car less – now to the point this year where I’ve actually sold my car and only bike everywhere, which is crazy for LA, but it’s my truth now – most of my listening happens at the gym. The thing to keep in mind is that they already play music at the gym, so me listening to music means it has to be something that exists on top of that or louder than that most of the time.
Simply because of that fact, I’ve sought out music that’s more energetic, loud, or intense. Finding the beauty and excitement in the stuff I already love, but also in all sorts of other music in those spaces. The thing that really factored into my record was music like that – louder music that’s also really relentless. That’s my favorite word to talk about. I’d listen to, again, Gilla Band or Protomartyr or a lot of hardcore techno and noise. I also got really into Container – I’ve always been into Emptyset, if we’re talking more on the electronic side. Music that isn’t afraid to let an idea pound itself into your brain; ideas going so hard that it’s very difficult to forget them or the feeling of experiencing that. In the way I write music, I have trouble submitting to that. I have a lot of fidgetiness trying to let an idea ride out forever, so I tried to allow that a bit more – especially in that opener, where it switches to the second half of the song and just goes. There are still changes, but I just wanted the feeling to go as far as I could take it.
Looking at it a different way, do you feel like there’s an element of athleticism in your music, that factors into your process or life as a musician?
One of the things I think about a lot is what it takes to tour and your endurance as an artist for something like that. It’s a common conception that touring is really difficult, especially because you’re doing it for long stretches. The more I made a point in my life to keep up stable exercise habits, coupled with – I don’t drink, I eat fairly well, I sleep really well on tour – because of that, I’m really good on tour. The last two tours I had, I finished them thinking, “Hey, I could probably still do this for two more weeks.” One was six or seven months ago, and the other was a year before that. I finished both truly feeling like I could do double the amount of touring I just did and still be totally fine. I came home to LA and felt no different, I felt fine. That hasn’t been the case in the past; often I’d finish a tour feeling completely deflated. So this idea of longevity and fitness as it relates to health and the execution of your musical practice in a performance space – that’s something I think about.
It’s that idea of endurance, and that relating to physicality and sound and aesthetic – all these things tied into what I wanted Gut to feel like and sound like. Especially because it’s supposed to be stomach music, which is already such a physical incentive. There’s no separating my physical self, sex, and all these other things from what I was trying to make this record be.
Ursula Le Guin: “like an arrow, like thought”
I saw that this quote is from A Wizard of Earthsea.
That’s part of a cycle of books, I think five or six total, which I’ve read all of at this point. Firstly, I’ll just say that when I started the Earthsea cycle, it hit me very quickly that this was the author I’d been looking for my entire life. I’d never read prose that felt like that to me – it’s fantasy, but she’s also done a ton of sci-fi, and there’s so much of her work I’ve yet to dive into. But it hit me like: This is the author I’m going to take my time with and absorb more and more of her work over the course of my life. That’s already how her work feels to me.
This quote is from Earthsea, and it’s kind of from an innocuous moment. It’s just: “Quick as he had once done at Roke, Ged took the shape of a great hawk: not the sparrowhawk they called him but the Pilgrim Falcon that flies like an arrow, like thought.” The first time I heard it, and almost every time I hear it, it gives me goosebumps. I get very activated by it. It’s not a profound saying; it doesn’t have major weight to it. But it hit me in a really lyrical way that’s hard to explain, but I’ll do my best. The idea of great lyrics to me – and probably great writing and poetry, but lyrics is where I live when it comes to writing – is the ability to distill a feeling, an intensity, or an expression into the smallest possible strike so that it rings as true as it can without inflating it. With these words, there are already a million ways to describe an arrow, and then reducing that further to describe a falcon that flies like an arrow, which is what this thing is doing, “like thought” is such a crazy weight of a descriptor because it makes me think of so many things; so much connotation and intensity.
I’m trying to make it make more sense and sound less corny, but the idea of trying to describe the flight of a bird in the simplest terms possible – first, to call it an arrow, and then to describe that arrow as flying like thought – is such a beautifully precise descriptor. It sounds like intent, actualization, humanity, intellect, and all these things. It makes me visualize the idea of a falcon flying as the most straight and true thing that could possibly exist. It’s such a crazy amount of things that come from just saying “like thought.” So, I became utterly obsessed with it, for no reason other than I get hyper-fixated on things all the time. My brain is like, “Oh, that’s the best thing ever,” and now I’m going to think about it for nine months or whatever. It’s not that serious, probably to other folks, especially people who are, like, English majors. I don’t come from that territory. I only know what makes me excited, and I just think it was one of those things that reconfirmed for me that it’s possible to say the greatest thing you’ve ever heard in the least amount of words possible.
It made me really inspired to keep writing lyrics and to keep putting things together, imagining ways that words can make the world make more sense. It’s just the dream of writing coming alive for me in a really dumb, silly, small way. I just think it’s utterly perfect. Every time I hear it, I’m like, “I wish I could ever in my life write something that hit me the way that hits other people.”
I initially typed out “like a thought” to find the source, before realizing it’s “like thought,” which makes a big difference.
Right, there’s a major distinction. The idea of thought being zero disconnect from something, and then using that to describe the flight of an animal, is so strong.
You also have to be a really good writer to take such an abstract word and use it in such an exacting way.
That’s why I’ve become so obsessed with her. Every now and then some small thing she’ll say hits so perfectly. It’s not even grand gestures of storytelling, which I think she’s also great at, and I thoroughly enjoy her stories; but it’s just the way she talks about something that’s so exactly right for what my brain wants to hear or understand about the world. It’s medicine to me.
Do you spend a long time hyper-fixating on your own lyrics in a similar way?
That definitely happens, and it happens with titles, too. I have a working notes document where anytime I hit a title that feels inspiring to me, I’ll write it in there. Some of them just stick with me forever. It’s like, “I know this will be a title, I just don’t know what the song is yet.” It’ll just sit in my phone forever. One of them that I never made into a song but think about all the time is ‘Sinewy Brooklyn Bicep’, which is a very specific, gay-brained thing that I could say, and I feel like any gay person on earth – any American, especially – would be like, “I know what that is.” But to me, it was a very distinct thing that I thought was really funny but also horny in a very specific way. So I fixated on that for a long time, but nothing ever came of it.
And that happens a lot. I’ll fixate on lyrics, an idea I want to make a song into, or a sound or aesthetic I want to try to achieve. ‘No Past Lives’, that song from my record Obsidian in 2013, the entire aesthetic sound of that song was a hyper-fixation. I knew exactly what I wanted to try and execute, and it was a matter of getting there. Being like, “Oh, it’s not right yet; oh, it’s getting closer; ah, here we are.” So, it’s helpful in some ways, but in other ways, it’s the most annoying thing in the world.
Underwear parties
This definitely relates to the song ‘Chaos’, but also obviously the lead single, ‘Sea of Men’, and that lyric that’s so central to the whole record: “Carnal is the normal mode.” What’s striking to me about the album is how the spiritual often disrupts the carnal, often in the form of chaos or dissociation.
Yeah, my human brain – that’s what happens. There’s always this kind of religious undertone that battles with that stuff and makes me second-guess myself, even when I’m in full confidence. When I mention underwear parties, it’s specifically talking about this kind of party that went through the States for a number of years called the DILF party, which is literally an acronym for Dad I’d Like to Fuck. Which is very silly, but also, they were great parties with the exact kind of men I was attracted to, so I kept going. I was terrified to go my first time, which makes sense – going headfirst into the deep end of something like that is a pretty intimidating experience. But once I was in it, it was this whole other experience of life and actualization as a gay person that I’d never felt before. I started off, with the subtitle of this, by saying “intentionally aggrandizing,” which is kind of what you do. You force yourself, at least for me, almost into this idea of being larger than life. I have reservations about what I look like or what I think I look like, and mild body dysmorphia – I’ve always had trouble with how I appear to other people, and I lose confidence very quickly.
In those underwear parties, there’s nothing to hide about your body. You’re just in your underwear. Because of that, and because all these folks end up on this equal playing field of weird, all-animal nudity— – we’re all just beasts, suddenly – my brain switches, and I do this thing of almost pretending I think I’m hotter than I am, or that I’m more self-assured or confident than I am. I’ll still be shy, but in moments, I’ll walk right up to somebody I think is hot and just be like, “Hey, you look great. How’s it going?” And I feel like I’m 10 feet outside of myself – I’m watching myself do those things. It’s very not me. I’m an open and gregarious person to talk to, but I don’t have that kind of confidence in everyday life. So, it’s this weird thing of almost a practiced second self or second body. As the night moves on and it fills with more people, it’s just sweaty and meaty and gross, and really, really horny in a way that’s very specific to that kind of event. It’s a very unique thing that rewired my brain a little bit in terms of what I thought was even possible as a human being or as a gay person.
I feel like the intensity of those things still ended up going both ways: it’s a uniquely positive and actualizing experience as a gay person, but in equal measure, it can also be really lonely and isolating because you’re maybe not getting with the person you want, or you keep having this thing of, “Oh, I think that guy’s really hot. Oh, he coupled up with somebody,” or, “I think this person is this way,” and then they’re 10 dicks deep on the dance floor. You’re like, “Well, I see they’re different than the way I thought I saw them,” which is fine. I’m a total slut myself, so I have no shame about any of that. But it’s more just this tug-of-war with your fantasies about what you think you want and what’s actually happening, and who you are in the mess of all of that. It’s just so out of this world – messy and positive and negative. It’s such an overwhelming thing that I can’t help but be inspired by the wildness of it.
I’m a person who still loves bathhouses and public bathing, especially gay bathhouses. I could talk about those for an entire interview – we don’t have time for that – but it’s a stem of that. Talking about these underwear parties is almost the more outward-facing thing of that. Bathhouses are the more intimate version, the more behind-closed-doors type of thing, whereas these underwear parties are explosive. There’s no way to not be inspired by it and to pull some of that into inspiration for this record.
Is that tug-of-war hard for you to capture in a body of work as a whole, especially as you move from an experience to inspiration to expression?
I don’t think it’s expressly difficult, but I also don’t think it’s expressly easy. The way I do it is I let singular emotions have their moment. The euphoria of that sort of experience – that’s ‘Eden’. That’s what that song is, where I’m allowing the sexuality and the heightened sense of self and all of that to run at full throttle. That song is literally about having sex with an angel – it’s ridiculous. That’s the effort of allowing that emotion to have as much intent as possible. But then songs like ‘Verity’ and ‘Chaos’ are much more in the doubt of that: who am I as a person if I’m living this way and going this hard on these things, I’m this sexual? ‘Verity’ especially, because that one is a more difficult song. I’m all for having as many emotions as you want and making music go in any direction, but as a listener, to bring someone into the feeling you’re talking about, you have to let an emotion exist for them, however weird or obscure it is. You’ve got to let that ride sometimes. That’s my methodology: trying to give things the time they need to be felt.
Ex-Christianity
A lot of this is kind of subtext on the album, until the closing track, ‘Sound of a Blooming Flower’, where you refer to “a childhood structured by God.” How would you trace that relationship with Christianity and faith, as it affected you while you were the making the album?
I think Christianity – as a life metric, as a way to live, which is the service of a lot of religions – regardless of what I believe, it has existed as a metric for how my life was going to be. Whenever something went wrong, I would have to give it up to God. I would pray on the regular. I would marry a woman. I would do all these things that make sense for what a good Christian would be. The older you get, especially as a gay person, you gain more perspective, and for me, it started to fall apart faster and faster. I was like, there are things about this ideology that relate to me in terms of being a good person, but other parts of it are so maddeningly restrictive and indefensible to me in some ways that it’s like: What am I doing here, and why believe in something that is so flawed to everything that rings true to me about art, actualization, selfhood, personhood, gayness?
Describing it as the loss of one compass and gaining another is very much how it works for me with my relationship to religion. Christianity was a direction – I knew where I was going, what would happen to me, and how to get there. Having to abandon that meant either gaining a new religion, which didn’t, in my mind, help at all with all the different things I was going through, or creating basically a religion for myself where there isn’t religion, but just wide acceptance and understanding of everybody’s different versions of how they see the world. Using pieces of those that make the most sense to me and how I want to live a good life. There are lingering pieces of Christianity that will never escape my brain, try as I might; there are just some things that come back in a flash. But then, other times, I feel like I’ve blissfully superseded that, and I am so adult and confirmed in who I am that it seems miraculous I’ve figured out a way to live and move through my life.
Of course, everything about being a gay person is a mess and chaos, and you’re never 100% sure you’re doing the thing that makes the most sense – at least for me. My gay self and my gay brain have always been like, “What am I doing? Is any of this correct?” But at the same time, I keep seeing the rewards of staying myself. Even though it’s messy, staying true to what I think makes the most sense has continued to work for me and help flavor my art, my love life, my friendships – everything about the way I live makes more sense trusting myself in that way. And then staying open – I have to be able to trust the world as a whole in the same way I trust myself, that there are other people who will know things that I don’t, that I need to listen to and absorb. It’s all cyclical, but my point here is that the Christian things and religious things I can’t escape come up for me in the weirdest moments, when I’m almost so far along and doing well in how I see the world that it’s almost perverse. It’s impossible to escape in the way I write lyrics.
Gay illustration
This isn’t a new theme in your work, but how do you feel it fed into Gut in a way that was different? Is there a bigger chasm between the depiction of fantasy and the real world?
I think what it is is that I’m just further along on the timeline of being a person obsessed with gay illustration. There’s a difference between someone who just discovered it, someone who’s five years into it, and someone like me, who’s probably 15 to 20 years into it. It’s been a massive part of my life forever, and I can’t get enough of it. I’m still constantly saving images to my phone all the time. The difference is basically the depth – I’m this deep in that obsession, and how that relates to what I’m attracted to in the world, and how distorted that may or may not be. It’s a battle in both directions. I’m becoming more adult and mature, understanding how much of what I love about illustration is fantasy, and how to compartmentalize fantasy versus expectations of the real world and men I would meet or try to form relationships with. It’s another brain battle that’s happening all the time.
I don’t think I’ll ever do away with my obsession for gay illustration because I don’t want to, and it’s informed so many positive things. It’s a very healthy thing, but there are moments of unhealthiness with how deep I can get with my expectations of men, of the way I want the world to be. The projection of fantasy – it’s not unlike the way anybody else projects fantasy on looking at the most beautiful people in the world all the time. You start to get unhealthy ideas of what you’ll get out of the world or people you think you should associate with. It’s a constant level of re-engaging and undoing the wrong thoughts about it, and then learning the balance of all of that. It sounds kind of ridiculous when it’s like, “You’re having to deal with all this just looking at cartoons.” But it’s that deep with me, and it informs so much of what I feel and write about.
My imagination is disgustingly big – I mean that with my full chest. It sounds silly to boast about, but if there are characters I’m obsessed with, I build entire vast fictions in my head of how they are a gay person, the things they do, and the way they move through the world. It helps me articulate my own thoughts and things I want to have myself do and accomplish and see in the world. It’s the way anybody projects their own life onto a character in a TV show or whatever else in live action. For whatever reason, the thoroughfare for me is easier with illustrated or animated characters, and so I go really ham on that.
It makes me think of the line, “The dream isn’t wild, it isn’t new,” from ‘Cedar Stairwell’.
It’s cool that you pointed out that line because I feel like ‘Cedar Stairwell’ is maybe the riskiest song for me in terms of misinterpretation. If people don’t put enough focus or weight on that lyric, the whole song comes across wrong. The idea with that song – not to tell you how you should interpret a song – is that the dream isn’t wild, it isn’t new, and then the song describes a fantasy. I think some people, if they’re not paying attention well enough or sort of breeze by the first line, read that as a reality for me. The whole point is that it’s not, and that’s the only way that song makes sense.
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
It’s a trilogy, technically: The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and then Death’s End. It’s probably the best science fiction I’ve ever read in my life. My brother forced me to start diving into it, and I couldn’t believe how far it goes. It just goes further and further than anything you can expect. The first time I felt that way about a piece of science fiction was the first time I played the first Mass Effect game, which is a very isolated experience, but I was obsessed with the story in that game. This story is untouchable. I’ve never read anything like it in my life, probably never will again. One of the most central things of it is – I don’t want to say nihilism, because I’m not in my depth about that; I’m not researched on it – but if you talk about it in a profound way, the idea that nothing matters, and what that actually means about how you live your own life: it can be spun as a positive.
I think so much of that story and the way I felt about it is ultimately very terrifying and bigger than you could ever imagine, but in a way where it makes the way you live your life so much more about yourself and your surroundings, keeping to what keeps you happy in your own world, as opposed to trying to think about the weight of your relation to the universe as having meaning, which is completely irrelevant. I don’t really know how to go into it well enough because these books are way smarter than I will ever be. But it just made me terrified at first, but then kind of feeling positive by the end of it, about how, even if I live my life wrong or backwards, or I don’t do what I set out to do, I think it will still end up being good because, in equal measure, none of anybody’s lives matter. It’s spooky at first, but when you come to the balance of that, it’s kind of like, “Well, we’re gonna do what we’re gonna do.”
Video games: Returnal and Monster Hunter
I’m a big gaming person, and I mentioned those because they were full-fledged life lessons for me – not just, “Hey, you gotta check out these games; they’re really fun.” Returnal is an extremely difficult game. It’s this genre called roguelikes or roguelites, and it basically taught me to play games like that and taught me perseverance and what it takes to master something. I haven’t been in school for over a decade – learning new things is a really arduous process, and this game forces you to take a step back, be patient, and learn the way it needs you to play it. It was a massively rewarding experience. It’s one of my favorite games of all time at this point.
Monster Hunter, on the other side of that, is a more communal and fun and shared experience than any game I’ve ever played. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had gaming. You do it with three other people, where the four of you work together to take down a monster. As opposed to battling against your friends, where it gets kind of heated and you feel angry, it’s four of you working towards a computer objective. It ends up being ultimately far more fun for me because you’re just kind of like, “Oh, damn, we didn’t get it. Let’s go again – let’s get right back up on the horse and try one more time.” I love them both dearly, and I think all those things were happening to me during the recording process of this record.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Asheville-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Colin Miller has announced a new album, Losin’, which is out April 25 on Mtn Laurel Recording Co. The follow-up to Miller’s 2023 debut Haw Creek finds him reuniting with producer Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studio and features MJ Lenderman on drums and lead lines, as well as Lenderman’s Wednesday bandmates Xandy Chelmis on pedal steel and Ethan Baechtold on bass and keys. Check out the lead single ‘Cadillac’ below, and scroll own for the album cover and tracklist.
The pedal steel guitar does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting on ‘Cadillac’, an infectious tune that takes a vignette-like approach to heartbreak. “In the blood-black tinted window Cadillac/ It’s a good day at the wreck-yard/ It’s a bad day for my heart,” Miller sings.
Losin’ Tracklist:
Losin’ Tracklist:
1. Birdhouse
2. Porchlight
3. Cadillac
4. 4 Wheeler
5. Hasbeen
6. I Need a Friend
7. Lost Again
8. Little Devil
9. Thunder Road
