Is it a horse? Is it a girl? No, it's Chicago teen troupe Horsegirl! Can't fly, great at music. Probably a more useful superpower, anyway.
Words: Sam Taylor. Photos: Todd Fisher.
Chicago teens Horsegirl - Penelope Lowenstein, Nora Cheng, and Gigi Reece - are putting their own spin on harmony-laden lo-fi with new single 'Billy'. Their first for Matador Records, it's the kind of instantly loveable racket that you can easily end up having on repeat all afternoon. With an album already in the bag, it's not daft to say they're likely to end up as one of the highlights of 2022.
Hi guys, what are you up to today? Are you all good?
Hello! We're good! Nora and Gigi are in New York in their first year of college. Penelope is in Chicago finishing up her senior year of high school. Gigi and Nora just saw LCD Soundsystem yesterday, and Penelope has a driving lesson this afternoon. Long-distance band things can be difficult, but we got to see each other in person a couple weekends ago. We drove around, ate Indian food, and watched the Woodstock 99 documentary.
How did you lot meet and decide to form the band, then?
Penelope and Nora met in a music program and realised they had some overlapping tastes. We started playing together, and when Gigi joined shortly thereafter, things started picking up more. We wrote a number of songs and slowly began to play at open mics and DIY shows in Chicago.
Can you remember the first song you wrote together?
The first song we wrote was 'Sea Life Sandwich Boy'. We think its pretty good! Since it was our first time writing a song, and it took forever! Since then, our process has become much faster since we understand each other's creative intentions and how to express our own, and we can usually finish a new song in a few days.






