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Together, Ider are a force to be reckoned with: "The heart of all the music we write is our friendship"

On Ider’s debut album ‘Emotional Education’, Lily Somerville and Megan Markwick are dishing out some life lessons.

For a hot second, Ider are managing to catch their breath. They're currently in a taxi heading from airport to festival venue, and things are just about running on time. Their summer is set to be filled with mad dashes like this as the band bring their emotionally-driven, heart pop to stages around the world. It might be chaotic, but Lily Somerville and Megan Markwick wouldn't have it any other way.

The band and their friendship started as a group project at University seven years ago, but Ider quickly discovered there was more to explore than good grades. Inseparable since their first performance, the pair have joined forces like some sort of poptastic Megazord to create Ider. The word was meaningless when they first named their band; now it's who they are when they're together.

For Lily, being a pop artist was probably always going to happen. "I was lucky enough to have supportive parents who were always telling me do what you love, and that was music. It felt inevitable that I would want to pursue that."

For Megan, "it was such a dream . I hope this doesn't come across as corny, but it wasn't until I met Lily that it actually felt possible." The reality is different, though. "It's so up and down," continues Megan.

It's an idea that's explored on ‘Swim'. The last song recorded for their debut album, it looks at the anxieties and struggles of chasing dreams and trying to wrestle them into a workable reality but still finds the positives. As gruelling as it sometimes may be, Ider are never alone. "I don't know how solo artists do it because it's not easy at all," offers Lily. "Thank god we've got each other."

"The two of us figuring out the world with our music, that's always been the heart of Ider. That's what we pride ourselves on, but over the years we've had various ‘who are we?' moments of doubt," admits Lily, as Megan continues: "The heart of all the music we write and at the heart of the album, is our friendship and our relationship with each other.

Sometimes one of them will write 90% of a song, while the other acts as an outside voice and editor who help push things forward. Other times they sit in a room together and a song "will fall out of us."

"We didn't have a conscious vision for the album, but we knew we wanted it to say something," continues Megan. "Choosing to call it ‘Emotional Education', it says something. You know when you read something, and it stops and makes you think for a second? That's what we wanted.

Because of social media and how easy it is to communicate, "There's a lot of connection on paper, but is that a deep connection?" Lily muses. If everyone's talking, who's listening? "This record and us as a band, it's about our connection with each other, and hopefully that will spread."

Taken from the August issue of Upset. Ider's debut album 'Emotional Education' is out 19th July.

Words: Ali Shutler

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