With “Pendle Hill” out now, we took some time to hear from Marie Franc. Read below to learn more about Marie Franc, the story behind “Pendle Hill,” and what’s to come.

Hi! Let’s start with how did the band’s name come about?

It’s my (Rachel – lead singer) middle name! Marie Francesca.

What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?

A third of the band is from the north west – we’ve got a Brummie and a Welsh man, and we all walk into bars, more often than we care to admit.

How and when did the band form?

It formed about 2 years ago, by accident. Rach and Trav live together, we bought Dan from Facebook Marketplace and the Bens – we adopted.

How would you all describe your band’s sound?

Dark Pop Heartbreakers from Manchester.

Who are some of your band’s main musical influences?

Depending on who you ask in the band, it can vary from Josh Homme, Leonard Cohen to Vanilla Ice.

What’s one of the proudest moments of your band’s music career so far?

We have had a lot of proud moments: recording and releasing our debut EP, playing with some great artists like Ellur, Tom Rowley, and playing venues like Grayston Unity, New Century Hall in Manchester.

What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?

That being in the band isn’t just playing music, you need to do everything – socials, marketing, bookings – it’s a lot of admin alongside just practicing, writing and playing gigs.

Now onto “Pendle Hill.” What inspired this song? What is “Pendle Hill” about?

The song began as a retelling of the Pendle Witches. Historically, “witch” was a label to punish women and outsiders who didn’t conform, those deemed too visible, too free, too difficult to control. As I was writing “Pendle Hill,” it became impossible not to channel the women around me who face that same persecution today – trans women and queer women, and the political witch hunt against them. The song is a celebration of their strength and resistance, and reframes the witch as a figure to represent their survival.

What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for “Pendle Hill?”

We took it in the moors – so it felt right to keep the location of the shoot local. It was a very misty miserable day when we took the shots, I feel like the mist really suited the atmosphere. I was appearing from the mist in costume scaring hikers.

What was the creative process like when making “Pendle Hill?”

It was a hard shoot, we did all the visuals in Bury – it was a super windy and cold day. We did the shoot with a bunch of friends, and it was a good 6 to 7 hour process of shooting visuals, taking photos, redoing bits to make sure we had plenty of content, it was probably our most organised and prepped shoot for a song we have done so far and we were all really proud with the outcomes.

How long did it take to complete “Pendle Hill?”

It took about 2 or 3 sessions to write the track, one day to record it, and then one windy day in the moors to record visuals for it.

What do you all hope fans take away from “Pendle Hill” and your group’s music in general?

We want fans to take anything they want from it, that’s what music is all about.

What’s next? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?

We have some exciting plans in the works for the summer, a few festival slots such as Truck Festival, Together Again and a few more in the works. We are excited to play to some new fans in the sunshine.

Where can we follow you all on social media?

You can follow us on Instagram and Tiktok – are handles are @mariefrancmusic.

Before you all go, let’s ask an off-topic question. Favorite viral video of all time?

The old woman who says, “Where did you get your car from?”

Thank you all for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!