Heather Baron-Gracie (born 17 January 1995) is a British singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the guitarist and vocalist for the indie rock band Pale Waves.
Life and career
Early life
Heather Baron-Gracie was born in Preston, Lancashire. Around the time she started secondary school, Baron-Gracie experienced a debilitating back injury: "I didn't have an accident. It just happened," she told the Evening Standard in 2018. "I was complaining for ages that my back was in pain but people just thought I was just growing. I was doing sports with a broken back for ages." The injury which was severe enough that Baron-Gracie required spinal fusion surgery very nearly paralysed her, and it forced her to miss an entire year of school. It was during her recovery that Baron-Gracie got deeply invested in music: "I was always into [music] ... But when that happened, I was staying in my house and wrote music loads. And ever since that, this is what I want to do."
Baron-Gracie attended the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) in Manchester, where she met future Pale Waves drummer, Ciara Doran. The two connected via a college-sponsored Facebook group and, thanks to their similar aesthetic and personality, they quickly befriended one another.
Pale Waves
Originally called "Creek", Pale Waves was founded by Baron-Gracie and Doran in 2014. The band later expanded to include Hugo Silvani and Charlie Wood. Pale Waves is signed to the independent label Dirty Hit and has released an EP, All the Things I Never Said (2018), and two albums, My Mind Makes Noises (2018) and Who Am I? (2021). A third album, Unwanted, was released in August 2022.
Artistry
Influences
Much of the music Heather Baron-Gracie has written has been inspired by musicians from the 1980s, including The Cure, Prince, and Madonna. When discussing Pale Waves's second album Who Am I?, Baron-Gracie further cited Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, Courtney Love, Liz Phair, Michelle Branch, The Chicks, and Kacey Musgraves as inspiration. In terms of specific albums, Baron-Gracie has also cited The Cure's Disintegration (1989), Paramore's All We know Is Falling (2005) and Riot! (2007), Lucy Rose's Like I Used To (2012), Daughter's If You Leave (2013), and Muna's About U (2017) as inspiring both her and Pale Waves's musical style.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Baron-Gracie cited Dolores O'Riordan as her main vocal influence, saying: "I love The Cranberries. They were amazing. I definitely looked up to Dolores O'Riordan. She has one of my favourite voices of all time. She gave off that attitude – she was totally herself. I loved her fashion sense, she was such a cool person".
Musical equipment
Baron-Gracie is known for playing Vox Phantoms. She received her first of these guitars as a birthday present from Matty Healy of the 1975. However, due to the guitar's size, Baron-Gracie struggled to play it during live shows, telling Magnet magazine: "It sounded amazing, it played amazing, but it was a 12-string, and it was difficult to play live. I'm a tiny person and this guitar was just as big as me. It kept falling down." Jaime Oborne, the head of the record label Dirty Hit, subsequently reached out to a guitar enthusiast that he knew. This individual built Baron-Gracie a custom black Vox Phantom six-string that she could use during live performances.