Do you really know the person you see or do you just know the face they put on? Freda Conlon formerly of Kiss My Acid and now with the mysterious Nxb0dies talked to Gary Trueman about the masks people use, her new project and how her acoustic act Miss Fragile was born. It’s a frank, open and honest chat about moving from the dark and becoming a happy person.
We need to catch up with where you are now. Kiss My Acid has gone and you have a new band called Nxb0dies which is Nobodies isn’t it. So explain the name and the spelling because there’s been some hilarity you’ve heard with people trying to pronounce it.
“There’s a lot to Nxb0dies, it’s not just a band. There’s a whole concept and I’m being very vague and I have to be in what I say because I don’t want to give too much away. The band is one part of it. With the name the zero obviously stands for zero and the x stands for x as in nothing, in algebra it’s unknown. There are a lot of metaphors and concepts in the songs and in the name. And that’s only one thing. It’s more of an art collective than a band. The videos are going to give a lot away and there are hints and clues. I am going somewhere with it but I’m not telling anyone at the moment. You’ll find out.”
What about the hilarious versions of the name with people pronouncing it all kinds of ways?
“I love it, it’s funny. N-x-b-zero-dies. Nix-bodies. Even when people can’t spell it properly. It’s not even spelt properly any ways haha.”
Who is in the band part of this collective?
“This is where it gets confusing. I actually started Nxb0dies in 2018 and it was just me on my own. I pretended it was a whole thing and people thought I was a band on my own. Then I met Gritty who is in the band. The we got my brother Killian in for photos. It was funny because we were playing games with people and we got booked. And it was just my brother and Gritty in the band. Then we actually got a drummer in and he’s in now. There isn’t just three people in Nxb0dies there’s a few people. There’s a whole reason for everything. The people in the masks in the video, they are in Nxb0dies. Everyone who is a part of it is in Nxb0dies. I come from a small town and I’m not really anybody important. I know a lot of bands and I know a lot of people, but I don’t feel like anyone is famous or different. Everyone are just people. It dawned on me how everyone labels themselves and then they stick by that label. People are afraid to change. As someone who is creative I’m always changing and transforming myself. I don’t really want to give anything away. I hope it will become a movement.”
As for music you’ve put out a couple of videos. The first one was quite accessible. That will be an exception to what the rest will sound like. Is that true?
“The album is a concept album and each song tells a part and each album is like a chapter in a book. There’s a lot to explain and it even confuses me. The first single ‘Comatose’, that was the radio song. That was the catchy one to reel in the fish.”
So the rest of it is going to be quite moody is it?
“Yes, the second one ‘Gloomsday’, I put so much into the video for that one. There are hints in that of what the next song will be. It’ll all make sense when everything comes out. You’ll look back on it and go…. Ahhh! It’s like when you watch a film and you don’t know what the fuck is going on and then when you watch it again you get it. You notice more things. That’s what this is like.”
We also need to talk about you playing acoustically under the Miss Fragile name. That’s played a big part in a lot of things to do with yourself and your confidence hasn’t it? Being able to face an audience without having had a shit full of drink first. It takes you out of that safety zone.
“That was scary. The only reason I started playing on my own was after Kiss My Acid was gone. Rebellion asked me to play the acoustic stage and I said no, I can’t really do that. I wanted to be with my band and I was scared. Then I was like, do you know what, fuck it, I’ll push myself. I played on my own and as soon as I did I started getting asked to play loads of gigs on my own. It was scary and I hated it.”
You get really bad stage nerves don’t you?
“Only on my own. When I’m with a band it’s different because the music that I play has more energy. On my own it’s very stripped down and people can hear what I’m singing about. People can see my soul when I sing on my own. People can’t hear shit when I sing in a band.”
You played again acoustically again this year and you had no booze?
“I had half a beer right before I went on, so that doesn’t count haha. That’s a milestone for me. To come to Rebellion and not drink, not that I’m sober or anything, but just taking it easy is a weird feeling. In the last few years I’ve really had a spiritual awakening and really got to know myself. That’s also where Nxb0dies comes from. I think a lot of people mask stuff and hide themselves. When I used to come out and be drunk all the time, everyone knew drunk Freda but they didn’t know the sober one. It’s really funny because I used to be so brightly coloured at my darkest times and now I’m pure dark and I’m the happiest I’ve been. People are like, you look so goth now, and I’m the happiest I’ve been.”
You are beaming right now. It’s like a new found maturity that you’ve come through to?
“I feel like a completely new person. When I look back, that’s why I started Nxb0dies, because I think who the fuck is that person? I think people latch on to who they were and feel the need to keep up that appearance. Even people in their 50s, they’re still trying to be who they were in their youth. I think that’s why people get depressed. Just do what you want to do and don’t give a fuck. If you wake up tomorrow and decide you want to be a yoga instructor or anything it doesn’t matter. Whatever makes you happy, do it. Even if it’s weird and you think to yourself what the fuck am I doing, do it. Because once you’re happy it doesn’t matter.”
As Miss Fragile, the reaction people have had to you performing acoustically has been amazing too hasn’t it? You’re baring your soul to people and they are loving it.
“Yeah, it’s weird because the name is in it, Miss Fragile. I wrote all those songs in a very dark time so they’re really hard to sing. Miss Fragile was one of the characters that I was, but at the same time the most realist me. I was like I want to let everyone know everything, here I am, stripped down. This is me! I’m not this bubbly cool person, this drunk person. I’m fucking broken. That was that time. And now with Nxb0dies, it’s going to be a complete mind fuck. I can’t wait. I’m excited.”
Are you happy to move forward and do both Nxb0dies and Miss Fragile?
“I kind of want to put Miss Fragile to rest. I mean if I get asked to I will play those songs because they are still a part of me. The song ‘Gloomsday’ is about killing your old self and being reborn as a new person. All those people are still a part of you at that time. You have to love every piece of the puzzle of yourself.”
Obviously we’ll see more of Nxb0dies gradually being revealed. Are you planning to play more shows and to come to the UK again?
“Definitely. It’s taken off slow because of the pandemic but I also wrote more songs for the band and came up with more ideas. We were ready to go in 2019 but looking back we weren’t. So it’s weird how things work out. I really believe in everything happening for a reason. A couple of years ago I had a lot of the album written on my phone and it got destroyed and I lost the whole album. I had to re-write everything. I’ve never really believed in God but I feel like there is a higher power or something because shit happens to me that I can’t explain. So I’m incorporating every piece of me and my life into this and I’m going to give it my all.”
Interview and photos by Gary Trueman