Baby Said is a supremely talented band made up of two sisters, Jessica and Veronica Pal. The siblings began playing music at a young age and cut their teeth busking in the street. They created a cover band called AstroModa and later changed their name to Baby Said after a song from Italian rock band Maneskin.
The dynamic duo sat for a chat before their set at the Iceland Airwaves music festival.
JN: (Jerry Nunn) After missing you at South by Southwest, it’s good to catch up with you at Iceland Airwaves. Does it feel like you are constantly touring?
JP: (Jessica Pal) It calmed down a bit in the summer, so we used that time to write new music.
VP: (Veronica Pal) We did loads of festivals and it was so scattered that we felt open to write.
JN: You are originally from the UK?
JP: Yes, we are from the UK and we are half Italian, half Punjabi.
VP: Mom used to be a singer in Italy and sang ballroom songs. It’s nothing like we do now. [laughs] When she came to the UK, she performed a few nights in restaurants or a few songs in church. I have a vivid memory of me sitting on the sofa watching TV and she stood there in the dining room. She had her music stand and she practiced all the time.
JP: I was six years old and I wanted to play the guitar. She joined me and didn’t like it.
JN: It’s not an easy instrument.
JP: When I first started, the tip of my finger was slightly discolored. It’s because the skin kept coming off and blistering. Now it is really hard and I don’t have much feeling in it.
JN: Paying your dues with a battle wound. Has the music business been a big learning curve for you?
JP: I never thought that in my first year of driving, I would be driving around on tour.
JN: Do you like touring?
JP: Yes, we like touring, but it can be tiring. We are doing the driving and the late nights. After the gigs we have to go and can’t relax.
VP: When we stop, then we don’t know what to do with ourselves sometimes. When we wind up back in the classroom or working in a pub, it’s funny to think about us just being onstage performing and adjusting to everyday life.
JN: One minute you are serving drinks and the next minute serving rock music at a festival. We have to get you to Lollapalooza.
VP: We would love that. Is there a beach in Chicago?
JN: Yes, there’s a sandy beach on Lake Michigan and a gay beach by my house.
JP: Lovely, like Coraline’s Farm then…
JN: Sure. [everyone laughs] Have you been to Chicago?
VP: No. The first time we went to the States was when we were at South by Southwest.
JN: This is the first time for Iceland Airwaves?
JP: Yes, this is the first time everywhere we have toured this year.
VP: That’s mad to think about…
JN: You are named after a Maneskin song? They played Lolla and that singer is hot. Is he going solo?
JP: I think they are coming back together and are supposed to tour in 2026.
VP: Their agent is our booking agent.
JN: Is that how you were granted permission to use your stage name?
JP: We met her afterwards. We couldn’t find a name and learned that bands sometimes name themselves after a song, like The Cure and The Rolling Stones.
JN: Yes, The Cure was called Easy Cure based on a song and The Rolling Stones were named after a Muddy Waters song “Rollin’ Stone.”
JP: So we chose the Maneskin song “Baby Said” to name our band.
VP: There was a moment in Germany where they announced us by name and the crowd went wild.
JN: How do you describe your live shows to someone who hasn’t seen you perform yet?
VP: Energetic and jumping around onstage.
JP: There’s a lot of hair choreography everywhere. If we can’t move it out of our face or mouth, then we will swallow our hair down our throat.
VP: We might choke, but we will try to make it sound good.
JN: How was performing at Glastonbury?
JP: It was really cool and it was our first time being at the festival. Let’s be honest, we couldn’t afford to go there as a patron, but we got to play it and enjoy it.
JN: Was it overwhelming?
VP: I was okay and excited.
JN: What is your age difference?
VP: We are 21 months apart.
JN: That’s almost like an Irish twin, which is less than 12 months apart. Did that make you two closer, being almost the same age?
VP: Yes, we did have to share rooms and we had no personal space.
JN: What does your mother think of your music career?
JP: I think she is very excited.
VP: She is proud, but didn’t expect us to do all of this.
JP: Now that we both drive, she will ask us where we are going and sometimes it’s to the airport for the tour. She’s just watching from afar.
VP: We wouldn’t be able to do everything that we have without her. She constantly made sure I was practicing. I was six years old and I just wanted to sit around in my room, but she was the person pushing me to be the best musician that I could be.
Now we are here and she helped us. When we had a cover song band, she helped get us to gigs for that. If we had done that band, we wouldn’t have gone on this Baby Said journey. It all started with her support.
JP: I picked up music during the lockdown. I picked up the guitar and then was on and off with the piano and keyboards. Veronica was playing the guitar, so I thought I must play piano then. I was pretty good at it, but I didn’t like it and probably not good at it anymore.
I saw Maneskin playing on TV and didn’t know what a bass was. I asked what it was and my mother bought a kit to learn on. She told me she would kill me if I didn’t use it and the minute it arrived, I couldn’t be detached from it. Every morning before school, I would run down to eat quickly and then play bass in my room until I had to leave. After school, I would run straight to my room to play again. That was my life.
JN: And now you have battle scars on your fingers. How is your new music coming along?
JP: There are two new songs in the set tonight. We have been writing and experimenting with having fun.
VP: When we did the album, it was quick and we had certain dates that were deadlines. This time, we are taking it slow. We laugh while creating a track and we keep it in the background of the song. We are having a lot of fun.
JN: That’s a good approach and will keep it from feeling like a job. What artists inspire you?
JP: Maneskin inspired our name to begin with and it is constantly evolving. We have always liked Arctic Monkeys, but The Warning was a more recent one. I have become a big fan of Turnstile. I went to one of their shows the night before I flew to Iceland. It was unreal.
JN: A person’s musical influences can sometimes define a band. Do you feel that’s true in your case?
JP: It changes and you can start to hear it when we listen to different kinds of music, such as melodies and guitar tones. We try to keep our Baby Said sound, but we still change a few things and keep evolving.
VP: Something I try to work into every song I do is chromaticism from classical music.
JP: Listeners won’t even know they are listening to it when they do.
JN: Doesn’t that build structure into your music?
VP: Yes. I will take jazz music and put a seventh chord into a song to make it spicy. Sometimes I will add a Spanish guitar to a piece. I try to make the music extravagant and unique.
JN: Do you inject your heritage into your songbook?
VP: We have written in Italian for a small section in “Mouth Shut.” We have some songs that sound very European, like “Take Everything.”
JN: Well, hopefully you can play Lollapalooza one day next year.
JP: Yes, let’s put it out in the world for good luck!