Paris Paloma wants "more support for women and less competition” in the music industry

If you don’t know who Paris Paloma is by now you have to be at an unfortunate cross section of over 25, not on TikTok and not a Florence + The Machine fan. Building from her 2024 viral release 'labour', which discusses the ever present issue of women hauling the weight of the emotional labour in their relationships, Paloma released her debut album and turned it into a support slot on Florence Welch’s Everybody Scream tour. It’s women supporting women, supporting women. 

It only makes sense then, that Paloma’s next move is to headline an all-women festival within a festival; The Garden @ Summer’s End Angus (SEA) Festival in Bechin, Scotland, 14-16 August 2026. The Garden is a space that prioritises women in the crowd and on the stage – founded in reaction to the appalling lack of women on festival lineups in the UK, and consistent appalling reports of sexual assaults in festival spaces, The Garden @ SEA is a space for safety, creativity and for community. 

The Garden is a purpose built environment, built for women by women, tackling issues women face in the music industry and wider society head on. Paloma’s live shows are “an act of resistance” and “self preservation”, her music is inseparable from politics and performances are inseparable from community – this collaboration, the coming together of artist and environment promises to hold untold magic. 

Paloma joins me via video call nine days after the end of her tour. She’s bright, airy, fresh faced and rested. Charismatic and thoughtful from the get-go, we dive straight into her live performances. 

Your shows look like moments of enormous, cathartic sisterhood. What do you hope that sisterhood can achieve together?

I hope we can achieve more of a culture of intersectionality when it comes to feminism in pop culture. I think I've got a really wonderful and accepting and diverse fan base. There's a lot of queer women, a lot of trans women and trans people, a lot of women of colour. And I think there was a time where we witnessed discussions of feminism being incredibly capitalistic or girl boss or white feminists and not inclusive. And I am happy to say, I think a lot of people feel really welcomed in my fan base. I hope that that community is the end result of it all.

In August, you're headlining The Garden @ SEA, an all female space at Summer’s End Angus festival, you're doing a show at Earth in aid of Earth/Percent in London next week. How important is it to you to visibly and vocally act on the politics that's represented in your music?

I wouldn't describe it as being “important”, more that I feel the necessity of it all the time. When you're moved to the point of insanity by the news, by issues like climate change or injustice, art is my way of coping with that. I find it very foreign when artists claim “apolitical” as a label, which I don't think is a real thing, and I look up massively to to artists like at the moment like CMAT, like Zara Larsson, who are at the top of their game and being so unwavering in their voices and their platforms. I think that's when the best art is made as well.

What’s one thing you would change about the music industry if you could?

More women. More support of women. And less comparison and competition, as if there were limited seats at table. Women and queer artists are bringing their absolute A game, and at the height of their success being compared to one another like you need to back one horse in a race, and that's just not how it should be.

How does it feel to be headlining an all female lineup at this point in your career? 

It feels amazing. I feel like it's going to be so much fun. It reminds me of when I was starting out and doing shows that were like an absolute “man crowd”, and I would be one of the only female artists on the lineup. And I'm looking forward to just discovering loads of really great music by female artists.

Who are the women in the past and the present that inspire you?

I've been reading a tonne of bell hooks over the last couple years. I think in a time of mass division, and people assuming the worst intent from others, we understand that we disagree quite radically, but there's not a conversation about what we do to actually change that. I think bell hooks is one of those minds that really was doing that, and comes from a place of love, whilst not diminishing her anger at injustice. And I find that a solace. And present, like I said, the female artists right now who are using their voice [CMAT, Zara Larsson], Jade Thirlwall is another incredible one. Mon Rovia said it doesn't ruin your aesthetic to stand up for something. That’s just making sure everyone in your audience feels welcome. 

It's also how it's always been, musicians have always spoken out against things – it’s part of the job.

Middle aged men being like, 'Music isn't political,' and then they go home and listen to John Lennon. Like, wake up. 

You have an incredible talent for directly and poetically expressing yourself in a way that resonates immediately. Is that expression what your new single 'Miyazaki' is defending? 

Yeah, I think partially it's articulating yourself. I get comments from people being like, 'But I use AI for my emails, for my lessons, for my students' – and then they'll just list all these things which are humans communicating to other humans. And I'm baffled that people don't see that as really harrowing. Drawing and mark making and writing and doing things very badly has been forever a part of my life and the way I cope with things – it's defending that. Art isn't something to be commodified and made into a side hustle or bring you financial gain. It's literally just a human behaviour. That's what it's defending.

Tell me about “loser men” and working with Emma Thompson. 

Oh, it was so great. I'm good friends with Gaia, her daughter, and I had that song, 'Good Boy'. I knew I wanted to have the title of Rebecca Shaw's article as spoken word. I texted Gaia, and I was like, 'Can I approach your mum about it?' I'd met Emma at Shepherd's Bush when she came to my show, and she was so wonderful. And anyway, she was so up for it. She's got that mix of humour, but also, you know, she's lived it, because of everything that I'm sure she has experienced in her career, it ended up being so perfect. And I've spoken with her since, and like you know about problems of “the manosphere”, about how we’re in a really harrowing place in patriarchy, and she is so incredibly earnest in her worry. It makes me feel very seen to have conversations like that, cross-generationally with other women. 

You've just finished touring with Florence Welch. How was that? 

It was so good. I don't really know how to process such a formative experience. Not to be dramatic, but it feels a bit like a rebirth. You're re-assessing your ability when you come off of it. And Florence, I feel really lucky to have got to know her over that time as well. And she's so incredibly gracious, kind, warm and welcoming. Just watching her every night was like a field trip, I want to be great like her. She's second to none.

There was some great footage of you down in the crowd. How does that feel? And does it give you hope?

It does, it really does give me hope. In particular 'labour' is this kind of lightning rod for a lot of people's feelings about patriarchy. I just want to give them what they want. And what they want is to scream in a circle all together and have solidarity in that moment – that's something that we're really missing in our hearts. The community coming together and singing, before it's an act of resistance, it’s self preservation, you know? I think we need to bring that back in a big way, and I'm glad I get to do that with my crowds.

Lastly, if heaven is a fed girl, what's your favourite breakfast? 

The kind of brunch you find in Australia, like really fucking yummy avocado and mushroom and kale with nuts on it. I keep dreaming about the food that I was eating in Australia, because we don't do breakfast nearly as well here.

See Paris Paloma headline The Garden @ SEA, Brechin, Scotland, 14th-16th August 2026. Tickets here.