Mandy Lee Declares Her Independence With Cherry Bomb

Since Nosebleeds and its accompanying tour, the group has been on hiatus. But Lee never stopped writing and creating. Her output began to morph. New sounds, new visuals, new ideas — they came to her in ways that felt distinct than earlier in her career. Lee remained grounded in this period of evolution through practices like cooking, journaling, hosting parties, relying on the community she found in Los Angeles. She found inspiration in all of life’s pleasures.

Cherry Bomb is ready to embrace everything the solo life has to offer, proudly declaring her independence with her new single “Never Be Me (Motherfucker).” The track is pop perfection, chronicling her departure from her old life and excitement for the road ahead. Her fluttering vocals that earworm synths define this genre she’s calling “popera.”

The accompanying video, premiering exclusively on PAPER and directed by Matty Vogel, highlights bright, DIY-ed costumes and the feminine energy-filled community that’s helped her reach these new heights. Cherry Bomb sat down with PAPER to discuss people pleasing, feminine friendship, the future of her fanbase and why every party needs a theme.

Let’s start with your new single, “Never Be Me (Motherfucker)”. How do you feel putting this track out for the world?

So excited. Anxious and nervous, but I know that nerves are the same bodily sensation as excitement. So I’m just telling myself that I care and that’s why I’m having such a visceral response to this new chapter. But I’m just really happy it’s “Never Be Me,” because she’s a really good representation of what this project is about. She’s a declaration of independence. I got to do my favorite thing with her, which is taking pop music and turning it into something you can cathartically release on the dance floor. I’m happy it’s the intro to this new world.

That has me so excited for this new music. I want to know about the timeline. You’ve been teasing the song for a few months now. When did the decision to go solo come about? How did you create Cherry Bomb?

It was never my plan to tease it this long. I started in the summer when I wrote it because I had never done that. With the band, we came from a different upbringing where you didn’t share things until they were complete. This was independent and I wanted to share bits and pieces as I was making it. I was going to just release it on Distrokid but things took a turn and now I’m with AWAL, who I love and who is helping distribute the project independently. It took a lot of different iterations to get here.

I had the name for a couple years just sitting in my notes. When I’d make music that didn’t feel like Misterwives, I knew it felt like Cherry Bomb. I knew I wanted a moniker for the project because I came from the band world and I love that separation between the project and yourself. It gets to be larger than life. I loved that Misterwives had that. Cherry Bomb is a tribute to my nicknames growing up, like Firecracker. Plus, Ginger Spice was taken!

How unfortunate!

But Cherry Bomb was the perfect representation of duality of self. It’s sweet but explosive, so I just had that in the back of my head. The band knew we were going to take some time off. It had been over a decade of just album then tour, album then tour. We just wanted time away to come back energized. We made the conscious decision to take time off and put a pause on everything. But for me, the music didn’t pause. I kept writing and continued to explore parts of me. I knew it needed a new vessel and home that didn’t fit the Misterwives sound. Which is still an important part of me. I wanted to bring them back to life in a new way.

Tell me about the inspirations behind the song and video.

For the song, I had a playlist of inspo. There was Madonna, Robyn and lots of Kate Bush. I was joking while writing it, calling it “popera”. I learned opera in high school and thought it would be a fun way to differentiate sound. When I started writing this project, I was like “Fuck, this sounds like Misterwives”. It didn’t make sense for it to be a continuation of that. So I really had to find my own sound outside of the band. I knew I wanted to incorporate that floaty headvoice. I got to work with Jason Suwito who is a long time friend and collaborator. Fun was our goal. I wanted it to be a song you could dance out a loveless love to. I’m such a sucker for my live shows, and I know what I want the energy to be there. It’s such a unique sound, with disco and the vocal production. I tried so many things I hadn’t done before. It was still connected to my songwriter, storyteller roots. Those will always be the crux of what I do.

For the video, I wanted to celebrate the sisterhood that was a huge lifeline for me this past year. Taking this time off was really scary. Misterwives had been my identity since I was a teenager. Starting over was really intimidating and lonely. My friendships with my girlfriends kept me afloat. The video is a celebration of that. It tells a story of a group of runaways who are starting over. We’re wearing colorful, opulent outfits. Filming it felt like filming our regular girls’ nights out. It felt like showing a new, authentic side of me that I haven’t had the chance to yet.

Femininity is at the forefront. I love it. How was working with Matty Vogel on the video? How have your feelings around collaboration evolved since starting this solo era?

I love being collaborative, so I love how that has transcended. I love being part of a team. What feels different is how I don’t have to lessen my vision so that everyone likes it. For this project it’s been me asking myself, “What do you like bitch?”. It was freaky for me because I’m a chronic people pleaser, even outside of music. I have trouble standing by my choices. It was a great exercise in trusting my gut. I connected with my younger self, who was very fierce. I’d go to school dressed in boas, singing “You Don’t Own Me”. She was a big north star in this process.

That’s beautiful. What are some values you had during your time with Misterwives that you’re keeping close to you in this independent era?

Community is the big value that kept our band together. The people who came to the shows, who dressed up, who became friends and started chats and would travel to shows together. Seeing that experience showed me how important this music was for people. That’s been at the core of Cherry Bomb, too. I want this to be a safe space for everyone, especially considering what’s going on in the world. It’s such a scary place. We need joy as an act of resistance. Community will be a constant for me because I want to provide people with what music provides me.

I love it. You have such a dedicated fanbase because of your band’s career. This is a starkly different project. What are your hopes for how your fanbase will evolve in this time?

I feel so grateful. People have grown with me since I was a teenager. I hope people see my own growth with this project. I want people to see, whether they’ve been a fan or are just getting here, that they have a permission slip to be themselves. I want them to know not to stay small. Personally, I’ve been through every version of what labels told me to look and sound like. I zigged when they told me to zag. I want people to feel like they can go after the things they’ve been afraid to.

And how do you want live shows to feel as Cherry Bomb?

I think about it everyday. More than anything else. It was the backbone of Misterwives. We didn’t have mainstream success, radio success or any of that. Show by show, tour by tour, we built our fanbase. Shows have to be at 100%. You can’t expect your audience to give you the energy if you aren’t bringing it. I’m going to start doing choreography. I’m going to have bigger costumes. I’ve always made my own costumes. It’s been fun to dream up things that I never could have worn in Misterwives. I want these shows to be parties. In my time off this year, I threw a lot of themed parties. I kept thinking about the shows. I want them to be themed and friends can plan their outfits.

Don’t invite me to a party if there isn’t a theme.

You need to come. I love doing them. They remind me of childhood and that sense of playfulness. We grow up and get further from that sense of play, but that’s what this project is all about. I have this closet of boas and tulle and feathers. I knew I had to dust it off for this music and bring that girl out again.

Who are some figures giving you style inspiration right now?

Vivienne Westwood, Betsey Johnson, anything maximalist and punk. I love mixing things that don’t go together. What you’re wearing is such a big part of the music to me. I love David Bowie as well. The DIY nature of my costuming is so fun, especially being an independent artist when you don’t have the money to buy the designer. I love upcycling and making things on my own. Of course, I’d love to have a big budget.

But the outcome is more individualized. Anyone can technically have the Vivienne piece.

So true.

If you could go back and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

I wrote this down the other day. “Everything you want is on the other side of fear”. I am an anxious, terrified person. I spend so much energy and time worrying about the worst case scenario. I’m trying to think “What if it goes right?”. I’m giving myself the parental love and guidance that I wish I’d had. It feels nice to get to mother myself and learn to trust that who I am is enough.

Photography: Matty Vogel