Lancaster genre-blending duo The Lovely Eggs are returning to Rebellion Festival this year. With their strong DIY ethos and playful, yet thought-provoking lyrics, they’ve built up a loyal fanbase.
Read on to see what vocalist/guitarist Holly Ross has to say about the bands origins, their DIY approach to music, and what we should – or shouldn’t – expect from a Lovely Eggs set…
Firstly, how did you both meet and when did you form The Lovely Eggs?
We met from both being in bands. When I was 15 I was in the all girl band Angelica and we started rehearsing at the non profit making rehearsal rooms and recording studio (Lancaster Music Co-op) where David worked. He was in a band called Strawberry Girl and then 3D Tanx and Roadmap so we really met from knocking about on the local band scene together. We formed the band in 2005 when I was living in Paris. Angelica had split up a couple of years before and I felt really traumatised by the experience. I didn’t want to form another band again. But in Paris, I had an epiphany and realised that music didn’t have to be about the industry and that you could make music outside of it, on your own terms and that’s how The Lovely Eggs came about.
For anyone not familiar with your music, how would you describe your sound?
Like listening to Black Sabbath while reading Richard Brautigan.
If you had to recommend one of your songs to a new listener, which one would you choose?
Magic Onion
What can we expect from your set at Rebellion?
It’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of looking from the outside in and I think it’s dangerous to expect anything from us, because you can guarantee that we will always surprise you. People who come to see us time and time again will tell you to expect anything at a Lovely Eggs show.
Since forming, you seem to have stuck to the DIY ethos when it comes to everything you do. Was this a deliberate rejection of major label input?
Definitely in the beginning it was an ethos. After leaving Angelica, I really didn’t like how the industry operated and the sorts of people that were working in it. So a lot of decision making was probably fueled by the PTSD of having been in a band and dealing with all the bullshit of record labels and industry types. Later on, it kind of became a necessity. We really wanted to keep being in a band, we couldn’t see any way to do it unless we rolled our sleeves up and cracked on with it and that’s exactly what we did. We’ve always been really good at doing what we can with the limited resources we have. For us, it’s all about art and music and being creative and these aren’t known to be motivating factors for the major labels who are typically more focused on commerce. There are so many things we have done in the past that we have not made money on, but we just did it because we loved the idea.
With the music industry changing so rapidly over the past few years, do you think there’s even a place for major labels now?
I have no idea really. It’s not really my world. I guess there must be. I don’t think huge artists like Taylor Swift could do it without the support and infrastructure of a major. There needs to be a load of capitalists at the reins to drive stuff to get that big in the first place.
You and David have had a child since forming the band – has it been difficult to balance family life and band life? Or do you feel like your DIY approach has given you the freedom you need to be able to do things in a way that work for you all?
We don’t really see a difference between band and family life. It’s all just OUR life. When our son was born, we took him on the road from being a year old. He just fitted right in and doesn’t even think twice about it being “normal” or not. It’s just how we are. The freedom of being in a DIY band is the best bit of all – not just creatively but also we don’t have “holidays”, we don’t have to start work at a certain time and we can be really flexible. It’s meant that we could spend a lot of time with our son while he’s been growing up which has been precious and we’re really grateful for that.
Are there any other bands on the line-up you’re particularly looking forward to seeing?
Evil Blizzard, Slice of Life, The Nightingales, Wonk Unit
What else are you up to this year?
Well this year is our 20th anniversary as a band so we’re going on a big UK tour in October to celebrate that. Calling at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Brighton, London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol. We’re gunna have some really special guests and we’re gunna try and make the shows as special as possible, just to rejoice at the fact that we’ve survived all these years! So we guess that’s the main thing we’re looking forward to this year.
Thank you so much to Holly for answering these questions!
Rebellion Festival takes place 7-10 August 2025 – full details and tickets here
You can find The Lovely Eggs on their official site | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | Instagram