A spotlight interview with vocalist/guitarist Kate Farquharson and bassist Theia Joyeaux of Second Idol, ahead of their appearance at LOUD WOMEN Fest Gadigal/Sydney on 7 December (which Kate also single-handedly organising!) and LOUD WOMEN Fest Naarm/Melbourne on 14 December.
How did you choose your band name?
Kate: It emerged out of a spitballing band-naming session with a spreadsheet full of potential options. Second Idol had some intrigue about it. It suggested an alternative to the norm. Being raised Catholic, concepts of religious ideology and idol worship rose to the fore. The idea of worshipping something different from what you’re brought up with, something that’s by choice, not by inheritance or blood. A defiance of the norm. Individual choice and self-determination. As individuals, we are all incredibly diverse and embody this defiance through our queer, trans, biracial and POC identities.
Where do you call home?
Inner West Sydney
Describe your sound in three words.
Kate: Moody, guitar-driven, dark.
Theia: Gritty, chaotic, dystopian.
Tell us about your music.
Kate: Our latest single ‘Spineless Wonders’, is a critique of the abuse of power and corruption by individuals in positions of power. It’s sinister, dark and slinking and with some killer, gritty distortion. It goes for the throat.
Theia: To me ’Spineless Wonders’ is a protest against censorship and the whole puritanical anti-science swing of the past 10 years. Greed, violence and misdirection. You should turn it loud because it lives and breathes loud, all the instruments are laden with varying effects and whether you just like noise or picking out frequencies and minuscule parts, this song HAS it!
Kate: A few of our songs are commentaries on misogyny and gender expectations. We have a bit of a queer following, and these songs always get people riled up with defiance and catharsis, or cause them to pause in reflection. Whenever we play ‘Boxing Ring’ we always spot people in the crowd letting loose, it’s really cathartic.
Theia: Our song ‘Dear X’ started as a bass line I wrote when I was like 14 and randomly popped into my head again while setting up for a show while touring in Melbourne. I started playing it out of boredom and our guitarist at the time, Maxine put a few chords over it and it was this instantaneous reaction of “oh shit, we need to do something with this!” From there, we all developed it into a haunting and thrashy anthem that people seem to love. That moment is very close to my heart.
Theia: One of our upcoming songs we’ve been playing live a bunch, Silicone Maggot, started with me wanting to see what I could do while being as lazy as possible and just playing open E. It’s come a long way since, but I always feel like I’m not doing anything but bouncing around like a jellyfish when we play it live.
Kate: From our upcoming album, there’s a song titled ‘Little Girl’ which is a semi-autobiographical meditation on femininity and the childhood self. There’s a lyric which refers to a tiny theme park in the tourist town of Port Macquarie, NSW that I loved to visit as a child called Fantasy Glades. It was a park full of fairy tale-themed buildings and it was one of my favourite places when I was little. I guess I never imagined I would incorporate it into a song!
What’s your local scene like — and how do you fit in, or stir it up?
Kate: I’ve been involved with the scene here in Sydney for 10 years. It’s had its challenges through draconian state government lockout laws, which impacted heavily on thriving venues and communities. Post–COVID and the general economy has also proved challenging for venues to stay afloat. People in the Sydney scene are a resilient and passionate bunch. People who contribute to music and culture here are just so passionate and proud of the art and communities that we forge. Genre-wise, we’re quite different to a lot of artists in our scene. We’re quite dark, moody, cerebral and loud. We’ve never followed trends, and I guess you could say that we’re ‘unfashionable’. We’re a bit gothic and borrow from post-punk, shoegaze and grunge influences. In the aftermath of the success of Amyl and The Sniffers (who I adore!), we find that a lot of bands are following the bratty pub punk route, and we really diverge there. We’re more vengeful; we want to woo you with melancholy while also shaking people through our politics and noise. We’re a band that rocks out, and if you lean in and give us time, we’ll give you more thematically to get your teeth into. We make the music that we do because we love it, because we want to express ourselves and our human condition, not because we want to be picked up by Triple J (major you/’alternative’ national radio station/media). There aren’t a lot of non-cis bands around that play the type of music that we do, so we tend to either stand out and/or really connect with our tribe, the outsiders.
Theia: At times, Sydney feels small, and at other times massive, and we’re such a small blip. There’s definitely a TONNE of passion, anyone out there playing gigs is putting their hearts and souls into it and I love that about Sydney. We definitely stir up the pot a bit, we’re scary, harsh and off-putting. There also aren’t many bands around super similar to us, and we’re frequently the black sheep of line-ups, which is a double-edged sword but a lot of fun and often leads to us finding some of the best creatives and agitators.
If you could rip up the rulebook of the music industry, what’s the first thing you’d rewrite?
Kate: For the industry to be less of a popularity content and more about valuing artistic expression and merit. I think a lot of people who end up in bands were the ‘weirdos’ as teens who were drawn to music through subversive thinking and comfort in otherness. Unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot of artists championed who already come from privileged backgrounds and who are rather bland and unadventurous. I’m reminded of a recent comment by Shirley Manson from Garbage putting out an alarm call for the music industry, that if it continues on its current trajectory, all we’re going to end up with is “white bread” music. Giving support and opportunities to artists from working and diverse backgrounds is a big one for me. Also, fair remuneration for fair work is also a big one (looking at you, streaming services and bookers who offer terrible fees). I always want to see fewer barriers for women, trans and gender diverse artists from working backgrounds, which is why I’m so stoked to be involved with LOUD WOMEN!
Theia: BIG shows, big venues, big money and safe investments. I often wish the music industry never caught the eyes of corporate studios decades ago and I think the industry has been in a steady decline since, although profit charts would heartily disagree with me (line go up yippeeee). Our markers for success have been altered for the worse and it has made live music so much less personable, social and relatable.
What’s the wildest/strangest thing that’s ever happened at one of your gigs?
Theia: It would either be accidentally summoning the fire brigade mid sound-check, or finishing a set just to bump into one of The Wiggles, who gave us a glowing review.
Kate: I concur with both of these! The fire brigade turning up mid sound-check was a bit of a drama. Having Murray Cook (the OG Red Wiggle) watch our set at one of our favourite local haunts, then tell us afterwards that he loved us and that we reminded him of bands he played with in the ’80s was very memorable.
What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve faced and how did you overcome it?
Kate: For me, being a woman and gender non-conforming in the music industry, and often being one of the only brown people on any given line-up. This has been challenging, especially in the rock scene. When you inhabit a minority, you feel the divide. On gender, there is such an expectation of women to look a certain way, and exude femininity. This is something that I’ve struggled with, balancing societal expectations and authenticity. It’s something that I really dove into in our single ‘Boxing Ring’, which is all about the experience of being a non-cis man in the music industry, that it can be a real circus. That women, non-binary and trans musicians we’re are put on a pedestal for the sake of diversity and then cut down, that we’re treated as a novelty and often pitted against each other. I’ve also been more vocal about my biracial identity in my songwriting. This is explored in our upcoming album ‘Mongrel’, and on the single we put out earlier this year ‘Postcolonial Blues’. Opening up more about my experiences and challenges has been positive, and offered an opportunity to engage with others talking about how cultural heritage and diverse experiences inform our Australianess, as well as how histories of colonialism in Australia and beyond impact our lives. By being vulnerable about who I am, I’ve been able to build bridges and become stronger in my sense of self and connect with others.
Theia: For me, it’s been singing confidently as a trans woman. My voice at the best of times is a source of anxiety. On stage? yikes! After a couple of years and a cover of ‘Moonage Daydream’, I managed to find the self-assuredness needed and now do backup vocals for most songs and have recorded vocals on a song in the album too!
What’s the proudest moment you’ve had so far as a band/artist?
Kate: Recently someone excitedly told me that they walked away from one of our shows re-evaluating their gender and sexuality. For me, it can’t get much better than that. Fuck the norms! I’m honestly proud every time someone comes up to me after our set and says how much they loved it and that they connected with us. That makes playing music worth it, connecting with people. Also… it’s always a boost to the ego when someone steals a setlist form the stage.
Theia: It’s yet to come, but finally getting our album out. All of those songs were such incredible creative endeavours and the whole process has been a labour of love for the whole band and I couldn’t be prouder.
What’s the strangest gig you’ve ever played?
Theia: I can’t remember everything but we played a mixed bill show yeeears ago and followed this like really overly sexual, kinda misogynistic funk band, as well as a very braggy hip-hop artist who sung exclusively about France. Maybe not the weirdest thing in the world but the vibes were incredibly off and I think about this show a lot.
Kate: Ditto to what Theia said, that show was whack!
What’s a dream gig or collaboration you must make happen before you die?
Theia: Laura-Jane Grace for a tour, Trent Reznor collab (produce our next album please!)
Kate: A chance to work with Butch Vig, Anna Calvi or PJ Harvey would have me screaming. I also second Trent Reznor!
Dream lineup: you + three other acts (alive, dead, or imaginary). Who’s on the bill?
Theia: Second Idol, DITZ, Boy Harsher, Against Me! It’s a mixed bag but they’re some of my favs and it would be a rad show.
Kate: Placebo, The Kills, Hole and Second Idol. Let it rip!
What’s next for you?
Kate: Our debut album ‘Mongrel’ comes out on 5 December, two days before LOUD WOMEN Sydney! Then we’re onto LOUD WOMEN Melbourne! We’re planning an Australian East Coast album tour for early next year, it’s going to be a real milestone for us.
Theia: The album’s been a while coming and we’ve all got the itch to write another, so dare I say big things are coming???
Anything else you’d like to add?
Theia: Stay loud, proud and brash. Hold your love and rage close, keep writing shit at 3am <3
Kate: Believe in yourself and be yourself. It’s easy to have your self-esteem knocked about. It takes perseverance and resilience to carry on and to be true to yourself. Lift others up with you. When in doubt step on a fuzz pedal.