Spotlight interview: Breakup Haircut

A spotlight interview with London's Ishani, Delphine, Ripley and Jordan of Breakup Haircut, ahead of their appearance at the LOUD WOMEN at Rebellion London warmup this Sunday at The Windmill, and the LOUD WOMEN stage at Rebellion Festival on 9 August.

Who’s in the band, and what do you all play/do?
Ishani – vox and guitar
Ripley – vox and bass
Delphine – lead guitar and vox
Jordan – drums and good vibes

How did you choose your band name?
The name Breakup Haircut came in a long list of band names pitched by Ishani in our infancy. Breakup Haircut beat other classic pitches such as: Haunted Pokémon Speedrun.

Describe your sound in three words.
Loud and Proud!

Tell us about your music
Our last album, No Worries If Not! came out last November. It’s about the anxieties of being three years older than we were the last time we released an album. You should listen to it because it’s fun and you’ll probably feel very understood if you’re going through a breakup or burning out at work (but we don’t make any promises).

We have a song called ‘Out Of My Way (I’m Not Getting On The Night Bus)’, which is about how Ishani really hates getting home late. people seem to relate to not wanting to catch the night bus.

After our first album we started trying to make our songs more interesting for us to play and one of the ways we did that was by playing a song called ‘Can I Borrow A Feeling?’ from our first album at twice the speed. We didn’t really come up with any new lyrics apart from incoherent mouth sounds until we were actually in the studio. So we sat around in the garage looking up quotes from Kirk Van Houten to fill the space.

What’s your local scene like — and how do you fit in, or stir it up?
We’re very involved in our DIY scene – Ripley and Ishani volunteer with First Timers, the festival where we formed and that helps at least ten fresh new bands form each year. Ishani is also on the Decolonise Fest committee, founded Decolonise Choir and sings with F*Choir. Delphine also organises with London Roller Derby. Ultimately we believe in getting involved and making things what you want to see, and we aren’t at all alone in that – there are tons of fabulous people doing great work in the scene, from LOUD WOMEN, Get In Her Ears, Knickers Club, Joyzine, Scared to Dance, the Matchstick Piehouse, the Cavendish Arms and so many others! We’re so happy to be among them!

If you could rip up the rulebook of the music industry, what’s the first thing you’d rewrite?
More diversity in gig lineups from DIY through to stadium levels, more accessible event spaces and more free and accessible spaces for bands to practice in!

What’s the wildest/strangest thing that’s ever happened at one of your gigs?
One time in early 2020 we played a show with Big Joanie and Emma Watson appeared backstage. She said, ‘Hi, I’m Emma!’ and we all just had to pretend we didn’t know who she was. Ishani sustained a ten minute long conversation with her about a recycle water bottle. It felt like a lifetime. Ripley got a compliment on their shirt, that was a much shorter, but generally satisfying interaction.

What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve faced and how did you overcome it?
It took us a year to record our first album because we were writing together remotely on audacity, which is not something any of us were well versed with, and we recorded it in the times we were allowed to between lockdowns. That was kind of a lot all around, but we mostly overcame it with love and care for one another and also continuing to meet online every Monday to hang out in spite of not being able to meet in person at the time.

What’s the proudest moment you’ve had so far as a band/artist?
We played a show with Cheap Dirty Horse, Gender Envy and THWACK! at Two Palms in a previous heatwave a couple of summers back. And while that might seem like a weird answer because it wasn’t a launch for anyone or anything, it had such a brilliant, strong community vibe. Like, we played that show and we were so consumed with it – that’s what this scene is all about, and being able to embody that community vibe fully, without any drama or any stress behind the scenes, and be a part of that joy, all together in that room – we’re really proud of that.

What’s the strangest gig you’ve ever played? Tell us why
We once played a show which started with mini robot wars! The venue also had a giant glockenspiel, which we did make use of. Shout out to Rock n Robots! It was an awesome time! Each band even got loaned an ant-weight robot to battle with on that night!

What’s a dream gig or collaboration you must make happen before you die?
Chappell Roan, we just think she’s neat!

Dream lineup: you + three other acts (alive, dead, or imaginary). Who’s on the bill?
Talking Heads, My Chemical Romance and Dolly Parton. We have no idea what booker would do this, but we’d all go, obviously.

What’s next for you?
We’re playing a bunch of shows this summer and we’re writing a lot at the moment, so we hope to get organised and get back in the studio soon!

Catch Breakup Haircut at The Windmill this Sunday for the LOUD WOMEN at Rebellion warmup party, and then the following weekend on the LOUD WOMEN stage at Rebellion Festival