LOUD WOMEN's Ruby Connery meets English-Icelandic power-pop-punk band Dream Wife at YES in Manchester, during Independent Venue Week 2026
Ruby: So, could you tell us about the ethos of the tour and Independent Venue Week?
Rakel: The ethos is essentially to support independent venues because they are vital. It’s the most important part of live music is to support your local venues. Without them, how does a band begin? How do you start music? How do you grow a community? I think our ethos in general is community. How beautiful it is that we’re all here together to experience community within music. It’s just so special, and I feel like, especially during this tour right now, this week, when so much stuff is coming out about all these venues closing down, the statistics, the lack of government support, the ticket levy for arenas and stadiums. It’s really important for this discussion not to die down. It’s so important for us to keep on talking about this because essentially, we’re fighting for community. We’re fighting for people wanting to go into the industry. We’re fighting to break down these walls that are difficult to access, and where can you start? And not just for musicians but for promoters, for people who want to work in management, for anyone in any field of music. Start somewhere. And when you lose that, you lose a whole generation.
Ruby: Exactly, you lose a whole section of community that you’ve just completely cut off. Some of my first gigs that I ever photographed were at independent venues. I wouldn’t have been able to start without it. And there’s so many people that you’ll meet that will have the exact same story.
Why is performing at independent venues special?
Rakel: A lot of venues are intimate and have this sense of community. It’s the perfect place for us to play 80% new songs that we’ve never played live before. Yeah, it’s been so exciting.
Ruby: So, it’s like an exclusive?
Rakel: Yeah, it is, and we’re now stepping into a studio next month. You know, you’ve been writing these songs. We just really want to try them out. Because when we try out songs live, that’s when we understand what they’re about. It’s so important because it’s like, there’s one thing about being in your intimate space, writing a song. There’s another thing, trying it out on an audience. Being like, oh, that works. Now this is our third show on this tour. It’s only five shows. But it’s cool because after every show, we’ve both [Rakel and Alice] gotten audience feedback, which has been incredible. – Also, when the audience starts singing it back to you, that’s when you know. Then you’re like, okay, this means that this is hitting.
How did Dream Wife form?
Alice: We were students in Brighton. You [Rakel] were like living with Bella, and you went out to one of our favourite independent venues in Brighton, Chalk. You [Rakel] were like, “Oh, we should start a band.” It was like all in jest.
Rakel: We just wanted to start a band. – And then it got real. – We wanted to start a band and tour Canada. And we did. We wrote four songs, and each one was 10 minutes long. We toured our first shows in Canada. Even though we were living in Britain. Anyway, it was a really beautiful time and experiment. And that, again, was in independent venues around Canada. But then we went back to Brighton, and we played at the North Star; our first show was there. We had so much fun. We were like, let’s do this. Let’s make this into a band.
What is your favourite gig memory?
Alice: I mean, I don’t know why this is coming to mind, but there was that festival we played, I mean, it’s a while ago now, and it’s a real family festival. And it was like parents, kids, everyone coming together and just enjoying music together. But at the front of the crowd, there were these little girls just head-bagging, they’re probably only five years old. And then they came over to us at the end of the show at the merch stand, and one of them said, “My tooth fell out.” I was like, if I were seven years old and that happened, I would love it. I know that sounds quite extreme, but I think even if you can get a seven-year-old girl to feel like she’s having the time of her life and her tooth fell out, and she’s loving it, I think those kinds of moments, you could never expect that to stay in your mind.
Rakel: That was Deer Shed Festival. Deer Shed, okay. We played it three times, the first one. We didn’t realise it was so family orientated, which is amazing, and the crowds are incredible. But this happened when we went on stage. We didn’t realise that one third of our audience were children on the shoulders, ready to rock. We had to censor things on the spot. And on the spot, I was like, “bad, bad, witches!” And then all these kids were like, “witches!” It was so amazing. And then also, “I’m going to fudge you up.” Because we haven’t often been able to play in front of those kids, let alone thousands of them. Nobody told us this; we just rocked up, and then when I was standing there, I was like, “Ooooh!”. It was so beautiful, it was amazing. And now, we’ve done it three times, so we know. And actually, the last time the audience was like, “Don’t change the lyrics!” And I think also we were [on] late, we were like 10 pm. They were like, “It’s time for them to actually keep their lyrics.” The children have gone to bed.
How has life been off tour?
Rakel: We’ve been joking around that we haven’t played many shows because of writing, and for some reason, when you’re not on the road all the time, you start to do human things, you start doing normal life. Okay, let’s get married. Okay, let’s get engaged. So it’s been a really big year of love and not just love in that way, but also friendships and family. And community. So much community. So I think coming back after having been mainly writing, coming back and playing these shows, it just feels so right, let alone in a space like a venue. It just feels so right.
Alice: It’s the best way to start the year for us. We’re touring with Nuha Ruby Ra; she’s incredible, she’s doing pretty much all new material as well. So we’re all kind of entering the new year with this new music and this new energy, so it feels good.
Ruby: Especially having the time off as well, you must feel nice and refreshed. Or am I speaking too soon?
Rakel: HA I mean, we haven’t necessarily had time off touring; we’ve only played like a handful of festivals. But we’ve mainly just been writing, and I think it’s been really beautiful to be able to do that.
Ruby: And just being able to cultivate your art without the expectation
Alice: Exactly, we’ve been cocooned, and now our wings have spread.
Rakel: And We have the best team, too. We’re really lucky that they’re just allowing us to make things. Instead of being like, ‘go, go, go, go, go.’ We’re allowed to create our worlds, and we’re allowed to pick and choose. As an artist, it’s just really wonderful to have a team around you. You feel the courage, but also that you respect them equally. You respect everyone you’re working with, and you know, we’re all in it for the right reasons.
What is your ‘Bad B*tches to the front’ tradition about?
Alice: At every show, when Raquel does the call to people the bad bitches to the front, it’s a real moment where, from the start, that’s in the core of what we want everyone to feel safe. We want everyone to feel that they have a place at our shows and we’re still kind of carrying that through even now.
Rakel: The best compliment we’ve ever received is that I met my best friend at a Dream Wife concert, or I formed a band with a girl in the mosh pit next to me.
Ruby: I think you bring such unique people together so that obviously it’s going to highlight each other. It’s really nice. And I think it’s so important to have these third spaces and allowing people. Allowing people to be human and to have these human experiences.
Rakel: It’s really nice to hear that, “Allowing people to be human”.
Alice: There’s a vulnerability in that and I think you have space for that and for people to feel safe.
Rakel: It’s so nice to feel human, that’s why we go to gigs.
Ruby: That’s so true and I think that’s why it’s so important about independent venues that we show up as we are and that’s what music is, that is the backbone of music and it’s really good that you guys are highlighting it.