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10 question interviews, interviews

HAVVK: 10 question interview

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The HAVVK tourbus rolls into London town on Thursday 16 May, bringing their herstoric ‘Drawn Together’ tour to a beautiful climax at Paper Dress Vintage, along with Charmpit, Scrounge and I, Doris. Splendid. Here’s a 10 question interview with Julie Hough.

1. Who would you most like to cover one of your songs? 

Lizzo 

2. If you could add one member to your band – any person, living or dead, musical or otherwise – who would it be, and what would they play?

Skin – all the vocals. Take my lungs, I’ll stick to bass. 

3. What was the last song you wrote, where were you when you came up with the idea, what inspired it, and how did it turn out? 

We just finished a song which only has a placeholder name at the moment called Post. We wrote most of it over a weekend staying at Matt’s mum’s house in Arundel and recorded it the demo in her dining room. It’s about a person who’s floating and elated with self-belief and wants everyone below to join them in the air. An unusually positive track from us but I’m sure we’ll muggy it up somehow.

4. Which was your favourite gig you’ve a) played and b) watched?

Played? Supporting And So I Watch You From Afar in Berlin. Watched? Definitely Sleater Kinney at the Roundhouse. I never thought it would happen and then it happened. 

5. Recommend a record you think our readers might not have heard of.

I have fallen in love with the album Utakata no Hibi by Japanese eighties synth group, Mariah. One of the tracks, ‘Shinzo No Tobira, popped up on my Spotify a couple of years ago and suddenly I started hearing that one track all over the place in Berlin in cafes and between sets at gigs. The whole album is gorgeous though and way before its time.

6. What’s your best piece of advice for young musicians? 

However much it seems that other artists have it all figured out, they are probably going through very similar doubts and challenges. Reach out, ask questions, share advice – try not to see them as your competitors but as part of your community. 

7. Your top 3 most beloved albums ever – go. 

Sleater Kinney – The Woods

Savages – Silence Yourself

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell

8. What are your musical goals? 

Make music that we love and that resonates with a few people the way those albums have with me. Play a hand in making the industry do better for female and other underrepresented musicians. 

9. What’s the most important thing we need to know about you/your band right now? 

Side A of our flipping debut album (!!!) ‘Cause & Effect’ is out this flipping Friday!

10. Give your top 5 contemporary bands/musicians

Gonna do a Drawn Together special here – see any of these bands if you get a chance!

Sing Again Syren, Newcastle

This trio joined us in Newcastle and they are pure skill and prowess. They are riff-filled, die-hard rock with a vibe that brings you back to seventies power-bands even though I’m pretty sure their all still in college! 

Gravelle, Glasgow

I literally couldn’t stop smiling watching this pair in Glasgow, which is ironic because they are probably the most dead-pan band I’ve ever seen live. Watching them is like going to a goth rave.

Strange New Places, Belfast

They make gorgeous summery rock and their songs read like a diary about youth and identity and finding solidarity in your community. I was really moved watching them.

MeMe Detroit, Birmingham 

MeMe is one of the most dexterous performers I’ve ever seen live – crawling and climbing up the walls during her set but never missing a note. Her voice is stunning, her hooks are catchy af and her attitude is awesome. 

Pussywillowfurryvenus, Newcastle 

Another mind-blower from our Newcastle show. Living proof that you make serious mark on a room full of music fans while  rocking a pair of stilettos. 

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10 question interviews, interviews

Feral Five: 10 question interview

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Feral Five – photo by Jamie MacMillan

Making a welcome return to a LOUD WOMEN stage this weekend, the awesome Feral Five will spoiling us with the bonus launch of their funktastic new single, ‘Shake It’ – come and do exactly that with us and them on Saturday 11 May at the Hope & Anchor (along with Miss Eaves, TV Face and I, Doris). In the meantime, here’s their 10 question interview …

1. Who would you most like to cover one of your songs?

Lizzo – we’re imagining the flute solo already!, or Kylie Minogue with Nick Cave (we covered one of hers and took it to the dark side). St Vincent would produce an amazing avant-pop thing with our stuff!

2. If you could add one member to your band – any person, living or dead, musical or otherwise – who would it be, and what would they play? 

Daphne Oram on whatever new machine she’d just invented 

3. What was the last song you wrote, where were you when you came up with the idea, what inspired it, and how did it turn out?

‘Ego’. It started with a crazy sample Kat made hiding in the bathroom at Xmas with her new mini synth, and grew in a fit of fury after a run in with an egotistical music biz monster. We jammed it up in a rehearsal studio, it came out disco-sexy good, and it’s going to be our next single!

4. Which was your favourite gig you’ve a) played and b) watched? 

a) Shuffle Festival, founded by Danny Boyle – on a platform up in the trees in a gloriously gothic graveyard park. Kat jumped so hard the floorboards started coming apart, and we played an electro-punk cover of Japan’s ‘Ghosts’ that went down a storm.

b) Tough call, but Sleaford Mods, Savages and The Pop Group playing on a truck on the same night at Dismaland is right up there.

c) If there was a category for both on the same day – then Cro Cro Land festival for sure! 

5. Recommend a record that you think our readers might not have heard of 

Gazelle Twin’s Pastoral album – eviscerating, political, and electronic. Punk spirit without being punk rock.

6. What’s your best piece of advice for young musicians?

Be brilliant. Be yourself. Experiment.

7. Your top 3 most beloved albums ever – go.

Dream Wife – Dream Wife

Cocteau Twins – Heaven Or Las Vegas

Future Sound Of London – Lifeforms 

8. What are your musical goals?

To make people think while they dance in another dimension

9. What’s the most important thing we need to know about your band right now?

We’re launching new single ‘Shake It’ at the 11th May Loud Women show, you’ve summed it up pretty nicely as a “floor-filling guitar-sexy banger”, and John Kennedy’s been giving it a few spins on Radio X! And we’re working on our debut album.

10. Give your top 5 contemporary bands/musicians

deux furieuses – visceral music, incredible musicians, their new tunes are next level

Ms Mohammed – brilliant Island punk, gets us moving every time

Liines – we first saw them at Loud Women Fest and were blown away

Bugeye – disco-punk with Abba-esque feel good factor, we’re down the front always

Bishi – cosmic genius from another universe 

http://www.feralfive.com http://soundcloud.com/feralfive https://twitter.com/FeralFive http://www.facebook.com/feralfive

interviews, Politics and Music, record reviews, Track of the day

La Neve: interview on the launch of Maximum Wage – hot AF new music

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La Neve – photo by Jen Dessinger

And now for something completely different!

La Neve is the drag/queer performance dance music project of Joey DeFrancesco, guitarist and co-lead songwriter in one of LOUD WOMEN’s favourite ever bands in the world ever, Downtown Boys. Smoking hot new single ‘Maximum Wage’ is out now and sonically it’s a very different beast to the crashing punk maelstrom of the ‘Boys – a driving digital disco beat with retro synth flourishes that have you reaching for the joystick. The pure punk delivery and themes of socialist insurrection are lovingly familiar though. Hell yeah, wage ceiling now!

The track is the first from La Neve’s debut album, which is coming out this summer. La Neve was good enough to chat to our Cassie Fox about it …

How did La Neve come about?

La Neve - photo by Jen Dessinger
La Neve – photo by Jen Dessinger

La Neve started a few years ago when I started doing drag shows with original music at Spark City, the old venue we used to run in Providence. I had done more conventional drag performance when I was younger, but getting back into it I wanted to do something different and sort of use it as one component in a larger dance music project. It’s an important identity for me to be able to express. I write and produce all the music myself, but sometimes live our saxophone player Joe DeGeorge will join me, and on some upcoming shows I’ll have live drumming from Karna of The Kominas. The goal is to make it more of a full band live, because that’s more fun than just playing with a computer. 

What in particular sparked this song? 

I’m not sure who coined the phrase, but you sometimes hear the statement, “Every billionaire is a policy failure.”  In Downtown Boys, we’ve written a few songs in the past that are just straight up policies, such as “100% Tax,” and I like the idea of a song that can be good aesthetically but also directly propagandize a specific agenda. Extreme wealth inequality – the concentration of such unbelievable amounts of capital in the top percent – has already so thoroughly destroyed our societies and our environment. We need serious, radical new systems to redistribute that wealth. These billionaires are not romantic renegades to be idolized; they are the super villains, true scum who aim to rule over everyone, and we need to take the threat seriously. “Maximum Wage” means cutting off anyone from having that much wealth and power. 

What kind of reaction have you had so far to the track?

Definitely lots of support from friends on getting new stuff out there, but otherwise hard to tell. This is still a relatively new project, and the music’s maybe hard to classify, so I’m trying to find who’s into it. I’ll be playing some shows over the next couple months, bringing what I think is a fun live show on the road, so I hope to convince more people what it’s all about. 

Looking forward to hearing the album – what can we expect?

The next record is a lot more dance oriented than my previous EP, and has higher quality songs and recordings, so I’m excited to present a truer vision of what this project is supposed to be about. I like to dance, and I like dance music and culture, and I like political art, and I like punk, and I hope in the end the record’s a successful blend of all those elements. 

La Neve is clearly different kind of sound to Downtown Boys, as you say with lyrical themes in the same direction. Has electronic music always been a passion for you, more so than punk/guitar music would you say? Or do you love both equally? 

I first came to music via guitar music, but for many years I’ve gotten more and more into electronic and dance music. I think you can hear that on the last Downtown Boys record as well, as the music I was writing started incorporating more synthesizers and dance grooves. Some people want to imagine punk as the only politicized music, but from the beginning techno, house, etc., all had strong political underpinnings, and came out of vibrant underground DIY cultures, largely amongst black musicians. I love all these musics and I hope I can integrate them in an effective way. 

Downtown Boys – 100% Inheritance Tax

I must also ask as a huge DBs fangirl … we featured the fab Gauche last week, and seeing the awesome La Neve sproinging into action this week – what does this mean for the DBs?? Say it ain’t the end …

The Gauche record is so great. It’s a funny coincidence we’re putting these out so close together. And our saxophone player Joe DeGeorge also just announced a new record from his band, Harry and the Potters. But then Downtown Boys is also leaving for tour in about a week. There’s a lot going on! The band has been slowing down a bit lately after going really hard for several years. We’re still playing, but in different geographies right now, so I really don’t know what’s next, but we never knew what was next at any point. 

What’s next for La Neve – album tour maybe? Outside the US? (London is so ready for La Neve btw, come play!)

Yes once the album’s out I’ll be going everywhere! La Neve is really the more highly realized version of myself, and it’s incredibly exciting to get to do the performance and exist as that person in new spaces. I want to keep building out the live show and I hope to be in London as soon as I possibly can.

Follow La Neve on Facebook | Bandcamp |Twitter | Instagram

10 question interviews, interviews

Miss Eaves: 10 question interview

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New York’s Miss Eaves blew us all the way away when she last graced the UK’s shores and played a LOUD WOMEN gig … and she’s back this weekend coming, 11 May, to play our show at the Hope & Anchor, along with TV Face, Feral Five and I, Doris. Can. Not. Wait! In the meantime, we asked her 10 questions …

  1. Who would you most like to cover one of your songs?

Lizzo!

2. If you could add one member to your band – any person, living or dead, musical or otherwise – who would it be, and what would they play?

Grace Jones. We would dress up in matching costumes and strut around the stage together.

3. What was the last song you wrote, where were you when you came up with the idea, what inspired it, and how did it turn out?

I wrote a song about being broke, so instead of stacking cash I stack sandwiches (because I have a lot of bread!) I wrote it for a label to try and sync, so not even sure if it will ever be released but it is very funny.

4. Which was your favourite gig you’ve a) played and b) watched? 

My favorite gig I played was in Leipzig last year. It was such a good vibes, inclusive feminist show. My favorite show I watched was the first time I saw guerilla toss.

5. Recommend a record that you think our readers might not have heard of.

Frankie Simone. When I heard her song War Paint I was blown away. She is def underrated.

6. What’s your best piece of advice for young musicians?

I would focus more on making cool music you like versus chasing numbers and stats. Also, don’t compare yourself to others. That is an easy way to feel bad about yourself.

7. Your top 3 most beloved albums ever – go.
M.IA. – Arular
Sia – We are Born
MF Doom – MMMM Food

8. What are your musical goals?

To make funny relatable music!

9. What’s the most important thing we need to know about your band right now?

That you will have fun at my show

10. Give your top 5 contemporary bands/musicians/

Bby Mutha

Rico Nasty

Billie Eilish

Kero Kero Bonito

Leikeli47

Catch Miss Eaves live in London on 11 May at the Hope & Anchor

10 question interviews, interviews

TV Face: 10 question interview

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Lancashire’s TV Face are our new favourite post-punk trio, playing songs about “politics, parasites and jiggly-bopsiwotsits”. Wowsers. They’ll be displaying all this and more for LOUD WOMEN on 11 May at the Hope & Anchor, along with a best-lineup-ever of Miss Eaves, Feral Five and I, Doris. In the meantime, we asked them 10 questions …

1. Who would you most like to cover one of your songs? 

An easy one – Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. Laid-back guitarist Janice is an constant inspiration for all of TV Face. Oh that we could be that relaxed!

2. If you could add one member to your band – any person, living or dead, musical or otherwise – who would it be, and what would they play?

Delia Derbyshire would be a fantastic addition. As a pioneer of electronic music, she worked with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 1960s and is probably best known for her arrangement of the Doctor Who theme tune. She’d play a theremin fashioned out of old TV aerials.

3. What was the last song you wrote, where were you when you came up with the idea, what inspired it, and how did it turn out? 

‘Orange Carbuncle’ – Named after a new(ish) orange-coloured block of flats built at the north end of Lancaster, which is an old town, and like many places across the UK is undergoing rapid development of new housing. Quite rightly, buildings seem to be springing up on disused areas of brownfield, but developers have their sights on land used by the community. These community resources play an important role, not only for people but for nature more widely – thankfully we have a vibrant community of local activists who are fighting this issue in Lancaster. The song is TV Face’s slowest song, and features a long speech-synthesised sample using a cut-and-paste mix of words by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier and Harvey Wiley Corbett, an American modernist architect.

4. Which was your favourite gig you’ve a) played and b) watched?  

a:  Our recent single launch – played at our spiritual home The Yorkshire House in our home town was a corker. An impromtu stage invasion added to the fun – however, all of us were freaking out about the safety of our equipment. How very (un)punk rock!

b:  Sorry, too many to choose from, we love live music! Brigit and Steve were lucky enough to see Björk on a warm up gig for her 2011 Manchester International Festival appearance. An amazing opportunity to see Björk in rehearsal mode; she would stop mid-song to discuss changes with her band – speaking candidly with the audience. Amazing! A close second would be seeing Mogwai at a tiny gig in Preston in the 90s. It was so loud – akin to being in a wind tunnel! A up-close masterclass in dynamics…

5. Recommend a record that you think our readers might not have heard of

‘Holding Hands With Jamie’ by Girl Band. A fantastic slab of noisey pop inspired by the band’s love of techno and alt 90s guitar bands. The album is a pulsating mix of cavernous and abrasive sounscapes with mark-e-smith-esue vocals. The lyrics are truly fantastic and hilarious to boot. We’ve seen them live several time, but they are on haitus at the moment. We cannot wait for their return.

6. What’s your best piece of advice for young musicians? 

Learn a trade at the same time. We recommend plumbing, as most people are unwilling to take the risk of a leak in their homes. You will find the money useful in the Spotify era of $0.003 per play.

7. Your top 3 most beloved albums ever – go. 

Sonic Youth – Sister / Goo (can’t choose!!! Brigit and Steve have argued extensively about which one and just can’t agree)

dEUS – Worst Case Scenario

Björk – Homogenic

8. What are your musical goals? 

Keep playing! We’ve just had some line-up changes in the band, so we’re really looking forward to writing some new material together.

9. What’s the most important thing we need to know about your band right now?

We’ve just released our new 7” single ‘Chemical Imbalance/Jiggly Bopsiwotsit’. Chemical Imbalance is a mordant tale about being lost-at-sea in a broken mental-health system, whilst Jiggly Bopsiwotsit takes a well-aimed throw at upcycling fashionistas. It’s a DIY affair, all produced at TV TOWER’s HQ, with gorgeous artwork by Steve. We’ve been on the road to promote the single with a string of UK gigs through March-June. You can buy your copy at a gig or via tvface.co.uk/shop or stream via Spotify (but remember, if you like it buy it!)

10. Give your top 5 contemporary bands/musicians

In no particular order…..

Parquet Courts – stripped back new-wave-ish punk rock. Fantastic lyrics and great artwork by guitarist/vocalist Andrew Savage.

Girl Band – see above (5) – seriously marvellous!

The Noise & The Naïve – We’ve recently been lucky enough to play with them: a delightfully quirky and infectious two-piece, and all round good people.

Janelle Monae – the concept album The Archandroid is an amazing work of art.

Beak> – can’t stop listening to their albums which just get better with each listen.

Catch TV Face live in London for LOUD WOMEN on 11 May at the Hope & Anchor, or check them out on facebook | website

film, interviews, LOUD WOMEN community, LOUD WOMEN Fest, Politics and Music, Scene Report, Videos

‘Double Dare Ya’: a documentary on riot grrrl in 2019

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Effy Mitchell has just launched ‘Double Dare Ya’ on the world – the results of a documentary project interviewing bands and organisations that make up the UK’s current feminist punk/riot grrrl scene in 2019. It’s a brilliant piece of herstory capturing our scene right now.

LOUD WOMEN’s Cassie Fox was included (with a very sore throat at the time so she’s by far the most quiet woman in this!)

Interviewed bands / organisations :
Peach Club
Cheerbleederz
Fresh Punks
Dream Nails
Penance stare
Witching waves
Cult Dreams
Lunar Sounds
Fig by four
ZALU
Babe Punch
Farting suffragettes
Suffrajitsu
Noise and the naive
Loud Women (Cassie Fox)
Sounds for the cause ( Rynn )
Bomb the twist records ( Sarah )
Girls rock Edinburgh ( Caro and Fiona )

Featured bands + organisations + other contributors:
Maid of ace
Against me!
Pussy liquor
GLOSS
FISTY MUFFS
I, Doris
Guttfull
Petrol Girls
Wet Brain Hooligans

Girl gang Leeds
Women in music Nottingham
Cramond island of punk
FYWROK festival

Archive footage –

Bikini kill
L7
Hole
Huggy Bear
X Ray spex


10 question interviews, interviews

Ich bin Finn – 10 question interview

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Ich bin Finn, L-R: Kimmi, Micky, Finn

Ich bin Finn played their first – and definitely not last – LOUD WOMEN gig with us last week at the Hope & Anchor. The London punk-folk threesome wowwed us with a stonking set of rabble-rowsers and queer love songs, which set the mood perfectly for the rest of the evening’s entertainment from GGAllan Partridge and The Noise and the Naive. If you missed this epic gig, you can get to know Ich bin Finn (Finn – guitar and lead vox, Kimmi – bass and vox, and Micky – drums and surprise harmonica!) a bit better with our 10 question interview …

1. Who would you most like to cover one of your songs? 
Micky: Eels
Finn: The Band
Kimmi: Throwing Muses

2. If you could add one member to your band – any person, living or dead, musical or otherwise – who would it be, and what would they play?
M: A reserve drummer to free me up, ideally Liberty DeVito.
F: I wouldn’t add any, we’re a flawless unit. And there haven’t been three of us for long so I’m still really enjoying it.
K: My cat Gary on bongos.

3. What was the last song you wrote, where were you when you came up with the idea, what inspired it, and how did it turn out? 
F: At the moment we’re calling it ‘Fucking Loud’, just sat in my living room, and it’s pretty much about my girlfriend, I played it to her and she hated it. And in terms of it turning out – we’ll see!

4. Which was your favourite gig you’ve a) played and b) watched?  
Best gig played would probably be She17/Shefest last September as headliners. The crowd were great and the whole show was really fun. In terms of watched:
M – Queens of The Stoneage at Glasto.
F – Charlie XCX at Reading.
K – Patti Smith Horses tour at the Roundhouse!

5. Recommend a record that you think our readers might not have heard of.
M: Zipolote Machine by the Mountain Goats.
F: Press Club‘s album Late Teens.
K: Belly’s Untogether covered by Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile – goosebumps!

[Thank you so much Kimmi for recommending this beaut, I may have had a little cry – Cx]

6. What’s your best piece of advice for young musicians? 
Advice: F – Be kind to your voice, because it can disappear and once it’s gone, it’s gone. M – Find somewhere comfortable to practice, without being self-conscious or making it too difficult for yourselves. K – Don’t fret! It’s all over in a flash! (The gig, not life)
7. Your top 3 most beloved albums ever – go. 
White Stripes – White Stripes
Joni Mitchell – Blue
Talking Heads – Fear Of Music

8. What are your musical goals? 
1. Don’t die 2. Keep going 3. Enjoy

9. What’s the most important thing we need to know about your band right now? 
We’re unsurprisingly unsigned.

10. Give your top 5 contemporary bands/musicians
Idles – they say everything that everyone is feeling now.
Big Joanie – It’s really important to get POC punks up front. And their songwriting is killer.
Art Brut – that comeback album is a stonker
The Big Moon – they’re sassy and have great attitude
And Arxx – they’re up and coming! And put on a great live show.

Follow Ich bin Finn on Facebook and Spotify