An interview, a recommendation 3rd April 2006
My band was interviewed by a newspaper in connection with some shows we're playing in the North of England. I'm pretty sure this was the first music piece the journalist in question has written, so I've no real issue with him personally, but it's a shame that he's resorted to stereotyping just because my bandmate is female. As a result, we sent this back:Q1: First of all, what is it like being a girl among a bunch of guys in a rock band?
Gender isn’t really an issue in [band]. We don’t have any feminist political agenda or, to be honest, any interest in encouraging girl groups we might play with because lots of them fall back on clichéd image and hackneyed sub-Runaways guitar chugging. Don’t just pick up a Daisy Rock guitar and jump on stage at the nearest Barfly unless you’ve something interesting and original to say. And that goes for boys too.
Q4: With you providing both vocals and guitar, is that a bit of a work load, or does the female ability to multi task make this easy?
No answer.
Q9: Being a girl in a rock group, do you get male groupies, if so how do they compare to their typically female counterparts?
No answer.
Gender isn’t really an issue in [band]. We don’t have any feminist political agenda or, to be honest, any interest in encouraging girl groups we might play with because lots of them fall back on clichéd image and hackneyed sub-Runaways guitar chugging. Don’t just pick up a Daisy Rock guitar and jump on stage at the nearest Barfly unless you’ve something interesting and original to say. And that goes for boys too.
Q4: With you providing both vocals and guitar, is that a bit of a work load, or does the female ability to multi task make this easy?
No answer.
Q9: Being a girl in a rock group, do you get male groupies, if so how do they compare to their typically female counterparts?
No answer.
There were some decent questions in there too.
Q8: It has often been said that rock is dead, who killed it?
Rock seems in rude health at the moment. It’s overdue a back-street drubbing.
Rock seems in rude health at the moment. It’s overdue a back-street drubbing.
My heart sinks when we play with all-girl or predominantly female groups, because much as I love certain bands that happen to be all women, we have yet to play with any that are remotely good. Those we have invariably fall into the single-issue sloganeering or worse, single-song monotony categories.
On a happier note, I spent last night watching Nosferatu D2 in Shoreditch and can report that they are probably the best band I've seen this year. Emotive, inventive, noisy yet subtle and poetic, you can find them on myspace and have a listen for yourselves.
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