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Editor: Stephen Ackroyd stephen@readdork.com Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden viki@readdork.com Assistant Editor: Ali Shutler ali@readdork.com
Contributors: Ben Jolley, Corinne Cumming, Heather McDaid, Jamie Muir, Jessica Goodman, Josh Williams, Martyn Young, Rob Mesure, Ryan Johnston, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
THIS MONTH...
THIS MONTH, WE’VE
U P D AT E
2 1 . A B AT T O I R B L U E S
L I STE N I N G TO...
04. 08. 0 9. 10. 11. 12. 12. 13.
F E AT U R E S
TEMPLES L O W E R T H A N AT L A N T I S K AG O U L E BANG ERS WILL JOSEPH COOK FENECH-SOLER BEAR HANDS CITY GUIDES… PUBLIC AC C ESS T V 14. SAD13 16. TH E G U I D E HYPE 18. 1 9. 20. 20.
PIXX BAD SOUNDS CA M E RO N AG F O R T H WA N D E R E R S
22. 28. 30. 32. 34.
T H E J A PA N E S E H O U S E HONEYBLOOD J AW S SLEIGH BELLS BUSTED
REVI E WS 36. 36. 3 7. 3 7.
HONEYBLOOD TOY ESB E N A N D TH E W ITC H PA L AC E
20 QUESTIONS WITH... 38. GIRLI
B E E N M O S T LY
Menace Beach - Lemon Memory Consistently brilliant Leeds band remain consistently brilliant.
Sundara Karma - Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect Reading’s finest release their debut full length next January. It’s worth the wait, promise.
UPDATE
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Temples T H I N K Y O U K N O W W H AT T E M P L E S ’ N E W A L B U M W I L L P R O B A B LY S O U N D L I K E ? T H I N K AGA I N . WO RDS : J ESS I CA G O O D M A N . ou know how some people know every single word to Bob Dylan?” James Bagshaw questions. “They’ll know every single word. I won’t know every single I F YO U T H O U G H T T H I S Y E A R H AS B E E N G LO RI O US FO R B RI L L I A N T A L BU M S BY
A L B U M FACT F I L E
B R I L L I A N T BA N D S , YO U ’ V E S E E N N OT H I N G
Artist: Temples Album name: TBC Due: Early 2017 Tracks: The first cut from the album, ‘Certainty’, is streaming online now. It’s really very good indeed. What to expect: Synths, guitars that sound like synths, and a bunch of tracks that aren’t really anything like each other, apparently.
Y E T. 2 0 1 7 P R O M I S E S T O PAC K E V E N M O R E A M A Z I N G N E W M U S I C. OV E R T H E N E XT F E W PAG E S , W E ’ R E G O I N G T O G I V E YO U A N E A R LY H E A D S U P A B O U T J U S T A F E W O F T H E R E L E AS E S YO U S H O U L D B E M A R K I N G O N
word. But I’ll know all the notes, and I’ll know how to play them on guitar.” Two years on from the release of ‘Sun Structures’ and Temples’ focus is solely on their music. “Don’t get me wrong, I love great words,” he continues, “but when I’m listening I’ll be listening to the melody of what’s going on, and the melody of those words.” Placing the spotlight on their sound, the Kettering four-piece have spent much of the past year piecing together their second album – and they’re finally ready to share it with the world. “With this record I know these lyrics have been painstakingly pulled apart, thrown at the wall, and come back at you,” the frontman describes. “It’s getting that across and really connecting with them.” Favouring a
YO U R CA L E N DA R .
5
HYPE ESSENTIAL NEW BANDS
“THERE’S SO
M U C H T O TA L K ABOUT IN POP M USI C, BUT I FEEL LIKE N O B O DY R E A L LY D O E S AT T H E MOMENT” B RIT SC HOOL A LU M N I PI X X I S O N THE VE RG E OF B RE A KI N G THROUG H W ITH HE R U PBE AT YET HA RD-HIT TI N G TAKE ON P OP. WORDS: BE N JOL L EY
PIXX
‘‘T
here’s not really much of a point to pop music anymore,” Pixx ponders after a day spent searching for her mum’s birthday present (she’s chosen a fluffy dressing gown, FYI). “I don’t know if that’s fair to say, but there’s a lot of pop music now that’s not about anything that’s important,” she explains disheartened. Considering she’s suffering terrible jetlag, having only got back from America three days ago – after playing a 4AD label showcase with The Lemon Twigs and Methyl Ethyl, and filming a music video in Coney Island - Pixx is commendably chatty. “There’s so much to talk about in pop music, but I feel like nobody really does at the moment; in terms of it not just being about a relationship or growing up or getting cheated on...” continues the enigmatic vocalist, whose real name is Hannah Rodgers. Tackling bigger world problems: “war and poverty and feminist issues”, is something that’s lacking in pop music nowadays, the BRIT School graduate argues. “It’s a shame because, obviously, the popular music is what people are listening to, but it would be better if people were sharing messages
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that were actually worth something.” It feels like perfect timing, then, for Pixx to breathe her bold, thought-provoking blend of woozy pop and endearing electronics into what she feels is a stagnant genre. Last year’s ‘Fall In’ EP demonstrated an effortlessly soulful, almost haunting vocal whilst a deliciously dreamy slice of synth-pop came in the form of ‘Baboo’ this May. But it’s ‘Grip’ that stands out most, as she fuses an arresting vocal with otherworldly production that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Grimes record. “It’s about the feeling of weightlessness,” she begins, wisely unpicking the lyrics in an almost philosophical way. “We always do things and feel like we’re facing the wrong direction; we’re moving forwards but we’re facing backwards all the time,” she contemplates of the lyrics ‘I don’t want to feel the need to grip on tight to everything I see’. “It’s this idea that you don’t want to be feeling like you’re holding onto everything from the past but actually the past is all that you can see…” Before earning her place at The BRIT School, Hannah was educated at a “really strict all-girls Catholic high school. It was really fun but strange because BRIT School is totally different,” she recalls.
Hannah’s passion for music grew daily, as she learned more and more about what she loved.
are so many day-to-day things that are different for women than men… I try to reach out to that.”
Though she wasn’t so keen on the end of term shows; “I always found them quite cringy,” she remembers. “I was never a big fan of doing the backing singing and the dancing and the finger clicking – it just felt really weird and awkward.”
Living in a challenging and uncertain time, as well, has lent itself to Pixx’s music. “I’ve got quite a lot of songs that are about the age that I am and the age of a lot of people I know and the period of time that I feel like I’ve been living in for the last few years. It’s a heavy time for people,” she asserts, “especially young people.”
Growing up on her folk-loving parents’ music collection; Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel especially, she learned to love songwriters with important ideas from an early age. And it’s something that’s really translated into her creations as Pixx. “I love the idea of making music that gets people to feel light-hearted and sort of upbeat and jolly; to be able to move around to it… But also for there to be an importance beneath,” she considers. “That’s why I focus so much on melody - to try and keep people in tune with what the words are that I’m actually singing.” Lyrically and thematically, Pixx – who takes her name from her “totally amazing, hilarious, strong-headed nan”- tackles concerns that affect her and the people around her. “I try to channel all the old music I listened to into my lyrics,” she begins; “I’ve got songs about it being difficult to be a girl and the fact that there
It’s not all serious, though. Her upcoming debut album – which is currently in the mixing stage – is like a “split personality. A lot of my songs are the complete opposite and sarcastic and jokey,” she offers, weighing up its musical variety. Due early next year, Pixx’s ethereal, weightless vocal will soon make up a whole record. It’s something she can’t quite comprehend. “Now that I’ve written an album, I kind of can’t believe it because it’s all just been happening at once,” she says in disbelief. “I want to give people a heads up, though, that it is quite...,” she pauses for a few seconds, opting for ambiguity: “there’s a lot of different shit going on there...” P Pixx plays Birthdays in London on 1st December.
“W E SE E M TO
ON THE GRAPEVINE
H AV E D O N E I T A L L IN REVERSE.”
D EC L A N M C K E N N A I S BAC K O N T H E ROA D I N JA N UA RY
BAD SOUNDS BA D SOU N DS A RE USI NG I NF ECTI OUS MELOD I ES TO WO RK THE I R WAY OUT OF THE RETAI L GAME.
E
WO RDS: B E N JOL L EY.
wan Merrett, one fifth of Bath-based groovers Bad Sounds, is desperately trying to stay hidden from view as he stands outside a pole dancing lesson. “I keep walking past and I think they think I’m creepily looking in constantly,” he laughs down the phone from Bristol University. Tonight the five-piece, consisting of founding songwriter brothers Ewan and Callum, and band members Charlie Pitt, Sam Hunt and Olivia Dimery, are playing a gig in its student union, The Anson Rooms. “We’ve just finished soundcheck, so we’re all chilling in the dressing room having a few beers,” Ewan reveals ahead of the last set of a ten-date tour. It’s a run that’s seen them perform to rowdy crowds in venues up and down the country, supporting Rat Boy. Rowdy is, almost certainly, selling it short. “The rumours are definitely true,” Ewan confirms; “his crowds are always really wild.” Bad Sounds’ experience in Glasgow was particularly memorable. “It was pretty mad because we had thirteen-year-old girls queuing outside at the front ready for Rat Boy and they were asking us to buy them alcohol as we walked by. Because, obviously we didn’t, they were just like, ‘Fuck you guys then!’ We were like, ‘Sweet, Glasgow’s cool’.” What happened after their London show, as well, won’t be something they forget any time soon. “We walked outside and the band and crew were just setting fire to the tour van and shit like that… The tour’s been all fun, but a bit mad,” Ewan confirms. “They’ve been super sweet, but they’re definitely wilder kids than us!” Having been doing “music stuff” since they were just 12-years-old, Ewan and brother Callum started Bad Sounds when they decided, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna do this properly’. Growing up on their dad’s music collection, Bob Dylan, The Lemonheads and Beck formed the Merrett brothers’ early influences. Now in their 20s, the duo is joined by drummer Olivia – who Ewan used to work with at a music shop – and Charlie and Sam, who they met through friends of friends in Bath and Bristol. Bad Sounds’ biggest single so far, ‘Wages’
- full of euphoric brass, harmonies and infectious rhythms - came about from “normal life” and wanting to quit their jobs in retail. “When you’re a kid you kind of have this expectation, at least I did, that when I was in my early twenties I’d be making a living off of music and doing it full time,” Ewan recalls. “If I could see myself at 14 I’d be so disappointed with the fact that I’m just working at a shop and it’s not at all what I had planned for my life… I guess, that, and then having a whinge about it.” Thank god they did have that whinge, because their soul-infused banger went on to become Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World on her Radio 1 show. “It was really last minute and a bit freaky,” Ewan remembers of the career-boosting breakthrough. “It came at a time when literally none of us were expecting it at all. We sent it over to her but we hadn’t even got the finished master yet; but she was like ‘I wanna go with it tomorrow’ and obviously we didn’t want to turn it down…” As a result of Annie’s interest, they decided to release the anthem – but on their own terms, by setting up Bad Records and rejecting offers from major labels. Before that, though, performing on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury was an undeniably massive moment in their young career. “When I got there I was thinking, ‘Shit, this is fucking big, it’s actually quite intimidating’,” Ewan remembers. Needless to say, the nerves were kicking in. “There was so much riding on it,” Ewan recalls. “Weirdly, when we got booked for it, it seemed like everybody’s ears pricked up around us. We had the tune of the week at the same time with ‘Avalanche’. It almost felt like too much was happening at one time. I prefer the shows when there’s no pressure at all and nobody cares.” He’ll need to get used to the pressure and big crowds quickly, though, because Bad Sounds are gearing up for their first proper headline shows later this month – at Camden Assembly and Bristol Exchange the day after. “We’re super excited for it. It’s going to be weird doing proper headline shows again. It feels like we can run the stage a bit more; set some stuff up and go wild.” If that wasn’t enough to sell the ticket, Ewan promises there’ll be “madness. We definitely want to do something big. I find a lot of live music can get a bit boring, just watching a band, so
Hey bands, what new acts are you into rn?
Hot on the heels of his extensive run supporting Blossoms on their own UK tour, the 18-year-old force will call into Norwich, Leicester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield and Brighton from 23rd January. Find the full run on readdork.com.
“The Lemon Twigs, Tigercub, Partybaby and Get Inuit.” M AT T I E , VA N T “Franc Moody, Dead Pretties, Robbie Basho, Vufpeck, Island, Alice Barlow, Puma Blue, Eliza Shaddad and Fat Relic. They’re all the bidnizz.” L EO, PA L AC E “I’ve been listening to K.A.G. all day, which is Katie from Priests’ solo project.” SA D I E , SA D13 “Cold Foamers are a band I’m really into at the moment from Virginia. Alex G produced/played on their first album, but their self-titled EP is where they really nail it.” G EO RG E , A BAT TO I R B LU ES “Gang, Happy Meal Ltd, Vulgarians, Puppy, Inevitable Daydream and Fuoco.” CA I , K AG O U L E
we really want to go all out: backing dancers, rocket launchers, cranes…” Though their rise has been a whirlwind so far, Bad Sounds certainly aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. “We definitely want to go all the way,” Ewan says confidently; “but I don’t want us to be one of those bands that has a lot of success early on and then falls off the face of the earth. If we’re gonna go for it, we want to go the whole hog.” Though they’re not necessarily working on an album at the moment, their debut record is always something that’s in their mind. “We’ve been writing demos for Bad Sounds for over two years and we’ve got almost 200, but we haven’t finished producing a lot of them,” Ewan confirms. Better get cracking, then! P Bad Sounds play London on 29th November and Bristol on 30th November.
LOY L E CA RN E R TO P L AY O2 S H E P H E RD’S BUS H E M P I RE S H OW Loyle Carner has announced what’s currently a one-off date at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire for 17th February. The news follows a UK tour this autumn that saw him play sold out dates up and down the country, including at London’s KOKO.
C ROWS A N N O U N C E N E W E P ‘C O L D C O M FO RT ’ One of the best live acts of 2016, Crows have revealed details of their second EP ‘Cold Comfort’ (due 18th November), unveiling swelling new number ‘The Itch’ - check it out on readdork.com now. It follows on from ‘Unwelcome Light’ earlier this year.
K LO E A N N O U N C ES H E R F I RST LO N D O N H E A D L I N E S H OW Glaswegian alt-pop sensation KLOE has announced her debut London headline show for 8th November, capping off a huge year that has seen her emerge as a true future-pop force. She’ll play The Camden Assembly.
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WHEN THE JAPANESE HOUSE DROPPED HER FIRST EP OVER A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, MYSTERY SWELLED AS TO WHO THIS NEW VOICE WAS. DELIVERING DEVASTATING RAW ELECTRONIC GROOVES UNDERNEATH HONEST AND REFLECTIVE TALES OF LOST LOVE AND HEARTACHE - THE SEARCH TO KNOW MORE WAS IMMEDIATE. YET UNDERNEATH THE MYSTERY AND UNDERNEATH THE SONGS IS 21 YEAR OLD AMBER BAIN - WHOSE GOT HER SIGHTS FIRMLY SET ON RELEASING THE DEFINING SOUND OF A GENERATION. WORDS: JAMIE MUIR. PHOTOS: CORINNE CUMMING.
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I
t’s a chilly autumnal morning in West London. The streets are full of builders and plumbers, working away on the latest two story development, cradling polystyrene cups of tea like it’s the last fire standing at an adventure camp. On one side of the road is a large wooden cover, with the words “Coming Soon” scribbled over it in thick black paint. On the other side, is Amber Bain, the voice and soul that is The Japanese House, making herself at home in the offices of her label Dirty Hit with a smoke on the balcony outside. Having just finished moving house once again (the third time in eight months) she’s catching up with those who have been there through some of the most exciting years of her life. “I really like it here,” explains Amber. “There’s not that many artists on the label, and I know all the people here so well - like I started working with Jamie here when I was 17 and now I’m 21. So literally from my last year at school until now. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, that kinda scares me when I think about it.” Looking around the office you see the dazzling highs that have been reached from inside these walls. Sold out shows, awards, sales plaques and more - it’s the sort of thing that would inspire anyone, even if you couldn’t play a note. “Yeah, it’s all The 1975 stuff at the moment, I need to get a few things up here!” Wall space is certainly ready for The Japanese House. Over the course of the past 18 months, she’s become one of the most adored new artists in the country, bringing the harmonies of The Beach Boys and the electronic flourishes of modern indietronica into one delectable mix that’s left crowds around the world spellbound. It’s a culmination of everything Amber grew up on, that desire to be making great music and to do so with the freedom to explore new sounds and textures, something that’s lead the way in her mind since she first picked up the guitar. Whether that’s school plays, early remnants of bands or the foundations of songwriting - it’s music that courses through her veins to this very day.
I
f you head back to the early 2000s, you’ll find Amber Bain transfixed by music. Growing up just north of London in the leafy Buckinghamshire hills, she picked up the guitar when she was just six years old and was never one to seek out a neat cover version, always striving to create her own songs, her own sounds and her own identity. “I’ve been writing songs since I was probably 11… or actually even younger than that, really. I started playing guitar because I thought it was really cool, but I never did covers or anything, just started making my own songs. They were really quite something… “I should probably be a lot better at guitar than I really am because I’ve been playing for so long, but I never had lessons or anything. I’m left-handed but
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I play a right-handed guitar because it’s my Dad’s, so guitar teachers would tell me that I would have to re-string it. I just thought, ‘Well, no’.” It was an unlikely source that gave Amber the confidence to pursue music, notably at school in Year 2 where she was cast as one of the lead roles in a play about Barney The Mouse (spoiler alert - the plot revolves around a mouse who chewed through the organ keys at Christmas, potentially ruining it before everyone comes together and realises that all they need is each other to enjoy the day). As you can imagine, it was a blockbuster success and looking back now, it’s one Amber sees as truly pivotal. “I was talking about this the other day, I think that’s the reason. Like, I didn’t know that I was good at singing or music before. I used to sing in assemblies and play guitar sometimes but then I got chosen for that and I asked my teacher at the time why, and my teacher said ‘It’s because you’re good at singing’. I was like, ‘Am I?!’ And that’s why I carried on, that’s where I think I got the initial confidence to do music, and why I’m a musician today.” Growing up with The Beatles ringing around the house and the early days of Avril Lavigne’s pop-riff hooks, Amber’s connection to music flourished, using any opportunity as a chance to play, whether that was in her bedroom or in the middle of the day at school. If you were looking for the kid at school who would be playing a guitar on the field at lunchtime, then you certainly would have found Amber. “When I think of it now I just think, ‘Put it down’. But that was me,” she remembers. “I would always beg my friends to be in bands with me and they never would, or they’d never get into it, and I think that’s why I went towards electronics more because I was writing songs that I wanted to sound fuller, but I didn’t have a band so just made some instruments on Garageband.” It’s in those bedrooms, corridors and fields where The Japanese House was well and truly born. Continuing to write and hone her craft, Amber used music as a journey away from everyday life, writing raw and honest confessions that were amplified by the delicate and measured production that would glaze over its horizons.
“The music probably just came from procrastination, I wrote a lot of songs around exam time when I was supposed to be revising, and in a way I still do that now. Because it’s now my job I feel like I write less than before - when I have something else to do, that’s when I start writing.”
“I got really bad stage fright at first, I just couldn’t do it.”
At 16, Amber was playing shows in London, with just herself and a guitar. A first show of sorts was at The World’s End in Finsbury Park - a slightly different set-up from Barney The Mouse, that’s for sure. While a continuation of a relationship with music that had stretched back for years, it was one that highlighted the differences and necessities of playing live and creating the music she wanted to. At that stage, the two didn’t seem to match. The music that was being played on stage certainly wasn’t the type she had been working on in her bedroom.
Yet life has a funny way of coming together. A chance meeting, a friendship and timing brought the world of The Japanese House into that of The 1975 and in turn, of Dirty Hit. What’s followed is a relationship that gave Amber Bain the platform and network to create music the way she wanted to, to be given the time to experiment in developing a unique sound and explore corners of the world that previously would of seemed a distant dream. It’s an amalgamation of everything she had wanted to pursue since she picked up her Dad’s guitar all those years ago. Moving into London, and living in her own place for the first time, the bright lights and late-night world that blossoms within the city was a drastic change from the slow-paced environment of the suburbs, and one Amber could thrive in. “I moved when I was 18 and have moved around so much since then,” remembers Amber, glancing out of the office window to see across the stacked houses of West London. “I always came up to London, like even in my last few years of school, I would stay with people and then come into school from there. It took me so long, but I’d just go out most days anyway. I’ve always been drawn to living in a city, it just feels a bit slow outside of them. I have a short attention span, so I’m not really good at doing nothing or focusing specifically on one thing at a time, so London’s great for that.
world, whether it’s going out to Iceland on her own to take a range of photos that would help form the groundwork for her EP artwork and songwriting (“It was quite nuts, because I’ve been to quite a few places on my own but not places where I have to go up mountains and see glaciers! It’s quite a weird experience when you see things that are so big but then can’t chat about it’) or stopping out in Marrakech with Celia from The Big Moon - the opportunity to absorb a wide array of cultures has never been far away. Piecing together the numerous recordings and songs that had formed her teenage years and beyond, Amber finally found herself in the studio and working alongside the 75’s very own George Daniel, dipping the soothing harmonies of raw favourites such as ‘Still’ and ‘Teeth’ into atmospheric cuts of modern pop bliss. “I’ve worked with another couple of producers, but me and George just had really similar tastes. I wanted to play quite a big part in the production and I knew that he would want me to do that too, so we co-produced it and it works really well. The studio’s like the place we’ll record some vocals, because I’m really bad at recording vocals at home because I get bored, and then some guitars too. We’ll mix it on some speakers at the end but mainly it’s all done on mine and George’s laptops. “When working on that first EP, I found it terrifying because no-one had heard any of my music before, but I’d already written the second one and basically recorded it so I didn’t have that kind-of awareness that people were about to listen to it.”
“It’s amazing, it felt kinda scary at first because like all my friends had gone to university and I was going to go to university and you think, ‘Shit, I should be doing that’. But like, nobody gets this, the chance to fuck around and write songs for two years is really cool.”
After two years of developing and exploring, that first EP, ‘Pools To Bathe In’ emerged into the world in a cloud of mystery. Lead single ‘Still’ was debuted as Zane Lowe’s last ever Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1, plaudits spilled out from around the globe and the EP itself boasted some of the most refreshingly honest tales of modern love seen in a generation. Its impact was deafening, a packaged snapshot of what The Japanese House is and a vital moment in time one that Amber can look back on now with a new perspective.
That chance has seen Amber see the
“‘Still’ was written when I was 16 or 17,
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Babes Never Die HONEYBLOOD’S NEW ALBUM IS A BATTLE CRY FOR UNDERDOGS EVERYWHERE. WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG. PHOTO: RYAN JOHNSTON.
F
or Scottish duo Honeyblood, ‘Babes Never Die’ is more than just a record title: it represents an attitude that bursts through their second album’s storming twelve tracks. As singer and guitarist Stina Tweeddale explains, the genesis of the album was established even before she and drummer Cat Myers had begun writing. “It’s something that I’ve been saying for a long time,” she begins. “It’s like my crazy war cry. I have it tattooed and have had it for around two years now. When we started writing the album I wrote a song called ‘Babes Never Die’ which was the beginning of what became the whole album.” The album takes Honeyblood to the next level while highlighting an increasing confidence as writers and musicians. It’s “heavier, faster, punkier and more in your face,” Stina excitedly proclaims. It’s almost as if Honeyblood are a completely different band. In a sense, they are as this is the first album recorded with the hard-hitting power of drummer, Cat but when the two of them are together there’s an uncanny alchemy and spark that makes it seem like it’s always been this way. This album is the sound of Honeyblood in full bloom.
The creepiness of their environment and feeling of foreboding actually helped to inspire them. “I love being scared,” reveals Stina. “I think it makes things exciting. It’s a rush of adrenalin.” It would be a mistake though to label ’Babes Never Die’ a dark and distressing album. Instead, it’s fantastical, uproarious and inspiring. Oh, and it’s chocked full of bangers. “It’s tongue in cheek, it’s not supposed to be taken very seriously,” says Stina. “I think Honeyblood in its essence and the way me and Cat are is that we don’t take anything too seriously.” The move from personal based songwriting to acerbic and witty character based vignettes like ‘Justine, Misery Queen’ opens up some mystery into Honeyblood’s songs. “Everything’s taken with a pinch of salt but could also be about someone you know. It’s
Cat sums it up perfectly: “It’s the whole Babes Never Die attitude.” That totemic rallying cry represents a communal spirit that is key to the whole album and Honeyblood in general. “It’s very inclusive,” says Stina. “It’s not just about women and it’s not just about men. Babes is all about the underdog. Being kicked down and using that to propel yourself up. A lot of it is to do with the misconceptions people have of you and the way people judge you.” You get the feeling with this album that it’s Honeyblood sending a message of solidarity out to anyone feeling disaffected and displaced. “You should just do what the fuck you want,” says Cat. If you spend enough time doing something, you’re going to get better than people at it. You just have to keep going. You’re gonna be shit at first but
There is definitely though a connection between Honeyblood and the other newer bands who are forming the UK’s bubbling vibrant indie underbelly. “On Twitter you see these bands and it’s great because they are on the same track as you,” says Stina. “You’re all going at the same pace and speed.” “I feel like we’re the uncool losers in that scene,” she laughs. “We relish that though,” says Cat. “You don’t have to pretend to be anything that you’re not. We just bumble around. We don’t pretend to be cooler than we are.” That’s the beauty of Honeyblood they’re a band who know exactly what they are and revel in it. They’re unafraid to take the piss and build their own weird little world with the band and their fans. This is evident in the addition of the bands new bass machine christened Sebastian who has taken on a persona of his own and has been taken to heart by the fans. He even has his own dedicated Twitter feed. Watch out for the language though. “Sebastian has brought loads of dirty chat,” laughs Stina. “He’s really inappropriate.”
“We don’t pretend to be cooler than we are.”
Part of Honeyblood’s appeal has always been a sense of playful darkness and a desire never to take themselves too seriously. On ‘Babes Never Die’ this comes together perfectly on an album full of character and rich storytelling. Its recording allowed the duo to ramp up the theatricality of their music and songs and indulge in all their dark fantasies. “It’s based on real life but has all this creepy, dark imagery intertwined within it,” says Stina. “All these songs are connected and the stories intertwine. The characters intertwine. We did go to a really creepy house in Dumfries to demo which affected the songwriting.”
ambiguous,” adds Cat.
just keep going.”
“It was fun to write from a different perspective,” begins Stina, as she talks about the song writing process. “I find as a songwriter that if you just write songs about yourself it can get kinda boring. It can become too personal. Y’know what? I just don’t want to share that much anymore.”
Stina goes on to relate exactly why it’s important to hold those ideals dear. “Honeyblood is the band I aspired to be in and the songs I wanted to write when I was fifteen. The person who you are when you’re fifteen is your truest self. Then you get a job and become an adult and think you have to behave a certain way.” “You need to hang on to the weird 15-year-old self,” says Cat, before the two of them in unison agree laughing that “we’re definitely clinging on!”
The desire to add a bit of mystery and intrigue to their songs is also represented in Honeyblood’s rebellious attitude that cuts through the album like a blinding shock of platinum blonde hair. It’s a brilliantly refreshing perspective. “I have the free range to say whatever I want,” Stina confidently proclaims. “I don’t think you should ever hold back from what you want to say. Loads of times I’ve lay awake at night and thought I shouldn’t really say that it might hurt someone’s feelings and offend people, but now I’m like, ah, fuck it it’s fine!”
The band themselves admit to feeling a bit like outsiders at times. Particularly on visits to London and established musical centres where they feel a bit like infiltrators crashing in. “It’s a weird place sometimes,” Cat says of the capital. “You just have to try to be cool all the time which is a bit difficult when you talk as much shite as we do,” she laughs.
These little quirks are what make Honeyblood so endearing and exciting. Refusing to bow down to convention and people who said they could only evolve if they got a bass player the band instead looked for a different more interesting way to do things. Enter Sebastian: “Sebastian is a collection of beeps, individual bass notes, some weird short guitar effects sounds and he’s got a couple of hand claps as well. He evolves,” explains Cat. Ultimately, Sebastian helped open up all manner of sonic possibilities for Honeyblood but really everything comes back to the album title. “Babes was the spark for the album,” concludes Stina. Now, her empowering battle cry has gone from the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow to be heard across the world. P Honeyblood’s album ‘Babes Never Die’ is out now.
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