Introducing Interview: Moviestar

Ready to put the feeling of danger back into rock ’n’ roll, ‘intergalactic architects’ Moviestar are more than just a band. With their live shows encompassing performance, art, storytelling, fashion and music in a whole new transcending form, they are now set to release their debut, sci-fi infused, album early next year.

We caught up with them to find out more…

Hi Moviestar, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about the band?
Thank you! We are glad to meet Get In Her Ears to let her know that we come from the distant future to prevent the Metal Wars from happening and save the human race from extinction.

How did you initially all get together and start creating music?
We were given this holy task by The Future High Commander of the universe, President Supremius XIII. He sent us back in time to retrieve “The Stone” and spread the word of love through the cunning use of Rock N Roll. Our next single ‘Chosen Ones’ is all about this and in the music video you can see real footage from this holy ceremony.

Your new album Stupid People / Happy Days is out this February – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout the album?
It’s an anthem. It’s also a metamorphosis kind of record, where you will be transposed into a better human after listening to it. It’s about us, our mission, our arrival on Earth, and the goals for the human race.

You’ve been compared to the likes of LCD Soundsystem and The Cramps, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
In the future we are lucky to have some remains of the holy documents which derive from this time in age. Your so called vinyl albums are kept in our The Great Gallery of Records where Supremius resides on his throne, watching over the remains of our future planet Fenris. In The Great Gallery of Records we have copies of many Gods of music like LCD soundsystem, Van der Graaf Generator, Elvis, Robert Wyatt, The Kinks and The Cure. They are all our heroes from an early age. We are taught the Holy Documents in school and each record is as important as the rest. And we know a lot. Since we can do telepathy and emotional transfer through our hearts.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
We just got here. We landed our spaceship in Norway in 2016. That was a dreadful year, and Norway was the safest place to land. Plus we are huge fans of Thor Heyerdahl, The Great Explorer. We owe our language to him. He taught us that curiosity and exploration is the key to communication. He has a statue in the Halls of Wisdom on Fenris. A Great man. Nevertheless; yes. We do get to see Holy Ceremonies of other artists. Here in Norway where we live there is lots of good traditional music that dates back many hundreds of year – very good stuff. Plus there is this band called Virus, who are extremely good. But that is very dark and hard music. Not for fragile persons.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Expect to be emotionally teleported into the future where we will cuddle with your souls for decades before sending you back to “reality”. Snap! What was that?! It’s all good and safe, but we seek to put some danger back into rock n roll.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
Square Bomb, Oscar Vilcrow, Dan Reeder, Maesa, Fable, Rosa V Pullman, Noemie, Porridge Radio, Seldom Wright and The Blue Rays, grasshopper.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
The music industry is just like any other industry; companies seek to make a profit, on the art of musicians. Say what you will, but the music industry is just a business, and business is what business is and always will be; bound to fail and collapse. But art never will. Art will go on. Greed fails. Hope and love wins. That is the divine plan.

Finally, what does 2018 have in store for Moviestar?
We have made a broadcast which will air very soon. It will feature real news, and not that fake stuff going around the airwaves at the moment. So it will be a breath of fresh air in these colluded and misleading days.

Huge thanks to Moviestar for answering our questions! 

Stupid People / Happy Days, the upcoming album from Moviestar, is out on 9th February 2018 via Oh Yeah!

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Introducing Interview: Table Scraps

Table Scraps produce black-hearted garage punk which fully embraces the good, the bad and the ugly of rock ‘n’ roll’s twisted lineage and various mutations. Receiving support across the industry from the likes of Joe Talbot (IDLES) and BBC 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft, this trio are worth paying attention to.

With the recent announcement of their new album Automony‘s release date, we caught up with Table Scraps to talk about their beginnings, being DIY and their new single ‘Sick Of Me Now’.

Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about Table Scraps and how it all started?
As a teenager I was in a pop band who were “tipped for stardom” in the days when a label could afford to put up four teenage girls in London for two weeks while recording an album. When the industry collapsed, my new next-door neighbour back home in Birmingham – Scott – had a similar story of being promised the world before everyone realised they didn’t have any money anymore. Our houses were also, weirdly, mirror images of each other in that they are both absolutely stuffed with priceless rock’n’roll memorabilia and vintage tat. Clearly it was meant to be.

We understand and totally respect that you produce all the music yourself, have you always and will you always want to do this?
Scott and I (and later Tim!) wanted a setup where we could record and release as quickly as we could write – and we didn’t want to lose any of the anger or energy of our live show in a sterile studio environment. Saying that, if the right person were to come along who was on the same wavelength as us and had a cool studio… Never say never. Plus, it would save us a lot of hassle pressing record before running over to our instruments.

You’ve gained some notable fans from the likes of Joe Talbot (frontman of IDLES) and Tom Ravenscroft – it must be great to receive this sort of support from the music community?
Joe is a legend and I’m absolutely made up for what an amazing year IDLES have had. It’s obviously a huge source of pride that a band we really look up to appreciate what we’re doing. When Joe played us on 6 Music in August it kinda legitimised a lot of what we were doing overnight. Huw Stephens and Lauren Laverne were very kind about us and Tom Ravenscroft really came out for ‘Sick of Me’. We definitely owe Joe a couple of drinks.

We’re loving the new single ‘Sick Of Me’ at Get In Her Ears HQ, can you tell us a bit about the song and what inspired it?
Thank you! ‘Sick of Me’ is about the frustration of people – friends even – who become a drain on you and you end up tolerating them for some reason. It was one of the first tracks we approached as a trio and, with the additional space of having our bassist Tim on board, we were really interested in seeing how much we could strip a song back and focus on its key ingredients. All three of us love the simplicity and immediacy of the songs that you might hear from girl groups and garage bands of the sixties.

So you’re playing a series of tour dates all over the UK, ending in your album launch at The Shacklewell Arms on February 28th, what can people expect from your live shows?
Table Scraps shows are short, sharp and straight to the point. I think we probably say about six words between the three of us in between songs. No theatrics and absolutely no cock-rock! Drinks do still get spilt and people go a bit primal, which I love. We favour promoters who strive for (at least close to) gender-equal bills, so it was a no-brainer for us to go straight to Kelly at We Can Do It Promotions to put on the album launch at The Shacklewell Arms, alongside the amazing Josh from Roadkill Records. One of our favourite shows this year was with Polly and Ollie from BITCH CRAFT, so we also had to go with them for our Brighton show!

And what can we look forward to on the record Autonomy?
All killer, no filler. We poured all our heart (and bile) into it and held nothing back.

Finally as we’re a new music focused site, are there any other new/upcoming bands or artists you’d suggest we check out?
We love Slowcoaches and Death Valley Girls.

Huge thanks to Table Scraps for answering our questions!

Table Scraps’ new album Autonomy is out 23rd February 2018 via Zen Ten Records. The album launch is at The Shacklewell Arms on 28th February via We Can Do It Promotions.

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Introducing Interview: East Of My Youth

Creating captivating twinkling electronica, Icelandic duo East Of My Youth formed back in 2015, and since then have received praise from the likes of i-D and The Line Of Best Fit, and have charmed crowds at SXSW Festival.

Now, returning to grace our ears with majestic new single ‘Go Home’, we caught up with East Of My Youth to find out more.

Hi East of My Youth, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about the band?
EOMY is Herdis and Thelma. Herdis works as a freelance composer and producer in Berlin and Thelma is a visual artist and actress living in L.A. So, currently the band is having a long distance relationship!

How did you initially get together and start creating music?
We started playing the piano and singing together then it developed into an electronic project. I (Herdis) was taking my first steps in production and EOMY’s ‘Lemonstars’ was the first song I produced. The idea of the band originally came in a bar in Berlin where we were both living at the time.

Your new single ‘Go Home’ is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about?
We rented a studio in Berlin for two months in 2016 and sat at two desks trying to be creative. We can say that most of that time was really difficult and unproductive, but then one day Herdís called me over and had this melody basically ready made and then we added the lyrics with the help of an existing poem and really got into the depths of the song’s psyche. It’s not really about a particular happening, but rather a pool of emotions being narrated into a fairytale-like story.

You’ve been compared to the likes of Vallis Alps and Anna of the North, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
This question is always a bit tricky. We’re of course happy when people find resemblance with talented musicians/bands and that our production value shines through, but we’ve never really consciously taken inspiration from anyone. Although if you’d listen to the music that we were listening to at the time of composing certain songs you might find resemblance to some elements. Artists that come to mind that might have influenced individual songs are Lorde, Grimes, FKA Twigs, London Grammar and more.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
Herdis: I’m trying to do more of that, hehe.
Thelma: Likewise! Since I moved to LA in September, I’ve only been to two concerts but I have a huge line up in the new year that I’m wanting to see.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Our live shows have been pretty intimate but playful, and that is definitely something we’ve tried to hold onto in every live show.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
It’s really funny that lately I’ve actually been listening to David Lynch. Who knew he was also making music? There is one song in particular that I’ve been overplaying recently and it’s the best work mode song ever called ‘Good Day Today’. But regarding some up and coming acts I’d recommend Ayia, IDK IDA, Mr. Silla and Vök for example. They’re all Icelandic or based in Iceland.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new artists at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
Yes and no. I think if you really put all your effort into both making quality music and putting it out by all means possible I think there is a chance. You just have to believe in yourself and do it!

Finally, what does 2018 have in store for East of My Youth?
We’ll be going through what has been done this year and tie ends to what needs to be left in order to move forward. So I guess there is an all in all cleanse going on that is creating new grounds to grow in. I think 2018 is going to be amazing. Of course it’s gonna bite you from time to time, like life always does, but I have an overall feeling of something good and great being born.

Huge thanks to East Of My Youth for answering our questions! 

‘Go Home’ is out now via West Of My Future Ltd.

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Highlights Of The Year 2017

As we near the end of the year, we wanted to reflect on some of our highlights of 2017; to draw attention to the times when, despite all the shit going on in the world, women in music have inspired us, motivated us, and shown themselves to be positively awesome. So, though we don’t know what 2018 might bring, let’s celebrate these incredible women in all their patriarchy-smashing glory! 

Whilst it’s easy (and natural) to agonise about the harassment and adversity that female musicians face in the industry, it’s even more important to organise and shout back against the injustice of it all: and that’s exactly what Slowcoaches bassist & vocalist Heather Perkins did on ‘Complex’. She wrote the song as a response to the sexual assault allegations against artists in the press at the time. Singing about a male lead singer who “really needs a hand, one’s in the other, and the other’s in his pants”, Heather sounds confident in her assertion that his story “holds no weight”, and the rage and distrust in her lyrics resonated with Mari & I profoundly. (Kate Crudgington)

“Don’t let the bastards get you down, don’t let the arseholes wear you out.”
Wise words from Kesha. A woman who’s provided much inspiration for us this year in her determination in the ongoing legal battle against producer Dr. Luke, amid accusations that he “sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally” abused her for years.

After everything she’s been through this year and with the release of her latest album Rainbow – a collection of powerful and motivating anthems – Kesha’s shown herself to be a super strong inspiration of a woman. If songs like ‘Woman’ and ‘Bastards’ don’t make you want to get up, feel empowered and give a whopping middle finger up to the patriarchy, I’m not sure what will.

And, though the battle is far from over for Kesha, let’s give her credit for having the strength to speak out publicly against abusive men, giving us all a bit of inspiration to fight and not let those bastards get us down. (Mari Lane)

Since the release of their single ‘Somebody’ earlier this year, Dream Wife‘s live shows now feel twice as liberating. ‘Somebody’ is an anthem about recovery and reclaiming your body, but the trauma that lurks behind the sexual assault which sparked the song still puts a lump in my throat. Having said that, it was a sheer joy to watch Rakel, Alice & Bella perform the song to their sold out crowd at Scala in October, who echoed back Rakel’s life-affirming lyric “I am not my body, I’m somebody”. If you haven’t seem Dream Wife live yet, I urge you to come to their show at Heaven in 2018. You won’t regret it. (KC)

Having played on the Rising Stage for the last four years, it was a joy to see all-female collective Deep Throat Choir get a turn on the main Mountain Stage at Green Man Festival this year. Since I last saw them two years ago, the group had grown in both size and power. Dressed in matching vibrant oranges and pinks, they succeed in brightening a rather grey last day of the festival, treating us to a mix of covers and originals from their wonderful debut album Be OK. With everyone singing along to personal favourite ‘Baby’ being a pretty emotional highlight, it was a simply euphoric experience watching these wonderful women create such perfect, intense harmonies and sweeping vocal melodies. Epitomising the exceptional power of women coming together to create, Deep Throat Choir unite their voices to summon a force that is truly awe-inspiring. (ML)

When Wolf Alice effortlessly performed ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ under the sparkling mirror-ball lights at their Alexandra Palace headline gig in November; I swooned so hard I thought I might drown in my own heart-shaped tears. Their perfectly executed set was laced with tracks from debut record My Love Is Cool (‘Lisbon’, ‘Bros’, You’re A Germ’ & ‘Silk’) as well as a healthy dose of new material from second album Visions Of a Life, (‘Heavenward’, ‘Formidable Cool’ & vicious lead single ‘Yuk Foo’). I’ve seen them live many times before, but I left Ally Pally feeling confident I’d witnessed something special, and I’ll definitely be catching them again in 2018.(KC)

Whilst the #MeToo campaign this year has signalled the start of a change for the better – bringing the issue of violence against women into the public eye, with perpetrators (finally) beginning to see some consequences to their actions – domestic violence against women and children continues to occur every minute of every day. And, with the government continuing to make life-threatening cuts to vital services, charities like Feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut are more necessary now than ever. 

Gaptooth‘s latest single ‘They Cut We Bleed’ celebrates the work of Sisters Uncut; featuring powerful footage from their protests, it rages against the government with a frenzied, impassioned energy and powerful force. With shades of the likes of Le Tigre or MEN, it’s the perfect call to arms that we need now more than ever. Drawing our attention to the issue with the raw honesty of horrific facts and figures (“In the UK on average two women a week are murdered by a partner or ex-partner…”), accompanied by catchy, whirring beats, Gaptooth offers an empowering voice for all we should be saying right now; inspiring us to get up, unite and take action to create the positive change that so urgently needs to happen. (ML)

It feels odd to call this a ‘highlight’, but I want to include it here because I remember reading the statement and thinking “YES! GOOD FOR HER!”. High profile women like Kesha, Alice Glass & Taylor Swift publicly called out the men who had abused or sexually harassed them this year, and it paved the way for female musicians in smaller bands to do the same.

Estrons vocalist Tali Källström used the band’s Facebook page to inform fans that Paul Draper had sent her inappropriate messages prior to their dates supporting his band, and consequently she’d decided to cancel the shows. She wrote: “I have experienced sexism, misogyny and prejudice, but this time, enough is enough. I will not pander because I want success. I was asked to sweep this under the carpet, but I can’t. I want to play alongside musicians that respect me and like me for my music and personality, not because they are sexually interested in me.” Tali is a fierce front-woman who’s not afraid to ask for more, and I hope her words have inspired other women in the industry to speak out against similar types of behaviour. (KC)

We’ve been big fans of Julie Hawk for a while now – writing songs with her band HAWK that draw attention to reproductive rights and the mistreatment of women in her Irish homeland. However, this year – in addition to continuing to create powerfully enchanting music – she started a new creative venture, ‘Female Fronted, Drawn Together’. 

Putting together a playlist of wonderful female artists, new and old, who have inspired her in some way, she created a unique illustration to accompany each song. Including some of our favourites – Bitch Falcon, Dream Nails, Skinny Girl Diet, PINS and The Julie Ruin – it’s provided the perfect, empowering soundtrack to 2017. Julie has now started the next instalment of ‘Female Fronted Drawn Together’, and we urge you to check out all her wonderful illustrations on her Instagram page.(ML) 

Listen to our Get In Her Ears Highlights Of 2017 playlist, including our Tracks Of The Year and songs from our favourite Albums Of The Year.

 

Mari Lane / @marimindles 
Kate Crudgington / @kcbobcut

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