Tag: i get no rest

Born and raised in Hackney Wick, London trio Indian Queens have no issue with talking about the way their surroundings have influenced them as people and as a band. Jennifer, Katherine & Matt create thoughtful, atmospheric sounds reminiscent of bands like Warpaint and Radiohead (who the band have a mutual love for). We caught up with guitarist and vocalist Jennifer to talk about their upcoming release with Cool Thing Records, what inspired their previous track ‘Us Against The World’, their anticipations for their gig at St Pancras Old Church, and most importantly: pre-gig pizza and prosecco…

Hello Jennifer, for anyone who doesn’t know, how did Indian Queens come to be?
Me and Katherine are sisters, so we go way back and we grew up round the corner from Matt. We have a mutual love for Radiohead and equal addiction to salted popcorn and Jameson whiskey – preferably all together.

Your upcoming single ‘I Get No Rest’ is due to be released in November. Can you tell me a little bit about the inspiration behind this track? I’m particularly interested in where the lyric “Free, as long as you obey” came from…
The track is a soundtrack to a late dark night in London. I could see a single picture in my mind that sparked the lyrics to this track. I also wrote them during a massive political shift in this country.

This track actually took us ages to complete. We had all the parts but just couldn’t fit it together.Then Brexit happened, and a general election – neither of which I agreed with. Then in particular to London, Grenfell Tower happened – and it felt like a lot of rich ‘important’ people were taking the piss out most of our lives.

Free, as long as you obey”. To me this feels like how most of the world turns and it’s not a bandwagon I want to jump on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s impossible not to in a lot of respect. But it fucked me off.

I listened to your previous single ‘Us Against The World’ too, and it struck me that independence is a theme in both songs. Would you agree? Is independence something you are conscious of when writing and releasing new music?
It is very important to me. There is also a massive disproportion of men and women in the music industry, which is thankfully changing. I feel that it’s allowing women to have a new sense of independence. After all it’s not as though we can’t have the same roles, we just weren’t given the opportunity. Girl power!

‘Us Against The World’ can be about you and anyone. When time starts speeding up it’s a comfort to have someone on your side. That childhood feeling that it’s us against the world. That nostalgic feeling that you’re invincible. That was what that track was about.

You’re now a part of the Cool Thing Records family. How did you hear about the label, and how are things going so far?
We met Mike (Asylums bassist/Cool Thing Co-Founder) years back when we were all playing in different bands, so we can really relate as musicians and songwriters. We also love their DIY approach, and it felt very natural to be releasing through them.

You’re playing a headline show at St Pancras Old Church on November 29th. What are your anticipations for this gig?
I can’t wait! It’s such a beautiful venue. We have an amazing support too, another East London female based band called Wyldest.

Do you have any pre-show rituals to help calm your nerves before you play live?
Prosecco and Pizza!

As a new music blog who promote women in music, we were wondering what new music/female artists you’ve been listening to lately. Any suggestions?
An amazing Oxford band we know called Candy Says. They do film soundtracks too which is sooo cool! Another female artist on our record label called Beckie Margaret is doing really beautiful stuff.

What does the rest of 2017 hold for Indian Queens?
We are getting new tracks mixed at the moment towards our album out next year, so very excited to get those back.

Finally, if you had to sum up your music in three words, what would they be?
Too Damn Serious 🙂 haha