TARTAN PEN INTERVIEWS |
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Girlfixer |
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THE MEMBERS OF GIRLFIXER
Natalie - Lead Singer Influences I like the Distillers and Vice Squad. I listen to old school punk, I'm a big GBH fan. Lyrics I write whatever is on my mind at the time. Usually I get an odd word in my head or a few sentences I like and take it from there and see where it goes. I like all lines to rhyme and rhyme within each other. It depends what mood I'm in. I've got a few ideas from doing code word puzzles and stuff. I get a word I haven't seen for ages and thought, 'oh yeah, I like that, I can make a song out of that'. And words with lots of syllables. Training her voice I don't train it, though I probably should. I sort of get my mouth moving before I go on stage. It's just breathing techniques. I have to make my stomach into a tank of air and sip at it while on stage. It was just getting the breathing down. I never really lost my voice before then, but its better now, once I learnt that. Nicola - Drummer Training I'm self taught, I've never afforded lessons. I just locked myself in the garage for months, and played along to CD's and stuff and I joined a band when I was rubbish and got better because you are forced to play. I do get people saying I'm all right, it's quite scary sometimes, Lars from Rancid said I was a good drummer and also the bassist from The Casualties said I was really good. It’s strange! I like to think it's not because I'm a girl, but I'm all right as well. Influences I like the Bronx and bands like that, more hardcore punk stuff. In the start it was Distillers that got me into it. I'd say Gallows are also an influence as they did something a bit different which seemed to be the direction we were heading in. To be honest this is the first punk band I've ever played in. I've been in metal bands, soul bands, everything really. I've never really stuck to one type of music. I'm a bit of a band whore, this is one of the few bands I've stuck at. Training I'm self taught, I basically learnt off the internet. I used to go to an open jam night on a Thursday night in Derby where I’d get up and play with these old boys shouting out chords to me and just improvising, we played a lot of blues , those guys taught me a lot. Yeah, playing along with other people brings you on more than sitting at home playing by yourself. I've never had lessons, never had the patience for it. I'm not really interested in music theory. Matt - Guitarist Heavy, hardcore and metal bands - Pantera etc. Training I've had a lot of guitar tutors but now I teach myself. Played in metal bands in the past. Nicola We've been together for 5 years, the boys, Matt and Dean joined us back in February. We've got a bit of metal influence in us. When we all got together and wrote, it just came out like that. It's a mixture of what we like. Dean Some of it is rock 'n' roll, when we start writing more stuff, we'll see where it's gonna go from there. With me and Matt, the new bass and guitar player, it's gonna change what the band's gonna sound like. We'll stick to the punk, but there'll be more influence from metal – more riffs and beatdowns! Natalie I don't think it'll change that much though. I won't let it change that much Dean Yeah, we'll still sound like Girlfixer. Natalie I don't think we particularly sound like anyone. I think we go well when we play with other bands we are supporting, but I don't think we'll get confused with any other bands. FAME AND FORTUNE I want to make enough money that I don't have to work and just do Girlfixer all the time. I don't want to be greedy or anything, I just want to make enough to tick over and I can spend all my time doing Girlfixer. I love my job but I prefer playing. Dean Yeah, if I could make a living out of it that'll be the best thing ever. But, realistically you can dream it, but let's be honest it's all about luck. As long as were still playing gigs and people are coming out to see us, that’s good enough for me. Nicola As long as you keep enjoying it really. GIRLFIXER THE NAME Nicola It's a Distillers song. It's like urban American slang, it means a girl that won't take any crap from anyone. I thought it would fit the image of the front woman quite well. GIGGING Nicola The hardest thing about being in the band is going to work the next day Dean Arriving late to work the next day. Nicola to Dean You get to drive. Dean Money, just paying to go to play the gigs. Nicola We've started to be a bit more choosier with gigs. To cover petrol at least but you get it a lot where you don't get paid, but we don't mind most of the time. Dean Yeah, some places are definitely better than others. We'd rather spend the money to play a good show where people appreciate us than not play at all. There are differences between playing in pubs, venues and playing in festivals. It keeps it interesting. Natalie Yeah, one night you're playing on the floor and the next night you're playing on a big stage and you're like shoved in the corner somewhere. It's good though. We have our favourites. There's one place we're not keen on but we won't rule it out. Nicola Yeah, it can be hard to get into it when everyone's just stood there, but I just don't look, pretend that they're moving. HEADLINING Nicola We're too lazy to headline, we get it over and done with and then chill out with a beer and watch the rest of the bands. Natalie No, we don't like headlining. There's been loads of times when we've played to less than ten people We had a headline real far away, there were loads, we thought, “this is going to be amazing,” but by the time we we're on, the last bus left for the next village so they all had to go, so they caught 1 song of ours. Dean Yeah, we had 80 kids all going mental down to about ten. Those that stayed we're really good, all right in front of the stage. But, I'm loving it, Every gig we've played there’s always been a friendly atmosphere and I'm making new friends everywhere we go. RECORDING Natalie I really don't like anything about recording, I just don't like it. I like it when it's done, I just don't like waiting around for everyone else to do their stuff. You see, I'm last so I have to sit through them lot and then I'm sick of hearing the songs by then. You kind of lose sight of what was the better take. I do anyway and I'm sat there all day and they all send up sounding the same. Matt really likes recording but I think he prefers to be on stage. Nicola I don't like the pressure of trying to get takes down especially because I've gotta go first and everyone's waiting for me. I'm looking forward to having an album out eventually, but it's just the process can be a ball ache. We want to get a whole albums worth of new songs before recording it, but that'll be further down the line. Dean We need to write some new songs. We've got 3 new songs since me and Matt joined and one that hasn't been recorded from before. Natalie Hopefully next year, I won't let it go any later. It's just money, we can't afford to get into the studio at the moment. Plus rehearsing for the Abba night is taking up our time, after Abba is done. FUTURE PLANS The Abba gig: Stars In Their Eyes 6 - Glitz, Glamour... Bands doing dodgy covers! 30 October ·13:00-23:30 Natalie That's gonna be the weirdest thing, just singing Abba Nicola I'm dressing up as the dude with the beard Nicola to Dean You're Freeda Dean I've picked out a nice white sexy number! FUTURE TOUR Nicola We've got quite a few gigs lined up for next year, big support slots, we'll see where it goes. We are in talks about it Dean Possibly Ireland in February and we've had a few offers for Europe: Amsterdam, Italy and Germany but no fixed dates, we need to plan a tour, it's no good doing a one off show. Natalie We need to make a trail. Nicola Yeah, I'd love to get out of the country, go back to Germany, they buy all your merchandise Natalie A couple of years ago Girlfixer went to Germany. It was awesome, amazing. They we're a lot more up for it, they just go nuts.
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