Interview with BABE PUNCH
Sarah had the chance to have a chat with one of the most exciting new bands in the local Nottingham/Midlands scene. They are called Babe Punch, and yes, they are as cool as the name suggests.
BABE PUNCH is:
Molly Godber - Vocalist
Carys Jones - Guitarist, Backing Vocals
Miles Cooke - Guitarist
Abbie Roberts - Bassist, Backing Vocals
Adam Fletcher - Drummer
You’ve been described as alt/grunge/punk, but how do you guys define your own sound?
Miles: We don't name our sound, we just go by what we've been described as by other people because it's just what we play. However, we'd describe it as being dissonant and energetic with melodic vocals.
What bands/artists are your biggest influences?
Abbie: We all, especially me, have Courtney Love and Hole as an influence, but we have a lot more personal influences too. I'm influenced by the likes of The Clash and Pulp, Molly is influenced by Stevie Nicks and Iggy Pop and Carys is influenced by The Beatles, The Seeds and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Adam: Miles has been influenced by PJ Harvey, The Fall and Rowland S Howard, and I have been influenced POND and Led Zeppelin.
Can you explain your creative process when writing music? Do you all muck in with the lyrics or do you each have set roles?
Carys: It used to be a couple of us writing most of the parts and lyrics at home and then taking them to practice as a song, with Molly and I writing lyrics, so a few of the older songs we play were written like that. Now we usually just take one idea to practice to show everyone, and we'll all come up with our individual parts. Molly writes the lyrics herself.
You’ve been touring since last September, since then who has been your favourite band to tour with?
Molly: We haven't been touring in the way that we've played numerous shows in a row with the same bands, we’ve just been playing regularly ourselves. It's hard to choose because we've played with lots of cool bands but our favourites to play with have probably been PRIESTS and Hinds because they're lovely, down to earth people.
You have a pretty incredible collection of instruments between you all, especially Abbie’s pink bass (which has given us bass envy). Let’s talk gear, what guitars do you play?
Miles: I play a seafoam Vox Phantom but I've just bought a candy apple red Fender Mustang.
Carys: I play a Fender Johnny Marr signature Jaguar in Sherwood Green. It's called Robyn because I just had to name it.
Abbie: My bass is just very cheap but yes it is pink so it looks amazing anyway.
Our zine was born out of love for the 90’s Riot Grrl movement, being heavily influenced by feminism and punk rock. What are your opinions on the importance of feminism in rock?
Molly: Feminism is really important to all of us, we owe the opportunities we have- not just in music but in general- to feminism. The riot grrl movement is one of the things that inspires us to play the music we do.
Do you think you face any struggles being such a female-heavy band? If so, what are they?
Abbie: I don't think we face any major struggles but we do seem to get a bit patronised for being young and made up of mostly girls, which is extremely annoying, but majority of the time the response we get is positive.
Do you think the music industry is sexist and have you personally experienced any sexism while being in a band?
Molly: We haven't experienced any sexism as of yet to be honest. The majority of people we've met are supportive of women in the music industry because it's a bit of a rarity. There have been a few people that think our success is because our gender is a selling point, but you can't win them all. Basically, we haven't experienced overt sexism but there have been people that dismiss us as a gimmick because of our gender.
Carys: Partly because of that we don't think the actual industry itself is sexist, but it can happen in it. We do think that female artists can be treated in a different way to male artists, whether that's how seriously they're taken, how they're viewed or how they're portrayed.
Looking to the future, are you working on any new material right now? And when can people next expect to see Babe Punch at a show?
Carys: We're currently playing and writing new material that we'll be recording as soon as possible, which is really exciting so look out for that being released!
We're next playing on Thursday 16th June at The Hairy Dog, Derby supporting Bivouac, on the 19th June at Rock City, Nottingham as part of the Future Sound of Nottingham Final and on the 24th June at The Lughole, Sheffield supporting TØRSÖ.
Catch BABE PUNCH at one of their upcoming shows above and be sure to check them out on these links to keep up to date on all things BP:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BABEPUNCH/
Soundcloud: https://m.soundcloud.com/babe-punch-1
