absolute grime and poverty then and find something in yourself that had not been groomed, had not been inspired; we trashed everything that went before and said no, let’s clear the decks and start again. Everything was reconsidered. So it was hard then, for those reasons – plus you got spat at all the time. They were very violent, aggressive times if you walked down the street looking a certain way. You know, I literally was in fear of being stabbed every time I was out and many friends were.


So you’re not playing too much, but you’ve been playing solo and with The Slits again, is that right? No, I don’t play with The Slits at all anymore. No. I’m utterly not in The Slits, I don’t want to be in The Slits and I’m not saying that aggressively, but I just feel like that was then and it was of that moment back then, but good luck to the girls if they want to do that, but I totally do not want to do it. I just see myself as a new artist really.


Do you like playing gigs like Ladyfest with this sort of message behind them? I guess in the 70s, I wouldn’t have liked it, because in the 70s we were very much against labels, but I think Ladyfest has built itself up to be quite open minded and chooses really interesting bands, so I think it’s sort of transcended that slightly hardcore excluding type thing. That’s the only criteria I have, that they celebrate and don’t exclude.


It was borne out of the idea that some women were being marginalised in the music industry – do you ever experience that? Well… yes, I do, but it’s almost more on a personal level – the guy you meet at the record label, or the blogger in the audience, who instead of writing an objective review, completely shreds you because they’re completely freaked out. And especially because I’m coming back


V


now and… I’m not a cartoon, you know, I’m not a rock chick with red lips and black dyed hair, shouting and swearing, but I am saying really quite near the knuckle things. I do still get the same reaction now as I did when I was in The Slits, which is horror, haha!


You say on your website that you’re only interested in love and sex as subjects for your art – I love that! Why is this?


whole point - that I had to drag it out of nowhere. The only person who ever meant anything to me artistically as I was growing up was Yoko Ono. The rest were just like girlfriends of the band – people like Marianne Faithful or Anita Pallenburg, you know, people who had a bit of something about them, but I certainly didn’t want to be Joan Baez or Joni Mitchell, I mean, who was there?


“I literally was in fear of being stabbed every time I was out and many friends were.”


Well I just think that’s all there is in life really, and I’m not sure which comes first really, sex or love, because sometimes I think every power trip, every war is based on a desire to procreate and be the best procreator. So is it down to sex, or is it a much more spiritual thing and actually humans have developed this capacity to love, which is very beautiful and very spiritual and which is often totally without gain for them sometimes?


Love could be seen as a cunning mask for sex though, couldn’t it? I’m so glad to hear you say that, because sometimes I seem such a cynical old cow, haha! But yeah, is it just really a construct, which is a line of question in my song, ‘Couples are Creepy’, which is ‘Couples make a big deal out of an evolutionary device’


It has to be said that you’re up there with the most iconic and influential female artists in the music industry, but who inspired you? No-one inspired me. That was the


You’re signed to Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label, but how did that come about? Well, of course we’ve always been very aware of each other, you know, Thurston was very aware of The Slits back in the day and had respect for us, then we met at one of his gigs – Gina from The Raincoats introduced Thurston and we just hit it off immediately and he was so supportive and excited about what I was doing that I let him hear my songs and he said, ‘right, I want to put them out’.


Have you been to Norwich before Viv, do you know? I’ve been to Norfolk before and had some very pleasant times on the Broads on drugs, just punting and floating, completely out of my head. I remember that. I’m sure we must have played as The Slits in the 70s, but not for years.


Emma Roberts


iv Albertine headlines Norwich’s Ladyfest as put on by our guest editor for this month, Maxie Gedge at Norwich Arts Centre on July 31st. For tickets, go to www.norwichartscentre.co.uk. Read the uncut version of this interview at Outlineonline.co.uk


outlineonline.co.uk / JULY 2010 / 39


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