unplanned, we just thought we’d see how it went and see what happened. I didn’t think seven years later we’d be still going, far exceeding any expectations I had. Te name wasn’t really thought about in any serious way. Te label that released our first EP suggested that we change our name but being naïve and stubborn we refused! Do you have long term plans for the band now or do you pretty much take it bit by bit? It has been bit by bit but we’re in the middle of a semi-long-term plan. Tere’s a sort of infrastructure behind us now so we’re in that album cycle which can be pretty frustrating. But I can’t complain, it’s already exceeded all my expectations as I said and I’ve got to travel all round the world. Your sound started off quite 60’s surf guitar-y but now I can hear a lot of Jesus & Mary Chain, Te Smiths, Te Cure and Te Fall in your music and it’s got some sharper edges and teeth to it. Is your sound developing organically or has it been a deliberate move to sound different? It’s a bit of both really. At the beginning we didn’t really know how to make music and we were just winging it. When I started this band I was into all those bands you mentioned, Te Fall especially and also Te Birthday Party. Weirdly that’s where the surf sounds came from because I was a massive fan of Rowland S.Howard’s guitar. He had this weird demonic surf style. It just progressed then as we made records, learnt how to work in a studio and how to experiment a bit more. In the early days we were making pretty simple poppy songs and I wasn’t happy with that, I wanted to push things, and express my frustrations through the music. Your latest album is Arms Around A Vision. Why is it called that, and what does the sleeve represent for the album? It’s a line taken from the last song on the record and I don’t really know what it means! I did have an idea at the time but it was recorded over a year ago now. It’s kind of funny; when you release something and put it out there it almost feels like I don’t really have ownership of it always and it’s all open to interpretation. And even personally, not that I listen to it at all, but when singing it it can mean different things. As for the
18 / February 2016/
outlineonline.co.uk
“We’ve had the time to nurture our sound”
Photos by Sarah Doyle
sleeve, we sent the guy who designed it these early photographic studies of the body from the turn of the last century. Francis Bacon had a book of them actually that he used when he was doing his paintings. So I sent them off and gave him big ideas and he got pretty abstract about it! I like the ambiguity of it all. Te video for A Hunger Artist from the new album shows a hapless guy interviewing you unsuccessfully as you’re being difficult. It made me a bit nervous of speaking to you! How do you feel about doing interviews? Sometimes it’s OK..I’m not totally comfortable all the time. It’s interesting; I enjoy to the extent that I wanted to see if we could behave as one of those sort of groups and do the whole ‘make a video and act a bit ‘to push us out of our comfort zone. It was collaboration between the director, and our label helped us with it as well. Who can you recommend we check out that you’ve been listening to recently? Oh, William Basinski who’s a really minimalist composer. I’m actually going to see a guy from New York called Craig Leon play on Sunday. He’s a producer from the 70’s and 80’s who’s worked on so much stuff, like Blondie, Talking Heads, and Suicide records. He made this crazy experimental synth albums that got reissued last year and he’s playing them with a string orchestra. I’m looking forward to that. I listen to
loads of stuff that you wouldn’t associate with Girls Names. Your lyrics are intriguing. Do you have any favourite authors, poets or philosophers that you turn to for inspiration? I’m really into the poet Apollinaire, who wrote beautifully, and whilst writing the last two albums, I know it’s clichéd, but I read a lot of the Existential writers like Kafka and Camus. I think everyone goes through a period of that! What’s the Belfast scene like at present? It’s a weird one. Live music doesn’t happen as much as it used to, but perhaps that happens everywhere. Compared to when we started a lot of venues have closed down or changed their
remit..some of them have ripped out stages and just do club nights now. Te dance scene here is pretty big and some of it’s good, some is mediocre, it’s all a bit samey. So yeah there aren’t so many live bands but we were never that involved in the scene, not in the middle of it all. It’s bubbling under but not as prevalent as it used to be.
Lizz Page
INFORMATION Girls Names play at Norwich Arts Centre on 21st February. Tickets available from
ueaticketbookings.co.uk
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