We made She Made Me Do It answer these – meta.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are based in North London.
How did you meet?
We were both in the rock band Rachel Stamp for many years. I was the keyboard player and Will played guitar, David Ryder Prangley was on bass and vocals and Robin Guy on drums. We headlined the Astoria twice as an unsigned band which was quite exciting at the time. We toured around the UK, US and Scandinavia, wrote and recorded albums. Will and I then started writing music together and SheMMDI is the epic result of this long-standing collaboration.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Officially about 5 years. We started writing with keyboards and guitar and did two albums. I started playing bass and the songs on our new EP were written with bass and guitar – I really like the different direction we’re taking – I think this is some of the best work we’ve done yet.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Our friend Nik Panic was saving it for something cool and here we are.
What are your influences?
I like The Cure, Monster Magnet, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, NIN, Sonic Youth, The Chameleons, The Divinyls, Siouxsie, Debbie Harry, Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Louise Brooks, Carole Lombard, Bette Davis, Joan Didion, Sylvia Plath, Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, Margaret Atwood, Michael Herr, Marie Colvin, Anthony Loyd, Don McCullin, Captain Paul Watson…
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is electronic rock. It’s a blend of all the different styles of music that we like – cool sounds and beats, big riffs and choruses, dark lyrics.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
This last EP is filled with themes of obsession, loneliness, war, PTSD, love and loss.
My inspiration comes from reading a lot, going to see films, dance shows and plays, reading the news, watching documentaries. I read a lot about war and people that spent time at the frontline, human savageness and universal suffering are definitely on my mind when I write. There are lots of troubled humans roaming around and lots of sociopaths with too much power.
But there are also amazing people whom I support and follow such as Sea Shepherd (heroes protecting our biosphere), The dolphin project (to try and stop the slaughter in Taiji), Care for Wild (a baby rhino orphanage and stronghold), Animal Asia (saving moon bears from the bear bile industry), ADI (saving wild animals from circuses), and one that closes down dog meat farms and finds homes for the dogs…In the face of so much cruelty they persevere and fight to make a difference. This is the when humans are at their greatest – selfless and filled with empathy.
All this must blend somewhere deep in my subconscious – a darkish pool of contemplation and creative force.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Intense and loud. We’ve evolved from electronic backing with guitar and vocals, to having a drummer (Joe Holweger) and me playing bass live yet keeping some electronics going on as well. Back to our rock ‘n’ roll roots in a way. We’ve played a fair bit and have more gigs coming up this year.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Not sure about wild but these are memorable things…
The insane lights and explosions, the plane on fire that crashed next to my seat at the O2 during the 5 min intro to The Wall. Mental.
The mosh pit at a Bodycount gig – insane.
Dave Wyndorf on stage – great frontman.
Billy Idol signing autographs on stage during the guitar solo – funny.
Hearing The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds and Faith albums live at the Albert Hall – hypnotic.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
I play a beautiful vanilla ‘78 Fender Precision Bass.
Will plays a Teisco Spectrum 5 guitar and sometimes a Rickenbacker.
What are your plans for 2019?
More gigs, more videos and more songs. We’re going to shoot our next video for “Broken Morning” in March with Duncan Catterall who’s shot many of our videos including the latest one for “Bones” and we have some gigs coming up soon. We already have a new song which we’ll be playing live next week and we are constantly writing and rehearsing new material.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
I’d love to support Depeche Mode, The Cure and Monster Magnet. Our opener could be Scant Regard.
Header image by Terry Cedar
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