Conversational | Bridezilla

by Ashlea Maher, 16 May 2010...

Bridezilla’s fragile indie folk/pop may not be your thing, but this Australian quintet certainly have an alluring appeal as the new breed of cool. After a chat with frontwoman Holiday Sidewinder, Ashlea Maher is feeling very old...

Boy meets girl and falls in love. Girl marries boy and they live happily ever after.

It’s the typical fairytale love story, but fresh-faced Sydney indie band Bridezilla are out to prove such lovesick dreams can indeed come true.

Bridezilla, if need be, can be classified as avante, classical, indie, folk pop, likened to everything from Dirty Three’s instrumental explorations, to Cat Power’s country-noir and PJ Harvey’s darkened outsider pop. Coming from an unashamed and kooky left field with a diverse musical make-up, Bridezilla are lead guitarist and vocalist Holiday Sidewinder, guitarist Pia May, saxophonist and keyboardist Millie Hill, violinist Daily Tulley and drummer Josh Bush.

Given they’re young, cute, hip and popular as well as musically gifted, it’s little wonder their whimsical melodies are sweeping the US and Australia off their feet and they are one of the most talked about bands at this weekend's The Great Escape in Brighton.

Since forming in 2005 during high school, Bridezilla have come a long way.

After releasing their first EP, Bridezilla have supported big names and international bands including Wilco, The Drones and Cold War Kids, have played at Australia’s inaugural All Tomorrow’s Parties and have played in New York, at the personal invivtation of Nick Cave and The Flaming Lips, all before releasing  their debut album The First Dance last November.

Despite receiving considerable backlash, deeming their success to be less about their talent and more about their connections (Sidewinder is the daughter of actor/singer Loene Carmen), they have come a long way for a group public school students.

Sparing time for a quick chat in Brighton (in between updating her Facebook status and posting tweets all directly after a long haul flight which landed at 5am that morning) frontwoman Holiday Sidewinder seems to maintain all the elements of an energetic youth.

In the UK for The Great Escape and a whirlwind tour with 10 dates, Sidewinder says the prospect of wooing the uber hip UK scene “is like a dream”. Maybe such whimsical statements are the product of jetlag and lack of sustenance, or maybe Bridezilla has a date with destiny.

“We’re really excited, a little overwhelmed. Actually, I think I’m going to faint,” Sidewinder says.

“It was a long flight... The food was bad. What is it with the powdered egg? Why does everything have to be powdered? They could just as easily give us a piece of fruit.”

“I’m working on stay up power.”

With no specific plans to charm the UK, Bridezilla’s cool and careless vibe is already turning heads in the indie media.

“We had no idea we were doing this until about seven weeks ago. It’s like jumping in the deep end,” Sidewinder says.

“But it seems like it could be a good market for our out-of-the-box music here.”

“It’s a bit hard to build a substantial fanbase in Australia. We have a small and disperse nation, so touring is hard in that respect,” she says, “But here you can travel easily and play lots of shows.”

Prepare to fall in love.

Bridezilla play: at The Aussie BBQ @ Cargo May 16, Rough Trade East May 18, w/Mother Mother @ The Windmill May 19, Hannah's Bar, Liverpool May 20, Stag and Dagger Festival May 22 and w/Stereo @ Bis, Glasgow.

The First Dance is available through Rough Trade.

Conversational | Rosie Vanier

by Jane Bradley, 28 April 2010.

You might already have heard of Rosie Vanier. The angel-voiced saucepot’s previous band, Rosie & The Goldbug, had a stomping live reputation; they toured with Cyndi Lauper for almost all of 2008, and the Guardian called them “Kate Bush on crack with Goldfrapp on synths.”

Critics fawned over them, and their lyrics kept listeners intrigued with a lurid, syrupy mixture of whimsy, lust and bite. For a while it seemed as though Rosie & The Goldbug were well on their way to world domination. Then, without warning in August 2009, there was an announcement on their Myspace, saying that the band would be going their separate ways. At the time, all that was said was: “the three of us are very sad about this, but we can no longer continue with the band. We would love to explain and tell you all the details, but we can’t.”

Fast-forward two months to October 2009, when I managed to wangle some time to chat to Rosie, and she'd already bounced back with a new band, RubyVamp. Now, in April 2010, that also seems to have been disbanded, and according to Rosie's Myspace, she's been in Mexico and New York, working on material for her solo career.

When we chatted, my first question was inevitably about the reason behind the Goldbug split, and Rosie somehow managed to be a charming combination of outspoken and cryptic: “Rosie & the Goldbug was killed by a bad curse who’s name I cannot mention,” she said. “My creativity was crushed by this person. I was pushed into a corner; a black, damp and evil corner. I had to start again. But I still love Rosie &The Goldbug, I still have my goldbug tattooed over my feet and it will continue to be in my heart. Forever and ever, amen.”

We soon got to talking about all the media acclaim for Rosie & The Goldbug; an enviable accomplishment for an unsigned band. I speculated about what Rosie could achieve with the backing of a major label, and as with every other topic, she was passionate and opinionated in her reply: “I would sign to a major, but I don’t have to have one for people to hear what I do. The music industry is different now. I’m about the art, not the deal. Some A&R dudes don’t get that, so you do have to be careful. There are pros and cons to both. If you’re unsigned, you’re independent, so you can be much more creative. ”

Following the 2008 tour with Cyndi Lauper, Rosie’s been very much in demand. With a voice that can move between a bewitching hoarse whisper guaranteed to send shivers down your spine, to guttural growls and banshee howls, it’s no wonder she’s shared stages with such musical superstars as Glen Matlock, Wayne Carson and Brett Anderson.

So I was curious about about what other famous faces she’d encountered. Cyndi Lauper she described variously as “fucking incredible”, “my muse” and “an education.” Kirsten Dunst was “cute.” A famous Calvin Klein model made amorous advances towards her, but she politely declined: “He was wearing Calvin Klein pants and mine were from Primark!” Who else? “Tyson from the All American Rejects once wrote me a song. I played him ‘This Mess We’re In’ by PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke in a rental car I had in LA. I think he liked it. He’s a sweet, sweet person. I have a lot of love for my fellow musicians and comrades.”

Although I’m sure they wouldn’t admit it to such icons as Cyndi, Siouxsie or Debbie Harry, there are still some foolish folk who view women in rock as something of a novelty act, so I asked Rosie whether she’d faced any hostility on this front from other musicians. “The girls I’ve met and think are real are Cyndi, of course, as well as Marcella Detroit, Little Fish and Natasha Khan. I must admit there are a few out there who don’t match up to that calibre, but I won’t mention them. But I know the girls I do mention are not novelties. They are real musicians, and so am I. I’m a songwriter and a performer. Like any other guy, girl, hermaphrodite or fisherman who makes great music. We’re all the same, regardless of our genitals. To be honest I have never had a problem with anyone not taking me seriously because of my gender. I do have small tits, though, so maybe that’s why! I don’t know if I’d class myself as a feminist but I do know what’s right and what’s wrong and if I feel someone should step down and behave themselves I don’t hesitate to tell them.”

After this interview, I was even more besotted with Rosie than I had been beforehand, and although she's even more of enigma now than she was then (what happened with RubyVamp? What will her solo material sound like? When will she be touring again?), one thing's for certain: this isn't the last we've heard from Rosie Vanier. She'll apparently be releasing a solo album at some point this year, but in the the meantime, keep an eye on her Myspace for more:

http://www.myspace.com/rosievanier

Remembering… Ladies What Britpopped

by Jay, 4th Nov 2009...

Sometimes it feels as though just looking back at yesterday afternoon is going retro; slipping through a vortex of fuzzy memories tinged with alcohol, bad hair and detrimental friendships. One thing, however, always manages to claw through the gloom of these pallid cold memories, and plant a smile firmly on my face: the music which hangs it all together. Music adheres the snapshots of memory to the pages of the mental photo album. Ask me anything about my early teenage years and I can recall but two things. Gladiators and Britpop.

Whilst worrying over what to contribute to a new blog, I dug out a very old CD copy of Untitled; a compilation of nineties alternative sounds that was to gloriously drag some more fuzzy opaque memories screaming into these electro-synthed days.


Echobelly, Sleeper, Lush, Elastica, Republica, Sneakerpimps, Tracy Bonham, PJ Harvey, Beth Orton. Feminine pioneers of the nineties. Add a few gracious splashes of Kenickie and the sheer breadth of wonder that was, and still is, Skunk Anansie and I was blissfully floating away in remembrance, trying to recall which bag I‘d shoved my low-slung combats and old NMEs into. These female acts showcased anthemic tunes and iconic voices and snappy lyricism, not to mention providing the foundations for those who’ve so successfully followed.

Sneakerpimps’ Six Underground still makes me goosepimply, while Lush and Elastica unleashed unbridled passion and attitude. What of these pioneering ladies to ladettes, these alternative forerunners who have influenced the sounds of Lily Allen, The Ting Tings, and co? They’ve done more than influence, it feels like they’ve morphed beautifully into Ladyhawke, Bat for Lashes, and Florence and the Machine.

The one band that has made me yearn for some re-runs of TFI Friday are Skunk Anansie. Flicking through the plethora of music channels in my telly box, I caught sigh of Skin, looking not a day older than she did in 1996, screaming like she was gonna tear the place up. The same enthusiasm, passionate drive and amazing voice makes Skunk appear brand new. They don’t feel like an anachronism, she doesn’t feel out of place in the hyper-stylised, hyper-branded present. Skin and Skunk have transcended the nineties to naughties divide that others just couldn’t counter.

Britpop died when the nineties did, but the ladies who carried it and influenced the styles and sounds of the predecessors haven’t. Thank god. I still can’t find those combat trousers. I did find a copy of Smash Hits however. Can’t look myself in the eye.