She Drew The Gun
Ahead of International Women’s Day, Getintothis’ Lorna Dougherty chats with She Drew the Gun’s front woman, Louisa Roach, about women power and future plans.
One of the worrying effects of recent political events and its accompanying rhetoric (not naming any names *cough*; nasty orange man from America *cough*) has been the seeming regression and erosion of women’s rights.
However, and in contrast, there has been a continued rise of women in the music industry; the likes of Wolf Alice, The Big Moon, Amber Arcades, Pumarosa, Dream Wife (the list goes on..) have all hit the heights and received much merited plaudits.
There remains ample opportunity, for women to receive full reward for their talents as well as scope for a female political perspective to be expressed through music.
With this in mind we took time out to chat with She Drew The Gun‘s singer, songwriter and guitarist Louisa Roach, about the band’s latest single, her opinions on women’s rights as well as the band’s future plans.
Their latest single, No Hole in My Head, is a cover of a folk song originally written and recorded by Malvina Reynolds in the 1960s.
“I’m a big fan of Malvina, she’s really inspiring and her songs contain a lot of messages,” says Louisa, “we wanted to cover the song and do something interesting, change it to our style and reinvent it to something noticeable”
She Drew the Gun live at Sound City 2016
We asked Louisa why she picked this song; did it mean something to her, “The lyrics are really relevant,” she said, “it’s saying ‘I’m not stupid’, and ‘I can see what’s going on’
“Although it was written in the 60s, it’s even more relevant now after the regression at the moment”
Our chat moved on to how important the female voice remains in the media, particularly in the current climate, “it’s important to any young female listeners, well any listeners in fact.
“A lot of pop-music that gets played on commercial radio now is a bit meaningless.
“I want it to be less about selling records and more about meaning; a young girl singing about life rather than just being..erm..sexy.” Louisa states.
“There’s been a recent climate change around this, and it now feels acceptable for women to talk about politics; with all the women’s marches and stuff, when once it was almost a naughty word.”
It’s been a busy start of the month for the band.
On March 1, Louisa performed a live stream on Facebook where she played stripped back acoustic versions of her songs as well as answering questions from her fans.
On March 8 the band will play an in-store show at London’s Rough Trade East, where they will perform many of their favourites alongside a new song entitled Thank You, which Louisa has written as tribute to all the females that have inspired her.
The band have just finished recording a new video for the song and we’re just as excited as they are to see the finished product.
Liverpool Sound City 2017 reveal headliners Human League, Metronomy and Kooks
They finish off the month with their biggest UK tour, after the re-release of their debut album, retitled as Memories of Another Future, on March 17.
The release will contain three brand new songs, two original songs Sing and You as well as No Hole In My Head.
Louisa is excited to play at new cities and venues, but equally can’t wait for what will likely be a special Liverpool homecoming show at the Central Library on Saturday March 25.
2016 was a breakthrough year for She Drew The Gun, who won Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent competition and had three singles play-listed at BBC 6 Music.
After spending last summer performing at festivals across the UK, She Drew The Gun were invited to perform at Zandari Festa in Seoul, South Korea, as part of the Liverpool Sound City Takeover, and finished the year on a high, supporting The Coral on their UK tour.
Full dates of the tour are as follows:
Thursday March 16: SXSW Festival, Austin, Texas – BBC 6Music Stage
Thursday March 23: The Horn, St Albans
Friday March 24: Oslo, London
Saturday March 25: Central Library, Liverpool
Sunday March 26: The Cluny, Newcastle
Tuesday March 28: Komedia Arts Café, Bath
Wednesday March 29: The Exchange, Bristol
Thursday March 30: The Deaf Institute, Manchester
Friday March 31: Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
[paypal-donation]
