The most amazing, fabulous, sensational band in the whole world
“Our songs are loud, heavy and dirty situational observations, full of gossip.” – Violet Violet
I meet Violet Violet to talk two pieces, taxidermy and tumultuous Germans.
Tonight there is a party going on in Norwich and anyone who is anyone in the Norwich music scene is descending upon the Arts Centre. The reason for the celebration is that it is local label NR One Records’ 5th birthday. But I’m here to speak to this evenings headliners, the racket rousing, raucous duo that is Violet Violet.
Violet Violet are a two piece guitar drum duo consisting of Cheri on strings and Fliss on sticks. I initially encounter the girls adorning their merchandise stand, which is resplendent with band gear and a bevy of cup cakes, after all it is a party. And Violet Violet have plenty to celebrate also as at the back end of last year the East Anglian lasses successfully transformed themselves into a two piece, released their second album ‘The City Is Full Of Beasts’, to critical acclaim and are just about to head off on a jaunt around Europe. Oh and not forgetting the small matter of recently having grabbed themselves a BBC Introducing session at the world famous Maida Vale studios.
The pairs ditties are chock-full of bitch and bile, therefore listening to them may conjure an air of intimidation but their instant warmth and accommodating nature belie their bitchy tunes. As we amble through a narrow Arts Centre corridor the ladies display their modesty as initial small talk turns to tonight’s show “We are both a bit nervous” Cheri with her blonde tresses turns and intones, continuing “because any of the acts could have headlined and they were all really good in sound check, but we have been chosen.” It certainly is an intimidating slot at the top of tonight’s talented tree, but the girls will go on to justify their billing with an explosive set, but more of that later.
Back in the here and now we arrive in the bar area, the girls already stocked up with tonic from their rider make their way up a set of stairs to a quieter area as I queue at the bar. To give an idea of the music the girls make imagine if Willy Wonka, into his revolutionary, non-pollutionary, mechanical wonder flung the ingredients Riot Grrrl, grunge and a pinch of punk it would have no doubt spewed forth Violet Violet.
Drink now in hand I also ascend the stairs to the small, dimly lit upstairs area where Cheri and Fliss are sat sipping as the sounds of The Velvelettes seep out. It is an hour before show time but the girls are relaxed and happy to talk. They begin by divulging how they first met, Cheri recalls “It was at Dereham sixth form and we both moved to Norwich at the same sort of time.” Fliss continues recounting their earliest memories of one another “Cheri was in a band, which I really liked but we never really spoke.” Adding “ But then Cheri found out I was a drummer so approached me.” Cheri interjects “Yea I saw her from across the playground and thought that girls really cool.” Continuing Cheri smiles “I had reason to talk to her because the drummer in my previous band was terrible and I had always wanted to be in a girl band.” By their own admission attempting to bed Fliss into Cheri’s line-up at the time “didn’t really work”, but that did not deter them as Cheri explains “We then formed a band on our own with other friends from sixth form” And there we have what proved to be the earliest nucleus of Violet Violet.
Taking a sip of her drink and placing it back on the table Fliss admits that when questioned about the origins of their moniker “We make up a load of stories.” Cheri reasons “Yea because the actual story isn’t that great.” Pressed though to spin the yarn on their name Cheri says that “It’s from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story,” Fliss steps in “Yea where Violet Beauregarde’s dad says ‘Violet, you’re turning violet, Violet.’”
So with the band formed and the moniker coined Violet Violet were ready for the public and it was onwards to their first gig, a local battle of the bands in 2003. Fliss recounts that “It was the only reason why we decided to form the band really, in order to be involved in the battle of the bands at the local bowling alley.” At the gig the girls covered California Dreamin’ and their overall appraisal about their performance is not too positive. The experience they confess was though the catalyst for them knowing they wanted to make music together Cheri saying of the idea “We were really keen on it definitely.”
There was to be one more recruitment before Cheri says that they “got a bit more serious.” Fliss describes within this initial line up “the other girls were just in a band to be in a band.” So again the twosome were looking to recruit in order to become a trio. Fliss recounts “We advertised for another bass player and recruited (now ex-member) Kylie. We had a meeting with her and she was a really nice laid back girl.” Cheri continues “So when we met Kylie we became a bit more serious as we got on NR One Records and then we started to tour and did Europe.” The girls would then go on to release their debut album ‘Bitchbox’, but adversity was soon to follow. The memories of this time and the subject of Kylie’s departure are the first time their notorious bitchy barbs are felt. When questioned where Kylie was from Fliss jokes “a ditch” but this vitriolic view is only temporary as the matter is discussed further. The comment may seem catty but these girls are genuine and what Fliss says is not mindless as they are quick to explain eloquently their personal feelings which immediately make sense. Fliss remembers “She left in a really bad way and it was really upsetting” the girls adding that Kylie does not even want to speak to them now. Cheri recounts “You become protective of it (the band) because we had had it for so long so it made us a bit resentful that we had given it to her.” With the sudden departure it is not hard to see where the girls annoyance stems from, they even go on to praise her later for her time in the band but Cheri concludes by saying “It kind of makes you think, why did we enlist someone else because we were quite capable of doing it as a two.”
Therein there was to be a new dawn for Cheri and Fliss as they overcame this departure, they displayed strong will, tenacity and a hard working independence demonstrated to them by their Riot Grrrl heroin’s. Fliss says that “Together our biggest influence is Sleater-Kinney, they are a big inspiration,” Cheri adds “yea and they also didn’t have a bass player and their vocal style was similar to ours as me and Fliss have always shared that.” As well as taking inspiration from their influences they could more than draw strength from the fact that Fliss says “We always wrote all the songs together as a two.” Cheri elaborates “Even with other people in the band you could always hear Fliss and I.” To which Fliss says “So it wasn’t a hard decision to become a two piece.” And that is how these girls arrived at making music as a duo. Spending any time with them you cannot imagine it any other way, their synchronicity is astounding as they consistently, throughout talking, literally finish each others sentences. This synchronicity is what makes them so devastating on record and even more so when they take to a stage.
The next challenge for the girls was to prove themselves right that they could be a two piece. When recounting their time since becoming a twosome and what they have achieved you can really see their eyes light up and the mention of what they can do with their sound now makes them more excitable than an ankle biter with a tube of blue Smarties. Cheri confesses “It was scary” and with a widening of her eyes adds “but then we were really excited by what we could do as a two and the dynamics.” Fliss steps in “And the weird thing is we are much louder with one less member.” Cheri explains their infant duo days “I split my guitar sound which is how we create such a big sound as I go into a bass amp as well. The two of us looked into an octave peddle and I use the same one as Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Jack White.” she then recalls advice they sought “We e-mailed Dave Pye (the producer of ‘The City Is Full Of Beasts) and informed him of the situation. His advice was to use a splitter pedal, so now I split between bass and guitar.” This process birthed what they proclaim to be a louder, heavier and dirtier sound.
The girls entered the studio with the aforementioned Dave Pye to capture their new sound and they are quick to point out his importance. Cheri full of praise declares “He really goes out of his way to get where you are coming from.” Fliss continues “He just got us because he had seen us live, listened to our music and we also took him ‘The Woods’ by Sleater-Kinney to listen to, as the production on that album is fantastic.” Cheri happily concludes “He did a really good job.”
Proving to themselves they worked as a two piece was easy enough but proving it to others was no mean feat. Because of this Cheri sites the night of 7th August last year, their re-launch gig as a two piece, as one of her favourites. She explains “It sounds negative but a lot of people came to see us to see whether we could do it or not” she remembers about the pressure. Continuing she recalls “We practiced so hard for it with the new pedals and it was really difficult, but we pulled it off and everybody was saying to us ‘I can’t believe you did it, you were amazing.’” Fliss agrees with it being a defining moment “It really was one of those teary occasions.”
The result of their time in the studio was soon to follow as ‘The City Is Full Of Beasts’ leapt into view on 2nd November and critical acclaim was soon to follow as notably the album was voted one of XFM’s Top 100 debuts of 2009. To coincide with the release the girls staged an album launch gig which Fliss places near the top of her pile of favourites. Recalling the night the brunette drummer says “It was at The Forum in Norwich and a band had never played there before. We made it a black tie event and made the space into a set of our album artwork.” Nostalgically she concludes “We put so much effort into it, it was just amazing to give that to our fans.”
These fond memories are excitedly retold and it is easy to see why they are with such vigour as they confess their preference is touring over recording both agreeing that “Touring’s amazing, especially in other countries.” From this stems what they rank as their favourite gig, at Palace in Cologne, Germany. Fliss happily recalls “It was just really bizarre because we got on stage and everyone was really enjoying it we were just like jeez” Cheri highlights “Because we were first on.” Fliss continues “We finished went off stage and everyone was screaming for an encore for ages, we were like ‘We can’t go back on we played first.’” To which Cheri adds “There was a huge eruption, the other band had to come and get us and say ‘Girls, you’re going back on!’” She concludes with a chuckle “We didn’t have anything to play so ended up performing a random song.”
After this recollection both girls gulp the remainder of their glasses as Marlena Shaw’s ‘California Soul’ rings out around us. One after the other they return their tankards to the table and turn their attention to addressing their lyrical content. “We mainly just gossip in our songs” reveals Fliss, “Yea situational observation” offers Cheri in explanation. Their Gossip-grrrl lyrics though are articulate as their sharp tongues are clever and jammed full of wit. Fliss says “ We try not to make the situation too obvious though, as when we used to, it landed us in trouble.” Cheri testifies with laughter “It did I nearly had a fight with a girl once because of our lyrics.” They vent their spleens within their sounds but tongues stay firmly in cheek. For example the trauma of losing their felines to former swain’s is delightfully dealt with in ‘C-C-C-Cat’, as at the same time as brimming with bile the lyrics are also lavished with laughter.
With talk turning to their instruments Fliss points out “Personally I’m not that fussed with drum kits, I’m not a name girl” although adding “with lots of money I would like a DW kit.” The pierced lipped Cheri though is onto a subject she enjoys, she begins “I play a Schecter, which I like because you don’t really see a lot of people with one.” adding “It has really nice pick ups so it’s quite heavy and low down but can also be jangly.” With that she turns to a description of her other equipment “I have my POG, my custom made splitter and three Marshall pedals” to which she is quick to add “I detest Marshall amps but love their pedals.” Finally she tells of her “cherished” Fender Deluxe 85 amp pointing out “It is the same as Johnny Greenwood’s from Radiohead.”
While addressing instruments the enquiry as to whether they are experimenting with new ones is greeted with a chuckle as Cheri reveals Fliss’ hidden piano playing talent (she can play Alicia Keys’ debut in its entirety) but they assure me through much mirth there are no plans to incorporate this into their sound. They reveal though that they will be taking to the studio with Dave Pye again soon and are full of enthusiasm about the prospect. As previously stated they are “excited at what they can do” as a two piece. They seem to thrive on it and it seems they almost see it as a challenge as to how much noise they can make, as Cheri returns again to pedal talk “We are going to be doing more with the pedals, we will be playing about with the bass and guitar when we record.” Creatively they are at it already, they do not stand still, their early Riot Grrrl influences are still present but along the way they have drawn inspiration from Blood Red Shoes amongst others and are currently very Rock ‘n’ Roll. Cheri admitting “We are really into Eagles Of Death Metal at the moment, we saw them and have fell in love with that sound.” With Fliss adding “After we saw them we wrote a song inspired by them.” Alongside this fact Fliss also confesses Them Crooked Vultures’ debut to be the last album she brought, adding that she “loves Dave Grohl.”
They throw a couple of new songs in tonight, one which Cheri admits “they just finished in sound check.” They admit they are “cut-throat” with their set as they say they are always keen to budge old songs from the list. This reflects two girls brimming with ideas, a musical maturity shown on their second album which continues to blossom and maybe also a sour taste to their old offerings, which they admit to being very critical of. It seems that in shedding members they shed an old skin and talking to and witnessing the girls play you can tell they are now where they wanted to be. They are brimming with passion, excitement and ideas as a twosome.
At this point during my chat various people are attempting to say their hellos to the girls but they are only briefly distracted and there is time for them to display yet more talent. Cheri shedding light on the fact that she also studies French “I’m in my second year of university now. I studied French at sixth form and we travel around Europe so I wanted to do it because I just like communication.” Equally as talented Fliss is responsible for all of the bands artwork and also tells how she “Graduated last July from the art school in Norwich.” adding “I also do taxidermy in my spare time, as I was fascinated by it so thought I might as well give it a go to see if I could do it, I did and I could.”
And with that the girls are being dragged away for more hard work as they need to fit in an interview with the BBC. Just before they can scarper down the stairs though I ask them what to expect at a Violet Violet gig, to which they both reply “A lot of noise!” They are whisked away to their interview and after that no doubt to their awaiting pork pies, as it is their pre-show ritual to cram a Melton Mowbray. Then they hit the stage to tear through a ten song set, consisting of two new songs a Kaito cover and seven second album tracks including their imminent new single ‘For the Young and the Fresh Boned’, which they both agree is their favourite song to perform Cheri‘s reasoning being that it has a ‘stonk‘ to it. Their proclamation of being noisy proves to be quite the understatement. Live they are heavier than on record their venomous vocals are both brilliant when barked and similarly magnificent when melodic, Fliss’ drumming is so much more intense and Cheri’s serrated riffs even more lush for being drenched, at times, in feedback.
Violet Beauregarde gorged herself on Willy Wonka’s gum to blow up but Violet Violet have been chewing over Riot Grrrl, grunge and Rock ‘n’ Roll influences and now it is time for them and their Gossip-punk to blow up to gargantuan proportions.
- Violet Violet’s album ‘The City Is Full Of Beasts’ is out now.
- Their new single ‘For the Young and the Fresh Boned’ is to be released March 29th.
- Check out their Myspace www.myspace.com/violetviolet1 for more information.
Fantastic interview. I enjoyed your blog and will read again in future.