Interview with My Heroine

My Heroine, from South East England, are an edgy, commercial rock band with the songs to take the band far. Recent EP ‘Driven To Distraction’ is 5 tracks of well written, catchy rock with soulful, passionate vocals and kick-ass musicianship. I haven’t stopped listening to this EP since I’ve got it, the sound is a great mix of catchy riffs and memorable choruses with a huge rock vibe.

The band are set to release lead single and video from the EP, ‘I’ll Be Your Heroine’, on Feb 4th, and I’ve been lucky enough to see the video and it’s great. Although only being together a relatively short time the band have won many accolades and played hundreds of shows and 2013 is definitely gonna be the year for the band to go stellar. We spoke to the band recently,  so say hello to My Heroine.

Can you introduce yourselves to our readers?  
We are an all female rock band called My Heroine, Emma (Lead Vocals / Guitar), Giverny (Lead Guitar / Vocals), Georgie (Bass / Vocals) and Alex (Drums / Vocals).

Where did the bands name come from?  
Giv: I believe it’s a Native American saying meaning “awful hair”, just like any true native Americans we were named after what was going on when we were born in the 80’s.
Emma: ‘My Heroine’ is derived from the notion of saving the human race from an eternity of manufactured pop music.
Georgie: A previous line up Emma and myself were in. We didn’t want anything with doll or pussycat but we want it to be feminine.
Alex: Alphabetti Spaghetti

How did you get started?  
Alex: I joined from an advert on match.com.. nah, Gumtree. I do believe the girls said ‘You’re not fat, you’re in”
Emma: I answered an online advert that Georgie posted about 4 years ago.
Georgie: We all auditioned for the saturdays but were rejected. We decided to form a band, but as we couldn’t really dance we had to play instruments to mask that and as we don’t have any money, we have to write our own songs.
Giv: A long time ago in  galaxy far far away.

What have you got going on at the moment?  
Alex: We have just released our debut EP: “Driven To Distraction” and are preparing a tour to promote our new single.
Giv: Sorted a tour to support our EP which has come out as well as our forthcoming singles. Signing boobs, being awesome
 Emma: We have also shot two music videos which will be out soon!
Georgie: Thats a it of a personal question. I am currently have my onsie one… hang on I think I miss read the question.

Whats your favourite music and why?   
Alex: I love everything really, sometimes I listen to metal other days I listen to jazz, I think it helps to be open minded, I am a huge Skunk Anansie fan though.
Georgie: I go through phases of what album  listen too. Most of it isn’t current. I’m a sucker for a big chorus. If the song is good and catchy, I will listen to it.
Emma: I grew up listening to pop punk and it will always have a place in my heart, Blink 182 are the reason I started playing guitar and Alkaline trio are the reason I started writing songs.
Giv: Stooshe… HAHAH Oh ha, I crack myself up, Guns n Roses, Blink 182, Taylor Swift – anything like that really.

Favourite book and why?  
Georgie: I am obsessed with the Hunger Games at the moment. I actually get a bit jealous when I see people reading them, as I want to read them for the first time again. They have everything! Politics, oppression, love and battles to the death.
Emma: I quite enjoy a good self development book, I don’t have time for fiction!
Giv: 50 shades of grey, I just think its so deep and there are so many intertwining plot lines and character story lines, its such a gripping read I find my self dripping in sweat every time I read it.
Alex: Honestly, I don’t have the attention space for reading a book. Does Kerrang! magazine count?

Favourite film and why?  
Giv – Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Best film of all time! theres everything in there – hot guys, light sabre fights, space ships, ewoks. Whats not to love?
Emma: Eagle Vs Shark, It is so quirky and true to life, I also see a lot of myself in the main character.
Georgie: Best scary films: The shining, The orphanage and What lies beneath. Bring it on, she’s all that, cruel intensions (I want the car), save the last dance and 10 things i hate about you was pretty much my stable film diet when I was at 6th form. I still love them.
Alex: At the moment? Avengers Assemble, I don’t think I need to explain why it’s so good.

Best experience in the business?  
Giv: Standing in our Lawyer’s office surrounded by Gold disks! Or meeting mark hoppus, but that wasn’t really music business related, we were both Christmas shopping on oxford street and bumped into him and shook his hand. Wish I’d had a photo, I love him!
Emma: Our Ep launch night was an amazing success. Also chatting and having photos with random people who appreciate our music is awesome.
 Georgie: When a song comes together after a writing session and we are all buzzing from it.
 Alex: there has been many fantastic experiences but I feel the best is yet to come.

Why should Soundscape readers care?  
Alex: We are touring in February to promote our new single (I’ll Be Your Heroine 04.02.13) and are playing in Wales, so readers from the Newport/Cardiff area would be able to catch one of our shows and grab an EP, we’re very sociable so come say hello!
Georgie: We love Wales. It is a favourite place to play as everyone is lovely and seem to get what we do. We would love for people who haven’t heard us yet to give us a listen and give us a chance.
Emma: Because we are the best thing since sliced bread. We do exactly what it says on the tin. We rock!
Giv: Because we’re all tree-hugging nature activists and bra-burners. I haven’t washed in 2 weeks, you should always care about things like that.

Tell our readers an interesting fact about your band?  
Georgie: I can do an awesome impression of Donald Duck and the devil. I sometimes enjoy freaking out the sound engineer in sound check with the latter.
Giv: I once ate a snail.
Alex: We almost called the band ‘Scary Ponies’ as I have a fear of horses.
Emma: We are actually men in drag.

What’s the best and worst things about touring?  
Georgie: There are very few downsides. We all love touring and hope to one day be able to do it full time. As the only one insured on a car that fits us all in along with our gear, I guess the worst thing for me is being the driver. Small price to pay to do something I love.
Alex: The best parts about touring is always meeting new people and playing to new crowds, you meet the most interesting people. I don’t think there are any downsides, even playing to a empty venue with terrible sound, we still hit the bar afterwards!
Giv: Escaping from everyone and having time off work in which to play gigs and party are the best bits, meeting new fans and chatting to them after shows is always amazing too. Worst part is the driving. ITS SO BORING I always fall asleep. But I fall asleep everywhere and anywhere. I slept through Metallica’s set at Download last year. Think I stayed awake for Enter sand man then that was me out like a light in the middle of the arena.
Emma: The worst part is having to eat junk food and sharing mirrors in hotel rooms.

Most embarrassing thing to happen to you while in the band?  
Alex: I get embarrassed being seen out with the other MH girls, I walk at least walk 30 yards in front.
Giv: We had a big support slot about a year ago, biggest venue we’d ever played, massive stage. We were so pumped and ready for it, we launched into the first song and I’d forgotten to turn my amp on!
Emma: probably when my amp cut out in the middle of a song and there was a really long awkward silence and the crowd were just waiting. Luckily Giv saved the day with her rendition of the little mermaid.
Georgie: When? This week?

What’s your writing and recording process?  
Alex: Energy Drinks and Tea mainly.. We all tend to write parts and try them out, I might come up with a guitar riff one day and Giv and Georgie might come up with a vocal melody another, Emma’s always writing lyrics from observations and turning them on their head.
Georgie: None of us really write our own parts. Whenever I do write, I normally sing it first then attempt to play it on the bass.
Emma: I love writing songs that tell stories, have varied themes and strong visual elements I usually write the basic idea on my acoustic guitar and then play the idea to the rest of the band. The main thing is to be able to relate to people in the most original and entertaining way while leaving a lasting impression.
Giv: We go into a studio armed with a lot of coffee, sweets and gadgets then we prat around for a while and don’t get much done, then in the final days it’s a massive rush to finish everything.

What inspires you?  
Giv: I inspire myself with my inspirational speeches. I am very inspirational
Alex: You inspire me
Emma: Emotions we all feel everyday, unspoken words and making fun of things/people
Georgie: People who work really hard, have made it and are still really nice.

Best thing about playing in Wales?  
Alex: We love playing in Wales! Last year we toured with ‘Reaper In Sicily’ and everyone was so welcoming, the Welsh know how to treat ladies!
Giv: Every wales show we’ve done has been amazing, except one which was voted as our worst show of all time (but that wasn’t Wales’s fault) the kids in Wales actually CARE about music and supporting the local scene, where we’re from noone gives a crap. Except our parents, but they’re obliged to care.
 Emma: The welsh accent , it is so friendly!
Georgie: Best crowd and really friendly people! Having said that, every time we have crossed the bridge to Wales…. it has started to rain! EVERY TIME!

Who are your role models or idols?  
Alex: My role models that are well known are, Jimmy Chamberlin, Dave Grohl, Mark Richardson, Travis Barker, Patty Schemel, Luke Holland and Ginger Fish, but I get inspired but a lot of musicians and friends that I meet day-to-day, and also my mum.
Giv: My guitar teacher, Jamie who is the coolest person ever. He’s the King of Havering and he sorts all my troubles out with a beer and a guitar.
Georgie: I dont have one : ( Thats a bit sad. I need one otherwise I might go off the rails.
Emma: Any one else who is self made that has the guts to perform in front of people, you can learn from everyone regardless of level.

What do you think the hardest thing about the current business is?  
Alex: Trying to be noticed and given a chance by a label. The charts have changed radically in the last few years, full of pop acts and dance tracks, which is cool but nothing beats seeing a live band play.
Giv: Its flooded with X-Factor finalists  and crappy girl bands. Theres very little actual talent out there. Except Justin Beiber. He’s a babe so noone cares that he’s crap.
Georgie: It seems to all be about pop and dance music. Its hard as a guitar band to get a look in.
Emma: It is all very much based on superficial things like how many hits you have on youtube, likes you have on fb etc. You can pay PR companies to rig this kind of stuff now so you can’t get signed just on raw talent.

Who is your Favourite Batman actor?  
Alex: As in played Batman? Or starred in Batman? No one can beat Adam West!
Giv: Bruce Wayne, he’s the best batman.
Emma: I have no idea. Is Christian Bale in it? He’s pretty hot.
 Georgie: I was an extra in the latest batman and I was awesome!

So put February 4th in your diary to check out the video and head out to a date on the tour. Massive thanks to the band for doing this for us.

http://www.myheroineofficial.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MEBQ55r-Mk&list=PL8165FFEB75AC1AF8&index=3