CoverGirl: Grrrls on film
CoverGirl: doing a Halloween special
Rapt by the unorthodox palpitations of no-wave maven James Chance and spurred on by the joint desire for more immersive music making, multi-gendered London five-piece CoverGirl came to light last May in a moment of pure clarity.
Formed from the fading embers of post-punk trio WETDOG, the clattering bones of Kaoss Pad purveyors Peepholes and the primal, polyrhythmic entrails of Trash Kit, Andrew Collings, Katia Barrett, Ruth Edwards, Billy Easter and Rachel Aggs – aka London’s shiniest leftfield ‘supergroup’ – made their live foray at The Joiners Arms’ Trannyoke night. And using self-styled drumsticks fashioned from a leek and a wooden spoon, as chairs went flying it was, for a first gig, suitably shambolic.
But what began as a rudimentary warehouse based experiment in unrelenting noise has over time mutated into a fierce, sweaty, heaving, disco fiend, laden down with toxic beats and fleshed out by the melodic nuances of WETDOG bassist Billy Easter. It is collaborative, in the strictest sense of the word: five friends pooling their creative talents and resources to launch a project which revels in a sense of infinite possibility. “We come up with the songs when we’re practising,” says vocalist/chief axe-wielder Rachel Aggs. “We’re all about doing stuff in the moment together so if we were too organised we wouldn’t have that energy.”
Having witnessed their chaotic live shows first hand, I can certainly vouch for this – they have hardly ‘tightened’ up their act since that fabled Joiners debut, but then that would be missing the point of CoverGirl entirely. “We’re taking having fun seriously,” continues Rachel. “It’s all about being ridiculously relaxed on stage and just having a really great time. If people don’t get that then they probably won’t be into us.”
They are in the midst of a UK-wide tour which will see them play the length and breadth of the country, from Portsmouth to Glasgow. “This tour will see if people who live outside of London like us,” says the band’s statuesque flame-haired lynchpin Andrew Collings. “People in different cities are used to appreciating music in different ways but our primary aim is to make people dance and I think we’ve achieved that so far.”
Their single launch took place in October at new Hackney venue Powerlunches, and aside from CoverGirl, Andrew and Rachel also put on a monthly bands night at this popular hangout, wittily coined ‘National Minimum Rage’. According to Andrew, the idea sprang from their shared experience of ‘living’ in London on the national minimum wage; “I was working full-time and could still barely afford my rent – to say I was ‘living’ is a stretch. So NMR is about putting on the best bands we can find for as cheap as possible.”
“Powerlunches is a great new venue,” adds Rachel. “It’s nice to have a space that’s intimate but has a wide spectrum of gigs going on which cater to everyone’s tastes. I’d say it’s half way between how Bardens used to be and Café Oto, and we arrange gigs there because we really believe in the space and want to promote local bands,” adds Rachel.
Andrew has dedicated the past few years to nurturing his own baby – ‘Club Milk’ – a record label and club night which he has taken all over the UK. But nowhere quite compares to Hackney, in his opinion. “London is probably the most diverse city in the UK for music and I think East London has the most appreciative audience – people move here because they are genuinely into music and so we always have an amazing response.”
CoverGirl’s 7” single ‘Paris Burns’ is out now on Brooklyn-based indie label Captured Tracks. Inspired by the heralded 1990 documentary film ‘Paris is Burning’ – an intimate portrait of New York City’s LGBT subculture – it’s accompanied by an insanely surreal video which recently premiered at Sauna, an arts space in Hoxton run by Billy Easter and friends. And with its cautionary percussive pull, harrowing screams and intoxicating atonal twang, you’d certainly be hard pushed to stand still …
Go here for more:
CoverGirl on Soundcloud
CoverGirl on Bandcamp
Power Lunches Arts Cafe