Chester : Bandit Queen Interview

One For The Girls?

Interview with Bandit Queen

Sydney Australia. Oct 1995.

Bandit Queen as we know them today (or probably don't, as the case may be) were spawned from Manchester band Swirl, who through line-up changes and much re-arranging were refined to become the three Bandit Queens - Tracy Godding (vocals/guitar), Janet Wolstenholme (bass), David Eric Gaffney (drums) - a line-up which Tracy prefers to the larger five-piece Swirl: "It certainly made things alot simpler with a three-piece, it's a bit more fragile. When we became Bandit Queen, we found the right line-up."

After touring extensively in Europe, they came to Australia for a quick semi-promotional tour, coinciding with the release of their debut album Hormone Hotel (available through MDS). The aforementioned is an album thick with glorious harmonies; empowering in its strength and conviction; layered with inpenetrable guitar and pounding choruses, and is one of the best debut records of the year.

The critics are even raving. Only very small, tucked-away-in-the-corner-near-the-crossword-raves, but raves all the same. "We're not that well-known anywhere at the moment," explains Tracy. "We're still at the beginning." Indeed, Bandit Queen are still at that stage where their parents probably want them to get proper jobs. "My dad still asks me what I'm going to do," says David. "He doesn't see pop music as a worthwhile thing." Tracy continues "Coming here [to Australia] is the thing that's impressed the mums and dads the most."

We chat about the previous night's Stone Roses show, which didn't impress them much, and their stay in Sydney. David notes the differences with England being "friendly people, friendly taxi drivers, plants and the pedestrian crossings make really funny noises." Tracy is continuing to wax lyrical about Sydney and the view from their hotel window, when Janet quietly, but conspicuously mumbles "It's horrible". Aghast, Tracy questions Janet's incriminating mutterances with embarrassed disbelief, until it is revealed that indeed all references to Sydney, the scenic view and the whole nation and its people were instead directed to Janet's measly serving of vegetables with pesto. We all feel we will now sleep better tonight. Despite Janet's dissatisfaction with her lunch, she continues under sufferance.

"That's typically English," intones Tracy. "To moan and not do anything about it. Mutter under your breath, but put up with it."

Tracy does most of the talking, to the extent that when she answers a quick phone call, the conversation ceases altogether. Tracy also did the talking when she told the NME she wanted Bandit Queen to be the English Breeders. "I said 'I really like the attitude of The Breeders, and I'd like us to be the English Breeders', but I didn't mean musically. It was just a misinterpretation and I've never been able to forget it since." Very rarely do Bandit Queen sound like The Breeders. Very rarely do they sound like anyone other than Bandit Queen, but they have been compared to just about every other band who has a (whisper it) female tendency. Not that it's a bad thing. "No, it could've been much worse," says Tracy. "The fact that one day someone says we sound like The Breeders, the next we sound like Throwing Muses, shows the diversity of the music."

Live, Bandit Queen are exhilarating. Tracy puts on a star performance, and unlike Madonna, with her gynaecological posing, or Courtney Love with her "baby doll dragged through a hedge backwards kinda look" (according to Tracy, who otherwise admires her), she can be sexy in T-shirt and jeans. It's the sort of performance Sleeper's Louise Wener would be capable of if she wasn't so concerned with her contrived self-preening and eyelid fluttering. "I think we are pretty sexy," reflects Tracy.

"And the few people who've heard the new demos say they're even sexier... That's cause we don't actually have sex in real life, just in the music."

Their energetic performances compelled many to say that they blew Ash off the stage during their support slot, and their headlining gig at Feedback (Sydney), despite the small attendance, got a feverish audience response. It's just a matter of time before Bandit Queen get the attention they deserve. Tracy ponders the future of the band saying "I don't think we're aiming to be huge, like alot of bands walk around going 'we're gonna be massive'. We want a bit of success, but I want the music to get better." And she concludes jokingly: "The next album will be even better [than the last]. If you can get any better." It's no joke.

Tabitha Carvan

Design and layout � Chester 1996. This page last updated 20 June 96.