Two girls, two instruments and a whole lot of attitude. Deap Vally don’t do things in half measure, they are full on LA girl grunge aggression with monstrous riffs and enthralling energy. After a busy year showcasing their debut album “Sistrionix”, touring and playing almost every festival, the ferocious females are bringing it to a close with a headline UK tour. XYZ caught up with the girls before their show at Concorde 2 to talk lack of ‘balls’ in rock’n’roll, wild all nighters in Brighton and meeting Liam Gallagher.
Hi Deap Vally, welcome to Brighton. What do you think of it so far?
We love Brighton! If we were going to live anywhere in the UK it would be here. It seems kinda happening and it has multiple juice bars and cute vintage shops. It’s not got that hectic quality of London. During Great Escape we had a pretty wild all nighter here which was fun. I just made some new friends and was at this all night dancing club and the next day there were pictures of me on people’s instagrams at this club. And then we went to the 24hr diner at like 7 or 8 in the morning and ran into our tour manager who had been out all night too. I don’t know where it was but I know that I ordered seafood pasta at like 8 in the morning!
So how has this year been for you so far? Any highlights?
Reading Festival was a great show and doing a show with Queens of the Stone Age in Canada. It was incredible, the crowd were punk rock. There were people really going for it during Queens, crowd surfing and just going crazy.
Are Queens of the Stone Age a band you’re influenced by?
Maybe a tiny bit. They just represent all that’s good about rock’n’roll. The thing is nobody has any balls in music anymore and they have balls and they’re creative. I’ve decided when I’m an old lady, I’m just going to go out, get drunk and go to shows and be like ‘NOBODY HAS ANY BALLS IN HERE!’
What do you think of the UK music scene compared to LA?
We don’t really know about the UK scene. In a way we don’t even know what the LA scene is either. We’ve just been on tour all year and all over the place. So we’re mostly caught up with the scene of bands of tour. And within that scene I’d say Tame Impala is definitely a band we love and Savages.
Any other UK bands your into at the moment?
We love The Horrors but they’ve kind of dropped off the radar to make a new record. We love Drenge, they’re awesome. Beth Jeans Houghton, she’s rad. The band supporting tonight – Tigercub, they look kind of grungy and really cool. We love the grunge.
Have you had any experiences in the UK that really stand out?
I had dinner with Robert Plant! Glastonbury was really cool but really chaotic and overwhelming, it just doesn’t come together in my mind. Jools Holland was amazing. We met Liam Gallagher, which we know most British people would be like ‘Fuck him!’ We posted it on Facebook and everyone was like ‘he’s an asshole’ and they were so mad, we were like ‘sorry!’
What’s your favorite song of yours to perform live?
We really love “The End of the World”. I love the tempo, the dynamic, the way it feels when the chorus kicks in. Sometimes that song is like running a marathon because we’ll do it at the end of the set and I’m so tired so it can be really challenging but really fun. We also love doing “Six Feet Under” and “Walk of Shame’
What will you be bringing to tonight’s gig?
Well we know it’s sold out so I expect crowd surfing. I have high standards for Brighton because we’ve had some really wild shows here so I’m bringing great expectations.
What about tonight’s stage outfits?
We usually decide at the last minute. We have our revolving wardrobe of stage glamour. I’ll probably go for my winged leopard zebra. It like a weird hybrid animal!
Describe your music in three words?
Menstrual, jugular and incendiary
Deap Vally’s debut album “Sistrionix” is out now!
Find out more from the band at http://deapvally.com
Interview by Amber Ainsworth
