Everything you ever wanted to know about Exeter DIY GRRRL Band - THE MAISONETTES....
It’s been a while since bands have been able to get together and work on putting out new material, even rehearsal time can be a bit of a chore trying to arrange. So when I heard of an Exeter based DIY GRRRL band called THE MAISONETTES had managed to release two singles during the pandemic lockdown, I was eager to learn more….
I know you’re a DIY Grrrl band from Exeter called The Maisonettes, I know there are 5 of you in the band, please introduce each person and tell me what they do in the band….
Leah - Vocals and bass
Ebony - Bass and vocals
Maisie - guitar and vocals
George - lead guitar
Jake - Drums
How and when did the band form?
The band formed in lockdown this January, Leah, Ebony, George and Maisie all live in the same house - we had spoken about starting a band for a while then lockdown pushed us to actually start one and within 3 days we had written, recorded and released our first single.
Do all of the band members share the same tastes in music?
We all have a very similar music taste on the whole which definitely helps when writing songs however what is also good is we all have our own separate influences that the others may not listen to which can help keep things fresh!
How would you describe your sound?
Our sound is simple punk/riot grrrl noise
Do you play a mixture of covers as well as your own material?
We play originals, however at the minute we may add in the odd cover to make up the set time!
How has the band coped during the pandemic which has affected us all since March 2020?
The band has coped pretty well considering we formed within the lockdown however it is extremely frustrating that we have had to wait for ages to play any live shows
Have you managed to get together to practise?
By living in the same house means we can practice whenever we like! However this does also mean that sometimes we never actually get around to practicing so The Cavern (club in Exeter) have been really good at giving us a space to specifically get together and play loud. We have also recently used Tazma Studios which are equally as brilliant!
Which bands would you say have influenced you musically? And HOW have they influenced you?
(Leah) Personally Wolf Alice have always been a massive influence on me, I love Ellie Rowsells’ ability to sing beautifully and perform heavier tracks like Yuk Foo. More recently I have been influenced by more spoken singing, bands such as The Blinders have been on heavy rotation recently but specifically for this band, Bikini Kill have been a huge influence, our mate Tom introduced us to the band Bully and Gouge Away which was a significant influence on a couple of our EP tracks.
(Maisie) I’m very influenced by the original riot grrrl and grunge girl bands, specifically Bratmobile, Babes in Toyland and Daisy Chainsaw. These were big inspirations for me growing up and writing music.
Which new bands are you listening to at the moment? I am loving Dry Cleaning, SQUID and St Vincent.
(Leah) interestingly, we are also loving SQUID’s new album and have recently gotten into Dry Cleaning, i know it’s not extremely new but I’m listening to a lot of Working Men’s Club recently
Explain to me what ‘DIY’ means when it comes to being in a band?
To me, DIY means trying to do everything ourselves as much as we can, for example our first track, 'Sick of This' was entirely written and recorded and released by us. We do all of our own artwork, we where really lucky to have Tom Gilbert record our EP but with releasing that, we’re making all the cassettes ourselves but basically that as much as we like working and collaborating with others, we don’t rely on anyone else
Are any of you any good at DIY (assembling IKEA furniture, putting up shelves etc?)
I (Leah) brought a power drill recently so would definitely like to believe I’m good at DIY as long as no one looks too closely at any of the work I’ve done!
You have released two single to date ‘Sick of This’ and ‘Shame’ - briefly tell me what each track is about
(Leah) Sick of This was a reply to someone I was having a difference with at the time, I hate retaliating and getting into text arguments so I decided that was the best way to get what I wanted to say off my chest
(Maisie) I wrote Shame around the time that the women’s rights vigils were happening, I wanted to write a song about harassment and how it feels being in that moment. I wanted it to show that that’s how predators want us to act, shy, innocent, no opinions. But the powerful sound of the song shows that that’s not how we should act and feel.
Do you have a set process when it comes to writing songs?
There’s no specific set way, With mine and Maisie’s tracks, we both wrote all the parts, and Ebony wrote the lyrics to her track but usually it’s either George will come up with a riff, something he is annoyingly good at and we will build it off of that or we will come to him with another song we would like to take a rough influence from then he will write something of the same feel and we jam it further from there.
You’re from Exeter which has always had a very rich source of diverse music, name some other local acts that you think our readers should be checking out?
Leah and George are both in another Exeter band, HOKES, so would obviously suggest people check them out! But one of my favourites will have to be First Person, definitely worth checking!
What about live music venues in and around Exeter, where are the best places for live music?
With two members working there, this may come across as pretty biased but The Cavern is hands down the best venue in Exeter!!
Michael Eavis from Glasto has been in touch and wants to know which 3 headline acts he should put on for the 2022 festival, which would YOU choose and why (can be dead or alive)
(Leah)
The Maisonettes
Hokes
Switchover
These are all bands I’m in and I wanna headline Glastonbury 3 times in a row!!
(Maisie)
Babes in Toyland
The Smashing Pumpkins
Type O Negative (guilty pleasure)
(George)
My Bloody Valentine
Suede
Public Service Broadcasting
(Ebony)
IDLES
Lianne La Havas
The Cure
Let’s imagine you have been asked to appear on ‘Come Dine With Me’, what are you going to prepare for your guests? (Starter, main and dessert please)
(Leah)
Starter: soup?? Seems easy?
Main- toad in the whole with roast potatoes, this is the only meal I’ve ever been told I’m good at making!
Dessert- salted caramel brownies
(Maisie)
Fresh salad with veg
Rice and tofu bowl with fried veg
Fruit salad and vegan ice cream
(I’m not much of a cook)
(George)
Pho
(Ebony)
Baked Brie in bread crumbs with cranberry
Beef Wellington with mash and gravy
Chocolate fondue with fresh fruit and marshmallows
Hopefully, things will be starting to get back to some form of normal in June, have you many live shows planned?
Saturday July 24th - Plymouth Underground (On The House event supporting Okay, Bye)
Saturday July 31st - Exeter Cavern (with HOKES and The Issues)
Friday August 6th - The New Lion Brewery - Dartington- (Supporting Booshka)
Saturday September 4th - Dave’s Woodstock - Exeter Phoenix
Quickfire Questions
Bikini Kill or HOLE
L - Bikini Kill
G - Bikini Kill
M - Bikini Kill
E - Bikini Kill
Exeter Cavern or Exeter Phoenix
L - Cavern
G - Cavern
M - Cavern
E - Cavern
Ice Cream or Lollipop
L - Ice Cream
G - ice Cream
M - Lollipop
E - Ice Cream
Dodgems or Big Wheel
L - Dodgems
G - Dodgems
M - Dodgems
E - Big Wheel
Camping or Glamping
L - Glamping
G - Glamping
M - Glamping
E - Camping
Electric or Acoustic
L - Electric
G - Electric
M - Electric
E - Electric
Fluffy Kittens or Unicorns
L - Fluffy Kittens
G - Fluffy Kittens
M - Fluffy Kittens
E - Fluffy Kittens
Beach or Pool
L - Beach
G - Pool
M - Beach
E - Beach
Book or Kindle
L - Book
G - Book
M - Book
E - Book
Digital Download or Vinyl
L - Vinyl!!!
G - Vinyl
M - Vinyl
E - Vinyl
Samsung or Apple
L - Apple
G - Apple
M - Apple
E - Apple
Exeter or Bristol
L - Exeter
G - Exeter
M - Exeter
E - Exeter
Tattoos or Piercings
L - Tattoos
G - Piercings
M - Tattoos
E - Tattoos
God or Google
L - Google
G - Google
M - Neither
E - Google
We’d like to thank the band for getting involved in the feature and I hope that you feel that you know them a little bit better than you did 10 minutes ago! If you can, why not head to one of their forthcoming shows, have a chat, show them some love! If you want to keep up to date with them on the socials, click whichever link below.