Alien Chicks: 27 Stitches

Born out of the boredom of lockdown, a new wave of "post Brexit post punk" bands have hit the Brixton Windmill. Through relentlessly gigging, Alien chicks are one of the bands at the forefront and the reception at their single launch party for their new single ‘27 stitches’ very much proved this.

The night was kicked off with live sets from fellow Windmill favourites ‘A Void’, ‘Cowboy’ and ‘Duck Wax’. Alien Chicks then wrapped up the evening with a beautifully chaotic and lively performance. Ending the set in true Pouges style, with a guy jumping up on to the stage and crashing his head against the symbol of the drum kit. 

Prior to the event, we sat down with Alien Chicks (Joe: lead vocals and guitar, Stefan: vocals and bass and Martha: Drums) to discuss the history of the band, the windmill scene and the launch of the new single ‘27 Stitches’. 

So, tell us about how you guys met, and ‘Alien Chicks’ got started?

Joe: Me and Stefan actually met when we were 10 years old in a tap-dancing class and have been best friends ever since. We then met Martha in a practice room after we’d moved to London.

Martha: Yes, I was rehearsing with this all-female brass band and had gone down to get a glass of water when I heard Joe shouting about not having a drummer. So, I went over and said, “Hey I’m a drummer” and he asked if I was any good and I said “Yeah” and that was that. We did maybe 3 or 4 rehearsals together before doing our first gig and have been relentlessly gigging ever since.

Joe: It’s actually so funny because Martha had absolutely no idea what we sounded like. We could have been really, really shit.

Stefan: Yeah, she took a complete leap of faith.

So, when was the first gig?

Stefan: Our first gig was the 4 th of October so about 9 months ago now. We played at The New Cross Inn and headlined which was pretty strange. We had a great reception though and it felt like we’d been playing together for ages. Even after only 3 practices.

What’s your music history? What sort of stuff do you listen to/ what did you grow up with?

Joe: I listen to quite a lot of jazz. I love Chet Baker. I think he’s amazing. Also, really into Bossa Nova as well. I think that really influences the music that we write as we always use extended chords etc. Right now, me and Stefan are also massively into Black Midi.

Stefan: 100% but I think before that it was bands like The Libertines, Parquet Courts and Nirvana. Pixies also.

Joe: Me and Stef used to write a lot of surf punk almost, so we were really into that kind of music aswell. Bands like ‘Together Pangea’ for example. Now it’s more post-punk. Other than that, I really love Hip-Hop. That’s probably the main genre I listen to along with Jazz.

Stefan: A couple of weeks ago, we were scrolling through some our old songs and it’s so interestingto see how much our style has changed. Like Joe said, it used to be very ‘surf rocky’ now has evolved into something completely different. Who knows what it’ll be like in a years’ time.

Martha: It’s definitely got weirder and weirder as the months have gone on.

Martha: For me, I mainly just grew up listening to what my dad listens to. Bands like The Wedding Present, The Fall, The Stone Roses, Primal scream and lots of reggae and ska as well. A big mix of stuff really.

Joe: But ABBA is Martha’s favourite band.

Stefan: And your neighbour’s least favourite band now.

Martha: Yes when it hits 4am I like to get the Abba out.

Important question then, what is your favourite ABBA song?

Joe: Mines “Lay all your love on me”.

Stefan: I like “Fernando”

Martha: I quite like “SOS” haha.

So, Alien Chicks started last year. Was Lockdown an important factor in you guys forming the band?

Joe: Me and Stefan have actually been working on stuff together for a while. I ended up coming to the same uni as him and we started writing songs and playing stuff together then we started playing in a band at uni and really began enjoying it all. But over lockdown is when we went ham. We were writing songs daily. We then discovered we could share files between each other on garageband so ending up making tonnes of demos. Obviously that time was so horrendous for so many people but I think for us it was when we knew we really wanted to do this. We had so much time on our hands to practice playing and writing new songs and take our stuff to another level.

Stefan: And the time to just experiment also. We used to religiously meet up in the woods every sunday also and just write songs for 4 or 5 hours. And it was really nice because we had no idea when lockdown would end so there was no pressure knowing we had to play a gig or anything. We just had all this freedom and time to just experiment with things.

Joe: I honestly think if lockdown never happened we wouldn’t have ended up moving here and doing what we are now. I think we would have ended up in grad scheme jobs.

Stefan: Yeah, I never actually saw music as something I could pursue. But after moving and seeing what’s happening here I know this is something I want to do properly.

Joe: I feel like we’ve had an imposter complex almost as we aren’t trained in music at all and it felt like something quite unreachable. But because the amount of time lockdown gave us to grow it started to feel like it was something we could do. Then I just threw it out there one day and suggested moving to London and trying to pursue music.

Stefan: It's been a long journey to get to this. I think having Martha play with us has also made us change a lot. I’ve learnt so much from her - especially in terms of rhythm stuff with playing bass with drums. And she is also really good at knowing when something should be played faster or slower. It really helps. She is very good at seeing the vibe of the song as well - even when writing a set list she knows which songs should or shouldn't be put together.

Have you noticed a lot of other new bands emerging from this time period?

Joe: Yeah definitely. After lockdown there’s been this whole new subculture emerging called the “Post Brexit Post Punks” which I feel like we probably fit into. Yeah I have definitely seen a lot of new bands come out of it.

Tell us a bit more about the scene itself.

Martha: It’s mainly a South London scene.

Joe: Yeah we love playing in south London and all the other bands who play in South London. Everyones just so friendly, we all know each other and all get along. Back in the day there were bands like Fat White Family, Warmduscher etc - they all knew each other and came up together. I feel like we are part of the new generation on this scene who all play at the Windmill.

Stefan: Yeah it's really nice. I didn't know what to expect when we first started playing within this - I felt like everyone may be competing with each other but it’s not that at all - everyone wants to play with each other and is so supportive of what you do.

Martha: I think that’s because there’s a lot of variation between the bands as well. No-one's really playing the same kind of music.

Stefan: Yeah it’s really cool seeing people just do their own thing and not trying to be like some other band.

Joe: The other week we actually did a super group gig at the windmill. There was Anna from Torture and the desert spiders and Jasper who plays in House Arrest, Big Toe, Pigeon Hole and Neuro Placid. Then we had Johnny on the drums from Fat Dog and Courtney from Rats Tails and then I played the box and then Stefan was there as well. We called it “Torture, House and the Fat Chicks”

Stefan: It actually all started because Anna needed a bass player then she asked Joe if he could play tambourine and Joe was like ‘i can do more than that’ haha. Then her drummer couldn’t make it either that night so then Johnny came. Then we thought we should also get Jasper to play and he ended up playing the melodica. It was the most random thing but so much fun. That’s such a great example of how friendly and open everyone is on this scene.

Who are some of your favourite bands on the scene?

Martha: Man, woman, chainsaw who we played with the other day. They're great and only 18.

Joe: Yeah i think they’re going to be a really big thing.

Joe: Also the bands we mentioned - House Arrest, Torture and the desert spiders, Fat Dog, Pigeon Hole.

Martha: Neuro placid. They’re sick.

Joe: Also Queens heads, Duck Wax, A Void.

Martha: Pink eye club

Stefan: Dude my dude. Our friend Matt’s band, who we played with at uni. They’re doing really well. They played at great escape and are playing at Bingley Festival also.

Martha: Megalash

Stefan: Also Cowboy who we are playing with next week. So many great bands.

So, you guys recently did a tour. Tell us a bit about that.

Stefan: Yeah, Martha organised for us to go play some gigs up north for a week. So we played Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and Hull. It was a lot of fun. We played some really cool venues and meet some great bands. It’s how we got really friendly with Anna from Torture and the desert spiders who we were talking about earlier. We stayed at her house for a few days in Liverpool.

Which city was your favourite?

Martha: Liverpool was really good because I had organised it with Anna. She put on the night and had some really good local bands so it was a good turnout.

Joe: The venue was really cool as well. It was called the Quarry and it's like some old arch underneath a railway that’s been converted. Anna was saying it was a couple of neo goths that started it who just wanted this kind of diy space. There's a studio at the back also.

Martha: Sheffield was funny because there’s only about 25 people there but they all bought T-shirts. It was bizarre. Everyone wanted t-shirts.

Joe: Even all the bar staff

Stefan: And there was this guy in the crowd who came up to us afterwards who was only 18 and he said that because of the lockdown this was the first gig he’d ever been to. He’d never seen a live band before. That was quite special.

Martha: Hull was bizarre. We played at midnight at a club night.

Joe: But it was on Good Friday and the streets were completely empty. It was literally a ghost town. Everyone was at home eating fish and chips or whatever you do on Good Friday. But again it was an insane venue. It was an old theatre and was absolutely huge. Flock of seagulls have actually played there recently. 

Stefan: Yeah touring was a lot of fun. We are planning another one for August. It’s so great just driving round the country playing music.

Martha: Sleeping on the floor.

Stefan: Yes we slept on the floor at Martha's brothers house in Leeds for a few days.

Joe: This is the first time we heard Martha fart as well.

Aside from the tour, have you got any favourite gig memories/ highlights?

Joe: We played the Windmill the other day and for me that was probably the best gig we’ve done. I remember just looking up and the entire crowd, the whole way back was just jumping up and down in time with the music. It was crazy to watch. We’ve played a lot of gigs where the crowd have got pretty rowdy and started moshing etc but it’s never been the entire crowd. So that was definitely a highlight for me.

Martha: I remember this time we were about to go on stage so I was setting all my symbols up and getting ready and this drunk girl came up to me and was like “I really want to learn drums can you teach me drums?” and then she just got on the drum kit and started playing and Joe and Stefan had no idea what was going on. That was really funny.

Stefan: For me I just really love it when random people come up to you and they say “I’m not into this kind of music but I really enjoyed it and was dancing”. I think that’s such a massive compliment especially because they have nothing to compare it to. A lot of people will say they like it because it reminds them of blah blah blah but for these people they just like it cause they liked the music and thought it sounded good. I think that's really great. Or even just the fact that people give up their Friday and Saturday nights, which are precious times, to come see us play. It means a lot.

Martha: There’s people that actually come to pretty much every gig as well. Our favourite fan is called John.

Stefan: Yeah big up John

Joe: Yeah John is an old school punk. Comes to all our gigs. No matter what the crowd’s like, he’s always at the front. I found out the other day he actually went to the school I teach at.

Martha: I think the karaoke has been another highlight. We’ve started hosting it after some of our gigs and it’s been pretty funny - especially as the windmill is such a punky venue then you just wack on all these pop songs after and everyone loves it. 

Lastly, tell us about the new single you guys are releasing?

Joe: It’s called ‘27 Stitches’. We often finish the set with it when we’re playing. It starts with a kind of Bossa Nova riff then very quickly changes to a really punky riff and sort of chop and changes like that throughout the song and then ends with a different section which goes crazy. The last part of this song is always my favourite part of the whole set.

Martha: Yeah, it slaps. Everyone goes nuts for it.

Martha: It’s out on the 8th July and we will be doing a big single launch party on the 9th at the Windmill. Then we will be releasing a music video which we filmed with Camille from ‘A Void’ the week after.The single launch is going to be really lit.

Joe: We will be selling our shared bath water from the music video. It’ll be sold as necklace in little vyles on a chain.

Stefan: Alien chicks DNA

Martha: With some of Joe’s wee in it as well.

Martha: And there’ll be karaoke with a sick line-up.

Stefan: Yes we’ll be playing with A Void, Cowboy, Duck Wax and Pink Eye Club will be hosting Karaoke at the end.

‘27 STITCHES’ OUT NOW LISTEN HERE 

Photos by Neil Anderson