Get To Know... Girl Group • Neu • DIY Magazine

Hello and welcome back to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… which aims to get you a little bit closer to the buzziest acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.

Existing as a woman is a simultaneously difficult yet incredibly joyful experience, and Girl Group - a project born out of frustration towards the music industry’s enduring sexism - capture both its highs and lows with sass, astuteness, and zero sugarcoating. From taboos around sexual expression and the lack of research around female healthcare, to the messy antics of a girl’s night out, their takes on the trials and tribulations of modern womanhood strike the perfect balance between tongue-in-cheek and bang on the money.

Ahead of the arrival of their sophomore EP ‘Little Sticky Pictures’ next month, we catch up with the five-piece to find out more about their feminist philosophy, musical backgrounds, and whatever “Norwegian tacos” are…

Describe your music to us in the form of a dating app bio.
Friendly, bubbly, serious but up for fun - good night guaranteed x

You’re based in Liverpool, but some of you also hail from Oslo - growing up, what were your respective musical educations like? How do you think these upbringings inform what you bring to the table with Girl Group?
We all come from very different musical backgrounds. All of us studied music before coming to LIPA [Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts], though for some of us it was more classical and theory focused, and for others it was more practical. Our ways of getting into music vary quite a lot too and we have very different influences as individuals, which definitely affect our sound and our unwillingness to remain strictly in one genre.

Also, the music scenes in Norway and the UK are very different. It’s quite customary in Norway to have an attitude of not thinking you’re better than anyone else or not stand out too much, whereas here, being ‘extra’ is quite respected. The freedom in this has probably informed our unapologetic approach to the project.

Your ‘Little Sticky Pictures’ EP sees you address a range of pervasive, gendered issues. Can you tell us a bit more about your musical approach, and why you choose to explore topics like this via catchy, accessible pop songs?
We’ve always wanted to ‘spoon-feed’ feminism through our music. By wrapping big, heavy topics up in catchy little pop songs, we feel we make them accessible to those who perhaps aren’t as interested or don’t know as much about feminism. (Our favourite thing is when we hear that someone’s sexist brother or dad loves our tunes, and we think: “YES, world domination feminism incoming”).

It’s also a way of making it fun for us and the women affected by these issues. You can get really angry and really depressed about the continuous restriction of women’s rights the world over. While this can be an important motivator, you can’t spend too much time in that place, otherwise you’ll start to feel hopeless. Pop is also so incredibly feminine, so in a way, the music itself reflects what we are trying to do - get the girls up dancing together despite all the bullshit.

“By wrapping big, heavy topics up in catchy little pop songs, we make them accessible to those who perhaps aren’t as interested or don’t know as much about feminism.”

You have a staunchly female-led philosophy, from self-producing to working with all-female crews on your music videos. How has this informed your experience of the music industry so far? What effect do you think this has on your crowd demographic?
We think it’s definitely cushioned our first foray into the industry. It’s a scary thing to get into, so maintaining a feminine environment - where there is a shared understanding of the potential issues we may (all) come up against because of our gender - has been so important in making it feel a bit less daunting.

And so it’s this sense of comfort, but also empowerment, that we feel in being surrounded by women which we hope extends to our audiences. Feeling able to cry at photo shoots, or speak up for ourselves, or convey our opinions and disagree; we might not have been able to do these things had we been surrounded by men in those settings - which, let’s face it, we probably would have been had we not actively sought out women creatives. So I think people can see that - the sheer joy we feel in resisting and living our ethos.

Who would be your dream collaborator (and why)?
It probably would be Charli xcx. She’s just so incredibly innovative and has extremely good taste, and in her lyrics she has this way of conveying the female experience in such simple but gut-wrenching ways. And she’s just a fucking icon really, isn’t she? If a collab wasn’t possible, we’d settle for a night out with her haha.

What’s your ultimate ‘getting ready for a night out’ song?
‘Feminine Energy’ by Cobrah (we’re such clichés, we know).

Finally, DIY are coming round for dinner - what are you making?
Lol probably Norwegian tacos. I don’t really know what makes them Norwegian but the girls go crazy for them. Cheap, easy, and nice tends to be our only dish criteria x

‘Little Sticky Pictures’ is out on 20th March via Boys Boys Boys Records.

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