Get To Know... The Pill • Festivals • 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.

And this week, we’ve got a festival special up our sleeves for you! While we all know and love the much-reported-on scenes of London, Manchester, Leeds and the like, venture just a little further beyond the UK’s cities and you’ll soon find a vibrant network of lesser-known musical hubs: just look at Ipswich, which this month will welcome Dry Cleaning, Bob Vylan, Lime Garden and many more for 2025’s edition of Brighten The Corners Festival.

Alongside these DIY faves, the East Anglia weekender will also play host to tons of thrilling new propositions, including The Orchestra (For Now), Westside Cowboy, and Isle of Wight party-starters The Pill: the no-holds-barred, no-fucks-given duo who marry serious shredding with a hefty dose of fun (think synchronised dance routines, winking lyrical quips, and a brilliant line in slogan-sporting merch). Though they only have one EP to their name so far, the pair - comprised of guitarist/vocalist Lily and bassist/vocalist Lottie - have already stirred up trouble in all the right places: last year’s ‘Woman Driver’ playfully skewers automobile-related gender stereotypes, while ‘Money Mullet’ decries the comeback of the world’s most Marmite hairstyle. Ahead of their set at BTC, we find out more about The Pill’s story so far…

Describe your music to us in the form of a dating app bio.
Definitely over 6 foot; boy racer; will take you for a thrilling but very short spin.

You hail from the Isle of Wight - musically, what was it like growing up there? What were the first gigs you ever went to?
Growing up on the Isle of Wight is definitely a unique experience, but definitely not a negative one. I mean, we still live here with no plans of leaving! We wouldn’t say there’s an enormous amount of things you can do on the island, but we see that as a good thing as it encourages you to make your own fun, be creative, get drunk in a field etc etc.

Due to the island being this way, there’s definitely a very strong community - we’re so grateful to be a part of the music scene here. Growing up and being surrounded by other creative people has been so influential to us. We have one venue here, Strings, which we and all our friends regularly frequented when we were younger. They weren’t our first ever gigs, but we would say they were the most poignant - we owe so much to going there and watching our friends play multiple times a week!

Your latest single, ‘Money Mullet’, is a bit of an anti-mullet anthem. But what are the worst haircuts / ill-advised fashion moments you’ve ever had? And if you could ban one item of clothing/hairstyle/accessory etc from ever coming back into fashion, what would it be (and why)?
Lottie has definitely had a lot of questionable phases, which means a lot of questionable haircuts. She actually even had a mullet at some point - what a hypocrite. But the worst was definitely the emo fringe, we even nicknamed it ‘the wall’ because it was so ladened with hairspray.

And not to be basic, but we’re still big haters of skinny jeans - I know everyone says that, but maybe everyone is right. Oh, and those really tight suits men wear, with the slight sheen and the pointy shoes. Get rid.

“Before we play live, the main thing is just trying to get as riled up as possible, a bit like Jack Nicholson before he shot the infamous Shining scene.”

What were the first songs/albums/artists you developed an obsession for?
Lily: It definitely wasn’t the first album I got obsessed with (as I didn’t wait till 2017 to listen to music for the first time), but I was definitely obsessed with the Baby Driver soundtrack - it helped me walk really really fast to college every day.

Lottie: Talking of soundtracks, my most listened to album of all time is probably the soundtrack from ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Every single song is a masterpiece and I refuse to only listen to it at Christmas or Halloween - all year round, 365 days, I’m spinning that bad boy.

You’re set to play Brighten The Corners Festival this month! How do you go about gearing up for a live show - any rituals, weird rider requests, or hype songs? And what would you say people who have never seen The Pill should expect from a gig?
We had so much fun at that show! Thank you so much for having us and embracing our chaos, it definitely got a bit crazy. Before we play live, we would say the main thing is just trying to get as riled up as possible, a bit like Jack Nicholson before he shot the infamous Shining scene - you know that clip of him jumping up and down with the axe? That’s like us.

Lily: I always have to have at least four Redbulls, and if there’s a bottle of gin hanging around I’ll be very happy.

Lottie: I’m a simple woman, some beers are all I need. Oh, and we always listen to ABBA - without fail.

For anyone wanting to come to a Pill show who hasn’t already (why? Where have you been?), just expect a lot of noise, a lot of shouting, a lot of chaos and lots of giggles.

What are your worst musical habits?
We will expose ourselves and say that restringing our guitars… does not happen as much as it should. We know, awful of us. The worst part is that we’re always so shocked when one breaks - how did that happen?! What can we say, we’re just girls with old guitar strings.

Finally, DIY are coming round for dinner - what are you making?
A bottle of wine and a pack of Marlboro golds, our treat.

The Pill will play Brighten The Corners Festival, which takes place on 13th-14th June 2025 in Ipswich. Find out more and get tickets here.

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