Interview Sløtface: “We need to build ourselves up to have enough energy to tear down the systems that are limiting”

‘Film Buff’ uses cinematic tropes to interrogate gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity. What initially drew you to this concept? Have you always been into movies? If so, how do you think they influenced or helped shape your worldview?

It does do that, yes, but it’s mostly a record about having fun and escaping the shittiness that is the world right now for a few minutes. Doing this myself - as well as hoping that was what listeners would get out of it - was really what made me decide to dive into the theme. Movies and TV shows have always been tools I use to escape and take breaks from my brain; curling up on the couch has always been somewhere I feel safe and able to recharge.

You recently commented that, when Sløtface first started, you had “a lot of internalised misogyny”. Can you tell us a bit more about how this manifested itself in your attitudes or behaviours? Did the process of making ‘Film Buff’ alter this in any way?

I think growing up, it was really important to me to be a “cool girl” who got to hang with the boys. I definitely had issues with internalised misogyny - thinking that girls were more drama than boys, that boys had better music taste, etc. Being in bands with all boys from a young age always felt really good to me, because I felt that was a sign that I “wasn’t like other girls”, which is such a dumb attitude.

A combination of this internalised misogyny and the fact that the rock scene is so male dominated made me want to try to fit in and ignore parts of myself that I thought of as “girly” when I was younger. This also made me worry that I wouldn’t be taken seriously as a woman in our genre, and I felt like I had to try to be more like the male fronted punk and rock bands I’d seen, even if that didn’t always feel like me.

I also felt like I had to make music about serious topics to be taken seriously. On ‘Film Buff’, I’ve tried to really embrace the importance of fun - both on the album and in the music scene. We need to build ourselves up to have enough energy to tear down the systems that are limiting, and I think music can be an excellent tool for this.  

You’ve shared that Promising Young Woman is one of the films which really influenced the album. What were some of your other reference points?

Thelma and Louise was the biggest one, and versions of that were kind of playing in my head as we worked on ‘Film Buff’. Other influences were classic horror films like Scream and Texas Chainsaw Massacre; big Hollywood blockbusters like Mission Impossible and Oceans 11; and a lot of Edgar Wright’s films, because he uses music in such a special way.

The line-up of the band has undergone some changes since ‘Sorry For The Late Reply’, with your former bandmates Tor-Arne Vikingstad and Lasse Lokøy now pursuing other projects. Did making this album feel like a bit of a fresh start? How has a different band dynamic fed into your creative approach this time around?

Yeah, it definitely felt like a fresh start, and making a new album which felt like my chance to show off my taste in a bigger way was kind of daunting at first. The main difference is the people who have worked on it; we’ve had a lot more collaborators on this project than the first two Sløtface albums, and everyone who has been part of making it has shaped the final product with their tastes and musical references.

Preben Sælid Andersen - who produced the album and co-wrote a lot of the songs - really shaped the record with his amazing sense of melody and genius chord-smithery. The band - who perform all the songs, and who helped write and arrange most of them - were also critical in building ‘Film Buff’’s sonic world.

Even though it looks at some serious topics, ‘Fim Buff’ is an upbeat, optimistic record. Can you explain why you were so determined to have this sonic throughline?

About halfway through the writing process, when we’d written about 15 demos, we decided to scrap a lot of them. Then, for the last set of songs, we tried to crank out tracks which weren’t under 160BPM and weren’t longer than four minutes, just to make the album feel up-tempo and energetic and fun. I wanted ‘Film Buff’ to feel like 11 bangers - a proper pop record that’s not so much of a long story.

What do you want your listeners or audiences to take away from the album?

Mostly I want them to feel energised and stoked to be here, the way I feel when I hear my favorite up-tempo albums. I want people to be able to listen to it on the way to work in the morning and feel ready to take on the day; I want people to listen to it at the gym and lift heavier weights; I want people to listen to it before a night out as they get ready and feel pumped to hang out with their friends.

Apart from releasing ‘Film Buff’, what else are you most looking forward to for the rest of the year

We’re touring in the UK at the moment, and it’s so fun to be back playing in sweaty loud rooms with people here! That’s a big highlight of this fall. Other than that, I’m looking forward to playing more Norwegian shows after we get home, and then maybe calming down a little at the end of the year to write new music and make fun stuff with our fans online. We have a really lovely Discord group where we collaborate on projects and host Sløtface Film Club, so I can’t wait to have more time to do stuff with the people in that community!

‘Film Buff’ is out tomorrow (27th September) via Propeller Recordings. 

Tags: Features, Interviews, Sløtface