Biding Time (remix) is a piece of theatre co-devised with A Band Called Quinn and Grid Iron’s Ben Harrison. Emma Hay talks to the band about silent discos, sex symbols and their rage against corporate music machines.
Biding Time was first performed in 1987 in Sydney. 25 years later, what made you want to take this on?
[Louise] When Pippa wrote it, she thought it was still relevant to today in a celebrity obsessed culture, and I don’t think feminism and things like that have progressed that much in the last 25 years; especially not in the music industry. There are lots of different themes in the original play, but it’s all centred round the idea of women being chewed up by the (metaphorical) machine.
Biding Time (remix) is based on an original idea by Pippa Bailey. How do your experiences relate to each other and to the concept of the piece?
[Louise] When Pippa sent the original, I read it and thought it was really nice, but we’re interested in things that are much darker and more surreal. We’re more hard wired to that kind of weirdness. Pippa was happy for it to be interpreted in different ways, and I really wanted to bring my experience of being a woman in the industry to the table. I knew within 15 minutes of meeting Pippa that we’d had a similar experience in the music industry. It’s builds you up and builds you up and all of a sudden you’re an investment; power really is corruptive and the rise and fall of that power is dramatic, it’s intense. With Pippa, I knew the same things applied. If you survive your taste of the music industry, you very quickly learn that the most important thing is your creativity: you start with it and you leave with it. That what’s really valuable.
You studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly RSAMD). Does your background in theatre affect the music you make now?
[Louise] To be honest, I’ve not done a lot. I went to RSAMD and studied production there. When I was about to go into 3rd year, I was signed and went down the music route. Bal’s done quite a lot of sound design and Robert has done quite a few productions, but before we did The Beggar’s Opera, Steve had never been in a theatre before. But he loved it.
A lot of it has just happened through meeting people who have got excited about us, and we’d be excited about what they were doing. A lot of filmmakers would turn up and ask to use our music, and in return they’d shoot stuff for us playing live. We can do anything our budget and imagination will allow. Because I come from a theatre background, we will just chuck that into the mix too.
How would you compare working in the music industry with the theatre world?
[Louise] When we did The Beggar’s Opera, it felt quite jumpy and slippery at the same time, things just went with the flow. In the music industry, there’s a much faster turnaround, and everything feels more rigid. Working with a theatre company was much more warm and fuzzy and slow. In some ways, the results are so different, so the processes have to differ. It’s nice in a way because if people come and see Biding Time (remix), they’ll see how brutal the music industry can be – all the dialogue we use is stuff that has been said to us before. That’s why I enjoy theatre, it’s a lot more nurturing as an artist. If you’re working with people, they show respect and take care of you. Although you can be signed with a music company, you’re a product. Theatre is not as cynical, or commercial, as the music industry.
One thing that fascinates me is the use of silent disco technology. What do you think the audience will gain from that (as opposed to just having the music played)?
[Bal] I had seen the silent disco at a few festivals. The thing about it is it’s really easy to manipulate the sound. We could have a disco, and then have complicated dialogue over the top, and it’s easy to hear it all. This idea gradually evolved into having film and the band. You can so precisely mix it so that everyone will hear everything that’s going on. It’ll give the audience an immersive and maybe slightly odd experience in that it will probably take some getting used to and get your head round it. We want people to get into a dream world, and have their own experience in a way you wouldn’t get without the headphones. In a way, you’ll be locked into someone else’s dream. It’s a strange thing, but it’ll be fun.
The story looks at the struggle of women in the music industry. How have your own experiences informed this piece?
[Louise] Yeah, women have quite a big part in this. When you’re pursuing something, you get so focussed on it that you ignore other things that are going on, and now, I am not sure it’s even what I wanted. But even so, you always get a hard time off people who think women are being selfish by pursuing your creativity. It’s unusual for women to front bands. Even now, there aren’t many female fronted bands and as I said to Ben when we were devising, I felt like Maggie T having to be this tough, steel-cored woman to be taken seriously. In the past, some men wouldn’t react well to my being in a band because I wrote the songs. I have strong artistic visions, but I’m not a diplomat so a lot of men didn’t take well to that – maybe they didn’t expect it? In a way you don’t get the choice: you have to become more male, you have to toughen up and you can’t be sensitive.
Have you found it easier embracing your gender in A Band Called Quinn?
[Louise] I’m lucky now, Robert’s quite in touch with his feminine side. I remember one night being really hormonal, I was all over the place, and he sat up all night with me. He was as good as a girl to talk to! I dunno – it’s strange, but because I’m the woman I become the focus of the band. Nowadays, in the music industry, they just want you to get legs out, make your skirt shorter, and make women sex symbols – it’s all about commodifying your femininity. Don’t get me wrong, I love burlesque and icons like Debbie Harry, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe who absolutely were sex symbols in their own right. There are positive aspects to that, but it’s about making a statement, creating a persona and something that draws people in and creates other worlds. It’s not about being a product of an image factory.
Do you think the relationship female musicians have with the music industry has changed in the last 25 years, and if so, how?
[Louise] I don’t really see as many strong women these days coming out of the music – Beth Ditto is an amazing woman. She bucked the whole trend of being a size 0 and not ending up like Amy Winehouse. Of course there are some women around, but I meet with up-and-coming female singers who don’t realise they have the power within themselves. It sounds cheesy, but they do – they don’t have to rely on anyone else. I think it has gone a bit backwards. But the music industry won’t take risks on people who don’t tick the right boxes. It’s the only industry that has a 99% fail rate and that will never change.
Can you name some bands we should keep our ears open for?
[All, amid umms and aaahs] Shambles Miller, Annie Mac – she’s massive though! Definitely Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, Georgia, who I’m mentoring at the moment, is just brilliant. Oh and White Vinyl Collective.
Biding Time (rexmix) is showing @ The Arches, Glasgow, Sat 6 Oct @ 7.30pm