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Politics And Smart-Assed Comments
by Julie Travis
Gertrude are a five piece band who formed in London in 1997. They are: Dawn
Rose - drums, Debbie Vannozzi - bass, Zoe Gilmour - vocals, cello, Ayesha
Taylor - guitar, vocals, Iona Tanguay - guitar, clarinet, vocals. They have
just released their second cd, 'Pop Psychology', a three track single, on
Mother Stoat records.
Gertrude have been described, amongst other things, as 'post-Riot Grrl'.
I've always seen them as being fairly eccentric, not in a wacky or contrived
way, more a natural differentness from other bands, both musically and
visually. Their commitment to working as a collective is political, in the
same way as their gigging at squats and their attitude is more reminiscent
of Queercore or the early girl punk bands than anything else. They are
certainly happy to talk of The Slits, who also worked as a collective, and
Queercore, without it striking either them or myself as odd, bearing in mind
the diverse sexuality of the band. Iona: "The Slits were really 'out there';
not a regular punk band. We started off with that Riot Grrl energy, but it's
grown from there." Zoe: "Riot Grrl was women getting up and being noticed,
the music wasn't always that good. We're actually very serious musically, we
work very hard at what we do."
The band was formed by Ayesha and Iona, who were surrounded by male
musicians and wanted to show they could do it themselves. Neither had been
in a band before. Debbie picked up a bass for the first time in her late
'twenties, "when everyone said I was too old!". Dawn had been playing drums
since she was thirteen, Zoe and Iona were classically trained on the cello
and clarinet respectively. Zoe says it was to a certain extent a matter of
"unlearning" much of what she'd been taught, but the inclusion of these
instruments on some of the songs has given them an added dimension. Gender
is the biggest issue in the band, Ayesha states "the whole point of Gertrude
is that it's all female". This is reflected in the music and lyrics, and in
the dynamics of the band itself. Dawn: "I feel much more at home here. This
feels like it's ours... I've been in bands with men and it's never been like
this." All are excellent musicians and they suspect this has deflected much
of the sexism they expected to find, although they're aware of the
'agit-prop' label given to women, especially queer women, involved in the
arts. Zoe: "There is sexism in the music business, no question. Women have
to present themselves in a certain way that men never have dumped on them.
Any woman who takes on such a male-dominated industry has to be a bit
political. You can get categorised - if you're in a band and you're female
and you're not glamourous then you must be something else.... agit-prop, on
the fringes." Dawn: "As a woman, you have to prove yourself much more, you
have to go a stage further with your ideas and what you say and then you're
labelled as outspoken, which is not necessarily true."
Gertrude have played the Camden circuit, queer indie venue Club V, Hackney
street festivals, squat gigs and political benefits. Iona: "The underground
gigs are where we fit best." Zoe: "Yeah, the punky/Queercore audiences like
us the most. There's definitely a different atmosphere to a squat gig than
there is at the Camden type gigs." They've played outside London a few times
- in Glasgow, Sussex and Wales - and would like to play away from the
capital more often. Their favourite gig, not surprisingly, was at a women's
festival in Padua, Italy, last summer. The audience went mad and there were
women queuing up to talk to them and buy cds after their set.
'Pop Psychology' is their second cd release. Their first, the limited
edition four track 'Dirty Windows' came out in 1998. It was impressive but
the new release is head and shoulders above it. The band puts this down to
experience. Ayesha: "Out of all the recordings we've done, this one has the
best sound. You're never 100 per cent happy, but...." Dawn: "I'm really
proud of it. We had a producer working with us which helped and Debbie did
the artwork." Zoe: "I've listened to this more than any of the other stuff
we've done. An album's the next step, isn't it?"
Gertrude have a power and confidence about them now that I would never have
imagined from their early gigs, when they were shy and their equipment often
failed them. If they make that album, buy an extra copy for your niece or
little sister; as the band put it, "We send out a shout to all girls playing
guitars and banging drums in bedrooms."
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