Glitoris

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like?

We’re based in Canberra, ACT. The music scene is great. There’s always good bands to see at Smiths Alternative, The Transit Bar – and we love The Basement. There’s some great bands and artists here. We’re big fans of Citizen Kay and Witchskull 🙂 

How did you first start playing music?

Imitating and playing along to our favourite bands, then later on jamming with friends. We all started playing music very young and we’ve all come from diverse musical backgrounds. 

How did Glitoris form?

It was magic. Witches were involved, obviously.

What’s been happening recently?

We’ve been busy preparing for our tour! It’s really exciting to be going all over the country. Slut Power is the last single to be taken from our album ‘The Policy’. It’s our live anthem and the song we feel has resonated at our live shows the most. So we decided to give it the single, video and tour treatment. 

How did you go about writing Slut Power? / Your new single ‘Slut Power’ is out on the 14th of February, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this single?

Musically, it began as a laid back riff – Malcolm started it off with the bass line. It’s a slower than average tempo by design. We wanted it to sound ominous and sparse at the beginning and build. It was designed to reflect violence against women and how it starts with the language people use to describe women; it’s a completely different, and far more negative, lexicon than words used to describe the same behaviours in men. These words are common, everyday vernacular, which reflects how deeply embedded prejudices against women are. The second verse gets more intense and the chorus has a sludge-metal feel to it. We had the hook from the get go and just built it up over the course of song with the drums getting heavier and the vocals starting a bit bratty and ending in rage. Lyrically, it’s obviously coming from a dark place. There are parts of that song that are very pointed and very personal, which is why it can be delivered the way it is. The 3rd verse is how the media and society generally blames women for the violence committed against them and its insidious. Look at what happen after Eurydice Dixon was murdered in Melbourne in 2018. Superintendent David Clayton stood there and told women: “So just make sure you have situational awareness, that you’re aware of your surroundings. If you’ve got a mobile phone carry it and if you’ve got any concerns, call police.” Fuck off, Clayton. Tell men to stop raping and murdering us. We have the right to walk home at night and not think about this shit. The fact is, we are burdened by this constant feeling of “how can I operate today and go about my business without getting raped or murdered?” We make these calculations every time we want to go for a jog, every time we leave a venue or club late at night. We’re monitoring what’s going on with the Harvey Weinstein trial at the moment and a newspaper published a story on it with a headline about the dress one of the women was wearing when he sexually assaulted her. When women are abused and raped and murdered, the media and society blames them. 

Another thing: when this stuff happens to us we’re forced into silence. Jim DeRogatis’s book on R Kelly evidences the dozens of occasions Kelly paid off his victims and got them to sign NDA’s. Criminal acts are committed against women all the time – some physically violent, others more psychologically violent like online trolling, gaslighting and defamation – and most of the time we have to stay silent because we’re either paid to stay silent, blackmailed or shamed into it. So there’s a subtext of vengeance in Slut Power that comes through in both the song and video. Let’s just say we’re pretty experienced in the topics that Slut Power addresses. 

Where and when did you record/produce?

We recorded Slut Power in 2018 when we recorded all the songs for our debut album ‘The Policy’. It was recorded by Jay Whalley at The Pet Food Factory in Marrickville, Sydney. The studio session for Slut Power was great – we put a triangle all the way through it, sometimes it comes it a bit muted and percussive and by the third verse, it’s in the background and sounds like an alarm. The album was mixed by Clem Bennett, who is a genius mix engineer, and mastered by Mandy Parnell – another genius mastering engineer from London.

Glitoris is known for having strong views on confronting subjects, please tell us a little about what you think of the current state of politics, gender issues and equality at that this present time:

The whole system is fucked: we are facing the biggest environmental, economic and social issues humanity has ever faced. The harrowing summer we’ve just lived through has shown the result of denial, arrogance, mass apathy and inaction in dealing with climate change. Second to that, the wealth gap is hideous – and it’s growing. The world is being run by billionaire corporations that are focused on growth and individualisation, and it’s unsustainable. The fact that Jeff Bezos can buy a mansion in Beverley Hills for $165mUS off the back of modern-day slavery is one example of how extreme this gap has become. There could be a Billionaire Vs. Billionaire US election this year. The erosion of democracy and human rights is happening before our very eyes in many ways: surveillance, the policing of women’s bodies, the silencing of media organisations and the gross miscarriages of justice we see at all levels in the treatment of Aboriginal people. Unless we take the power back and start to create an inclusive accessible society for everyone, that values the wisdom of Indigenous peoples, scientists and scholars (that currently seem to have no voice and influence in our policies) we have no future. On one level, these issues are now so huge that it’s not surprising we’re in existential crisis. On another level, we’re hardly going to sit back with some popcorn and watch it all play out on TV. The fact that so many have taken that attitude in the past is exactly what’s got us into this mess. 

Equality? We are nowhere, not even remotely, near achieving this for Indigenous people and PoC, for women, for those who are LGBTQI+. In fact, we’re going backwards as human rights generally are being eroded. 

It’s all fucked. But fuck it, we’re not going down without a fight.

You have a big Australian tour coming up with some first shows in NT, what can we expect from a Glitoris live show?

Politics, humour, passion, fun, brutal honesty, musicianship, banter, protest – but to leave feeling like you had a great night out \*/

How do you prepare for shows?

Scotty likes to do a bit of yoga and flex out the rhythm sticks on her drum pad. Malcolm likes to air pump and dance. Andrew likes to run through her guitar parts and deface things. Keven 007 likes to be amazing, which she does amazingly. Our band ritual includes warming up our voices up with the lady, warming our fingers up, running through some harmonies and, of course, transform ourselves into fierce glittery warriors.

What do find most challenging and rewarding whilst on tour?

Most rewarding: playing the shows, meeting our fans – The Gliterati, hanging with other bands and making friends, listening to fan stories, the moments mid-performance where we see The Gliterati singing the words and punching the air or yelling out for their favourite song – that’s just the best. We also like finding a good bar and drinking gin, and just generally hanging out. We love touring. It feels like a holiday to us. There’s a point where it descends into a delirious stage and every single thing is funny and we laugh so much it hurts \*/

Most challenging: Sleep deprivation.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

Babymachine, Thelma Plum, Moju Juju, Rage Against the Machine

What do you like to do away from music?

Sleep.

What’s planned for 2020?

A massive tour of the country. After that we’ll have a break and then start work on the next album. We’d love to play some festivals later in the year.

Favourite food and place to hangout?

We love vegan food and Au Lac in Dickson, Canberra, is our favourite! We also love Tudo Vietnamese in O’Connor and Andrew and Scott also love Sweet Bones vegan in Braddon.