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Pioneering Modern

The future of music has arrived. I’m not saying FEMME is the future (this remains to be seen), but the manner in which she handles her business within the industry is the model for any artist coming up. Writer, producer, director, editor and star of all her projects from the jump to final cut – there is nothing she cannot do. She defines the rules and brings everyone along for the ride. Currently touring with Charli XCX, I caught up with this impressive lady to talk about ties to Radiohead, her unique creative process and who is the best Spice Girl:

The Soul Dynamic | You’re from England, how did where you grew up influence you?

FEMME | I grew up in a little village outside the town of Rugby and lived there pretty much my whole life till I was about 18. How did it influence me? I mean it was a small town, so small town politics you know…getting drunk full steam and going and trying to get our fake ID’s, getting into trouble and making trouble for ourselves, hanging out with great friends and such. So my reality influenced me, I loved it. With my family and friends a lot of times I was pulling on theirs and other people’s drama and using that, making up these characters in my head and dipping into things creatively the way you see life on soap operas or TV, using my imagination a lot of the times. I basically used my reality, it was very normal. It wasn’t until I moved to London at 18, 19 that I started messing around in electronic studios making beats and things. Again, day to day, a lot of times I was pulling on other peoples ideas, listening to other people’s drama, supplying my lyrics….so when I was writing I tended to dip into other people’s characters as well, rather than it constantly being about my life.

The Soul Dynamic | Who would you say has been the biggest influence in your life pushing you to become an artist and make music?

FEMME | Lots of different people. On a personal level I don’t really feel like I’ve had anybody, like my family, although I feel like I had one person personally that urged me to do it. But from a pop star influence, an icon level, it’s people like Andy Warhol, or the Pop Art movement of the 60’s, Edie Sedgwick, people like early 80’s Madonna, David Bowie, Grace Jones, Laurie Anderson, an artist called Cindy Sherman, the photographer Bert Stern, I love his work, he’s the 60’s photographer who did the iconic shoot with Marilyn Monroe and the bed sheets; there are lots and lots of different artistic influences who have kind of made up my artistic DNA if you like. I find a lot of inspiration in that, in them. I am a tumblr kid too, I spend a lot of time on there researching 60’s fashion and retro futurism. I can spend a lot of time on YouTube and tumblr sometimes going down the rabbit hole and just getting lost in visual inspiration.

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The Soul Dynamic | Speaking of that and technology, where’s your favorite place right now to get and garner new sounds? Is it Spotify, Soundcloud, you mentioned tumblr, where do you go for your music or to get new shit?

FEMME | Yeah, tricky. I guess a lot of the times I find brand new unheard stuff on Soundcloud. It’s usually stuff I’ve heard through a friend, or also I keep tabs on a lot of the big UK blogs and a lot of the fashion blogs too. I find a lot of music, unheard underground stuff in a lot of fashion films that up and coming designers are using in London. It depends, sometimes in the fashion world you’ll be going to parties and they’ll be playing the worst fucking music you’ve ever heard and you’re like “what crack are you smoking (I start laughing),” and sometimes I find they’re very forward looking and forward thinking and they have very interesting music for the cat walk shows and their fashion films and a lot of times I sort of get tipped off from that world. And then on a day to day basis, when I’m listening to music I’m listening to Spotify, and I’ll put together playlists of select tracks that I like and I use that quite a bit.

The Soul Dynamic | That’s cool. I saw that you did some work with Nigel Godrich (Radiohead’s Producer), how was working with him, what was that experience like, that must of been crazy, you must of learned so much?

FEMME | Yeah (laughs) that was for a project called Ultraista, that was pre me stepping into the world of FEMME. He remains a really good friend of mine, we hang out a lot. Through the process we met when I was in my second year studying in London and we just started hanging out, basically making tunes and then we made a record. It was interesting for me to work with him and Joey Waronker, who was the other member of the band, as they were in the later stages of their careers having had massive massive hit records in the 90’s and 2000’s. And then there was me who was just starting my career, still starting my career, it was just interesting to have that dynamic in the group. I obviously learned a shit ton from them, just about life in general and about my voice; but then I think also, equally, they learned a lot from me cause I’m was coming at it from a very different end of the music industry. You know the music industry is a totally different animal than the one they were operating in during the 90’s. It was good dynamic to have.

 The Soul Dynamic | Definitely, I can only imagine. How did the name FEMME come about?

FEMME | Basically I was agonizing what to call this project for a while. I mean I hate, any band person I’m sure will probably tell you, that naming a project is the worst part of the process. The making music is easy, it’s something that comes out rather quickly. Deciding a name for it is tricky. As a female producer and singer I wanted something that was short, concise and basically was memorable. And I know it’s a humongous, active, iconic word. So I was like, “well dare I go there?” And then I was like fuck it why not, what’s the worst that could happen? So here we are, and that is my name.

The Soul Dynamic | I love it, awesome. So I really loved your video “Fever Boy” and I started researching other videos you’ve made and found out you pretty much do it all: write, produce, star in…I have to tell you it looks pretty polished. Compare the process of doing it yourself versus having someone else write and direct, where’s the inspiration coming from to do it on your own?

FEMME | I never thought of it as an option really, getting anyone else to do it, because the process of making music for me, the visual side of it is so intertwined with the audio side of it – I didn’t even think of getting anyone else involved. When I was making that “Fever Boy” tune I had these three characters in my head and I then I had these ideas. I had been watching a lot of Busby Berkeley videos those old 20’s, 30’s, 40’s dance synchronized motion videos and I loved the elegance, this slow…you just have to watch them man it’s hard to explain. It’s this very surface like, bright eyed, bushy, ‘Oh life is so great,’ vintage feminism vibe to it; all coming from the Busby Berkeley videos. So I was intrigued by using that imagery, the costume with the swimming caps, but then combining it with a contemporary twist having this terrier in the bath tub. And I don’t know what their reputation is like in America, but in the UK the pit bull terrier has this really bad reputation, they’re kind of associated with rude boys and fighting dogs. Actually they’re really sweet dogs, they’re not mean dogs at all, that’s just the stereotype they’ve been lumped in with. So I wanted to combine those two concepts: Vintage, very feminine, sugary female impression, with the rude boy masculine dog and then mashing it together in this bubble bath and there you go.

I have a friend who makes films professionally, who I would come to with ideas saying “this is what I want to do, how can I do this?” And he said, “no way is this going to happen, the bathroom is too small, you don’t have any lighting, you’re working with this dog, this live animal you’ve never worked with before, you don’t have enough room, you don’t have enough time and blah, blah, blah.” And I was like, “either get on board or fuck off and forget it, cause it’s happening this weekend anyway.” But he helped and he came out and did it, and it turned out to be great and everybody really loves the video and I’m really really pleased with how it turned out. I guess sometimes that’s how I like to operate, I have an idea…and you know what happens with big productions, often times you have to reshoot it, then you do have to bring the professionals in, but I like the process of experimentation and not always trying to have the best producer, best production – I like to keep that whole thing DIY, guerrilla and keep that spirit alive when I’m attacking a video.

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The Soul Dynamic | Nice! Ok, so we do this thing called versus, it’s really quick. I’ll compare food or artists; like Kanye vs. Jay Z, or the Rolling Stones versus the Beatles, and you just go with it and pick one you prefer.

Glastonbury vs. Coachella | Glastonbury every time.

Oasis vs. Radiohead | Oasis. I didn’t grow up with Radiohead, I’m too young for Radiohead even, and Oasis makes me happy (wow).

American Food vs. English Food | English. Well I mean English is crap as well, I’d go Japanese if that was an option.

Favorite Spice Girl | Geri no doubt about it, come on.

Janis Joplin vs. Debbie Harry | Oh that’s really hard, Janis Joplin was so fucking bad ass and she wrote the most amazing tunes. Debbie Harry is so sexy, so that’s really tricky. I don’t know, Janis for genius and Debbie Harry for bad ass good looks if that makes any sense.

The Soul Dynamic | Perfect sense. You touched on this earlier when you spoke about making the video, the creative process, we know it’s not easy, everyone has their own process they follow when creating, can you talk about your specific process when it comes to being creative and what makes it successful?

FEMME | Up until this point everything you’ve seen has been 100% my decision, of course I certainly ask other people’s opinion but I don’t always necessarily listen to them. I think that’s what makes my process stand apart at this point, from the very first meeting to the last edit of a music video, to the last phase of the specific takes on art work, everything is coming out of one computer, one brain, my brain being the creative mind behind this one artist. I think that’s what makes my process different, I don’t really know how other people create their music or what goes on there, but for me it’s really important to have that creative control and also have that authenticity with the fans, because they would see it from a mile off if I suddenly put something out that was made by a professional film company or something. They’d just know from a mile (away) that I was uncomfortable, and that’s one thing I’ve learned about myself through doing so much in front of the camera and also editing: things sometimes get lost in the musical process of stuff I make when I’m in the room with somebody else, versus when I’m in the room by myself. It’s the confidence that comes out when I’m not diluted or encumbered by somebody else’s presence that makes my music what it is. It’s something I have to go through alone really to get it where it ends up. Perhaps that’s my process.

The Soul Dynamic | How do you push through challenges when you’re making your music and things aren’t necessarily going your way?

FEMME | I just get it finished. It’s very rare that I start a tune and don’t finish it. No, that hasn’t happened often, a lot of times I just push on through and finish it up. Challenge usually, I don’t know…Obviously I come across challenges day to day, but it’s nothing a sugary cup of tea can’t fix, or an afternoon gin and tonic you know (laughs). Usually I’ll take a recess and come at it from a different angle. Some tunes write themselves. Like “Fever Boy” really did write itself, it just sort of happened one day. I just had that complete song done and I don’t really have any recollection of how I did it. But with other tunes its a longer process, it’s different for every song, some things come easier than others.

The Soul Dynamic | So at that point when you start writing a song or working on a project, like you said you “finish it,” are you basically in that world till it’s fucking done? Like,’I don’t want to do anything, I don’t want to hang out with anybody, I’m going to rock this out and then we’ll have a a good time?’

FEMME | Yes exactly, I stay up all night when I’m making tunes. I get especially obsessed when I’m making videos, it’s very frustrating for people that are around me, cause I will start and we’ll finish the video and I’ll say “bye guys,” then load up the hard drive and start editing, putting it together so I at least have a rough draft by the end of that evening whether it’s four AM or seven at night. Then I’m like,”ok, cool.” I get really excited, I love that process. It would paaaain me to actually have finished a video shoot and hand the footage over to somebody else and not see it again for two weeks. Part of the fun of making this stuff for a living is being able to consume myself with it completely and just be apart of it, be apart of the whole process. I love that. It’s why I do it. If it was hard work I wouldn’t be doing it.

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The Soul Dynamic | Love that, it’s so true. What’s the one thing you want people to take away from your music, what story are you trying to tell, what impact are you trying to make?

FEMME | I would hope that it would…I’ve always listened to music to bring me up, I listen to a lot of Motown and soul, a lot of music that’s upbeat and life enforcing but at the same time can have darker lyrical content. All that Motown music is stuff I listen to all the time. So I would hope the music I was making a lot of times is upbeat and light hearted and it’s sunshine, it’s sugary. I hope I’m making connections with it; it’s something I can’t control but been getting into recently. Because I have so much creative control over the project, the one thing I realize I don’t have any control over is how people connect with it. And it’s been the last few shows we’ve played that have been sold out and there’s been people there singing the words…you know being confronted with that, is a whole new experience for me. Seeing people sing the words to your song, they obviously have a relationship to the piece of music that I’ve written that I haven’t been a witness to and I haven’t seen how they got there, how they correlated that. That’s a whole new chapter in my artistic experience – seeing that – it’s really exciting.

The Soul Dynamic | You touched on this just now, being at live shows, selling them out, and that’s when music is pretty much the best – When you’re up-close with the artist. What’s the sickest most memorable performance you’ve either had in your career or have seen in your time?

FEMME | It’s really hard for me to choose actually because so many of the gigs we’ve been doing recently, the next one is better than the last. I’ve seen a big change in London especially, cause I’ve spent a lot of time, as many bands do, doing the club gigs. But it’s really been the last few months, pretty much when “Fever Boy” came out…that we’ve turned the corner. The last couple shows have been sold out and have been packed and everybody’s there to see you. It’s different than it was before, cause you were on a bill with other bands, the press is there and people are there for their own different reasons; it’s a new part of my career. But these Charli shows that I’m on right now, these are going to be hard gigs to top because they’re sold out a lot of the time, to these teenage girls who are screaming the whole time and anytime you do anything they start screaming again – it’s really really fun actually. Some of the most fun I’ve had at live shows…so I think the answer is that on this tour you’ll find some of the best shows we’ve ever played.

The Soul Dynamic | What inspires you?

FEMME | Other people’s drama, other people’s lives. Pop Art, colour, energy, fun, laughs. I love to laugh, I never actually take anything that seriously, you know giggles (she giggles). Design, graphic design. Film, pictures photographs, people.

FEMME is the blueprint for a new generation of artists. Artists who are tech savvy, independently sound and have a super focus to see their own creative work get out into the world. If you don’t realize what’s going on here, put your ear closer to the ground. Whatever it is that you think you’re doing, I hope you’re taking notes.

FEMME will be opening tonight for Charli XCX to sold out Webster Hall. She currently has a Decades EP out and is releasing another EP soon. She recently released the single “High” and her debut album is set to come out in May of next year.

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