Talking to: Grandma's House
© Rosie Carne. Left to right: Poppy, Yasmin and Zoe.
Grandmas House are an all-female surfy post-punk band currently living together in Bristol; regulars on the live music scene here before the lock down hit. We’ve spent some time recently catching up with Yasmin, singer and guitarist, Poppy, singer and drummer, and Zoe, backing vocals and bass.
In the middle of a recent resurgence of the post-punk genre, Grandmas House definitely stand out from the rest. They talked to us about being female in a very male-dominated scene and how the lack of female voices in the genre has driven them to shout louder, as well as their influences, passions, and a tour of their favourite Bristol venues.
Although pushing the female voice and experience in the punk genre is important to them, don’t make the mistake of thinking this is all that defines Grandmas House. Their energy, tight musicianship and message can and does mean their place on the post-punk scene, both locally and nationally, deserves to be up there with the big names. And in our humble opinion, that is definitely coming for Grandmas House very soon.
So how did you meet and start playing together?
Yasmin: We all met at uni! Me and Pops started learning our instruments when Trump was elected, we were just so frustrated about the world and wanted to shout about it. So I picked up my guitar and Poppy learnt the drums and we started writing together!
Poppy: When we moved to Bristol after uni we officially became Grandmas House and started gigging. We started playing with another friend from uni on the bass but as she lived in London it was becoming too difficult, so Zoë was basically forced to learn the bass and officially join the band.
I have got a massive soft spot for female-led-punk bands, tell me more about where you fit into the canon, what you love about it, who your heroes are from the genre?
Zoë: We’d say we’re kind of a mix of punk, post-punk with groovy surf vibes. We listen to a lot of different music which comes through in our own song-writing.
Poppy: When we first started we were reaaaallly inspired by The Slits, L7, Sleater Kinney, Joan Jett and the Black Hearts and the Coathangers. When we were first starting to play together we found it so difficult to find more current female punk bands; it was really frustrating! They were obviously around but just weren’t given as much of a platform as male bands playing the same kind of music.
Yasmin: We were honestly constantly scouring the internet trying to find some all-female bands but only found a few, including Goat girl, Nova Twins and Big Joanie, who we were very inspired by. Bands such as Shame, Fontaines DC and Slaves were definitely a big inspiration for us at the beginning, but it was quite upsetting to have no women being pushed like they were.
Poppy: I think that’s what really made us get up and start playing; we were really frustrated by the lack of representation, especially within the punk genre, and wanted to CHANGE THAT!
What’s it like being an all-female punk band in a very patriarchal world?
Poppy: When I watch a video of myself on stage having a great time hitting those drums, my brain can’t comprehend that it’s actually me playing sometimes! I think we all suffer from occasional imposter syndrome and a lot of it probably comes from good old internalised misogyny. It can be very frustrating at times, but if anything it makes us more determined to keep going, and fuels the energy we have when we play.
Yasmin: Yeah, when me and Pops started the band and I started playing around with my voice I never thought I could shout rather than sing in a soft voice. The drummer in The Coathangers was definitely an eye-opener; she sings in a very rough low voice, which is something I could relate to and I suddenly realised I don’t have to sing a certain way because I’m a woman; I can do whatever I want.
Zoe: Yes, I think being in such a male-dominated industry can be hard as we just love seeing women on stage. Shortly after I first started playing the bass I saw Nova Twins play live at a festival and I just had this moment watching the bassist thinking ‘this is so powerful and inspiring!’
You are obviously a band that lends itself to live performances; which have been your favourite? Any favourite live venues?
Poppy: I think one of our absolute favourites was The Lanes gig we played in November 2020. It was our first headline and we were really nervous as it was socially distanced, but it ended up being so incredible! The energy in the room was electric and we all just had the best time!
Zoë: The Old England is definitely one of our favourite venues to play, we’ve had some great times there. Other venues we absolutely love are The Exchange, The Louisiana, and of course Mothers Ruin.
Yasmin: The Thunderbolt is another incredible venue that we always love coming back to; we played our first gig ever there so we feel especially attached to it.
Your latest release Always Happy comes out on 11th February, which follows No Place Like Home in late 2020. How was it received?
Yasmin: Yeah, the reaction to ‘No Place Like Home’ was so positive! We self-released it so it’s been amazing having so many people say such lovely things about it. It was also added to Spotify’s ‘Punk List’, which is mad!
How is it being musicians during the pandemic? What is hard? What has changed?
Poppy: We’re really sad about not being able to play live, because we’re such a live band and really love it. We’ve gone from playing almost every week to nothing at all, but we’ve written new songs and practised our instruments (along with having some well deserved time off to sit on the sofa and stare into space). 2020 was a very strange year, but we made the best out of it and we’re so excited for 2021!
What do you have in the pipeline?
Zoë: We have lots of exciting things lined up! We have been recording our first EP, so there’s lots of exciting things happening at Grandmas House!