Wench is the newest three-piece punk band to come from Hull, East Yorkshire. Perhaps more impressive due to their young age, they have quickly charmed the local scene with their musicianship and confidence. Before their headliner show at the New Adelphi Club, I got a quick interview with them. I was truly surprised and uplifted by their passion for music. It is so motivating to see such young people take music so seriously and enter the music scene with such unyielding optimism. Not to be mistaken for naivety, however, as they were not afraid to criticise our local scene for all its flaws.
So, you guys have sprung onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere, can you tell me how you guys formed?
Sev] Me and Kit went to the same college, became aware of each other’s existence and Kit came to a gig for my other band.
*Sev also plays in in a band called Avis*
Kit] I was too scared to talk to Sev, I was thinking “is that the one from Avis in my music class?” I wasn’t sure so I went to an Avis gig and I though “it IS the one!”. And so I said, “do you wanna be in a band?” and we decided to call it Wench. Then I basically just went around to anyone who had ears and asked, “do you wanna be in a band?”. Then I found Hebe.
Sev] I was quite scared of Hebe.
Kit] We were all scared of Hebe…. all two of us.
Hebe] I don’t know why…well oopsie.
You guys have had a great start as a band. Where do you see yourselves in both the long and short term?
Hebe] Wench world domination! We’re gonna take over the world.
Sev] In the short term.
Hebe] So tomorrow, Wench world domination!
Sev] Expect to see us in every government, everywhere, quite soon.
Hebe] William the conqueror? More like Wench the conqueror. Am I right?
Sev] Too right.
Kit] No comment on that one actually…I think for the future we’d like to get out of Hull preferably. Live laugh love Hull, and everything, but I think we need to get out of here and explore the rest of the country.
Where do you think you’d go?
Kit] I’d really like to go to places like Manchester and Leeds and eventually London…Bristol would be pretty good I think…all the gay places!
Kit] I think UK, then Europe then…
Hebe] The world!
You guys are working on your debut single right now. Can you tell me about it?
Hebe] So we’ve got a single lined up, it’s our song called Shreds.
Kit] We recorded it with the Warren because we actually received PRS Funding meaning we got to record stuff a lot earlier than anticipated. So we’ve got that in the works and I’m hoping it’ll be out pretty soon. It takes a while to get all this sorted but as soon as possible really.
Hebe] Yeah, as soon as we can.
Kit] As soon as we get our acts together…then we’ll have an EP coming out next year for definite.
*The Warren is a youth project localised in Hull, which specialises in helping young artists get their foot in the door via studio time, gigs, practice rooms, equipment lending and pretty much anything an artist could ask for to get the ball rolling*
Can you tell me what the songs about?
Hebe] I wrote the lyrics to Shreds, it’s sort of about when you’re really in love with someone but they’re messing you around…a lot of the songs I write are about shit men and this one’s about a man who I thought was shit!
Kit] Pretty much, I think it’s something anyone can connect with if they’ve just been fucked over by someone pretty much. That’s what it’s for. It was written about a particular situation but it’s about more.
Hebe] It’s about being fucked over by shit men.
Kit] and women as well.
Can you tell about working with the Warren?
Sev] We’ve been doing a lot of stuff with the Warren because of the PRS Funding we got and before that too. They’re honestly the best organization in Hull, In England, in the world. I love them and they’ve been so helpful to us and helping us grow. They’ve helped us get gigs, one of our first headliner shows was with the Warren and that was great fun.
Kit] Yeah, that was so fun!
Sev] Some guy got chucked about in the crowd it was so fun!
Kit] I don’t think there’s any service like the Warren that do it as good as they do. I think they are holding this city together. For young people it’s impossible to get gigs unless you just somehow know lots of old men then maybe…but that would be concerning. The Warren just has all the facilities, and the people are lovely.
Hebe] The people there are genuinely some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
Kit] They just make you feel like anything’s possible really.
Being the youth of music, how do you feel about the current state of music both locally and more broadly?
Kit] There’s too many old white men in the scene and It’s not safe enough, whenever I got to a gig that’s not a Wench gig, I’m scared. It’s even weirder when you’re in a band, it makes you vulnerable, going to gigs and playing gigs…when were on the stage were all non-men and when were putting it all out there just for people to pick up and I think when I’m playing with Wench and my other band and shouting about things that matter it’s the only time, I actually feel safe.
I don’t think this is just a Hull thing, I think it’s a punk thing because I’ve heard stories from all sorts of people and it’s always “I was at a gig, and this man groped me”. It’s normalised to a point where it’s just accepted that women aren’t really safe at gigs…the amount of sexism in the industry is beyond words, it’s disgusting. I think what we’re trying to do is make it feel as safe as possible and I think we’ve created a little community that is safe and welcoming to anyone. The music scene in Hull is great for punk, but it’s not great for women. Punk is not great for women in general.
Hebe] like the whole culture around punk gigs.
Kit] Especially since we sometimes call ourselves Riot Grrrl, it almost like people put our gender before our music. Even if they don’t say that, they look at us like “aw its 3 girls do you think they know how to turn the amp on” we’ve had that one before.
Hebe] There’s a lot of mansplaining at gigs.
Kit] “Do you think they know how to put the cymbals on the stands”.
Hebe] “Actually do you know how your instruments work?”.
Kit] I think with the Warren and stuff there’s a lot of great opportunities you’ve just got to look for them. But to sum it up, safety for women is not there.
If you could share one message to people younger than you wanting to get into music, what would it be?
Sev] If you are a woman, pick up an instrument and come to the scene. It’s for you, you belong here, you’re welcome here. I think we need to encourage more girls to get into music. Women deserve to be on stages having tonnes of fun and shit, so if you’re a girl, join us please!
Kit] Join Wench!
Hebe] If you’re out there thinking “I can’t do it, there’s not enough people like me out there” Just do it! Get out there because if people see you on stage they might think “oh shit I am being represented”. No matter how shitty you feel, being on stage is one of the most rewarding things. On stage I feel like myself, I feel comfortable, I feel like this is me and that’s an amazing feeling so many more people should feel like that, especially under-represented women.
Kit] Be yourself, because if you can’t be yourself you won’t find like minded people. I think the best thing to do is be honest with yourself and who you are, be yourself unapologetically, then you’ll find musicians that you click with, that’s when you’ll find bands that work, when you’re free to creatively express yourself. Getting in a band is pretty easy, but getting in a band that you can actually do shit with is really fucking hard and getting into the scenes hard, so you’ve got to have a strong task force behind you. Be yourself, by being yourself the right things will come.
That was great thank you, any exiting messages or bands we should listen to?
Kit] Oooh bands to listen to! Electric Cowboy Club are really good.
Hebe] Lambrini Girls!
Sev] Don’t ask me!
Kit] Radiohead!
Sev] Radiohead!
Kit] just everyone! There are so many good bands in Hull!
It’s incredibly refreshing to see so many new faces at local gigs. Behind bands such as Wench is a backing of teenagers and young adults who are helping to breathe new life into music simply by showing up and dancing. Being a couple years older myself, it can be so easy to become jaded towards the idea of scenes which seem to be ruled by cliques of not so punk punks, egotistical drug binging sex pests, and just shite musicians. But, seeing musicians who aren’t even old enough to drink pack out dance floors and call out people twice their age on their bullshit makes it all worth it. It’s a humble reminder that through the youth, music shall always prevail.
Wench is:
Sev] Guitar, vocals
Kit] Drums, vocals
Hebe] Bass, vocals
