The SoapGirls – Interview Oct 2015
The SoapGirls are not your typical popstars. Having previously been signed up to Universal Music they’re now doing things on their own, pushing a DIY ethic and taking no prisoners along the way. It’s pop mixed with punk rock with grunge and more. Currently on tour over here in the UK promoting their album “Calls For Rebellion” this South African due consist of Mille and Mie. We were able to throw a few questions their way about well, lots of stuff and here’s what the pair had to say…
Hey, thanks for chatting with us, so you’re currently over here in the UK on tour, how’s the tour going so far?
Its pure uncapped madness!! Every show is different as the crowd is a huge part of the performance, we ourselves never know what to expect it’s sort of like a blind date. But always ending in a lot of fun, blood and chaos!! We also have to add we absolutely LOVE the British, best sense of humour!! We are totally head over heels in love with your country and its people!!
What has been the best moment on the tour so far?
There have been so many amazing moments but definitely our top moment was performing for a crowd that knew all the lyrics to our songs it was beyond awesome!! We had one of our favourite shows ever at Percy’s in Whitchurch we are actually going to end our tour there, the bravest, craziest crowd ever!!
How do you find the shows here in the UK compared to South Africa?
The British have a wicked sense of humor and are up for pretty much anything no matter how crazy!! For us the UK is as much the world capital of original music as Paris is for perfume so it’s an extreme honour to be able to perform and tour here and the reception and reaction at each show has been incredible it really makes the sometimes harsh realities of touring in a foreign country so worthwhile!
Is there much of a music scene in Cape Town?
There is a music scene however it’s tiny in comparison to the UK, South Africa is only 1% of the music market. Cape Town is an extremely beautiful city and the live music scene used to be much bigger but the political and economic issues are definitely taking their toll and felt even in the live scene. Johannesburg is more the capital for live music in South Africa but once again to compare wouldn’t make sense as your country has undoubtedly a massive live music scene which is awesome to experience!!
So in your own words, how would you describe The SoapGirls sound?
Original, honest and raw, our music is inspired by how we feel, so it’s as real as you can get. Some people describe it as punk rock meets grunge with pop sensibilities we don’t stick to any formula and seems like it hard to put us into any specific genre but it would be fair to say Rock and Punk would be predominant.
Which artists have influenced you?
We both have diverse music tastes but grunge is our middle ground For Mille it’s Alice in Chains , Marilyn Manson, The Deftones, L7 , Seether, Little Richard, Billy Idol,The Smashing pumpkins and Nirvana and Iggy Pop. For Mie it’s Fleetwood Mac, Crowded House, Local H, Heart, Oasis, Hole, The Presidents of The United States of America and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts the list is never ending but those are our ultimate!!
Your album “Calls For Rebellion” seems to move between a pop sound, a rock sound and even some grungier stuff at points. Would you say experimenting with your sound is a very important aspect of the band?
We have such diverse taste in music that it would be impossible for us to stick exclusively to one genre, we never write with a sound in mind it happens naturally so we do experiment but it’s all about the feel for us. Every one of our songs we write from the heart, soul and usually we write when we have experienced something strong enough we need to tell the story so we have yet to sit down and go Ok let’s write a song!!
At points you don’t hold back lyrically, you also promote rebellion, so what’s the most rebellious things that you’ve both done?
We believe in honesty and in today’s times by virtue of being yourself you are already a rebel, people set so much on being politically correct that they forget what it’s like to say what they really think. We are about living life to the fullest and not giving a fuck we are anarchists!! The most rebellious thing we’ve ever done is at a very big show we ended up taking off our pants to finish in G-strings and end the set by French kissing each other onstage because we wanted to really give a fuck you to some people in the crowd!! We are very glad to say we didn’t enjoy it (laughing)!!
I’ve not been able to get along to one of your shows over here, so what can we expect from a live set from The SoapGirls?
You better get to a show 😉 😉
You can expect warped humor, blood, anarchy, foul language, pure rebellion and awesome music!! No show is ever the same it’s all dependent on the crowd, it’s definitely a case of having to be there.
Also, what’s the line up, I know you both play instruments, do you have a drummer with you or anything?
We keep it 3 piece Mille on bass Mie on guitar and a session drummer.
Does the fact that you’re sisters make it easier to work together or does it sometimes create a bit of sibling rivalry?
No there’s no sibling rivalry. The fact that we’re sisters makes it easier to spit on each other on stage. We do on occasionally butt heads but we have enough respect for each other to see the others point of view. We are very much opposites but we are always on the same wave length we each have different strengths and so we combine them!!
When did the music idea get planted into your heads and how did it all come about?
It was never something we consciously thought about music and entertaining have always been a part of our lives. We didn’t ever see ourselves doing anything else lol we still don’t!! We started street performing from ages 9 and 10 and our passion for music and performing just grew. We worked in different studios and have been writing and composing from a very young age so we learnt early on that we would not be molded and especially in our early career that was always something we’ve fought against as we have been brought up to believe in ourselves and mostly to always be ourselves no matter what!!
Are your parents musical and did have they supported you with this career choice?
Our mom (single parent) is amazing and has stood firmly behind us from the beginning, she herself was and comes from a very musical and theatrical background. It really makes all the difference when you have someone who totally believes in you!! We value her opinion over anyone else’s as she is brutally honest and never holds back on the truth. She brought us up to appreciate always and to live out our rights to be free as individuals!! We are extremely privileged to be working with her and couldn’t ask for a better manager.
OK, I’m sorry, I have to ask you about the name. I read that you used to make homemade soap and sell it for charity, is that right?
As kids we always wanted to save the world, and so we set out with baskets of soap to raise funds for public hospitals in South Africa (There’s a huge lack of funding due to all the corruption so the hospitals and people suffer). We started out wanting to raise enough money to buy an incubator had no idea that we would end up going down to the harbour in a tiny village for 365 days a year for 8 years entertaining and street performing to sell the soaps. We ended up buying the incubator and much more it was crazy but we loved every minute of it. We learnt a lot about people and ourselves it gave us a thick skin and made us appreciate that the only thing you can be is yourself people will either love or hate you and either response is good as it means that you’ve made someone feel something. This part of our brand is still very much alive and a part of our lives, you absolutely have to give no matter where you are at in life!!
You were previously signed to Universal (UMG), how did that relationship come to an end? Was it the age old musical differences or did you both see the band going in different directions?
Definitely the age old differences!! We have always been strong characters and face it when you have been street performing from the age we started you learn a helluva lot and really develop as personalities, we certainly didn’t have any conventional upbringing so whilst it was important for the label to polish us up as “normalcy” it just couldn’t work in their favour as for example we love doing crazy off the cuff skits and some of the creative insanity we have [lol] would be glaringly obvious in the crazy videos we would upload on YouTube and the label would literally be on the phone telling us we had a few minutes to take it down or else they would drop us. Of course we never took the videos down the label used to freak out almost like a 3 year old throwing a tantrum because her doll won’t walk in the manner she has in her mind it should!! A record label is not there to sell an artist they sell their own idea of an artist!! We must add here that some of the people that we worked with who were part of the UMG team that we still have a close, relationship with and some we still thank as for example men like Steve Harris, Benjy Mudie who through our experiences having worked with them we garnered a lot of knowledge so they have been part of this journey and we still hold them in the highest esteem and with love. It’s amazing sometimes we look back not for too long (laughing) but just quickly and we see the years that we have been on this road( since 2003) and we know that there is absolutely nothing that can stop us and even our detractors have come to respect and acknowledge this.
Are you working with a label these days or is it a DIY ethic now?
We are totally independent and pretty much live by the ethos of DIY from stage props, producing, outfits and getting our music out to the world we are doing it our way. We have the amazing support of a few kick ass indie radio stations Rockers Dive, XRP and the total support of our fans and musicians around the world Like Steve Macleod which is really awesome!! Also we were super blessed to have teamed with a gentleman called Paul Cope and his wife Barbara who after falling in love with our music set the wheels in motion for a 2 legged tour.
Do you actually see the need for these major labels anymore?
It’s pretty much up to an artist to create their identity and sound a label is good for tour support, marketing, distribution and a recording budget!! They no longer make the artist, there is so much you can do independently however if a label is willing to hand over a budget, give you complete creative control over who you are and your music then it’s cool!! But don’t wait just get creative and go for it yourself!!
You seem very prolific on social media. Is it important to you that a band maintains a very visible online presence?
Yes!! It’s an age of complete communication between artists and fans. We love the fact that we can include everyone in what is happening its great!! It’s all about connecting and there is no better way than stay in touch with people all over the world and get to know each and everyone of your fansJJ Its really special for us to be able to know how fans are feeling, if they are having a birthday or a hard time as we want to know about them too it’s like having a huge ever growing family
What has been the hardest moment in your career so far?
The hardest moment LOL there been quite a few like that but the stick out one for us is when we were signed to Universal Music and were asked to be guest performers on Idols top 10 and we were super excited and had these amazing outfits made and after our live television performance the backlash from especially the media where we were labelled as sluts and every aspect of who we were and how we dress and look was ripped apart. At the time we were extremely young and the label didn’t come out and say a word in fact we were encouraged to lay low. This set the pace for the tenuous, often angry moments with the label and when years on the managing director told us that we were to go home and burn our clothes we realised we were totally done!!
Are there any plans for a new album in the pipeline at present?
Although we have just released our new album Calls For Rebellion we are constantly writing as it’s an outlet for how we feel. So we have enough songs for a few albums however, we want to really focus and put everything into our latest album Calls for Rebellion which is available for sale on bandcamp and or at shows as we love being able to personally sign every album bought!!
What advice would you give to people wanting to break into the music industry?
There is so much advice one could give here but the most important ones are to remain humble, truthful, never set out with expectations, be original, don’t wait for anyone to make things happen for you, do it yourself and don’t ever give up, Go after your dream with a burning passion, take risks be prepared to get up after every fall!! Just fucking do it already!!
Huge thanks for chatting with us, good luck with the rest of the UK tour. One final question for you before we let you go….we always like to finish an interview off with a really hard hitting question, today that question has to be – what is the best kind of cake and why?
The deepest thanks from us for the opportunity!! Hahahaha you are wicked!
(Mie) Ice cream cake cos if you don’t like it you can wash it away!!
(Mille) birthday cake cos you get to spit on it when blowing out the candles!!
Thanks again.
PS THANKS for this amazing interview xx
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