She Drew The Gun (Interview & Live Leeds date preview)

It’s fitting that in the aftermath following the re-election of Jeremy Corbyn we should be putting some questions to ‘She Drew the Gun’ a lo-fi Merseyside quartet who recently performed at rallies in support of the newly reinstated leader of the opposition. 

The upcoming SDTG show at Leeds Brudenell on 26^thOctober, part of the band’s first full UK headline tour completes a busy few months for the Louisa Roach fronted outfit. With a startlingly good debut album ‘Memories of the Future’ deservedly causing quite a stir amongst listeners, it’s time for this fine collection of lovingly crafted songs to be showcased before a wider audience.

Starting as a vehicle for Louisa’s solo musings, the evolutionary journey of She Drew the Gun has produced a swelling of numbers, resulting in a full band collaboration with Sian Monaghan (drums), Jack Turner (guitar) and Jenni Kickheffer (bass) making up the live members on the current tour.

SDTG have also benefited from the backing of some very influential players along the way, including Coral frontman James Skelly, at the controls for the production of their new record, and Steve Lamacq, who offered the band a Maida Vale session after hearing their first ever recorded release. Add to that the outfit trousering this year’s Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition, whose judges include father and daughter Eavis…..and they’ve seen a band or two in their time …and you quickly realise these guys may be on a steep upward curve.

However, judging by the responses to the questions below, these guys have still got their feet firmly on the ground...

PlusOne: What appealed about performing at rallies supporting Jeremy Corbyn's latest leadership campaign?

SDTG: It was a chance to do something to help and show support. Some of the stuff I write is about what’s going on out there and wanting to do something to change it, I had lost faith in politics completely, then there was this guy speaking truthfully. It was like finally someone to get behind, so I did.

If JC wins the next general election, would you perform a gig at number 10 if he asked you to?

Yeah why not, it’d be an experience wouldn't it? I’d be into the history of the place.

How did the experience, guidance and influence of James Skelly help shape the songs on ‘Memories of the Future.’?

The songs we’re all stuff that I’d written on guitar, so we went into the studio with the bare bones of them, recorded my vocals and guitar to a beat, and then built them up from there. James is a brilliant producer and has a genius ear for what a song needs, instrumental in making the album into what it became.

When did Louisa start writing and what was the inspiration for the first song written?

Well it’s a bit of a mixture really, most of the time I’ll finish a song in a day or two, or sometimes a chorus or half a song will stick around until I think of whatever it needs to finish it. I played guitar since I was a kid but I didn't start writing songs ‘till a few years back. I was going through a bit of a mad time in my personal life and it was in the middle of one night I ended up writing this song. I think I had built up a lot of emotion and kept it under the surface, then it came out in a tune, and once I had one I thought I’d try it again, and then I got into the flow of it.

Will the future SDTG songwriting process be more collaborative?

I’m still learning as a writer what works best for me, I think I’ll always write songs alone but I’m also into collaborating on more stuff, and going a bit further with the songs before getting into the studio next time. We’ve started to work on some new stuff so we’ll have to see what happens.

How did it make you feel when 6music made ‘Memories of the Future’ their album of the day?

Boss! I love 6music, what an honour.

When someone makes a connection with a song you’ve written, does it make you feel like you’re sharing a piece of yourself?

It makes me feel like, oh yeah this is why I’m doing all this. I think that’s really the most valuable thing you can get out of it, half of the stuff I like is when someone else thinks the same as me or has been through the same thing, so I love it when people connect like that.

What next for the band, Europe, America, Rest of the World, Album number 2?

We’d love to get back to Europe, we were lucky enough to support Fink over there last year and the experience blew our collective minds. We’re just taking things as they come and trying to make the most of every experience we get at the moment, and writing some more stuff of course.

Should be a cracking gig, be there or be square.

Words - MikePrice

She Drew The Gun play Leeds Brudenell Social Club on October 26th. Tickets

She Drew The Gun Official