Gut Health’s Athina Uh Oh: ‘Don’t be afraid to be your authentic self.’

12th Jan 202513th Jan 2025 | gimmiezine

Original photo: Jhonny Russell. Handmade collage by B.

Catching her breath. 2024 has been a big year for Athina Uh Oh and Naarm-based dance-punks, Gut Health. Between tours, a release, making videos and winning awards—it’s been hectic. It’s early November when Gimmie catches up with the singer to talk about their debut banger of an album Stiletto. The record pulls from Athina’s diverse passions—punk history, the psychology of sadomasochism, kink and queer history, and a sharp critique of capitalism and contemporary so-called Australia and its politics. Gut Health are a band full of surprises that straddle a line between rage and fun. We also discuss the band’s recent European tour and the relaunch of Highly Contagious, a creative project she’s been collaborating on with partner and bassist Adam Markmann. The project now spans a record label, events, and sometimes underground music zine, all tied to outsider music. In this conversation, Athina opens up about anxiety, self-talk, compassion, and the ongoing journey of building confidence. We also dive into her background and gain a look into the band’s creative mind.

ATHINA UH OH: How’s your morning been?

GIMMIE: Good! We just got back from the coffee shop. It’s nice to see our local barista most mornings. Actually, it’s nice to see all the small business owners and people we encounter every day in our neighbourhood. We’ve gotten to know them over the time we’ve lived here.

AUO: That’s great! I love that feeling when you can go do that, and you can have that “hello” in the morning.

Totally. I get that from my mum—she always knew everyone in our neighbourhood. She’d talk to everyone and always took a genuine interest in them. Connecting with people and the community was always important to her.

AUO: Definitely. I feel grateful to have a great community around me, but sometimes in this city, it can feel like, okay, don’t look at each other as you walk past on the street. Then, when I go somewhere warmer, like a regional town, everyone’s like, ‘Hey, how you going?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, this is nice. I feel like a human.’

Coming back from overseas this year on tour, that was one of the main things I noticed. Being back in the norm felt strange. Even though it’s a big city, things are quite spread out compared to a lot of European cities. As you’re walking down the street, you might not see someone for a while, and then when you do, you don’t make eye contact. I remember finding that quite confronting when I got back.

Yeah, I noticed when we go down to Naarm (Melbourne), every suburb feels so self-contained. Each one has everything it needs, and you can stay in your little bubble without needing to venture anywhere else.

AUO: Absolutely. One thing that’s great here—but also a bit limiting—is that you can forget to explore the other side of town. We have venues here, which is nice. Someone from Eora (Sydney) described it to me recently as being more event-based rather than venue-based. Here, you can go to a venue and think, ‘I feel like seeing a gig tonight or hanging out with certain people,’ and know you’ll probably bump into someone you relate to or stumble across a gig.

Luckily, we still have a few of those kinds of venues around, where the community comes together, where people actually look each other in the eye and wave.

Speaking of baristas, Al from Wet Kiss and Tongue Dissolver used to be my barista when he lived here! I love bands like those, and also Gut Health, that combine all these different elements to create something interesting and unique musically. Meanjin (Brisbane) and Yugambeh Country (Gold Coast) seem to foster a lot of different kinds of bands, like Guppy. The crowds here are pretty open to something different, which is awesome.

AUO: Totally. Every time we’ve played there, the crowds have been so welcoming. People aren’t crossing their arms and staring blankly—they’re getting involved and not afraid to jump around. It feels like they genuinely appreciate live music happening there, which is really nice.Yeah, and there’s such a good scene there. So much music from Meanjin that I love!

Wet Kiss and Tongue Dissolver are killing it. They traverse so many genres and play all these different events. Every time I’ve seen them live, it’s completely electric. We were lucky enough that Tongue Dissolver played at our EP launch last year. The whole crowd was bouncing up and down—so freaking good.

We feel the same way about Gut Health! It’s been so cool to watch you continue to evolve and grow and get even better.

AUO: I respond to the world around me and what that brings, especially in a contemporary context. Everyone in the band comes from different musical backgrounds; there wasn’t one set genre we all came from. When Adam and I started the band in the midst of lockdown, around the same time he was doing Highly Contagious, it was during the early stages of our relationship, like a honeymoon phase.

We realised there were all these intersections of our tastes. A lot of that came from the late 70s and early 80s Rough Trade period, as well as no wave. We can’t personally relate to the movements of that time—they were dealing with completely different circumstances—but the way genres and styles collided, like dub and punk in London or downtown and uptown New York, really resonated with us. That mesh of styles became a big part of how our band’s sound naturally developed. Adam, Dom, Myka, and I all drew inspiration from that era when we started demoing.

The band began in early to mid-2021, and it really helped me with inner confidence and personal struggles. Some of my close friends who’ve known me since I was a teenager say, ‘Athina, I’m so proud of you. You’ve grown so much.’ I used to struggle with speaking up for myself and was constantly apologising, even when it wasn’t necessary.

I was trying to be the “nice guy” to my detriment, believing kindness should always overrule everything. But I’ve learned you need other outlets too. You can’t always stay positive because that’s not realistic—the world is a messed-up place. Having a safe space to let go of rage and inner emotions has been incredibly cathartic.

For me, it’s helped me feel more level-headed, even though I still get anxiety. Performing gives me a way to release emotions in a healthy way. On stage, I can express anger, be mad at the world, and embrace the energy from the crowd. It’s this incredible, cathartic experience where I lose a sense of myself.

Before I go on stage, I get nervous, but once I’m up there, nothing compares to that feeling. It’s helped me realise I don’t have to apologise for everything. Mistakes happen, and imposter syndrome can creep in, but self-talk has been key. I remind myself it’s okay to mess up, that I’m growing, and that most people won’t even remember the little things I worry about.

These processes have helped me a lot in recent years, giving me confidence and helping me let go of things in a healthier way.

Yeah, I agree. I think sometimes we worry so much that people will care about something we’re doing or how we look or whatever, but most of the time we’re just psyching ourselves out, and people don’t actually care because they’re wrapped up in themselves.

We are very similar people—sensitive, empathetic, and compassionate about the world. I can tell you think a lot! I saw on Insta something your mum said about how, even as a kid, you didn’t want to eat meat. And with her being Greek—a mum putting lamb on the table—that was different for her. You were like, ‘I just don’t want to eat the animals.’

AUO:Yeah, when I was younger, I found out that pigs are kind of similar to humans or something like that, and I thought they were really cute. So I never ate pork because of that.

You’re so right. I’ve always said that any sort of art I create or collaborate on is a compassion project. It’s half a passion project and half coming from compassion, using that as an intention behind everything. It reminds me of who I am as a human and why I want to create.

You grew up in St Kilda?

AUO: Yeah, my parents lived in St Kilda separately before they got together. Since they were both 18, during all the Espy days. We lived in the Balaclava area while I was growing up. There were still remnants of all that, but it wasn’t quite like ’80s St Kilda. I still love it around there—being there and seeing all the remnants of Art Deco. You can still spot the old rock dogs too. I have friends who staunchly stay in St Kilda because they’ve just never left. They’re like, ‘Nah, St Kilda’s it.’ So yeah, I have a soft spot for that area as well.

Last time we interviewed you, I asked why music was important to you, and you said it came back to your upbringing and how that really influenced it. In what ways?

AUO: I guess from both sides of my family. My grandpa was obsessed with jazz music, a big collector. He was an accountant but collected trumpets throughout his whole life. Apparently, he’d come home from work, spend hours playing the trumpet in the back of my dad’s house, and just lose himself in it. My grandma, I think, did conducting in church—not because they were religious, but because they liked the community feel of it. They gave Dad the option of whether he wanted to get christened. He ended up reading the Bible for education, decided he couldn’t accept it, but still enjoyed going to the choirs.

That love of music was always there. Dad collected soul, blues, rock and roll—all kinds of music. On Mum’s side, they listened to a lot of Greek music, like rumbetico. They were big lovers of art, creativity, and quite leftist in their views. So, I grew up listening to all kinds of stuff—soul, blues, rock and roll.

From a very young age—apparently Dad put on a record… I was three years old, and I grew a love for this group called The Stylistics. He would play it, and when I was in prep, I was like, ‘This is important education.’ I took the CD to my class and made everyone lie down and listen to the song during nap time. I was just lying there crying, like, ‘This is so beautiful.’

And who else? They’d put on a song by The Collins Kids. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them—it was early rockabilly. I remember jumping over the walls, just from one side of the living room to the other. I’ve always just loved music.

During high school, I grew more of a love for punk and rock and roll, kind of traversing all those genres. Music has always been part of my family. I grew up going to gigs, it became like a second home. In high school I got quite into dance music, sneaking out to events. That’s where the more dance-y elements of our music come from. As much as I want to let out rage, I also want people to dance around and let loose too.

I know Betty Davis’ debut album had a big impact on you; what drew you to her?

AUO: It’s kind of embarrassing [laughs]—it was on one of those, like, ‘Oh, I’ve just gone through my first heartbreak, and this is my fuck-you playlist.’ Betty had that song that went, like, ‘No, I don’t want to love you,’ and I just thought that was so badass when I discovered it. I was like, ‘What? A woman can just be this out there?’ I was in my Senior Year when I discovered it. I found it so healing and thought, how badass and unapologetic she was!

That really threw me in—her voice was incredible. Ever since then, I go back to her when I want to feel a bit badass or remind myself of that as I’m walking down the street.

I’m loving looking at that record collection behind you!

We love records. Jhonny & I have been both collecting since we were teens. Unfortunately now, we’re priced out of buying new records. Vinyl prices are the most expensive they’ve ever been—$80-100 for a record is something we can’t afford.

AUO: It’s wild. I was working at a record store this year, and it has changed a bit in terms of people buying records and just the cost of living in general.

I’ve never gone the full deep dive because, coming from more of a film and photography background, I’ve already got these other expensive hobbies I’m spending money on. I know my bank account would be completely wiped if I got too into records. But it’s so tempting, especially when I was working at the record store. There were so many at Rowdy’s that I was like, ‘Oh my god, I want this.’

Speaking of records, yours, Stiletto is one of our favourite albums of the 2024. We’ve been waiting for the full-length because we love you guys. Seeing you first play at The Retreat a couple of years back, was really special.

AUO: That’s so nice to hear. It means so much that you guys were there early on. That was still us finding our feet and building confidence, but for people coming in off the street to watch, it might have seemed fully formed back then.

Every single member felt integral to what was happening. You had this visible connection, like a friendship—you could tell you’re all friends who just share a love of music.

AUO: I feel extremely grateful for the band I play with. I talk about building confidence, but it’s really about having people you trust around you. It’s about feeling like you’re not afraid to throw ideas out or be at a certain level of understanding with chords or arrangements.

We communicate really well, and if there’s ever a minor conflict, it’s easy to talk through because everyone is kind and understanding. That carries through on stage too. There’s this connection running through everything.

The funny thing is, we weren’t all close friends before starting the band, but we’ve built this family through the project, which is special in itself. Thank you so much for supporting us early on!

This has been my first main musical project that I’ve really thrown myself into. I’d tried a couple of other projects before, but this one felt different. From the start, our goal was this idea that playing a gig is like doing a thousand rehearsals.

Coming out of lockdown, I wanted to prove to myself that we could play gigs relentlessly, learn as much as we could, forge friendships, and find support along the way.

I’m really grateful everyone in the band was keen to do that because, a couple of years later, I feel like we’ve learned so much. It’s led to some really fun opportunities.

The Stiletto album cover is striking; what was the thought behind it?

AUO: To start off with, a lot of the visual elements and lyrics I draw on come from my passions, which include punk history, sadomasochism (the psychology of it)h, kink history, and queer history. A lot of contrasting ideas, like the performative and real states of being, soft and hard, dominant and submissive, are themes I explore. I tend to think very visually, and that comes through in my lyrics as well.

The front cover draws on a lot of those elements and themes. The contrast between the performative and real, and the image of the stiletto itself, represents those contrasts. The idea of feminine and masculine also plays into that.

What does stiletto mean to me? It ties into the soft and hard thing, where it can be this dominant image. The strength of high femme comes into it as well. When I dress up high femme, it’s about enjoying the performative elements.

The idea of stepping into something soft often comes up in my head, and it represents contemporary consumerism in a done-up, performative way. I don’t generally explain what my lyrics mean, but a lot of it touches on contemporary political issues.

Subverting, which is common in punk covers, the image of a stiletto plays into that idea. Even though the photo is high-definition, I was drawing on that concept a little.

It critiques capitalism. The song ‘Stiletto’ itself is a reflection or criticism of contemporary Australia and the funny elements of it, like this fake colony.

As a First Nations person, it makes a lot of sense. I get it. Was there anything in particular, though, that sparked the song? Like, it might not be specifically about it, but something that was there that sparked the idea?

AUO: It’s interesting because that was a stream of consciousness poem I had. A set of words I had written in notes on my iPhone in my early 20s. I had it sitting there, then in our rehearsal, quite naturally, everyone started jamming. I did that over it, and we built the dynamic of the song. It’s always been sort of like half improvisation, all that song. We’ve been really enjoying writing music like that recently.

All of us listen to this podcast. Do you listen to No Dogs in Space? It’s one of my favourites. We listened to four episodes of Can recently and found it so inspiring.

I love that podcast. I actually interviewed Damo Suzuki a few years back.

AUO: Wow. Well, the composition idea—where they’d jam for hours and then cut up the song to make it—was how Stiletto was made. I really want to keep experimenting with that process because that song, in particular, is where I feel the most cathartic. It was really feeling-driven when we were writing it.

I originally wrote those lyrics reflecting on contemporary so-called Australia, from a sympathetic level. All these funny things about it and how messed up it must be for First Nations peoples. We’re just here, drinking a frothy can, building concrete areas, mixed with the beauty of the sunset and all these plastic houses.

I love that there’s so much in your songs, so many layers to dig down into.

AUO: I really want people to make their own interpretation. The interpretation of what the song is can be so layered for me as well. I might have just written a stream of consciousness, based on images that, upon reflection, mean something to me.

Often, people I interview don’t know what it’s about until they’ve listened back to the song later on. Then they can see it and say, ‘Okay, this was happening. I can tie this to my day or my year,’ or to what they were feeling.

AUO: We all agree as a band that part of it is being able to feel this outlet of consensual rage, as an audience member. We want people to create meaning for themselves because that allows them to feel what they want to feel—at the gig, or listening back to the song. I don’t want to overexplain things and shift the meaning for myself in that process. Sometimes, the meaning may shift depending on how I feel when performing the song.

That’s the beauty of art. As humans, we bring our own lens and experience to whatever we’re listening to or viewing. That’s why some things resonate and others don’t.

AUO: Definitely.

Listening to your album certain words came to mind: rebellion, community, nonconformity. As well as, the critiquing of things like hidden forces, manipulations within society or personal relationships that force and shape our life without even our awareness sometimes.

AUO: Yeah.

I also got the sentiment of a search for something real beyond artifice.

AUO: Yeah, definitely. That is another big thing about creating art, for myself at least—feeling that state of flow, being with the people you’re performing to or being with your band and feeling in the moment. I feel like that is so real, and nothing can really beat that feeling. But also being like, hey, yeah, let’s be real with each other for a moment. Despite all this shit going on—walls, ideas, or things like that—let’s talk to each other. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Another thing that I got from your album was themes of exploring individual identity.

AUO: Living your truth in whatever way you want. If it is unconventional, it doesn’t even matter, despite society’s judgments.

I’ve always been an introvert-extrovert. I enjoy a sense of privacy but also want to be the most authentic version of myself to others. So, it’s a good platform to explore that as well. Even seeing the band members come into themselves more—being more confident, performing on stage—has been really beautiful to watch. You know, Adam used to not be able to look anyone in the eyes or at the camera when we first started, but now he’s so in his element when he’s performing. That’s really beautiful to watch.

I was literally having a conversation with Adam about this recently. It was like, you’ve got this over here and this over here. Don’t be afraid to be your authentic self. There are certain things that I will slowly reveal more of as I go.

I know it must have been a different or a bit hard growing up because your dad is a well-known musician. I grew up with my dad being a celebrated race car driver in the 60s, and sometimes we’d walk down the street and people would be like, ‘Hey!’

AUO: Yeah, I’ve generally said in interviews I didn’t want to talk about it. At the start, with the relentless gigging, I really wanted to prove to myself that it was on my own merit. People are going to think whatever they think. They might not know that, in those first two years, I wasn’t telling anyone who my dad was. My bandmates didn’t know until my mum came to a gig because I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. My dad has been so supportive.

I saw on his Instagram, he often mentions how proud he is of you.

AUO: Both my mum and dad are so proud of me and so stoked for me. It’s nice to see family support chasing your dream. I’m so grateful for that. They’re so good to my friends as well. Dad totally understood where I was coming from at the start, not wanting to share that. He’s been through all of that head-fuck stuff, and people can think certain things, but whatever.

They’re so supportive, and it’s nice to have parents who are like, ‘Oh, you’re doing art that makes no money. I’m so proud’ [laughs]. It’s cool. They’ll find interviews I haven’t even read yet, like, ‘Oh my god.’ It’s really beautiful, and they’re both big music lovers.

The reason Dad got into music was obviously his grandparents, but he was enlisted to go to the Vietnam War. A couple of weeks before he was meant to go, he broke his leg after getting hit by a car. The only people who visited him in the hospital were new friends he’d made, and they bought him a harmonica. That’s how he got into music. He’s got so many stories like that. He’s confident but not a boaster, though he is about certain things [laughs].

He’s an introvert,-extrovert, like you?

AUO: Exactly. My parents are hype men, basically.

That’s so awesome! Is there anything that you find hard about making art?

AUO: For sure. Coming into yourself and the creative process, sometimes just allowing that to happen, remembering there are no set rules to it. I generally have a little perfectionist brain, so sometimes I find it hard to start something because I’m nervous the outcome won’t be good. A lot of this process has been about reprogramming in that way.

You gotta remember that you can always start something and then if it doesn’t go how you want, just stop and do something else.

AUO:Exactly. The best way I had that described to me, which literally changed how I think about things, was thinking of a scale between zero and 100. Zero being zero catastrophe, and 100 being something completely unchangeable, like you die or the world ends. Then you look at what you’re anxious about and ask, ‘What is it on that scale?’ Usually it’s before 50, and visualising how little of a catastrophe it is really helps.

I’ve just started doing a synth course and piano lessons. Jonnine [Nokes] from screensaver is the teacher for the synth course. It’s awesome. I’ve only done the first class, but everyone came in with such different backgrounds and experiences. I wanted to change the idea of ‘I should just have a go and get started on it.’ Same with the piano. A friend of a friend is teaching me, and every time I get something right, they’re so excited. It’s nice having that encouragement.

That feeling of encouragement is how it feels in the band too. Everyone’s excited, and that collaboration energy is great. Changing up the creative process has been nice. For Adam’s birthday, each band member put in cash to buy something related to the band; we do that for each person’s birthday. This year, we got Adam a writing trip with us out in a house. It was so nice. We stayed in a rainforest, smoked all day, put a Zoom recorder on, and for 10 hours a day, we jammed. We hardly even spoke to each other because we’re so used to each other now.

Out of all the things you’ve done in 2024; what’s something that’s meant the most to you?

AUO: There are a couple of highlight gigs. One was, Panama festival. We played at 12 AM and everyone was coming up, they were on and it had this real club feeling to it. It was just like so fun.It was my ideal gig. And same when we were played a couple of DIY venues in Leipzig and Berlin. Meeting community there was really special. Touring Europe was a dream goal, something I didn’t think I’d have the money or resources to take that off the bucket list.

It’s been really exciting doing Highly Contagious stuff with Adam again. It’s been really fun doing a couple of those events. We did one earlier this year and then shifted it into this album, label, and events space. Getting to brainstorm with Adam again and mesh all of these genres related to outsider music has been super fun. I feel like there’s such an innate drive for me to find new music and explore certain artists. Thinking about curation has been super fun too.

Starting the label properly with this LP has been exciting. We got label services help, but it’s our label, and we also want to release our own stuff independently—sending everything out ourselves, doing all the back end. We’ve been talking with a friend to release their LP in 2025.

Generally, getting to do this music stuff is a lot when you’re trying to pay rent in between everything, but I wouldn’t change getting to do this for four days a week or whatever. Focusing on it has been a really special change this year.

It all sounds so exciting. On a side note, I’ve been dying to hear about when you and Adam went to Egypt!

AUO: It’s the kind of place where you want to spend more time there to understand it, to be respectful because there are so many layers. It’s beautiful. So many different empires and countries have tried to have a piece of it and, unfortunately, left it in not the best state. In terms of history, it was incredible. It was so wild to be in Alexandria, standing above an old city, and we stood where the Library of Alexandria was.

My Greek family, some of them are from Alexandria. Mum’s cousin is from there, because there are a lot of Greeks and Copts there. We went into a catacomb where the ritual of smashing plates at weddings was invented. It was so wild to think about that. Alexandria in particular has the remnants of a mixture of all these different cultures. It was absolutely wild. The food and people we met along the way were amazing too.

Amazing! I’ll end by asking: What’s something you’re really looking forward to?

AUO: We’re supporting Primal Scream in January. It should be fun.

I love that you play with so many diverse acts.

AUO: Yeah, I don’t want to say it’s at our peril, but sometimes I think about it. It gets you thinking: ‘Do these people accept me?’ But then I realise that it’s special we can do that. We can be friends with people from all different scenes and be accepted to play gigs with them. That’s what music is about for me—it’s not about fitting into one particular scene. You learn a lot from different scenes. That’s really special for me.

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Tropical Fuck Storm’s Fiona Kitschin: “When everyone comes up to rehearse or record, dogs outnumber the humans. It’s chaotic, but lovely.”

3rd Aug 20223rd Aug 2022 | gimmiezine

Original Photo by: Jamie Wdziekonski. Handmade collage by B.

One of Gimmie’s all-time favourite bands, Tropical Fuck Storm, have just announced a new 7” single for the song ‘Moonburn’, releasing a video for the B-side, a wild reinterpretation of The Stooges’ classic ‘Ann’. We caught up with bassist-vocalist Fiona Kitschin to find out about the release, their recent European tour, her history discovering and performing music, a new hobby she’s taken up, and the band’s love of dogs.

FIONA: My day has been good. I’ve been working. I organise all the TFS stuff; right now overseas tours, Australian tours, new releases. I’m our manager.

Gareth’s mentioned that previously, and said that you don’t get enough props for all of the behind the scenes things that you do.

FI: [Laughs] Awww. It’s bloody exhausting! It gets pretty hectic when you’re working across three different time zones – here, Europe and the US. You never get to sleep. I like sleep [laughs].

Thanks so much for talking with us today, it’s appreciated. We’ve wanted to speak with you for ages. We’ve spoken to Gareth and Erica before. Let’s start at the beginning; where did you grow up?

F: In the hills of Perth.

How did you first discover music?

F: I grew up in a pretty bogan area. When everyone I knew was getting into Sonic Youth, I was into Gunners and Black Sabbath [laughs]. I’ve always loved music! I’ve always loved performing; I’m a weird introvert performer. I’ve got tapes of when I was 4-years-old singing, it’s quite funny. It’s pretty cute. I have this really broad Australian accent [laughs].

Can you remember the kinds of things you would sing back then?

F: When I was a kid I would sing [breaks out into song]: one little speckled frog / sat on a speckled log / eating the most delicious grub / yum yum! [laughs].

Amazing!

F: I was obsessed with The Muppets too. My parent’s liked Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. I grew up with boys, so I used to high kick around the house singing that stuff.

Nice! What was the first concert you went to?

F: New Year’s Eve when I was fifteen, it was at Fremantle Oval. It was Baby Animals, Hunters & Collectors [laughs]. That was my first concert. Nothing very cool I’m afraid. Gaz always brags about his first concert being Bob Dylan, but it was nothing like that for me.

My first concert was the hip-hop group Arrested Development in 1993. I went with my older sister, everyone in the crowd near us were handing around joints.

F: That’s a cool one. What a dream.

When did you start playing music?

F: I played trumpet when I was a kid in primary school. That was short-lived. You had to do a test. If you passed the test you’d have to chose out of three instruments: clarinet, flute or trumpet. Each of the instrument teachers would come around and try to sell to the kids, why they should play that instrument. The trumpet player said, “If you play trumpet, all the muscles that you build in your lips will make you a really good kisser.” [laughs]. As a 10-year-old that really appealed to me, and so did the fact that all the other girls played the flute and clarinet, and the boys did the trumpet. I didn’t want to play those “girly” instruments, I wanted to play the trumpet!

Sadly, when we had concert, the girls would stand with their clarinets and flutes and watch me blow on my trumpet and my face would turn bright red and I got teased so much because of that. I mean there’s lots of reasons why my trumpet career didn’t take off [laughs], it was also because it was annoying to my family. There were five kids in my family. I had a practice book that my mum had to sign – I’m lazy with practising musical instruments – but she was so happy not to have the noise, that she would just sign it whether I did it or not. Many factors went against me becoming a great trumpeter! [laughs].

[Laughter]. When did you start playing bass?

F: Not until I was much older. The share house that I lived in was a bit of a party house, all the dudes would come around and play music, that was our form of entertainment. I thought, ‘Stuff that, I don’t want to be left out of it. I’m going to play too!’ I took it up. It was like (going back to my trumpet practice) the easiest instrument to play.

Were you in any other band before The Drones?

F: I played around in a few little things with other friends and then I met Gaz in Perth, we had this group of musician friends, and I played in two other bands with him before The Drones. We had a friend, mad cunt called Robin Maverick, and we had a band together. We had another band with a friend, Brendan Humphries and His Elephant Men. So, we had a few bands before moving over to Melbourne.

How do you feel you and Gaz complement each other creatively?

F: We have different roles. I do all the organisation and planning. He organises all the music-side of things. It’s actually a really good partnership, there’s not really a crossover where we step on each others toes. He’s 24/7 thinking about music and I have an organisational mind, so I’m plotting and planning things. I could’t imagine two of the same in a partnership, it wouldn’t work as good, you’d be trying to out organise the other one and out create.

What’s one of your first TFS-related memories?

F: We hadn’t met [Lauren] Hammer when we started the band, so it was a really cool night when me and Gaz had a blind date with her, more or less. We stalked her through a metal friend, Gaz had seen her play in High Tension. Through the mutual friend we set up a blind date for the three of us. We didn’t know what to expect. We got really drunk and by the end of the night we were making plans. The real turning point was when she said she was vegan, I was like, ‘Oh my god! I love you.’ [laughs].

You’re vegan?

F: Yes! It was a such a happy accident to have everyone get along.

Lovely. Previously you’ve mentioned that going from The Drones into Tropical Fuck Storm, you told to Gaz that you wanted to be in band with more women.

F: Did I? I can’t remember that, probably. That sounds about right! [laughs].

And, you wanted things to be more fun and less depressing?

F: Yeah. Musically. I didn’t mean the band itself. Definitely TFS has more of a sense of fun. There was nothing much fun musically about The Drones.

What kinds of things have helped make TFS more fun?

F: Musically, it’s upbeat and less serious. It’s more danceable and silly, whilst being dark.

We especially love tracks you sing on like ‘Suburbiopia’.

F: I love singing. We have a new single coming out, I sing on that. It’s really fun.

What’s the single called?

F: It’s called ‘Ann’ a Stooges cover.

I saw a photo of Gaz in at Zenith Records picking up a test pressing of the new single and wondered what was coming out. A new TFS release is always very exciting!

F: It’s a new 7-inch called Moonburn and the B-Side is Stooges cover ‘Ann’.

What made you choose ‘Ann’ to cover?

F: It was at the beginning of lockdown when Melbourne had its “ring of steel” and Ham and Erica couldn’t legally come see us, there were checkpoints on the freeway. We’d set all this time aside for recording a new album and we were getting depressed about being unable to record it. I said, ‘Well, we could just do something, let’s just do it.’ So Gaz got on the drum machines and he came up with the idea of doing ‘Ann’.

What kind of song is Moonburn?

F: It’s one of my favourite emo TFS songs. It’s has a heavy vibe, it’s on that side of the TFS spectrum.

Do you know where the title came from?

F: I could make something up, but I was probably just doing something else when Gaz told me about it. I wasn’t listening [laughs].

TFS were recently in Europe; do you enjoy touring?

F: Yes, I do. It’s fun. There’s touring and then there’s touring! The more comfortably you can do it the better. The days of sleeping on people’s couches are thankfully over, now I just have fun planning a secret night off in accommodation like a Scottish castle or something like that to surprise everyone. It’s fun that we can afford to stay in hotels now, nicely. People show up to shows too [laughs]. That’s always good when you don’t have to worry about no one showing in Europe sometimes, back in the day with The Drones that was a definite scenario.

The last tour that we just got back from in the UK were sold out shows, it was such a surprise. There were younger people, like 19-year-olds, moshing and singing the words. We were deeply shocked and thrilled. It was weird and amazing.

We’re always stoked to see you play too. Previously Gareth mentioned in an interview that when you’re on tour he loves to drag people to see things like war memorials and other historical sites; is there anything you love to drag him to see?

F: [Laughs] Yeah. I don’t drag him to see anything, it’s easier to do it by myself.

What’s some of the coolest things you saw while away this time?

F: We had two days off in Rome, which was fun. We did the Coliseum and all of that stuff. This time was a really stress-free tour. Though half way through we did get sick, really sick. It was quite awful, it was more on the holiday end of things. There was one show in Oslo that me, Erica and Gareth felt like shit, we all had insane flus. Erica’s doctor’s certificate says, laryngitis. I had a doctor come see me in Greece cos I was so sick. We also played a show in Athens when the three of us were really sick; it was the last show of the tour, when it’s the last show there’s no fear of totally fucking your voice for the rest of the tour. We just push ourselves so hard for that one hour and then if we collapse or lose our voice it doesn’t matter.

We still managed to relax in a villa on a Greek island for five days, eating yummy food, swimming. The other guys, not me, were cliff jumping into the ocean. If we can, we love to have some nice time on tour.

The Greek islands sound wonderful, it’d be so pretty at this time of year.

F: Yeah. We’ve got more Europe shows in September and it’s just show after show after show and no days off.

Is there anywhere high on your travel bucket list?

F: I just love the Mediterranean countries. Greece and Italy. I hate the cold. I’d love to play South America. Me and Gaz have been there on holiday, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, to see some family. We’ve never played there though, that would definitely be fun!

I read that you went to Mexico and had some scary experiences.

F: We finished doing a tour and we ended up in San Diego and from there it’s a quick drive through Tijuana to Baja. It was wonderful we had a nice holiday. But, we’ve had some dicey experiences in Mexico.

Two years later, we were at the end of a tour and thought we should go back to Baja, Mexico. We did it with our friend [Amanda] Roffy, she was driving on The Drones tour of the US. During that period the drug cartels had moved in and it had become a really dangerous area. No tourist were going there. Tourists were being kidnapped on the highway, women were being raped and money stolen. We got to our hotel and we were the only guests there. Two days later we read in the Gringo Gazette what was happening there, it was quite horrifying. We had to go through army check points. We also read that you should look at their shoes and machine guns to make sure they’re the real army, cos they could be the drug cartel. We had an outdoor jacuzzi at the resort, but had to turn the lights off at night so no-one would see us. Luckily, the over the counter chill pills are good in Mexico [laughs], it helped somewhat.

[Laughter]. I also wanted to ask you about your pups, Foxie and Ralph.

F: Awww my favourite topic!

They’d be around 10-years-old, right?

F: Yes.

How did you meet them?

F: They’re real characters, they’re quite naughty [laughs]. Our neighbours up the road had just had puppies. There’s a Fox Terrier breeder in a country town near us. Our friends up the road are Fox Terrier Fanciers. They’d always have fox terriers. They had a boy fox terrier called Kevin that was really cute. Our neighbour went to the breeders and the Grand Champion Bitch, Ruby, the owner said she couldn’t breed puppies anymore and they were going to fucking put her down.

Noooo!

F: So our neighbour Andrew took her. Gaz and I were recording an album up at Andrew’s with Spencer P. Jones with a band called The Nothing Butts. While we were recording the album, we saw conception out the window, Kevin was having sex with Ruby! It turns out that she could have another litter!

Miracle babies!

F: Miracle babies! We would go visit them everyday since they were born and it just became inevitable that we would take them in. Everyone in the band loves dogs. Between the four members of the band we have five dogs.

I know Erica has Poncho!

F: Yeah. Ham has Jack and Toohey. When everyone comes up to rehearse or record, dogs outnumber the humans. It’s chaotic, but lovely.

Nice! That sounds perfect. We love dogs so much! We have a little pup named Gia, she’s half-Jack Russell Terrier and half-Maltese.

F: Awww.

Another thing I was curious about was the sparkly black dress you’ve been wearing when you play live. It’s amazing. The way it catches the lights on stage is pretty special. Where did you get it?

F: Thank you! It’s my favourite. I got it from my oldest friend, who I met when I was three. We grew up in Perth together as Mormons. You can only wear a stage outfit for so long I feel, I might have to put it away for a while. I would wear it every night if I could!

Last question; what’s something that you like to geek out about?

F: Well, I feel very middle age, middle class saying this, and it’s a bit of a trend at the moment but, I started pottery during the pandemic [laughs]. I was watching this series The Great Pottery Throw Down and I’d get on my pottery wheel and make bowls and things. That’s my latest thing.

The other thing is, I love food and cooking! I’m always thinking about new recipes and cooking. I make a lot of Mediterranean thins, and savoury pies.

Tropical Fuck Storm have a new 7” single Moonburn/Ann available for pre-order HERE. Check out TFS Records. Find them at @tropical_fuck_storm and TFS Facebook.

Catch them on their Australian tour kicking off tomorrow (August 4):

Guerilla Toss’ Kassie Carlson: “I don’t need to be super rich or super popular with my music, I just want to see the world and see amazing shit!”

10th Jul 202010th Jul 2020 | gimmiezine

New York art-punk band Guerilla Toss make fun, interesting, super cool, cosmic, synth-pop post-punk! They recently released two new songs – “Human Girl” and “Own Zone” – as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club. Gimmie chatted to vocalist Kassie Carlson from her home on a farm in Upstate New York as they work on new music.

How have you been Kassie?

KASSIE CARLSON: I’ve been good, I’ve just been quarantining here. I don’t live in New York City, I live in Upstate New York, which is two hours away from the city. I’m on a bunch of land, I’m able to not be around people. New York City is pretty crazy right now!

The area you live in has a lot of woodland, a lot of countryside, right?

KC: Yeah, wilderness and farmland. I live on a 260-acre farm, but it’s not a farm anymore it’s kind of… mow the grass and make hay. There’s a lot of open space, we go hiking a lot up here.

You go hiking with your Chow Chow dog, Watley?

KC: Yes, definitely [laughs]. He’s actually outside with me right now as I chat to you.

Do you have a favourite spot you like to go?

KC: There’s lots of different places to go. The other day we hiked to a place called the Balsam Fir Fire Tower, which is an old fire tower that they used to go up to the very top and look over the whole forest to see if there was any fires. That was really cool. It was a really warm day and we hiked all the way to the top of the mountains and at the top there was snow and all of these Balsam Fir trees, it looked like a fairy tale!

That sounds beautiful. I love natural places and just being outside in nature.

KC: Yeah, me too.

Do you ever get inspired creatively from nature?

KC: Yeah, definitely, how could I not!

Have you been doing anything creative lately?

KC: Always, every day I’m doing something… working on music, some days it doesn’t always pan out… just working, writing, reading, stuff like that.

Why is music important to you?

KC: Oh, I don’t know? I guess I’ve always been a fan and then I started making music. I started off young singing in choirs and playing violin, but I was always really into rock music. My brother was a musician in punk rock and metal bands, I thought that was kind of cool. Haphazardly it happened for me, it didn’t happen right away, it happened when I was older. As a teenage girl I was kind of just observing music but then as I got older I became a part of it.

It’s great when you can finally get the confidence to give something a go yourself.

KC: Yes!

Is there anything that’s helped shaped some of your ideas about art and creativity?

KC: When I say I entered the music world being in a band, it was kind of because the entryway was easy, it was paved out… I don’t know if they have these in Australia but, here we have a lot of underground shows, basement shows; I lived in a house that had basement shows every night. It was easy to just try something out, the atmosphere was very supportive. I hung out with a lot of people that went to art school and music school. There was a lot of room to experiment in a way that I think a lot of people don’t necessarily have, I was lucky in that sense. I had a really supportive audience.

I read that when you were younger you liked to listen to Mariah Carey, TLC and Destiny’s Child…

KC: Yeah, of course! [laughs]. Did you?

Yes, sure did! I grew up liking those artists and then punk and hip hop and all kinds of things, I had four older siblings that all liked different music and my mum and dad too, I kind of just absorbed everything. I love stuff from doo-wop all the way through to noise stuff.

KC: Yeah, same.

I saw a photo of Watley online and there was a big record collection in the background; is that yours?

KC: They weren’t my records, they’re the drummer from Guerilla Toss’ records. We have a lot of records in the house that’s for sure.

Is there an album that you’ve listened to more than any other?

KC: I’m all over the place. I’m always listening to a million things. I’ve been trying to find new things lately, I’ve been going through things and just picking random shit to get my creative ideas flowing. I have a lot of cassette tapes too.

I used to find a lot of new music through trading tapes with my friends.

KC: Yeah, I feel like that’s how I discovered a lot of new music too. I grew up in Cape Cod, which is kind of like a beach town in Massachusetts. They have these swap shops there at the dump so it’s basically like a free store and you take whatever you want, sometimes there’s really good stuff there; I got my first guitar amp there and a bunch of cool clothes. I got my very first cassettes there too, they were mixtapes that somebody had made.

That’s awesome! I love going to thrift stores and the dump shop near where I live here too. It’s good for the environment too reusing items rather than putting them in landfill; people can be so wasteful.

KC: Oh yeah! People don’t want to take it to the second-hand shop and they just leave them at these places and it won’t just go to the trash. So much clothing gets thrown away.

Totally! Basically my whole wardrobe is made up of clothes from thrift stores. You find so much cool stuff, and its stuff that not everyone else is wearing. I find it so hard to go the regular shops/mall to buy stuff. Before you started playing in a band; did you express yourself creatively in any other way?

KC: I’ve done some painting but nothing major really. [Laughs] Sewing, I guess.

You mentioned that you started singing in choirs; did you jump into bands from there or were you making music yourself?

KC: It was kind of like hot and cold, off and on. I didn’t really play in bands until I was in my twenties. I’d mess around on the keyboard and make little guitar songs… I was kind of in a metal band! Then I made my own music.

Your solo stuff was the Jane La Onda stuff, right?

KC: Yeah [laughs].

I understand that you have a real love for words and enjoy reading; what are you reading at the moment?

KC: I’m reading a lot of magazines. I’m reading Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino. They’re really cute, interesting, whimsical Italian folktales with a cerebral twist. I really like the way he uses words and meaning. I started reading The Water Dancer [by Ta-Nehisi Coates].

One of your favourite books is Siddhartha by Herman Hesse?

KC: Yeah, yeah. I like him a lot. I like the way he uses words and perception. He takes you on a journey with words.

I wanted to ask you about your writing; do you ever have a vision for a song before you sit down to write it?

KC: Not usually. Usually I’ll be listening to sounds that could become a song and those sounds have a meaning in them that I like after listening to it over and over. Sometimes I write little things before but it’s more that I hear the music and the words are already in there, the pattern is in there somewhere and I have to find it by listening to it over and over again.

What kinds of things have you been finding yourself writing about lately?

KC: Honestly, I’ve been writing a lot of political stuff in a way. Coronavirus isn’t as crazy in Australia, right?

That’s right, we’ve been pretty lucky compared to a lot of countries.

KC: New York is crazy. I haven’t worked for a whole month because I have a heart condition. I’m usually working a lot and keeping busy being out and about talking to people, but I haven’t really gone out much. It’s interesting writing in this time.

Do you feel lonely living away from your band members Upstate?

KC: Oh definitely! The drummer is up here and the guitar player is up here right now too, we’ve been working a new music. It’s kind of like a reprieve though, we played over 100 shows last year and toured all over the country as well as going to Europe. To be in a city too is really taxing too.

I feel that when I go into the city too, I live in a costal beachside town that’s really laidback. I’ll drive to the nearest capital city that’s an hour away from me and after being there a half hour I’ll get too overwhelmed!

KC: Yeah, it’s like chaos!

Previously you’ve mentioned that when you play live it’s like a deep meditation for you; do you do meditation in any other areas of your life?

KC: Yeah, walking meditation when I’m walking through the woods with Watley. Anytime really, doing anything. Even washing dishes, like feeling the warmth of the hot water on your hands or pausing in any way; looking at a plant; or even driving is a meditation in a way, I think.

So for you it’s having an awareness of what you’re doing and being in the moment?

KC: Yeah, awareness and a pause, remembering that you’re in a body. It can be resting for a second.

In isolation do you have a typical day or a routine you do?

KC: Yeah. I wake up around 9 or 10am and then I make some oatmeal and coffee. I take a shower. Then I’ll work on music from 11 to 7. Maybe have a snack somewhere in there at around maybe 2pm. At 7 I’ll make dinner. After that I’ll work on music again until 10pm. At 10 I’ll watch a movie. That’s what I do every day. Maybe in the middle of the day I’ll take a hike or two.

Do you learn things about yourself when making music?

KC: Definitely. Writing lyrics is like going; what’s happening in my brain? How am I feeling? What is my current experience? What do my past experiences mean? Even the lyrical process beyond writing the lyrics initially, when I’m performing, the meaning of lyrics singing them over and over again for many years, eight years now in some cases, the meaning of the lyrics change. I feel like I’m constantly learning about myself, it’s like a constant self-awareness and the awareness of people around you and what’s happening on the Earth and how you interpret that. I’m a pretty high anxiety person, so the profession of being a frontwoman in a band is a weird choice; it’s also not a weird choice because it’s a process, the process of me coming out of my shell and me interpreting my anxieties and dealing with them and dealing with trauma. I would definitely say that I am always learning about myself and other people [laughs] and those interactions.

So by your showing those parts of you and you trying to work yourself out, because it’s honest and really looking at things, that resonates with others and might help them in their life?

KC: Yeah. I hope someday you can see us perform because I think our performance brings the music to a different level. I can act things out and you can see different accents on things. The music recordings are great but I hope you can see us perform.

Same!

KC: When I first started touring we would be the only band with a girl on it on the bill. It was crazy and so weird. Now there’s a lot more women and all different types of people. It felt like; do they just like us because I’m a girl? I want people to like us because it’s good music.

Another thing I love about Guerilla Toss is the art work for your albums, I’s always so colourful!

KC: Yeah! [laughs].

Is there any thought behind making it so colourful?

KC: I guess to make it fun and interesting. We’re doing a release for the Sub Pop Singles Club and that one is actually not colourful.

What songs will be on that release?

KC: It’s actually two new songs that no one has heard.

I love that Guerilla Toss’ music is all so different.

KC: I always think it’s weird when someone’s like, ‘I like your older stuff’; if we were to make stuff that sounds the same all the time that wouldn’t be very genuine.

Is sharing your music with others important to you?

KC: Yeah. I hope people listen to it and have fun or have some kind of experience, even if it’s, ‘oh god, this is intense!’ and they think it’s awful… at least they had some sort of reaction and experience with it [laughs]. Or if they see us and go, ‘oh, that was really harsh’ or ‘wow! That was softer than I thought it would be’.

Ok, last question; have you ever had a really life changing moment?

KC: Yeah. So many. When I had heart surgery, is an easy thing to say. I had open heart surgery two years ago. I had an infection in one of my heart valves. It was crazy, really intense. For the first time… I usually feel my whole life that I’ve been kind of like a tank: I’m super strong, I don’t really get sick, I feel strong-willed and do what I want. I was really floored by this sickness. I didn’t really feel right until kind of recently. It took a long time to recover. The recovery was so abstract that I didn’t really feel like I could relate to anyone. It was a multi-faceted recovery. I felt alone in it but I really am glad that I am where I am right now—in a beautiful place in nature and still writing music and still alive! It’s cool to have Watley too, he’s a great dog!

Is there anything that you’d really love to do creatively or in life in general right now?

KC: I really just want to travel more. That’s probably my favourite thing about touring. It wasn’t until more recent years of touring that we started to be more tourist-y, like going to national parks. We went to Yellowstone National Park! That was always my dream to go there. I remember having a National Geographic magazine when I was a kid and seeing all the geysers in it and the buffalo—I love animals and nature! Another time we were in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and we went to this amazing place and went on a river raft ride. In San Diego we went on this kayak ride, we were ocean kayaking through these sea caves. It was super epic! That’s what I really want to do with the rest of my life, I don’t need to be super rich or super popular with my music, I just want to see the world and see amazing shit!

Please check out GUERILLA TOSS; on bandcamp; on Facebook; on Instagram.