Q + A with Poppy & The Jezebels

Juggling a band and schoolwork? Near impossible, but Poppy & The Jezebels manage just fine.

ITNT: As a young band still at school, is it hard to balance promoting the
band and playing gigs with school? What takes priority?

P&J: Its not as hard as people might think. We pack as much as we can into
weekends, evenings and holidays and so far are seeming to get by. The band
is obviously top on the list.

ITNT: Do you ever have problems finding gigs because of your age or problems
with people at the venue? I know that Be Your Own Pet when
they first played had to wait outside the venue until it was their turn to
play, has anything like that ever happened to you?

P&J: People are generally pretty cool with us, and if they dont want us it's
their loss! The onon thing I can think of that we've had is huge bright
blue inky crosses on both hands at a venue in london so we definetely
couldn't drink.

ITNT: How did the formation of the band come about? Did the idea come about
one boring maths lesson? Do you all share a love for certain
acts and bands?

P&J: Dom and amber had been playing guitar together for a while and really
wanted to start a band in year 8, so they found me to be the drummer. For
a while we had a boy on guitar and no real singer, until we found Mollie.
Now its just us 4 girls. We all like different music and clothes, but in a
lot of ways we're really similar, like our mutual love of 60's designers.

ITNT: Was the band initially just an escape from school or did you want to get
signed from the start?

P&J: It was probably after our first gig that we realised that we had a good
chance with it. Since then we're really serious about doing it properly.
An escape from school is an excellent bonus.

ITNT: Do you prefer playing to crowds your own age, are they more receptive
and open to the music than the over 18's?

P&J: Actually, they're often not. It really depends. Under 18's are sometimes
more of an audience, but over 18's can be just as good. We like playing to
all age audiences.

ITNT: What other material will be released soon? After the limited 7''

P&J: We've got a 6 track mini album coming out early June on CD, limited vinyl
and download. We're all really excited about it.

ITNT: What are your favourite bands/albums at the moment?

P&J: Dom really likes The Duke Spirit at the moment. Mollie is listening to The
Klaxons, Madonna and Blondie as we speak and I love the new 'The Slits"
tracks, The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground.

Mp3: Nazi Girls