Boysclub
Music has always, and will continue, to have a message behind it. Whether that message is politically or emotionally charged or is simply a message of enjoyment it all comes down to the lived experiences of those musicians creating it. For all-female punk rockers Boysclub their message came from years of experiencing the ‘boysclub’ that is the modern music industry.
The experiences of drummer Skarlett Saramore over the past 18 years were so profound that the idea for using ‘boysclub’ as the name for her new band in 2020 was unquestionable. Since settling on the name Skarlett and her bandmates; Sera Doll (vocals/guitar), Lou Harbridge (bass), and Kristen Adams (guitar) have been hard at work establishing their voice in rather unorthodox way.
In the past with all of their previous bands these ladies would typically have established themselves via live performances followed by recording then releasing music and music videos. However, due to the arrival of COVID-19 to our shores that have had to shuffle this timeline and instead begin by unleashing their unique brand of recorded music onto the world.
“We’d all been friends for 8-10 years prior to forming the band,” explained Saramore. “We were all in seperate bands but knew we wanted to play together someday. So when COVID happened I knew we either started something now to keep us going or we never would. ”
From there Boysclub came together for a series of “jam sessions” which ultimately churned out “about 20 songs.”
By taking this approach the band had no pre-conceived notions about how it should sound but rather it was simply a group of friends coming together to play the music they loved. This has meant that Boysclub developed a very unique sound of their own, which blends elements from PJ Harvey, L7, The Distillers, Hole, Rancid, Bad Religion, and Pennywise.
To have an all-female and producing music with this sound is somewhat unique, but an approach which Saramore said “needed to be done.”
“I’ve always written about changing the world but also always knew I needed a band where we could reach a bigger audience to create more awareness. For me I knew if I was going to do that I needed to do that with women. It’s not just about girls to the front anymore. It’s about good people to the front for us. That is our mission and goal. We’re here to make a statement and talk about every hard topic that other bands don’t want to talk about.”
As the band prepared to head out on tour they took a gamble and began booking live shows around the country, even before borders had officially opened. A move which Saramore is grateful to the venues for supporting as well.
“I’m so grateful for the venues who took the gamble and booked these shows in. I I want the whole country to witness this show. They’ve only seen the videos and the music so far but wait until you’ve seen a show, it’s a whole different game.”
For Sydneysiders the next chance to see Boysclub will be at Frankie’s Pizza Mini Festival. An event which Saramore exuded with excitement for, “If anyone is coming to Frankie’s get there early! It’s a 10 band lineup during COVID and it is going to be nuts! These shows are going to be absolutely fucking wild!”
Feb 21. Frankie’s Pizza, 50 Hunter St, Syd. FREE. Tickets & Info: www.facebook.com
