Page 28 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 104

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or anything like that, but when I was vegetarian, it.’ I want to start using my platform a lot more to around just thinking of sassy lines and singing
everything was replaced with cheese, so it was voice it. I guess in a way I was a bit scared to do about haters, singing about things that I don’t
like I’d eat cheese instead of the meat. Taking it, but now I don’t really give a shit.” feel fit rock music too well, just having funny,
away the cheese part I thought would be hard, being silly a lot of the time. And then I’ve
but it just wasn’t hard. There are so many alter- s a singer, songwriter, performer and recorded some music videos for them just be-
natives now; it’s easy.” Aartist, Lauren has realized that she cause when I’ve done something before I’ve al-
It was not until years later that Lauren wrote loves to be free. Although Hands Off Gretel are ways written it and then left it and not done
the song ‘Milk’. “I’ve only just written a song probably most known as an alternative/grunge anything with it while I was excited by it. I’ve al-
about it. It’s so weird. I tried for so long to write pop band, Lauren often reinvents herself musi- ways thought ‘Oh, it’s a bit random. Why am I
a song about it. After I threw the knife at the cally and says she’ll ‘continue to push against doing this? I’ve got the band. I shouldn’t really
table I fell out with everyone in the whole world the tide’. just go and do something else’ But then I just
about it, but then actually writing a song about it She tells us, “It’s weird, because I don’t plan think, as an artist, it’s important to keep bringing
was the hardest thing to do. I finally did it!” to evolve. It’s one of those things that just hap- things out, keep trying new things and keeping
She tells us, “What was kind of hard for me pens. When I started writing music I was pretty your life interesting. I’m excited about releasing
to write about was, a lot of my songs I’ve written certain I was going to be a pop star, and, at 12 those, just to hear what people think.”
are quite relatable to other people. A lot of my years old, I was thinking I was going to be the
songs I do write about women to relate to other next Adele or something. I was singing songs auren is proud to be a workaholic, al-
women, and with veganism a lot of people kind like Adele and P!nk and lots of pop, and then Lways working on her music and art. She
of act as though you’re lecturing them uses every waking hour to work on
and they don’t want to listen, and I something either Hands Off Gretel-re-
hate that. They won’t be educated lated, or music in general. “I should re-
because they feel like you’re calling ally properly leave the house because
them a bad person. The way I wrote I just don’t,” she laughs. From the sec-
the song, I was thinking ‘I need some- ond I wake up, I get up around half 9,
thing that has the hook, it has some- sometimes ten, and I work from that
thing that people are going to sing time till about 2 in the morning. I go
along to without necessarily feeling from my studio; I’ve got a studio in my
as though I’m telling them off’.” house, which, it’s not like a big studio
Lauren found a way to link or anything, it’s just my set-up that I’ve
women to female animals. bought over the years, and I go in
“The way I thought about the cow there and I’ll record some demos and
and the way it relates to women in then I’m designing a poster and plan-
many ways with the exploitation, and ning a video and then I’m planning an
the line especially where I sing ‘just a outfit. I’m just running around the
body’. That was one I’d written for a house all day, ‘Ooh, I need to do this.
song that I was writing about a Ooh, I need to do this. Ooh, I better do
woman at that time, and then I that,’ and my life is going so fast be-
thought, really, the female cow, in cause I’ve got so much I wanna do.
many ways, it IS a feminist issue and Everyone always recommends I take
it should be seen as that and people a break and I try, but seriously, it’s so
shouldn’t be afraid to talk about being boring taking a break.”
vegan in the same way that they She adds, “I don’t know if my life
shouldn’t be afraid to talk about ex- will finally slow down but until I get to
ploitation that happens to women. I the point in my life where I feel I’ve
tied the two together, so sometimes achieved enough to take a break, I
I’ll describe the song as ‘this song is can’t afford to take a break.”
about animals’ and sometimes I’ll de- While we hope she doesn’t over-
scribe it as ‘This song is about ex- work herself too much, we ARE ex-
ploitation’ and a lot of people have cited to see much more of Lauren Tate
talked to me and said, ‘Is this song and Hands Off Gretel. And, since in
about animals or is it about women?’ ‘Fingers’ she sings ‘And I’m wanting to
and then I just like to say ‘both’ be- change the world’, we end by asking
cause it is the same issue.” how Lauren wants to change the
We especially love the lyric ‘Not world.
your mother, not your milk’ – a line “Oooh. Well, for definite, I would
also symbolic with animal rights and like to change the world for animals
the cruel dairy practice which in- and how we treat animals. That’s such
volves impregnating female cows a passion of mine that stands up
against their will, just so they will pro- there… it’s probably the thing I’m the
duce milk – for their babies – only then having rock music came into my life and I was ‘Well, I most passionate about next to music; animals
their babies AND milk stolen from them. A heart- hate pop now, that’s gone. I don’t care about and injustices in the world where I think if you
breaking truth that makes switching to plant- pop’. Straight onto rock. And then I evolved from can do something about it, you should try and
based milk so much kinder. rock to more punk, and then from punk to kinda do something about it. More things to change in
While Lauren hasn’t been on any animal grungy-ish/alternative. But the more I write, I the world? Hmmm… I’d say to love ourselves
rights protests, she loves to use her online plat- stop trying to put myself in boxes because it more, that’s important, and to accept that we’re
form to create awareness and has even sold her makes it a lot harder to write, especially when not perfect.”
own animal rights-based T-shirts on her website. I’ve got so many creative ideas flowing. So when Well, we think Lauren’s perfect – and we
Lauren says, “I’ve never experienced a I came to write ‘S.A.S.S’, when I wrote that song can’t wait to hear more perfectly, magically, cre-
protest before or anything. And I don’t have any originally it was entirely like a rap song. It was ative tunes from Hands Off Gretel. And if you
friends who’d do it with me. I think my mom just a bit of a joke. I was messing around and I haven’t picked up ‘The Angry EP’ or any of their
would probably do it. She’s like me. We’re ac- was like ‘Oh I’ve written this, what do you think?’ other work, we think you need to get your hands
tivists online. But I can use my platform for stuff and then Sean, the guitarist, he was like, ‘I think on them as soon as you can. You’ll love them all
like that, whereas before it was just me versus we should do it. We should use it as a Hands Off with all your heart. Catch them on tour when you
my friend group. But now, when I’ve got fans Gretel song,’ and then I changed it a little bit, can.
who are listening to everything I say, every word and from doing that, I realized that I can write Visit www.handsoffgretel.co.uk for more
I say, they’re picking up on it, I realize I’ve got a whatever I want. I don’t have to write in a certain info.
lot of sway when it comes to stuff like this. I can way. And then the past few months I’ve been
write about how important it is to ditch meat and kind of writing a lot of hip hop songs, which all Words By Shari Black Velvet
within the next five minutes people are messag- start out as a joke. I don’t know why. I just start Photos Neil Chapman
ing me like ‘Have you got any tips? I wanna try with a riff and then as I’m playing it, I’m dancing
HAND OFF GRETEL