Erazer Mag caught up with Billy Doyle and Emmie-May Avery from Man/Woman/Chainsaw ahead of their UK & Ireland tour this month.
It’s been a busy month since the release of their debut album Cannonball, guitarist Billy Doyle admitted – but between a cancelled flight back from Malaga after playing Canela Party festival and another fiery performance at Paris’s Rock En Seine, Man/Woman/Chainsaw have finally had time to reflect on their new music.
“It’s a good first album,” Doyle said. “It sounds like us, it’s a good representation of what we sound like live, and there’s quite a lot of fun to be had when listening.”
There’s a real sense of maturity and control of their aesthetic to the record, which spans 11 songs and plenty of styles, varying from the heavier, dramatic opener Only Girl to absurdist, Nick Cave-ish Goddamn, Lizard Man!, to the melodic Lighter.
Finding and getting comfortable in this experimental style was something that grew ‘naturally’ over their five years performing together, said pianist and vocalist Emmie-May Avery.
“It’s just sort of a thing of what we sound like as players,” Avery said, “And then what the cocktail of that ends up being when you’ve got six of us. Even though the songs on the album are quite varied in genre and style, they all still have quite a similar sound.”
Avery joked that, at a time where jokes around ‘indie poo’, coined by fans for formulaic, unoriginal indie music, were doing the rounds, it was rewarding to see online that Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s music was seen as fresh and instead “getting put in people’s indie ice cream, which is always good!”
It being almost four years since their debut single, the decision to release their first album came as it felt like “the right time” said Avery, noting that they “…had the songs ready, and it felt like the next step to take after the EP.”
“Plus, we got the record deal, so we had to do an album!” joked Doyle.
With the record deal also came plenty more opportunities to start touring outside of the comforts of London, which Avery said comes with a lot more jeopardy.
“It’s become a bit more stressful I think – there’s a lot more pressure on it, opportunity for things to go wrong when you’re not just playing in London anymore.”
“Like Emmie said, yeah, the pressure is much more extreme because there’s quite a lot of people who’ve waited a long time to watch you,” added Doyle, “So you’re always trying to give everyone the best performance you possibly can. There’s something quite nice about just doing small shows that maybe will be missed.”
Going from those small shows whilst being at university to now embarking on a country-wide tour was a real change of pace, Doyle admitted – and at the time the band was really blowing up, he found balancing education and growing musical renown a difficult thing to juggle.
“It’s kind of weird because I studied at a music uni and I was doing lessons about general industry or performance stuff whilst actively performing,” he said, “And I kind of had an epiphany, like what the hell am I doing at this place? I had quite a lot of trouble at uni with my head of year…”
Making that big step wasn’t simple, and isn’t for many young, especially alternative, artists, said Avery. Key to their relatively rapid rise was playing music for the right reasons, she notes.
“You’ve just got to keep at it, like, it doesn’t matter if your friends don’t come to every single show. You do it because you love playing music, not just for the sake of other people watching.” Avery said. “But also, it takes time, don’t put time pressure on yourself. For people to find you, and really care about your music, it takes a while.”
The state of arts funding is a “…depressing thing to accept as a young musician”, added guitarist Doyle, “But also just trying to have fun and be a bit ridiculous sometimes, be a bit naive and stupid because when you’re young you can kind of have that.”
So, four years on from their debut single, where does the band look to be four years on from their debut album?
“With all the shows we’ve been doing recently, it’s like the next thing, the next thing, the next thing, and you start to forget about the things you’ve done a couple weeks ago,” said Avery. “So I try not to think too much ahead, it gets scary!”
“Playing Glastonbury, ideally, would be my dream.” said Doyle, Avery adding “Primavera would be sick.”
Man/Woman/Chainsaw kick off their UK and Ireland tour on the 19th September, playing through until October supported by guests Bathing Suits, Uncle Junior and CABL.
