Courtesans were formed in 2012 by a strange chain of coincidences and some dark web surfing. The band freely and frequently expresses their discontent with the short-sighted, compassionless and hedonistic approach to life and the planet by capitalism as the dominant political system with its morality left too often unquestioned, revealing Courtesans’ strong stance on issues of equality and environment.
Courtesans are currently touring the UK and arrive at The Moon Club, Cardiff on November 23.
Andy Howells recently put questions to Sinead from the band.
How would you describe your sound?
We don’t like putting things into rigid boxes therefore we’ve never thought about fitting our music into any particular genre. We are hoping that our listeners will decide about that but many people struggle to clearly categorise our sound so we came up with the “doom pop” label. Please feel free to help us out here!
What inspires your music?
Pretty much everything that surrounds us. Sounds of the city, passers by, human stupidity and ignorance but also courage and compassion. Most of all our own past and present.
Can you give us some background about your latest release?
That would be our EP ‘Better Safe Than Sober’. For us in the band, the world has become a very strange place, certainly at odds with our morals and how we see things. We are humanists and caring for others, other species, the world and the environment is at the centre of our lives. Isolationism, self-absorption, shallow perception of beauty, obsession with material possessions and ultra-right wing views seem to be going stronger than ever in our lifetime like we haven’t learnt anything from history. It is deeply disturbing for us to observe those trends on the rise. In a few words – BSTS is a concoction made up of dark matter scraped from the deep corners of the world’s laundry basket and our own life experiences.
What do you like most about touring?
Being together! Sadly we cannot afford a castle in which we would live and create together so touring is our substitute at present also the adrenaline that rushes through the body when we are on stage is helping us to deal with our demons, it is our anger management therapy and cathartic healing patch for our souls. In other words – music is our lifeline!
What can people expect from your forthcoming shows?
A lot of energy and emotion as well as the ‘new songs on da block’ aka material from our upcoming LP!
What are you enjoying listening to now?
Subrosa! We discovered them after watching ‘Limitless’ series in which their track ‘The Usher’ was used. They are doom/sludge/stoner band from Utah. Amazing stuff!
What’s been your best live gig appearance as a performer?
That’s hard… We can definitely tell you which one was the worst haha. We were playing Bar Fly in Camden, it all kicked off when support band blew up our bass amp (there was literally smoke coming out of it) after which they just casually walked off without even staying to watch us. Agnes (our bassist) necked nine pints in despair so she was playing all the right notes in the right order but not necessarily in time (she is since a reformed character).
Vinyl or digital?
Both media do their job brilliantly so it all boils down to personal preferences of the listener. We do not discriminate!
- For further information visit http://www.thecourtesans.org