In Conversation with Torture and the Desert Spiders

The world associates punk with London, but where does post punk find its roots? For Anna, aka Torture, the front woman of Torture & The Desert Spiders, the movement doesn’t need a home base. For the Liverpudlian band, the point of the DIY scene is seeing through your passions and learning from your art.

Below, Polyester speak to Torture all about the origins of her work, her inspirations and living around the world.

As a female fronted post punk band, who are your biggest inspirations currently and from the past?

I'd say Sinéad O'Connor, Big Star, Amy Ray (the Indigo Girls), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), the Ramones, Johnette Napolitano... Sinéad had a big influence on my attitude toward songwriting as catharsis and has always represented a move away from viewing music as gendered, for me, but rather strengthens the approach which is inherently affected by her experience as a woman... and all the trauma and violations and attempts to remove her autonomy that are specifically gendered.

Yet, still her writing is strong, dynamic, and flawed which I like. She doesn't spend any time trying to showcase herself in the best light. That's the same reason I love Tweedy. He writes like a person who knows where the good starts and the bad ends and he doesn't attempt to gloss over anything. Life is more beautiful for all of the flaws, and being a woman involves playing with the dirt of society and then waking up and trying to make art again, after seeing some of the worst there is. 

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

Anna, as someone from New Jersey, who lived in New York and then moved to Liverpool to explore music, what about the city appealed to you more than the states?

I think everything is circumstantial, and I wouldn't go as far as to say the city appealed more than the states. I think there was a timeline for my life as a kid in that area, and moving to Nashville at 17 made me hungry for something even more different. London was the answer to that and then Liverpool offered me a way to stay and continue studying... Now if the question is why have I stayed, because much like London at 18, there is no better place for my music now, at 22. I can't say that will always be true but Liverpool is such an exciting and up and coming city that is constantly churning out exciting new projects... think Broken Down Golf Cart, Crawlers, Gadzooks!, Tits Up, Dog Sport, Astles, Beija Flo, etc.

You’ve moved around quite a bit, also going between New Cross and Liverpool - has being not tied down to one place become a part of the band?

Yea, I think it directly has to do with how I approach my art and my life and that, in turn, affects the band... I like moving and feeling like I am always progressing, however, I am now in a place where due to the fact that I am usually touring, I don't need to always be moving my home because I get that same sense from being on the road. Over the years the project has been changed for the better by the many amazing musicians in different cities that have been a part of it and helped me grow ie. Levent Ceylan (Kyoto Kyoto), Rob Holland, Darcy Georgina, Samuel Sinclair (Pigeonhole) and many others.

I think the most important thing regarding this is that the project has not landed on a singular sound and the influences of each city are very distinct in different tunes. For instance, 'Cult Song' is an early track that reflects my love of King Gizzard ATLW and David Lynch and was written right after leaving Nashville, in my basement in New Jersey, hence the stoned-repetition. 

Meanwhile, 'Kill Your Modern Soul / Riding on a Feeling' was the first heavier track I wrote in London about the bar I worked in (The Amersham) and the people I was meeting. It was totally influenced by my love for LICE, Gilla Band, Drahla etc.

'When the Horse Will Run' was heavily influenced by the straighter-punk scene in Liverpool at the time and my nostalgia for NYC. 

Finally, 'Hold Me' and 'New Brighton' are about Liverpool and feature many anecdotes about my time here and really sound more like an Americana - garage - punk blend... maybe it's cow-punk? 

“If there isn't a community, we build it. If someone needs support, we lend it. If something is wrong we shut it down.”

How did you meet the Desert Spiders?

The current Desert Spiders were met quite serendipitously... I met Clara (bass) in London on a night out and hollered at her because I thought her outfit was cool (it really was). She was outside Birthdays, Dalston, for SoYoung Fest... she seemed confused by me and eventually I convinced her to sing along to 'Cherry Bomb' by the Runaways and that's how we became friends. We all didn't start playing together until last August though... Max (drums) I met through an ex of mine as they are best mates and we all got along really well. And all the other wonderful Desert Spiders out there were met in similarly unusual and wonderful circumstances.

Post punk is notoriously DIY and you have said that is central to your output, how do you ensure the DIY element is apparent throughout your work?

Post punk, much like Punk, has been transformed into an ethos rather than a genre, and that ethos is one crucial to the DIY movement. DIY is just the idea that if you want something you will do everything you can to make that a reality... that includes truly putting the hours in, research, trying things you never would have otherwise, expanding your comfort zone and recognizing that art is work and should not necessarily be easy (although support for artists can and should be). And being critical... I let the art talk but know that sometimes it actually wasn't what I wanted to present and that's ok; I learn from it.

I think my art ensures that its DIY elements are apparent by itself. I don't wait for the art. 

I sit, I make, I present, I learn from the response and then I go back and do it again. Usually it feels natural but sometimes I do press the bruise to see if something comes of it. That feels naturally DIY to me. And to make art that is reflective of your life, or that which is around you. That feels DIY. Taking snippets of the world as you see it feels wrong and rebellious at times when many people would benefit from you staying quiet.

If there isn't a community, we build it. If someone needs support, we lend it. If something is wrong we shut it down.

And if the audience isn't there for something yet it doesn't mean that it won't, things take time... 

I think my entire soul was built in the time I spent in clubs as a kid and house shows in Nashville and New York. That stuff is like paradise when it doesn't exist where you are from or you don't quite have access to it.

I think because all that is the foundation of who I am, it would be impossible to not be apparent in my work... but I don't do anything really to reinforce this.

A bit of a literal question - but is Sinead a real person? What’s her story?

'Sinéad' is Sinéad O'Connor, and it is in reference to a time when I was brought to a house party in Knoxville, TN, and all these guys started pulling out and showing off guns. All of em on loads of drugs and it was genuinely pretty scary.

I didn't want to freak out so I hid in the attic bathroom and listened to 'Reason with Me' and 'Queen of Denmark' etc. by her until the sun came up and I could sneak out... That's what I mean when it says, 'I need a green juice and an hour with Sinéad, I'm afraid....'

Words: Gina Tonic

You can watch their latest music video Sinéad, I'm Afraid below: