Beating the ‘Industry Plant’ Allegations: An Interview with The Last Dinner Party
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In an age of digital media, some may think that the spirit of live music is dying. That arena shows are destroying the creative sphere with no room for DIY, experimentation and organic growth. Some think the kids have no gig etiquette, watching the show through their cracked iPhone screens above their head instead of looking at what’s in front of them. Seeing The Last Dinner Party will prove the naysayers wrong.
The Last Dinner Party drape themselves in vintage gowns, pearls and corsets, bringing a dreamy aura to the stage. Frontwoman Abigail strides through the performance like a Jane Austen protagonist, inviting the audience to join the band in the theatrical, mystical world they have carefully crafted. Sitting down with vocalist Abigail Morris and bassist Georgia Davies, there is a palpable, genuine excitement from the pair - they couldn’t wait to explore their band's possibilities; the duo overflowed with creativity and inspiration.
Meeting at university in London, the group bonded firstly over their love for the theatrical: “We just love dressing up.” says Georgia. “We used to just go to The Windmill in full ball gowns long before the band was even a thing.”
Abigail adds: “We want to create an atmosphere where coming to a dinner party show means it’s a chance to dress up and to express yourself.” The band are encouraging an environment where young women can dress up and dance - free from the restraints of male dominated shows where displays of enthusiasm and earnestness are often mocked.
Unsurprisingly, women having a good time, dressing up and creating music can inspire disbelief; it also made The Last Dinner Party pawns for music journalists’ narratives. Seen as a placid Wet Leg follow up - another all woman indie band who are the victims of industry plant allegations and nasty boys on Twitter - internet critics jumped the gun on what The Last Dinner Party was actually experiencing. “I think it was nothing to do with us. I think it was a conversation and a buzzword that was coming to ahead,” Abigail comments. “Like the nepo baby article that came out last year in New York Magazine. We were just conduits and vessels for an explosion of discussion to be had.”
Being one of the few pure non-Twitter users left, I scoured the site for their ‘industry plant’ allegations. What I found instead was countless articles talking about the allegations. “It became more of a thing because people wanted to weigh in on the conversation around like, one tweet,” confirms Georgia. “The media kind of perpetuated it into a much bigger thing than it really was. Like, why is The Guardian calling it a brouhaha? It wasn't. It was one tweet.”
“It’s a lazy phrase,” Abigail adds. “If and when there is a Wikipedia page about us, none of our parents are gonna be underlined in blue.” (Note: There is now a Last Dinner Party Wikipedia page, and there are indeed no blue underlined parents). People love conspiracy theories, and people love to hate women in bands, but it’s time to accept that not all female musicians have to be damsels in distress saved by famous fathers - sometimes they’re just successful.
“I think there's a real thing about authenticity, that you have to have an ideal story. It has to be completely independent. People get confused about what record deals involve and how the music industry functions,” Georgia states. “That doesn't mean that the industry has formed you or there's anything inauthentic about it. It just means that a label has chosen to invest in your project.” The struggling artist lifestyle is still perpetuated, even in a recession. There is no winning for a musician it seems, you are either a ‘sell out’ if you are signed with a label, or a flop if you’re working part time in hospitality. “It's a toxic kind of mentality, you have to be suffering in order to earn a certain kind of freedom,” observes Abigail.
There’s no doubt that the success of The Last Dinner Party has happened quickly, supporting huge acts like The Rolling Stones, and, more importantly, Lana Del Rey. To go from frolicking on stage at their local venue to performing for thousands at Hyde Park within months would make many aspiring musicians pass out, both with excitement and terror. Abigail and Georgia express how the band are able to deal with the weight of their own rapid success: “When the single came out and the views were climbing and everyone was getting more and more followers, we were able to sit together and be like okay, we're not going to change, we're still the same. The five of us are friends, and we have our feet on the ground,” They state, “We're not solo artists. We can go to the pub and hang out.”
Companionship and support is essential this industry, and so is the advice of your heroes:
“When we met Florence Welch, who is a God to me, she told us to trust our gut. Stick up for yourself. You know what’s right. It really empowered us to be like, Okay, let’s reconsider some decisions.” Says Georgia. “They originally didn’t want Dog Days on her first record. She was like, no, it's going to be on it. If she listened to the label, she wouldn’t have become who she is.”
The Last Dinner Party are maintaining their original vision for the band that they developed during many nights in pub smoking areas, refining every element and expanding on their whimsical aesthetic - and unlike many, they took the idea out of the enthused discussions at the sesh and into fruition. Their decadent style would have you assume their audience is mainly women, but alongside their assumed audience and of course, the 6Music Dads, they have, to their surprise, a large young male following: “Now we're doing festivals, we're getting all the indie lads. The bucket hat boys. It's so funny, I wasn't expecting it,” enthuses Abigail.
“I want to be a role model to young girls, I want little girls to look up and be like, ‘I can do that.’ But I hadn't thought about being a role model for young boys who need to be seeing women in these positions, so that they grow up and aren't threatened by them.”
“We were at Truck festival and the majority of people that came up to us and wanted photos were not teenage girls, but teenage lads. I was saying this to my mum last night, it was nice they weren’t being lairy or like, ‘Oh, yes, fit girls’, they were like, ‘you're so sick at guitar’ and that's so cool.” Abigail continues: “I went out after the show and these two boys around eleven years old came over and asked for a guitar pick and they were so excited. I want to be a role model to young girls, I want little girls to look up and be like, ‘I can do that.’ But I hadn't thought about being a role model for young boys who need to be seeing women in these positions, so that they grow up and aren't threatened by them.”
When it comes to girls with guitars, bitterness can come before appreciation. Success can seem too good to be true, and sometimes it is, but The Last Dinner Party proves passion and commitment to crafting your own world can pay off - even when your parents aren’t working for Virgin Music and weren’t in a semi popular indie band from the mid 2000s either. Maybe there will be a time where music fans of all genders sway hand in hand in their local basement venue to the sweet sounds of the next up and coming all female band, sharing cans of lukewarm Red Stripe and complementing each others Carhartt Vinted finds - or maybe not - but either way, The Last Dinner Party will continue their venture into their renaissance inspired, histrionic on-stage world they have crafted, and they have room for desert.
Words: Charlotte Amy Landrum
