Shabby Katchadourian Interview

Now I was slightly apprehensive about meeting lead singer of brat-punk band Voodoo Hussy, Shabby Katchadourian, because naturally a brief stint on Big Brother had led to some ill-informed pre-conceptions. Easily dispelling all of these, the Shabby I met was down to earth, witty, honest and generally a heinous amount of good fun. We chatted bus diversions, panic attacks, being ‘too rock and roll’ for Jack Daniels and covering up Diana Vickers. Standard procedure.

SHABBY: Sorry for making you wait so long [Shabby was about 15 minutes late] - crazy bus diversions. I was on a bus in Tottenham and they got diverted and then it couldn’t go anywhere, so then I got shouted at because I basically pushed the emergency hatch open. Everyone was like ‘nooo’ but I was like, ‘unfortunately yes, this is actually happening, I can’t be on this bus any f**king longer.’

ME: Oh my. Anyway, your tour starts in a month or so, you must be mad excited?

Yeah we’re basically crapping ourselves, to be honest. I am s**tting myself.

Why so much?

Well I get very nervous before I play anyway. Like I have panic attacks before every single gig, and then I say that I don’t want to be in the band anymore. But I love it once I get up there. But I guess we’re nervous because it’s our first headlining tour and I think we’ve got a lot to prove, d’you know what I mean? We obviously want to escape that whole ‘yeah you’ve got a headlining tour because she was in Big Brother’ kind of thing.

Yeah I was gonna say the URL for one or your ticket sites says ‘featuring Shabby from Big Brother’…

Furious. I f**king hate that s**t. It won’t be happening for our next tour, that’s for sure. When people say ‘oh my God it’s Shabby from Big Brother’ I kind of correct them now, I’m like ‘no it’s Shabby from Voodoo Hussy’. Like I’ve got rid of all Big Brother references on my Facebook and Twitter and everything I just…obviously I’m not going to disregard it because it has helped me but, I mean, it’s irrelevant now.

Do you reckon the exposure helped? Because a lot more people will have listened now.

That’s the thing I think, the way I’ve been kind of explaining it…it’s helped, i.e. the exposure, but, you know, any naysayers out there I’m like ‘well it didn’t form the band, it didn’t write the songs’. If people like what we do then that means they’ve liked what we’ve always done, it’s just we’re getting to more people now, which is f**king awesome. So thank you Endemol and Channel 4.

Even though they totally ignored the fact that you were in Voodoo Hussy…

I know, what the f**k?! I remember I spent one afternoon in the bathroom cleaning it singing Voodoo Hussy songs like the whole afternoon. Like I didn’t really think about it at the time but when I left and I was going ‘oh the band’s reformed, let’s do it’ everyone’s like ‘you’re in a band?’ I’m still getting tweets every day from people going ‘I didn’t know you were in a band.’

In some ways though I reckon that could’ve been your saving grace.

Mmm, for sure.

It sort of stopped it from being like a gimmick, you know?

Yeah it didn’t look like I went in there to kind of help the band out which I didn’t ‘cos the band had broken up at that time.

Really?

Yeah. We broke up like a year ago.

Why?

Well…it was kind of a random chain of events really…I slept with two of my band mates.

Oh wow.

And then …I dunno then it all sort of fell apart.

But now that shouldn’t happen again.

Yeah there’ll be no copulations [laughs]

How do you and the band prepare before a live show?

Well I prepare by having panic attacks [laughs]. Umm...we, like we have a kind of golden rule that we will not rehearse two days leading up to a gig; I think it takes the freshness out of it. Obviously if you’re rehearsing for like five hours going over and over set you’re like ‘ugh, boring’. Because rehearsing is boring, no matter how much I love all my songs. How else do we prepare? Oh we’ve got this crazy thing, I love writing a song just before we play to make it really difficult and then it really pisses my band mates off and then I’ll write the set list out and they’ll be like ‘so we’re not playing the new song, right?’ and I’ll be like, ‘hells yeah we are. We haven’t written an outro for it but don’t f**king worry about it’. Erm yeah just prepare kind of standard procedure really…just sort of get our clothes on, put a bit of eyeliner on.

Okay now I’m going a few years back now. How do you manage to get thrown out of a Jack Daniels battle of the bands competition for being ‘too rock and roll’?

[Laughs]. Well, right, I’m not gonna f**king blow our own trumpets, but I’m gonna blow our own trumpets. Basically, it was clear that we were gonna win that round, it was the semi-finals, we were getting the best reaction, like we had people that were laughing at us at the beginning for the way we looked that were cheering us on by the end. Basically the stage was kind of in the roof of the venue, it was really weird, and it had like this tin, what I can only describe as a slide in front of it…so I threw myself down it. It was a long down and I broke their health and safety regulations. I just think the irony of it being the Jack Daniels battle of the bands competition and we were being ‘too rock and roll’. F**k Jack Daniels man, I’m a Jim Beam girl now.

Since then you’ve toured quite a lot; you’ve headlined the Women’s Stage at London Pride…

That was awesome.

Brighton Pride…

Yeah that was just after I came out the house.

So how do you like to see a crowd reacting? Like do you want them singing the words back to you…

Yeah.

Dancing themselves stupid…

Yeah. Throwing things.

Starting a fight…

Yeah. I mean I don’t advocate violence, but if they all want to have a little mosh then that’s all good. I mean, I don’t even like being on stage, I prefer to be in the audience, and I just like to whip them up into a little bit of a panicked frenzy really! [Laughs] I just think that for a lot of teenagers nowadays as well, bands are like, it’s cool to kind of stand behind your instrument looking really sexy and edgy and I remember going to gigs when I was, I dunno, fourteen, seeing Green Day and No Doubt, and they really worked a crowd, and nobody gave a f**k what they looked like and everybody just moshed their arses off. That’s what I want, I want a bit of that kind of old, pop-punk spirit where you just go and have a blast. A gig can be an amazing experience, but it can also be a wet fish, you know what I mean?

Yeah it can totally change your views on a band if they don’t enjoy it live. Is that what really made you want to be in a band? Like enjoying the atmosphere so much?

Yeah I mean I heard Green Day’s ‘Dookie’ for the first time when I was about thirteen and it literally changed my life. I basically spent about ten years just wanting to be Billy Joe and I loved their…I loved the way they…and I think this is what my band has now, they said punk doesn’t have to be like angry, ‘f**k you’, anti the establishment, it can be ‘do you know what I’m gonna do whatever I like and if you don’t like it then you can kiss my arse’ and that’s what…more the bratty kind of punk…yeah brat-punk.

Ha is that how you’d describe Voodoo Hussy? Brat-punk?

Our manager describes us as ‘art-punk’, I don’t even know what the f**k that means! We’re not art-punk, I think…I think brat-punk, yeah, let’s go with that.

So moving away from Jack Daniels, Big Brother, all that stuff, you’ve got quite a bigger fanbase now than the first time round, do you feel under more pressure?

Yeah, I mean, I guess that going back to the fact that we have a lot to prove. I feel under more pressure because people are more into the band than they ever have been, like I’m talking they’re really into the band now and yeah, I do feel pressure because I don’t want to let them down kind of thing. Like I get private messages from people saying ‘you’re song’s helped me through this’ and that could be anything from really serious s**t to like, falling out with their best mate and that is quite a lot of pressure but…I love it because, again talking about my teenage years, like I remember listening to songs and going ‘f**k that really actually helps’ and if we can do that for ten people…amazing. Like, to be able to do that on a broader scale now just trips me out, I love it. But yeah, it is pressure but it’s good, positive pressure.

You’ve got a lot of new fans now, what’s the first thing that someone who’s never been to a Voodoo Hussy gig before will notice and make them go ‘oh wow’?

Probably our awesome support acts is the first thing they’ll notice.

Of course, feel free to plug.

Well, the only ones that I can say at the moment for sure are Kenelis and Red n Pink at the London date. Now Red n Pink, obviously I back them because like they’re two of our best friends but…I wouldn’t have them playing if I didn’t think they were f**king awesome. They’re erm…they’ve got a kind of punky vibe but they’re essentially an electro duo with a band behind them…they are awesome. [leans into Dictaphone] everybody must check them out, Red n Pink music.

And what’s the thing that’ll really stick in someone’s mind that comes to your gig?

That we don’t give a f**k. We are more than prepared to make complete dicks out of ourselves on stage. We will look horrendous by the end of the set. I’m usually bleeding from my mouth somewhere because I always end up headbutting the microphone somehow. We usually end up losing clothes during the set…no stripping…

That’s a very different show.

[Laughs] that is a different show, yes. But yeah also that we genuinely f**king love what we do, we love it, like we’re on stage looking at each other like, ‘how is it that we got to do this? How is it we got to be here doing this thing that we love doing so much?’ And I guess the connection between me and my band mates, like we are genuinely best friends and I think that makes all the difference.

As a musician and so part of the industry and stuff, what do you think about the way music’s heading at the moment? Okay I’ll put that in context, there’s a track in the charts right now with literally two words in it…

That’s not the one where they’re mentioning some celebrity’s name is it?

Yep. Barbara Streisand.

Didn’t that get to like number two or something?

Yeah something absurd like that.

That literally makes me what to vomit. What happened to the days when bands were rewarded for putting years into their instruments and really caring and slogging their guts out around their country in battered vans just trying to make a go of it? I f**king hate that. The one positive thing that I think can come out of this is that when music starts going that way in the mainstream, there’s usually a bit of a backlash in the underground. So I’m hoping that us and bands like Red n Pink, you know these band with DIY ethics, we’re gonna provide the backlash. Cos, f**k it, Barbara Streisand? What?

Is there a part of you though that does sort of envy them? Because it must annoy you that they’re getting so much airplay when you’re a talented musician that’s not so much.

Of course I guess to an extent, but, you know, I’m not bitter. Like, the thing is, I would rather pay my dues, and get there on our own merit, kind of thing, and if we don’t get there, then it’s not for want of trying. I’d rather…you know if we did sign a major record deal with somebody, cos we’d sell out if we had to, you know, still on our own principles though, I wanna be able to look back and say ‘we did this and we didn’t…we didn’t change our minds, we didn’t say ‘okay we’ll start dressing more girly’ or ‘we’ll do this’ or ‘we’ll sing about boys when we want to sing about ladies’’, do you know what I mean? So I don’t really envy their success, because if they wanted to make a quick, fast buck then that’s their prerogative.

So we’re not likely to hear ‘Say You Love Me’ [Voodoo Hussy’s new single] on daytime Radio 1 then?

Erm…I don’t know…about that actually. I’m not really allowed to say much, I guess Radio 1 not because Jo Wiley hated my band back in the day but…I think I can say that we are getting offers from very mainstream radio stations to play the single…which is shocking. I think the first time that we hear the single on the radio I’ll probably die. And that’ll be the end of it, and I won’t be able to go on tour…because I’ll be dead.

Can you tell me anything more about the single? A date maybe?!

Umm, right, I’m hesitant to give you a date because it’s really only a tentative date at the moment…but it will definitely be in the next two weeks.

Two weeks?! Wow Shabby that’s soon.

I’m cacking myself. I was thinking about this on the tube on the way here and I was going…I felt sick, like I had vomit in my throat because I was just so scared about releasing this single.

Yeah you’re single is actually going to be on the radio.

Mmm and it’s weird because I don’t think that ‘Say You Love Me’ is, I mean I love the song, and I know who I wrote it about so…you know…[smiles] I think it’s quite interesting, but I don’t think it’s a fair representation of what Voodoo Hussy do across the board. It’s very, very mainstream for what we do, I think. It’s essentially a 12-bar blues rock n roll song, which I don’t think is major at the moment or that popular, but we’ll see if people like it I guess.

That can be a good thing though to make it accessible, so people’ll read more into you though, right?

Yeah because we really did want to release one of our tracks called ‘Keep It For Yourself’, but it’s a bit face-melting to be honest, and it’s really like, negative and…it would be a monstrosity of a first single, maybe a follow-up single.

You should push it for Christmas number one.

Somebody did suggest that, like there was Rage Against the Machine v. The X Factor last year. See the thing with that that a lot of people didn’t realise is that Rage are signed to a subsidiary of the same label so we were still lining Simon Cowell’s pockets. For this to work it would have to be an unsigned band.

Like Voodoo Hussy?

Yeah well somebody did suggest on Twitter Voodoo Hussy v. The X Factor but I heard a rumour that Simon Cowell has pushed back the release of the X Factor single so that doesn’t happen again. But so what if it’s not Christmas we’ll just wait and do it the same week.

Yeah basically just taking on X Factor!

[smiles] I like this idea! I mean I highly doubt that we’d achieve it, but…

Well we’ll start the campaign now.

Yeah Voodoo Hussy v. The X Factor! ‘Brat-punk v. pop’.

You should put that on a t-shirt.

Mmm, well I have got a t-shirt line coming out soon so, y’know…

[Shabby’s t-shirt range is called ‘Raincloud of Doom’ and will be available for pre-order soon. Look it up.]

Just out of interest, where do you stand on X Factor?

I just don’t really give a monkey’s about it to be honest. It’s very irrelevant in my life. Like I can see why people want to do it, I guess for the same reason people want to do any reality show, Big Brother included, it’s your five minutes of fame, isn’t it? I mean I didn’t really go in for that but…don’t really know what happened there. But I don’t think you can blame these kids for going on X Factor you know, it’s opening the door to another life that they don’t know…but my issue with it, like with all reality shows, is that the people are used as puppets. I mean how many people from X Factor have actually gone on to be superstars? We’ve had Leona Lewis, now I always pronounce her name wrong I always pronounce it the boy’s way…Alexan…dra? Yeah Alexandra Burke, Will Young was Pop Idol right?

Yeah I like Will Young. I think he’s one of my favourite reality stars that’s still a credible musician.

How about Shabby from Big Brother?!

Ha yes how about Shabby from Big Brother?!

[Laughs] But no I totally agree on the Will Young front. I think he’s got a wicked voice. Doesn’t he co-write as well?

He writes most of it I think…

See that’s wicked isn’t it?

Yeah and then you get others like Diana Vickers…

Oh Diana.

She’s just very breathy.

Really she is! And doesn’t wear shoes a lot.

No. Generally not a lot of clothes.

Oh Diana. We need to cover her up.

That is what she needs! Someone to just cover her up.

Shall we start the cover up Diana Vickers campaign? Put some trousers on love [laughs]

Anyway, back to the single, how far along are the plans for the video?

Very well. Now, I’ve also decided I want to co-direct the video, I dunno why…

Well, it’s like the visual representation of your single isn’t it?

I guess yeah…or I‘m just really f**king bossy...I dunno…it could be a combination. We’re pushing for it to be recorded next weekend, well we’re gonna film it next weekend. It’s gonna be really good. The original idea was standard story line, telling the story of the lyrics kind of thing, girl and…girl, bad relationship... And then I thought that’s a bit standard procedure and it’s also a lot harder to film. So ‘Say You Love Me’ has now become…there’s four different locations and we’re gonna be kind of singing in people’s faces that are ignoring us basically, and ‘say you love me’ becomes more of a command. It’s that kind of need to be appreciated and watched and loved, and I thought that might be quite ironic considering I’m the one who put myself on reality television, do you know what I mean? Yeah I guess it’s a kind of comment in art and love and celeb culture of the modern day or it’s just…I dunno a bunch of people being ignored by another bunch of people. And we play an art installation in an art gallery and we’re gonna be covered in like wax and stuff.

Covered in wax? How’s that gonna work?

Dunno. Don’t even know how we’re doing it yet but...and, again Green Day, I’m obsessed with them, in like some of their videos they work really well with kind of slowed down, slow-mo and kind of fast-tracking and this kind of stuff, we’re gonna use a lot of that. It’s been done a million times but it’s very visually effective so…

Are there any plans for a physical release of ‘Say You Love Me’?

Not of the single, no. But we are talking to studios right now about our album recording, which I think we’re gonna take a two week Christmas break, come back and start recording the album straight away. And then we’re looking at a kind of tour next year to back the album, a bigger tour, probably going to a lot more places…Europe hopefully. And we’re gonna try and get ourselves on Warped tour next year, who do we think we are?! We’re so up our own arses! ‘Yeah we’re ready for the Warped tour, don’t you worry about it.’ Can’t believe it. But I think why not try, like…

If you don’t ask you don’t get.

Exactly. And the thing is Warped Tour is supposed to be a punk tour and so many bands on tour aren’t punk any more. At least we’re sticking with the ethics. We’ll see.

Are there any countries in particular you want to go to?

I think for me, America, because my favourite bands came from America. For our guitarist, Pyro, it would be Japan, for sure, she’s obsessed. To be honest we just want world domination. We just want to go everywhere. Isn’t that what every band wants?! [Laughs]

How are you going to record the album after the two week break? Like is it gonna be relentless recording, 12 hour days kind of thing?

[Nods] We’re gonna do the whole album in two weeks. So I’m literally…the others have like normal jobs and uni and stuff so I think I’m gonna arrive there on the first day of recording and not leave until the last day and they’ll kind of come in and out as their schedules allow. I’m just gonna take two weeks off my stupid freelance life…yeah.

Have you decided on a studio?

Yeah we’re looking at a studio on some random like isle on the outskirts of London.

Eel Pie?

Yeah Stakeout Studios, I think. They’re f**king awesome. They’ve done like You Me At Six and all these kind of people and they have loads of games consoles. Yeah Wii and Mario Kart and stuff.

So while you’re waiting for the rest of the band to have normal lives…

Yeah. Well I think that games consoles are the most important thing to be honest. I think the music comes second [laughs]. I dunno I just want to play Mario Kart really.

So forget the music it’s all about Mario Kart?

F**k it we don’t even like playing music [laughs].

When you release the album, is it going to be CD or vinyl?

I’d like to do both. I mean I am a bit old fashioned and I do love vinyl. Y’know putting it on the deck and putting the needle on and that crackle and stuff…to hear my band on vinyl…I’d cack myself. So yeah I think we’ll do digital download, CD and vinyl.

That’d be good. And with vinyl I suppose you’ve got more room for artwork and stuff.

Exactly. Have the big booklet in there…I dunno I think it would probably be a limited press but…I’ll pay for it out of my own pocket, I don’t know I just want one on vinyl!

What about festivals?

Yeah we want to get on the festival circuit next year as well. We’ve got…thing is my band manager won’t actually tell me that much about what he’s got planned for next summer because I probably have the biggest mouth in the world and I just keep telling people things. I’ve been basically threatened with death if I tell anybody anything else so I dunno, I think there’s festivals on the cards but I can’t be sure because I’m not allowed to know.

Glastonbury

I’d like to do Glastonbury, but I think we’d probably go down better at places like Reading and Leeds, to be honest.

You would go down very well at Reading

Yeah more like, rock-orientated. I’ve always said that I wouldn’t go to a festival until I was playing at it and I plan to stick by that.

That’s quite cool actually. Okay lastly, you’ve done acting a while ago, you’re doing music pretty well, dabbling in fashion, what’s next Shabby?

Umm…ooh…well I’ve got the DJing thing going on at the moment which is how I’m earning money…me and Keeva, loving it. We’re actually trying to get Voodoo Hussy TV off the ground basically, you know like ‘Being NDubz’ and those kind of programmes? We want our own TV series.

Nice comparison between Voodoo Hussy and NDubz there.

Well they’ve got their own show haven’t they?! [Laughs] We want our own show!

Voodoo Hussy begin their 7 date tour on the 26^th of November. Go and see them.