Girls In Your Area: “I wanna see a mosh pit of dolls with big glasses and stillettos”
Five trans femmes, one flute, a lot of rage, and a debut tape about chasers, dysphoria, desire, motherhood and wealth inequality. We talk to Nancy Nutter about making noise, finding each other in Berlin, and why apparently being told you’re well rehearsed can be its own kind of joke.
Girls In Your Area emerged from the “frothing volcano” of PUNX N KWEENZ, Berlin’s psychedelic drag punk rock opera, before becoming its own five-piece. There’s Nancy Nutter on vocals, Lucy on guitar, Rosa on bass, Leva on drums and Nenu on flute — five different musical backgrounds melting into something Nancy describes as a “poetic performative explosion of queer creativity.”
Their first tape is coming out via Fikkus Records, with a release party at Lido on October 16 with Sheena Is and Tami T.
We spoke to Nancy about where the band came from, what Berlin gives them, why anger can be useful, and their slightly ambitious plans for the future.
How did the five of you meet, and how did Girls In Your Area come together?
Girls In Your Area was born from the frothing volcano or Punx N Kweenz - Berlin’s legendarypsychadellic drag punk rock opera. We wrote some songs together and decided to make a girl band to make some noise about our point of view as trans femmes.
There’s a hell of a lot of estrogen on that stage bleeding our hearts out to the crowd
What made you want to start the project? And what emotions did it grow from?
Punk shows create a theatre of rage, a safer space for expressing anger. There’s plenty of things for post binary t slurs to get pissed off with in this economy so we united around our common grievances to smash our instruments and scream about it. That said, we also have plenty of space at our gigs for other emotions, there’s a hell of a lot of estrogen on that stage bleeding our hearts out to the crowd. It’s about damn time there’s a t slur band in this city. I wanna see a mosh pit of dolls with big glasses and stillettos.
Your songs touch on desire, anger, dysphoria and motherhood. How do those subjects find their way into the music?
We all click pretty well and we feel comfy being open with each other about the painful, sometimes ugly, side of our experiences. We have chats generally about our feelings and then the chats turn into lyrics and the lyrics turn into music. I feel like making art is all about expressing your deepest voice and the vulnerability that comes along with authentic expression. It’s also what being trans is about tbh.
Your work also deals with the ways trans femmes are labelled and understood by other people. How do you define yourselves?
I mean it’s hard enough being a woman in this world, needing to deal with all the patriarchal bullshit, so when you add other intersections on top of that there are so many layers of other peoples expectations you gotta navigate all the time. I feel like we all unite around a feminist perspective, trying to shed off the normative (subordinate) role of women in patriarchy by screaming back and reclaiming a defiant femininity outside the binary.
Berlin is infused with a defiant attitude
What does sisterhood look like in Girls In Your Area?
We are all busy girls with a hell of a lot of projects and musical marvels keeping us occupied. We all support each other at our other shows and when we manage to get into a room together to make music the creativity flows so smoothly.
What place does Berlin have in the band?
We are all living in Berlin and Leva (drums) is from Berlin. Berlin is infused with a defiant attitude. We all came to Berlin because we were attracted to that attitude and this is also what attracts us to each other and our audiences to us.
People always tell us that we are so well rehearsed. Which so funny because I think we have only been all five of us in the same room less than five times not including gigs.
There’s something slightly absurd about a five-piece with such different musical backgrounds. How do you actually work together?
So everyone comes from a completely different musical discipline, this is what gives the fusion of our five musical styles so much flavour.
Leva is a Heavy Metal Drummer who can smash drums in pretty much any pattern and at any speed- it’s a wonder to see her arms move.
Lucy is a jazz and soul guitarist, pitch perfect and can pick up any tune as soon as she hears it.
Rosa makes moody ambient music with her bass guitar and can create walls of sound by layering pedals and effects.
Nenu is a classically trained flute player and a fabulous flamenco and cuntemporary dancer. Nancy is a cabaret singer with a drag background and folk influences.
Together the worlds all melt into a poetic performative explosion of queer creativity.
Iconique.
People seem to think you’re very well rehearsed. Is that actually true?
People always tell us that we are so well rehearsed. Which so funny because I think we have only been all five of us in the same room less than five times not including gigs. We just flow so well and click creatively that it works even while having our patchwork rehearsal and writing sessions.
What happens when the five of you disagree?
Didn’t get there yet I guess. Let’s stay in touch.
You’ve described the band through desire, anger, dysphoria and motherhood. If you had to say something about each one, what would it be?
Desire is a compass
Anger is inevitable given the circumstances
Dysphoria isn’t just for trans people, what’s your gender journey?
Motherhood is a connection we all have in common, above all else with the home below our feet.
What’s the best thing about starting the band in Berlin — and what’s the harder part?
In Berlin its still possible to afford a venue for a gig. There are plenty of amazing people who are working it the creative field and who are able to take on a project without much income because of Berlins relative affordability (compared to like London or Paris).
Shout out to Jonas and Fikkus Records who helped us to record ourfirst tape, and Bleach and Sheena Is who are organising our release party. Love the collaborative energy in Berlin. I guess the harder thing is that Berlin can sometimes feel a bit isolated. There are so many sub cultures and it can be tough to break out of the queer bubble.
It can sometimes feel like preaching to the choir. But hey, that’s why we plan a world tour I guess.
What would you like to change about Berlin?
No cars inside the ringbahn. Rent caps. Cheaper health insurance. Protect the right to protest genocide without getting beat up by fascist Schweine. The usual, tax billionaires, fund vulnerable people.
Nobody's free until everyone is free. What cages are you still trapped in?
And where do you want to take Girls In Your Area?
Let’s go on tour in Japan. You know. Like we are thinking five trans femmes touring the world with music about chasers and wealth inequality and sex and toilet stalls and fertility. It would be fabulous to share our words and visions far and wide.
Finally, what would you like to leave Playful readers with?
Nobody's free until everyone is free. What cages are you still trapped in?
Girls In Your Area play their debut release party on October 16 at Lido Berlin with Sheena Is and Tami T.
