Witty punk poetess whisks us away to the coast…
Look, it’s mid January and it’s been pissing down relentlessly for weeks now. You desperately crave a little ray of sunshine, right? Perchance a sly lick of vanilla ice cream, a cheeky bounce on a beach ball? Well, help is at hand!
Gemma Rogers’ new tune, the lead single and title track off her latest EP ‘The Great Escape’, drops today, with a nifty animated video cooked up by her mate Frank Burgess. It’s a simple, sunny love letter to the great British seaside.
“When me and my partner got together, we took a holiday in a camper van,” Gemma tells CLASH. “We met up with friends, drank gin, played scrabble. Proved once and for all that luxury doesn’t equate to happiness.”
After a successful LP launch last year, and a UK tour promoting big tunes ‘Stop’ and ‘My Idea Of Fun’, Steve Lamacq invited Gemma to sit in for him on his New Music Fix show on BBC 6 Music. The station just announced it would playlist ‘The Great Escape’, so she’s obviously doing something right.
We caught up with Gemma for a little chinwag.
Well done breaking into BBC 6 Music, you must be chuffed.
Yes, of course. Definitely something to celebrate, even though a celebration for me these days basically means an early night and an uninterrupted stretch of zeds. The times they are a’changin’!
Oh yeah you became a mum last year, how’s that going?
It’s a challenge, it’s a minefield, it’s wonderful, and it’s a full-time job. ‘Every mother is a working mother’, my friends at Crossroads Women’s Centre in Kentish Town like to say. They’re an incredible bunch, who campaign for the needs and concerns of women who are often overlooked.
The EP is also out today. I love’ Ship Of Fools’. What’s it about?
It’s about how people in power right now aren’t doing bugger all about climate change. They’re like a captain with a broken compass, running our beautiful ship into the rocks. I feel like I have a bit of a platform now, so why not try and use it to make a difference?
There’s a tidy little Lord Of The Flies allusion in there too.
Yeah I was always fascinated by that book as a kid – the themes of loss of innocence, the darkness that lurks in all men’s hearts. I’ve often thought a female presence on that island might have made all the difference!
‘Tailspin’ is a pretty killer tune as well, amazing vocal.
Thanks very much! I wrote it with my brother in Valencia. We were staying in this grand old restored orphanage, which probably added to the melancholia. We found a little Casio keyboard lurking in a wardrobe, and just looped it around until something stuck. I have such creative alchemy with my brother, he’s a clever sod.
The EAMES remix is decent too, definitely a different slant.
I met EAMES at a little festival I played in 2021. Such a knowledgeable chap about all things music. He did a collaboration with my manager once, which is how that all came about. Yet another clever sod.
What are you excited for this year?
Bigger gigs, later festival slots, writing and recording, another tour – more music. Less rum but more fun.
Your songs are quite political, how are you feeling about the general state of things right now?
The failure of that space launch in Cornwall the other day kind of sums it up perfectly, doesn’t it? It could have been so very beautiful. But nah. Here we are I guess!
Catch Gemma Rogers live:
Secret London gig on Sunday 12th February; The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton on Friday February 17th; Minifestival de music independent de Barcelona Friday 24th February
Words: Andy Hill
