Sohodolls interview

And the first gig on the whistle-stop tour brings the group to Café Mamba in Taunton on September 13.

NME described their latest album offering as 'an utterly magnificent slab of haughtyelectro-sleaze which makes Peaches sound predatory and as erotically charged as KT Tunstall', but beneath the veneer of palpable eroticism lies something more.

The genre-spliced group, who take influences from a diverse catalogue of acts - from the Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, to The Pogues and the New York Dolls - drop the record of convention and smash it into a million pieces.

A heady mix of hip-hop, jazz, electro, dub, punk, glam rock, rock 'n' roll and numerous other genres combine to form the sound of this non-conformist musical faction.

Lead singer Maya Von Doll took time out of her busy schedule to speak to the County Gazette to give an insight into what fans can expect from the new album and their impending tour...

GAZETTE: How would you describe your musical sound, Maya?

MAYA: I suppose I would describe it as ribbed - it's sort of multi-textured; it's not just one type of genre. We've kind of mixed and borrowed things from all sorts, such as hip-hop and jazz and electro and glam rock and punk, so I'd describe the sound as eclectic with very varied influences.

G: And what influences the music the Sohodolls produce?

M: So many. We really like the usual stuff like the New York Dolls, Sex Pistols and Iggy Pop, but we also like a lot of world music and Toni likes to bring in the gypsy influence with rock and punk; also The Pogues. I listen to a lot of Arabic music so there are several influences of that going in. Steve likes a lot of hard electronica and dub music, but we like each other's tastes.

G: And what's the message you are trying to send out with your music?

M: With this album we like to tell stories and have hung on to some characters in our heads like a vampire. There's no sort of like one big message and contrary to what a lot of people think because of the previous single of 'Stripper', it's not just all about sex. There's about two or three songs that I think are quite sexy, but each one tells a different story, like 'Bang Bang' is about what it's like to be a teenager growing up in London and it's nothing like anyone's going through any sort of hardship with that song, but it's just you know, teenage angst really and then songs like 'I'm Not Cool' it's just about a crush I had on a guy and he wouldn't leave his girlfriend - that was a while ago, so it's just more like a cartoon caricature of that feeling.

G: And I hear that the album was recorded in a barn in Cornwall - is that true?

M: Yeah, it was great. It was kind of weird being there recording all our angsty songs; we were chilled out.

G: And did the area influence your creativity?

M: Yeah, because we actually wrote a couple of new songs there that there wasn't space for on the album. I think it was really good to be in the country. We've got a studio in London but it's not the same thing when you always can be reachable by the manager or the label or friends; there are constant interruptions, so it's really good to be out there in the open. I didn't really get much inspiration from the horses in the fields, but you never know, but they contributed to a more relaxed state of mind to create.

G: What can your fans expect when they turn up to see you at Café Mamba on September 13?

M: A very unpredictable show! A lot of energy, especially because it will be the first place we're doing and we've got a double bass on stage which looks great and all the boys will be dressed up so tell everyone to put there eyeliner on to glam rock out. We've got hip hop songs, jazz songs, electro songs so it will appeal to everyone G: Would you say you have a favourite song on the album?

M: Yeah definitely, I would say it's the 'Rest For The Wicked'. There's going to be a different single version if we do it as a single it's going to be done differently because it was all a bit of a mad rush at the end and that one is amazing live; it's so much better live than it is on record.

G: You are playing 34 venues between during the pending tour, so how do you get on with being on the road for such a lengthy period of time?

M: Actually we have a lot of fun being on the road. You actually do get quite into a bit of a routine. You leave the Travelodge at like 11 in the morning and then get in the van and luckily we don't have any long massive distances to do so it's quite well planned out. We actually end up becoming quite healthy on tour because we always worry about not eating right and we always buy lots of fruit and we sort of end up having, like vitamin poisoning, from too many clementines. We're all sort of like old fogies, we're not into drugs.

o TO find out more about the Sohodolls, visit www.sohodolls.co.uk