Dan Hillier
When it comes to releasing new content, there’s certain rules, regulations and protocols one is excepted to adhere by. So understandably, when an artist forgoes all of this and chooses their own path, it’s naturally intriguing and often hints towards a collective thinking and operating outside the norms of both genre and mainstream culture. If there ever has a band that proves to be an example of this it’s Slash Fiction.
Hailing from Yorkshire physically and the DIY UK queer punk scene spiritually, the alternative emo troupe have always substituted mundane industry norms in order to uphold their artistic and ideological integrity. It was something that was evident within their initial 2018 EP Flowers, a powerful, independent and wholly honest slab of zingy emo that saw the band fissioning classic sensibilities in the style of the The Get Up Kids with modern queercore lilt to articulate their tales of modern living. Whilst the record was only a handful of tracks in itself, it jettisoned the act into the centre of the UK queer punk scene, and with a collection of shows under their belts with the likes of Nervus, itoldyouiwouldeatyou and Havelocke they have remained their ever since.
Now three years on and one still-ongoing pandemic since that release, the band have just recently released their debut LP in the form of Gender, Trauma & Friendship. A record that does what it says on the tin thematically, the Amateur Pop Inc released album stands as a wonderful and creative excursion, one that see’s the band vividly detailing joy that comes with combating gender norms, the love that comes with the embracement of one’s true identity and the uplifting power of companionship in times of oppression through a lovingly crafted homemade lens. Yet it also showcases the band’s penchant for working on their own terms. Be it intertwining post-rock atmospherics, incorporating noise-rock tones – or in terms of the actual record release – dropping it less than ten days after the official announcement of it’s existence.
Related: Slash Fiction – Gender, Trauma & Friendship | Album Review
“The record came out exactly two years to the day from when Jess sent the first set of lyrics that we ended up using on the album”, explains singer Beans when asked why they released Gender, Trauma & Friendship only eight days after announcing it. “We’ve really thought about little else throughout the last 18 months, it became such a focal point for all of us during the pandemic and none of us could really deal with waiting for other people to hear it any longer than we had to. We scheduled the release basically the minute the masters came back. Probably the biggest disagreement we had during this entire process was whether to put out a single a week before the album or just drop the whole thing at once.
“For me, I think this is like our mission statement”, they continue. “This is the thing I want people to discover Slash Fiction through, so the most important thing was just to get it out into the world. We have no PR budget, we can’t do a six month campaign, we’re banking on word of mouth and the strength of the record carrying itself forward.”
Despite the overarching empowerment and joy of the album, it’s apparent that the band have not yielded to shying away from detailing some deeply personal themes. One only needs to look to tracks such as ‘Ten Feet Tall’, ‘Headaches’, ‘The Space Between’ or ‘Footnote’ – a track detailing the devastation that can come from being rejected from family – to get a painstakingly detailed picture of the trauma that served as the crux of the album. At times it can feel intimate to the point of claustrophobia; almost as if the band are exposing and reopening old wounds to further understand them. But with this comes a clear sense of healing and catharsis, a vital component to the record and something that was much required and sought after, as keyboardist and vocalist Jess explains.
“For me writing is very exposing. The first time I ever sent lyrics for everyone to look at I was so nervous”, they explain. “But it’s definitely something that I find necessary and yeah, cathartic. ‘Ten Feet Tall’ especially was a song I felt I had to write, as a way to organise all the thoughts and feelings in my head. Sometimes getting something on paper is the only way I can sort it out.”
Beans continues; “To add to what Jess has said I think the initial exposure of sharing it with two other songwriters in the band is a really good way to prepare you for being exposed to the wider world. The whole band is always incredibly supportive and we all treat the personal things each other is writing about with so much love and respect that once you’re past showing it to them, everyone else hearing it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal to me.”
“For about a year the record was called How’s This For Heartbeak? Which I still think is a great name and fits most of the themes on the record, but one day we were going through the tracklist and joking about how they were all basically about 3 things, and that’s where Gender, Trauma & Friendship came from; the ampersand is very important. We’ve always been pretty openly heart on sleeve and earnest with our writing so it felt like a really natural statement about what the record is, I feel like you can take one look at the cover of this album and know what to expect.”
Of course, one of the most evident parts of the Gender, Trauma & Friendship – and Slash Fiction as a whole entity – is the sense of queer joy and vital empowerment. The band’s debut is a product of the freedom, collectiveness, championship and collaboration that is inherent to the UK queer punk scene, with various names in the genre lending their helping hands in the creation of the album. “We definitely are trying to do things ‘The Right Way’ and there are so many great bands in this country that we look up to”, states Beans when asked how the scene as a whole helped in the creation of the record. “There’s really no handbook for how to be a band so starting out can be incredibly daunting but there are so many lovely and supportive people about the scene that are happy to give advice.”
“It sounds silly but we fretted for ages over whether we could do our first tour in 2 cars rather than a van until I spoke to Dan from Fresh who told me they’d toured with drum kits over their legs in cars. Seeing bands like Nervus be completely unapologetic and consistently take no shit gives me confidence to do the same. Also having Maeve who has all the experience of being in itoldyouiwouldeatyou so close to us as a band and so heavily involved in the record is incredibly reassuring, and musically she influenced the record massively.”
“I have a pretty vivid memory of Maeve saying to me “your idea of a perfect wave form for your guitar is just a rectangle isn’t it?””, pipes guitarist Sean on how the more noise-rock tinted guitar tone come to fruition. “It must be said that all the credit for the tones and the way they work together goes to Maeve, recording with her was a great experience.”
“Working with AmPop (was also) honestly so rewarding and enriching, we started working with them after I sent them our last single and said “do you like this” and went from there to becoming incredibly close friends”, continues Beans on working with the label Amateur Pop. “The entire co-op attitude creates such a welcoming and safe space to collaborate and promote your art. Alex and Emily have worked tirelessly on helping us put this record out and we can’t imagine having done it with anyone else, and the cool thing about AmPop is that when the next Kermes record is out or when Boarder are releasing something we’ll be turning round and putting in work behind the scenes to help however we can. Will also always be eternally grateful for them getting Koji to master our record, which is still a bit of a pinch-myself thing for me.”
Jess continues; “Something I think is really special about Ampop is just the pure enthusiasm for making music and the commitment to doing it the right way. We’ve always tried to be a band that cares about community and the people around us and not treating this thing like it’s a race with only one winner, and that is a central philosophy of everyone involved at Ampop.”
There’s no denying that Slash Fiction have created something that sounds wonderful yet feels extremely poignant and vital with Gender, Trauma & Friendship. Not only is it a record that is musically creative and showcases the band’s refusal to comply with norms in every sense of the word, it one that almost feels like an invitation and showcase of the power that is queer expressionism. There’s most defiantly a slew of extremely important things that those outside the scene that Slash Fiction revel in can learn from this incredible exercise in creativity, and signing off, the band where keen to highlight the importance of community and using art to combat oppression and aggression in everyday life.
“Don’t try to fake anything, don’t worry too much about what The Industry thinks, and don’t view any of this as a competition”, Beans explains. “A really powerful thing Koji said to us when we were first talking to them about mastering the record was that music was direct action, and it is how we build communities that cross borders and oceans. I truly believe that and that art is integral to any social change. There’s a story that really sticks with me, from the artist Zoe Leonard. She said to David Wojnarowicz during the AIDS crisis that she felt guilty showing him her prints of clouds because they were so apolitical on the surface, and Wojnarowicz told her not to give up beauty and that beauty is what we’re fighting for. I think about it a lot and it reminds me you don’t need to make overtly political art for it to have power.”
“Obviously we’re just 5 people in an emo band but the thing that certainly makes me feel better when the news is particularly hellish is just being with my friends and community,” Jess states. “Solidarity is the only way that I know how to fight back, and the only way I would ever want to. Finding a group of queer friends has probably saved my life. Whether your community is local or online, you can always find people to be in your corner and that’s the most powerful thing. And if you can do the same for other people too, that is how we survive.”
Dan, guitarist, signs off; “I think we’ve just made a really coherent collection of great songs and if all people take away is that they like our music then I’d be satisfied. At the same time, we put a lot of ourselves into the record on a personal level and I hope that comes through. We love each other and we love the record we’ve made and I think that translates in what you hear in the album.”
“It’s also a fundamentally optimistic record, despite the dark shit we delve into at times. I’d like people to come away feeling like they’ve found a place or found people who understand them and share their experiences. It’s also kind of a “fuck it” record, in that most of us are in our 30s and we’ve always dreamt about writing and releasing an album, and we found a way to do it, because you’re never too old. I want more people to make albums with their mates in a garage with no money and without compromising what they want to say or giving a shit what’s gonna sell or get you popular. Just go and do it.”