By Rachel Gambling
In the centre of Ipswich stands The Church; an intimate, atmospheric music venue where DIY punk artist Bridget chose to host her Autumn Ball. Celebrating the drop of her second EP, For the Hell of It, Bridget headlined the gig fittingly dressed in cut-up tartan, protruding black horns, and red-painted teeth. Accompanying her that evening were her support acts: DJ Greebo, playing sets between the other acts, self-described south-east emo band Dollface to open, and the blood-soaked punk performance artists French Toast. An upside-down neon cross sat upon the stage; "we joked something bad might happen for us by putting this in a church," Bridget laughed during her set. But the night was anything but a disaster. Despite the previous night's storm throwing a tree into the middle of the train tracks between Ipswich and Colchester, local infrastructure found itself back up and running just in time for Bridget's Halloween-themed extravaganza. Divine intervention, perhaps.
The Church glowed blue, and stayed blue for the moody, shoegaze-style set of Dollface, a group of young musicians who play with a maturity beyond their years, swaying with ease between melancholy and vengeance. Then, the technicoloured wrath of French Toast, demanding the crowd to resist against the fascist billionaires dictating our society's division; raised fists and multiple pots of fake blood were spilt onstage, with a rousing call to arms from the centre of the pit. And finally, Bridget. At home upon the altar, our host for the evening roared at its centre with her latest tracks 'Beautiful/Violent' and 'Guts,' alongside the EP's titular track and fan favourite 'Throw Me in the Pit.' A small but enthusiastic mosh pit formed at the front, which became a short runway for the night's costume competition (with me, your writer, finishing in second place dressed as Mia Goth's Pearl).
Amongst it all, I was able to catch Bridget backstage in the church's vestry to talk through her process in creating For the Hell of It.
So, talk me through the track listing for the album. It follows the release order of 'Cloud 94,' 'Hairspray,' and 'For the Hell of It,' with a softer interlude that introduces the new tracks on the EP. Is there a narrative to this, or is it based off of vibes?
B: Both, really. 'For the Hell of It' was a vibe, a mood I was feeling, and from there I branched off from hell and that play on religion, heaven, hell, good, bad, doing stuff for the hell of it, blasphemy, that sort of shit. I just sort of rolled with it. It's kind of come out as something that starts off as finding your own strength and then, by the end, you do not give a fuck -- it's all for the hell of it and you don't care.
You mention the themes of heaven, hell -- so 'Cloud 94' gives that heavenly visual, and then we go into the title track -- would you say each of these tracks cover the different places of heaven and hell, and what images did you try to create with each of them?
B: 'Cloud 94' is definitely up high. I was playing around with the phrase "being on cloud nine," and then you don't realise you're so far up you're actually doing alright. So that one is definitely more heavenly and there's more "wind going through your hair" vibes.
'Hairspray' is "I'm getting sick of people telling me what to do now, I've got a bit of strength behind me" -- it's supposed to be "you're suffocating me," like breathing in hairspray. It does what it says on the tin.
The interlude, we're going a bit churchy. I wanted to play with the holy sound and vibe and the aesthetic that goes with that: crosses, religion, heaven, hell. It's not religion-specific, but I suppose it's what you'd think of a church.
Then we go to 'Beautiful/Violent' -- that's one of my favourite tracks we've done so far. It's pretty much saying no one, or any religion, or any group of people can tell you what you are, you can be multiple things: beautiful, but also violent.
And 'Guts,' that was just an angry one. I was thinking about lots of things, but I was thinking about -- I don't even really want to talk about it, because I don't even want to give it airtime -- far-right groups, all that sort of absolute bollocks that's going on, and to individuals as well. I'm literally saying, if you've got the guts to give it --
Fucking give it.
B: Yeah. You should be able to take something coming back.
You also have this really cool image of the demonic-style makeup with the prosthetic horns on the EP cover and [tonight's costume] as well. It's really badass. Where did the design come from?
B: It just sort of all came together. When I was thinking about the word "hell," I pictured demons, your devilish side, but I didn't want to be a straight-up, red, typical devil. It's sort of just a demonic version of me.
Yeah, it's kind of humanoid in a way.
B: Yeah, when I say demonic it doesn't necessarily mean evil or bad, it's just like the devil on your shoulder, telling you to do things that are cool.
Liberating, in a way.
B: Yeah, that you might be too shy to do them otherwise, but when you're switched onto that character you can do whatever you want.
In the chorus of 'Beautiful/Violent,' it gives this feeling of being rejected from heaven and hell, and this image of women in religion and Eve being rejected from the Garden of Eden. Did that ring true when you were writing it?
B: I was picturing how it is being a woman. You constantly get told what you are, what you should be, all the time you're thinking to yourself "can I be this? Can I be that?" and I was like, "hang on a minute; I can be all of those things." It's kind of a liberating one for me and a bit of a "fuck you," I guess.
And in 'Guts,' it's got this disdain towards complacency, towards people who see everything that's going on and they're choosing to say nothing. Is that what you were going for as well?
B: 100%. It's a bit of rage, but I wanted to actually say something with it, rather than just scream and stuff; which is still brilliant, I do that in my other songs.
It's always good to do both.
B: Exactly. I wanted to say, like, "fucking come on then -- say something, do something, or just go away."
Tonight's support is DJ Greebo, Dollface, and French Toast. What made you pick these guys as your support?
B: Well, French Toast are just starting now as you'll be able to hear! They're just insane, politically brilliant, arty, full-on feminist, liberating theatre. Dollface are little bubbas.
They are! I loved what they were doing, they mesh together so well.
B: They're so talented and only little. I call them little, but they might not appreciate that. They're very young and from around the area, doing the midwest emo stuff. And Greebo's just fucking sick. Greebo is a brilliant DJ because they literally play to the crowd but never compromise their own style.
For the Hell of it is out now, available to buy and listen to on all good music platforms.
Hi! I’m Rachel, the creator of girlblog!, and I want to revive Riot Grrrl in the UK.
I was born and raised in Essex. I developed a love for the alternative scene and began studying intersectional feminism when I was a teenager. Class consciousness and feminine rage are central to my creativity. You can find me teaching Relationships and Sexual Health Education in my day job or performing at poetry open mics when I get the chance.
