A few years ago the Dublin music scene was like a boys’ club: there were plenty of four-piece rock bands playing traditional rock music, and it was pretty boring. We formed Party Weirdo as the solution,” declares frontlady Cara Holmes. Now there’s a welcome agenda, if ever I heard one.
Cara, from Dundalk, Emily Aoibheann from Dublin and Therese McKenna from Belfast are three gay-friendly feminists who, as Party Weirdo, share the same star-sign as hotpress, given that they’re also a year old this month.
“The Riot Grrrl movement of the ‘90s was a huge influence on us,” Cara says from her new home in Berlin, where she’s a volunteer with a G8 video activist group. “It proved to female musicians that you don’t need to be the token girl in a mainstream band. And in turn we want to inspire and encourage other musicians, but I don’t think it should be restricted to a scene – Party Weirdo is about having no boundaries, not in the make-up of the band, not in songwriting. We’re all over the place in a good way.”
The alternative ethic of Party Weirdo (named after Cara and a friend’s hungover realisation that “we didn’t fit into the partygoer’s guidebook”) is reflected in the rise of the band thus far. Along with the likes of Queen Kong, Janey Mac – which features Emily – and Cap Pas Cap, they’ve become synonymous with the independent scene, playing respected nights such as those run by Magical Girl Promotions, Porco Dio and Skinny Wolves. This, however, is born more out of practicality than ideology, she explains.
“We’re not a signed band and we don’t have a manager so the DIY route works well for us. There is an allegiance to the ‘underground’ though, because I haven’t found that our music is accepted within the pop scene or among traditional guitar bands.”
Within their field, however, their energetic live shows have earned them a reputation that many a rent-a-haircut band would kill for. Most recently, they were invited to launch the Lesbian Arts Festival at The George in Dublin: it was their best show to date. “Because we’d been in Germany for a while, it was treated as something of a homecoming and the crowd really showed their support. It was amazing. There’s so much audience participation and screaming at our shows, it really drives us.”
The link to the festival comes through Cara’s sexuality, but she’s insists that they’re loath to present themselves as a lesbian band. “We’ve been asked to play queer festivals and it’s because I’m a lesbian, but it’s like the feminist issue: we’re happy championing gay rights, but we don’t present ourselves as a queer band. It’s not a gimmick, it’s just who we are. We’re expressing ourselves the way we want to.”
That said, she’s pleased to see Beth Ditto of The Gossip helping to champion the cause.
“She’s great,” Cara enthuses. “She’s very grounded and from what I’ve read, she has a lot of interesting things to say. It’s about time somebody like her came along into mainstream music.”
One gets the distinct impression that unlike Ms Ditto, Party Weirdo aren’t hugely fussed with courting mainstream success. Their new single, for example, has their uncompromising stamp all over it.
“It’s called ‘Chart Your Cycles’, which is the name of a fanzine that encourages women to chart their menstrual cycles. Feminism is a big part of the lyrics. But for us it’s ultimately about the music and having fun. For our photoshoot, we went to a large manor house in Galway and spent the weekend dressing up and amusing ourselves.”
Her wide grin can almost be heard over the phone.
“Everyone likes dressing up.”