You’re based in the UK – but how have your backgrounds growing up in Northern Ireland and the Netherlands also informed your music?

Karsten: Although I’m from The Netherlands, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time over there, as I moved around a bunch. It was mainly my Dutch family that introduced me to a lot of music, with my dad playing classic '70/'80s rock (Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, Hall & Oates, The Beatles, etc.) around the house. My brother was a big influence in my music taste growing up, playing '90s rap (Notorious B.I.G, NWA, etc.) and contemporary indie/rock (RHCP, Arctic Monkeys) in whatever attic we were in at the time. It’s funny how regardless of where we were, my family still listened to mainly American or British bands. I’d like to rediscover that aspect of my Dutch heritage and connect with the scene there though!

Joni: Growing up with a Jamaican dad meant that from a very young age I was listening to a lot of reggae and soul, actually. My dad was a musician, and he loved to show me videos of incredible performers like James Brown and Little Richard. I do think the punk history of Northern Ireland really did grip me in my teens though, and I started forming my own music taste. I was listening to a lot of classic punk and rock music from the 1970s, like Patti Smith, David Bowie, and the Sex Pistols, and got into collecting records from those decades.

Was ‘90s alternative rock always a strong influence?

K: Before meeting Joni, '90s rock wasn’t an era I was all too familiar with – I had mainly been listening to rap and math rock. After our first practice, Joni and I hung out and we traded musical influences. I can still remember Joni leaping out of her chair when I said I had never listened to PJ Harvey or Nirvana, grabbing the nearest laptop and on-the-spot curating me a list of YouTube videos of some of her most highly regarded performances and songs. Since then, I like to think I’ve delved pretty deep into the era and have finally come to understand what Joni was so enthusiastic about.

J: From my teen years, for sure. I have an older sister, and so I grew up watching a lot of '90s and early '00s movies that I was probably too young for, but they’re still my favourites now. The soundtracks of some of these movies are amazing, and really gripped me. When I started learning guitar, I was mostly listening to The Breeders, Placebo, Hole and PJ Harvey, so I was learning how to play these songs. I think that DNA is just permanently there in my guitar playing now! The '90s was a really fun time for alt-rock.

What was recording your debut EP with Joshua Rumble like?

K: Intense! We had two days to track 4 songs, fine-tune the equipment, and play with how we wanted to sound. Josh is an excellent collaborator, providing really useful comments and suggestions for improvements, and letting us come to our own conclusions when we needed to. We actually tracked all of the live instrumentation on the first day of recording, with vocals and any adjustments being done the next day. Josh really took the time to explain to us what he was doing, why and how that affected the sound of what we were creating. As someone who loves recording and nerdy production bits, I really appreciated that! We’re extremely happy with how this all turned out and Josh will always be a good friend of ours.

J: It was all a lot of fun, to be honest. It can be a stressful experience recording, as you’ve got a lot of pressure on you to try and ‘capture’ the tracks as best you can… especially since we like to record live! But Josh really made it a fun and productive session, and we had a lot of laughs. As Karsten said, we definitely all became really good friends over that weekend.

Any favourites from the Irish music scene at the moment?

K: A long time favourite of mine has been Kojaque. Ever since he released the music video for ‘Midnight Flower’ on YouTube in 2015, where he held his breath underwater for 3 minutes and you see him pass out afterwards, I have been hooked. His commitment to making Irish music global, heading Soft Boy Records and his beat-making abilities are something I especially adore. He’s unapologetic and relentless, which is a quality I like to think Fräulein and him have in common.

J: I love Problem Patterns, they’re an incredible punk band from Belfast. They’ve got really intense and ferocious songs, with super witty and important lyrics. They’re so fun live, and they all switch instruments for different songs. It’s very ‘90s riot grrrl but really centred in contemporary social politics and intersectionality, with dry humour. It’s very cool.

What are you looking forward to over the months ahead?

K: I’m really excited about the new material that we’ve been writing. With all of the experience we’ve gained from tour with The Mysterines, recording with Josh, gigging around the UK, I feel even more confident in our playing and writing abilities. I’m looking forward to getting back in the studio and starting the whole process over again.

J: I’m so proud of our debut, A Small Taste, and am so excited for it to be out. It’s designed to be a 'taster’ of what we can do, and includes a few songs that we’ve been playing for years on there. But as Karsten says, we keep learning and growing and we’re mostly excited for the things we’re writing now. We’re maturing, and definitely coming up with more complex, cathartic and personal songs. You’ll just have to come to a live show to see us play them…

• A Small Taste is out tomorrow, May 27.