GOING FOR A (PLAIN)SONG

THEY HAVE been heralded as classical music s answer to the Spice Girls, a tag which they abhor. They are 12 women of five different nationalities, led by former Miranda Sex Garden lead vocalist Katherine Blake, who also works as a stripper in her spare time. They sing plainsong, a form of music from the middle ages which can be both religious and secular. And they were in Dublin recently to perform on The Late Late Show. They are the Medieval Baebes.
To make matters even more confusing, I interviewed two of the Baebes with the same name, Nicole. Thankfully, though, they spell it differently. Nicole is the artistic director and choreographer of the Akashic Dance Theatre, and also possesses the title Baebe with the most tattoos . Meanwhile, Nichole is the daughter of a tree surgeon, which has enfused her with a love of forests and countryside, as well as collecting junk , which she makes into mosaics.
All 12 Medieval Baebes are friends, and it was Katherine who took them on their first tentative steps in plainsong.
Katherine was doing cabaret in Berlin, and she was working with a woman who plays traditional medieval instruments, says Nichole. She came back and decided what a lovely idea it would be to sing that type of music with her friends. We just called everybody up, they came over and we just learned songs.
The 12 girls took their new-found passion with them on picnics at Hampstead Heath, where they managed to incur the wrath of more than a few families out for their Sunday stroll, as music is banned on the Heath.
WHITE MAGIC
A proposed tour of churches throughout Britain last year had to be cancelled, because a lot of the clerics involved didn t feel that the Medieval Baebes were quite right for their local place of prayer, with allegations of paganism and witchcraft flying about. There s something reassuring in that for us Irish, though: at least our religious leaders aren t the only narrow-minded clerics in the world. So how did the cancelled tour make them feel?
It was just a bit sad, really, says Nichole, because this music is very suited to that sort of acoustic atmosphere.
It sounds lovely in churches, adds Nicole. So it was a bit of a shame. But we will do gigs in churches. It wasn t like everybody said Ooh, we don t want the witches .
So are you all just waiting to cast spells on the rest of us poor hapless folk who inadvertently piss you off, or was that taken out of context?
There are people in the band who do practice white magic occasionally, explains Nichole. But it s only drawing positive things, it s nothing (adopts Vincent Price-like tones) evil and sinister.
Because there are 12 of us, we have lots of different religions, Christians and Pagans. It s lots of people coming together, so we do have magic going on. We are magic, adds Nicole with a glint in here eye.
Both Baebes seem offended when I mention the Medieval Spice Girls comparison, even when I put it to them that they do seem to have been marketed in that way.
Basically it all came out of a press release which we didn t write, says Nicole. Obviously, if you see us and hear our music, you wouldn t compare us to the Spice Girls, but we are on the same record label.
We re female and we sing: we do have good positive female attitude, says Nichole. That s the similarity.
But are they making plainsong sexy?
Nicole disagrees: We don t make it sexy: we are sexy. We just sing it. We don t pretend to be sexy vampires we re just they way we are and if you find it sexy then that s your point of view. But it s a good thing. It makes people interested. It s a pleasure to watch sexy women. Instead of seeing ugly women singing, you see some nice girls singing nice music, she laughs.
I suppose it s funny, girls of our age (they re all in their mid-20s) to be singing this type of music, admits Nichole. But it s genuine. It wasn t a case of getting a group of 12 sexy women together to sing this music. It s the music that we want to sing.
Both Baebes are at pains to point out that Virgin signed them on the strength of a tape, before they had ever seen visual proof that the Medieval Baebes were, eh, babes. We were expecting a bit of a backlash from the classical purists, says Nichole. But nobody s actually been brave enough to say anything yet.
For now, though, the Medieval Baebes will continue to bring their music to a wider audience, with a planned tour for later this year, possibly involving a more theatrical edge.
It s just about the spirit, sums up Nicole. It s such a good vibe when you have 12 women singing together. It s really powerful. It gives you goose-skin, and if you feel that, then it s the right thing to do.
Salva Nos by the Medieval Baebes is out now on Virgin Records.