Man/Woman/Chainsaw are barely in their twenties, and already they’re paving the way for a new generation of indie experimentalists. Hailing from South London, the unconventional six-piece cut their teeth on the sticky floors of Brixton Windmill, playing over 100 live shows before they were signed. Ahead of the release of their debut album ‘Cannonball’ and their subsequent headline UK tour, I caught up with the band’s three lead vocalists: bassist Vera Leppänen, synthesist Emmie-Mae Avery, and guitarist Billy Ward.
You formed the band when you were just 16 years old. How has it been growing up alongside making music together?
Vera: I mean, we’re still doing it, aren’t we?
Emmie-Mae: It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve only become closer. The only difference is that we’re now making better music and bigger shows.
V: It’ll be five years in October.
You’ve stood the test of time. There are six of you in the band. Does that present any challenges when you’re making decisions?
V: Six heads is better than one, but also worse than one, depending on the situation.
Billy: Six is better than one, but probably worse than four.
E: We’re planning on kicking a few out.
B: No, we’re definitely not.
V: We’re very democratic. We listen to each other’s opinions and what-not. It presents its own challenges but also has its assets; if you never wanted to compromise, you’d be a solo artist.
It makes sense, then, that you have so much variety in your music, even in the singles so far from the new album ‘Cannonball’; ‘Nosedive’ is such a classic indie banger whereas ‘Goddamn, Lizard, Man!’ has a theatrical, Nick Cave/Leonard Cohen vibe going on. Are there any other tracks we haven’t heard yet that might surprise your listeners?
E: Most of the songs that aren’t singles are just as special in their own way. I’m really excited for people to hear ‘Lighter’ because it’s just so damn beautiful. It makes me weep sometimes. When we were in the studio and Vera was doing her vocal stacks, I got goosebumps. ‘Canyons’ is also a very special one. It feels quite quintessentially us. ‘The Thing’ is my favourite song to play live — to just rock out and have a good time.
“Six heads is better than one, but probably worse than four”
Emmie, you stepped up as a third lead vocalist on the new album. How did that change come about?
E: I had a few songs that I wanted to try and see if they could work out, and they did. ‘Nosedive,’ especially, was one that took us all by surprise. I didn’t see that shitty little demo from two years ago going anywhere, but it became this dance track, which is sick.
So ‘Nosedive’ was never intended to be the lead single?
E: It was very spontaneous, the way we wrote it. We split into two groups; me, Billy, and Vera were working on the lyrics and melody of this demo I had, and we couldn’t hear what they [bandmates Clio Starwood, Lola Cherry, and Billy Doyle] were doing in the other room. We went in, and they had created this beat. [Violinist] Clio had taped down two notes on my synth to do an arpeggio and then written the violin melody. Somehow, it fit perfectly together: this weird mix of sad lyrics and melody over a dance beat.
V: It was very satisfying.
You’ve said that you’re moving away from the mathy, post-punk side of things and going for a more poppy vibe. Is this resonating with your fans, or are they disappointed that you’re ditching the weirder stuff?
V: There has been some YouTube hate.
You’re always going to get hate in YouTube comments. That is definitely no reflection on you.
B: We never said we were shedding experimentation. We can do really cool, creative stuff, and still make songs that work in a pop format. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive at all. I mean, [what we’re making] is not Dua Lipa — no hate to Dua Lipa. I just mean it still definitely has plenty of weirdness in it.
V: Maybe some people will be disappointed, but I don’t really care.
Are you getting to the stage now where you’re developing a solid fan base?
V: It’s hard to say.
E: I think we’ll know better in September, after we’ve played shows all around the country again, because we’ve not done that for a while.
B: The gigs have been pretty busy. We’ve definitely got some people out there rooting for us.
We’re in the middle of festival season right now. What have been your favourite shows of the summer so far?
V: We did Rock Werchter in Belgium, and that was fucking awesome. It was so much fun. The crowd seemed really excited, and we were in a really good mood. It was a lovely festival.
E: They also filmed the whole thing and broadcast it, so we actually got to see ourselves play, which we’d not had before, ever.
V: It could have either made us deeply insecure or stroked our egos, and I don’t think either of those things are good — but we watched it anyway.
Which upcoming shows are you most excited for?
E: Probably Electric Ballroom.
V: Yeah, that will be awesome. Also I think the in-stores will be really fun, especially Rough Trade East. It will be good to be back.
B: Those shows will be cool because there will be more meeting people. They are in the week that the record comes out, so seeing face-to-face how people feel about it will be cool.
V: Imagine if they hate it.
B: That will be part of it, I guess, when that inevitably happens. But yeah, I think we will play the record in full at those gigs.
What’s the main thing that you hope your fans will take from the new record?
V: You can take what you want and leave what you don’t want.
E: For the upbeat songs — have a little dance in your bedroom.
Man/Woman/Chansaw’s debut album ‘Cannonball’ will be released on August 7th via Fiction Records.
