A lot has changed since Sløtface formed in 2012. Not only have they evolved into a revolving collective of musicians, but they’re back to their independent beginnings after being signed to a label for the last decade. Across their lifetime they’ve released three albums and a string of EPs, changed their name from Slutface to Sløtface (still pronounced the same) to avoid censorship, have continually worked on their ever-growing identity as a feminist outlet, and even featured in Sex Education as one of character Maeve Wiley’s fave bands.
Following the release of their fiction-inspired 2024 album ‘Film Buff’, the Oslo-based outfit have turned a corner, and are writing about whatever the hell they want: no set themes, no restrictions, and no set schedule. 2026 will see them release a whole “bunch” of singles, as Haley Shea, captain of the newly unanchored Sløtface ship says, all of which will be put out through the label she co-runs.
Haley chats with The Forty-Five from her office, as the day grows to a close and snow decorates the pavements outside, to tell us more about what’s to come…
Hi Haley! What has changed for you from the release of ‘Film Buff’ up to now?
“Lots! That was our last record signed to a label here in Norway called Propeller. We signed with them in 2016 and after 10 years decided to start approaching Sløtface as much more of a DIY project. We did a really long section of touring after ‘Film Buff’ which was kind of brutal. The grassroots venues and club scene here in Norway is kind of the same as it is in the UK; it’s struggling pretty hard. It’s hard to reach target audiences, and we feel like people’s habits for buying concert tickets have changed. Some of the shows on that tour prompted me to be like, ‘OK, we need to switch things up a little.’ We had a pretty quiet fall but then last week we did this government-run initiative [and] spent the week playing shows to middle school students between [the ages of] 13 and 16, so you’re just catching us off the back of that. They were weird and funny and the scariest audience that you could possibly imagine! But super fun.”
With ‘Film Buff’ you used film and TV as a vehicle for your storytelling. At that point in your life, did you feel like taking on characters was the most useful way for you to get out what you were feeling? Do you think we can expect to see that again across your new releases?
“Yeah, right now we’re working very single-based. I didn’t want to make another album after we did ‘Film Buff’ because my goal is for there to be the shortest amount of time between an idea and when we can release it. There are definitely going to be some songs that are Film Buff-esque, but we’re using these singles to be like, ‘We can do whatever we want!’ ‘Try Not To Freak Out’, the first record we did in 2017, is about anxiety and coming of age, and then [2020’s] ‘Sorry For The Late Reply’ is all about family and growing up as a third culture kid. ‘Film Buff’ is very much an escape into fiction. What we’re doing now is the next phase and maybe it’ll solidify into having a harder theme, but I want every song to be something that’s meaningful.”
You’re now fully independent and have your own label. What’s been the most challenging thing about being DIY, and what do you particularly love about it?
“It’s really nice to not have to filter things through a big label system. We’re being a little bit less precious with stuff, which is the biggest difference. I’ve had this band for so long and I feel such responsibility to keep it alive, so just being able to drop your shoulders a little and be like, ‘We’re just going to make things for the people that already like it and make things for ourselves that we’re excited about,’ has been a nice new phase. It’s, of course, challenging to do everything yourself, it’s more responsibility. I was a 100% freelance musician for three years up until last year then I just couldn’t make it work financially anymore, so I also have a very full-on full-time job alongside trying to run a record label, releasing music, promoting it and touring, but I think that’s a reality for a lot of musicians these days.”
Tell us more about your label, Dagen er ødelagt. Its name translates to ‘The Day Is Ruined’, which is an interesting title for sure! Where did that come from?
“At first it was my friend, Ola Djupvik’s [from the Norwegian bands Pom Poko and Shiner] label that he started to release his own music with. We were out celebrating one of our friends’ birthdays and after a few beers I was like, ‘Do you ever need any help with [the label]? You should let me help.’ We mostly release things that we’re creatively involved with, and a lot of the music that Ola produces. The Day Is Ruined has a very ironic, tongue-in-cheek vibe, it’s us admitting that the music industry is kind of fucked. Our whole goal is to be the label that we would have wanted to sign to when we were 21; we’ve signed a lot of up-and-coming bands, we have a band called Pachinko, a band called Uironisk Distanse that releases music in Norwegian that is great. We wanted to be a safe home.”
Let’s talk about the first two singles Sløtface has put out through the label, starting with ‘YES CHEF’ This one explores pressures and perfectionism we might face as creatives. Aside from the label, how else do you like to rebel against these pressures?
“That song in many ways is the bridge from ‘Film Buff’ into the next things that we were doing. It’s inspired by the TV show The Bear and Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential. I think there are so many similarities between different creative outlets whether it’s cooking, being a stand-up comedian, or writing music… A tiny rebellion is that we always have our imagination and fiction. When ‘YES CHEF’ came out I wasn’t totally ready to step back into feeling all of my feelings all the time and I needed a couple months of working on new stuff to be able to go back into the very brutal honesty of where we are now.”
Your latest single ‘FOR THE BOYS’ is dedicated to the men in your life. We need to spotlight positive male role models right now more than ever. What drove you to write this song?
“It’s a song that I wanted to write for a while and I couldn’t really find a way until I started writing down conversations that [my friends and I] were having verbatim. It was inspired by staying up late and talking to my male friends, and I think there’s a gap in pop culture where we don’t write that much about platonic male-female friendships, and I wanted to write something that filled that space for me. It’s also the starting point for the new songs that we’re working on now that’ll be coming out this year. I wanted to honour the me of 10 years ago with the way the song was written, but I also wanted to comment on how our feminism has changed. I wanted to honour the topics that we wrote about at the beginning but also wanted to see them through a new lens… It’s also a kind critique of some of the feminist spaces I’ve spent my adult life in. Feminism for me is that everyone’s free from gender roles, I want everyone to feel loved and accepted for who they are. I was really scared to release this song because there’s a rhetoric, especially online, where we’re like, ‘fuck all men!’ Sometimes I subscribe to that sense of humour and rhetoric, but I think it’s also more nuanced. Nuance is always really hard to communicate through music but we’re gonna keep trying.”
We’re always evolving our relationship with feminism. You’ve definitely touched on this before with songs like ‘I Used To Be A Real Piece Of Shit’ from ‘Film Buff’.
“Yeah, that’s the story of this band; it’s me coming to terms with the different ways you can be a feminist and the way it’s changed as I’ve gotten older.”
Going back to the friendships that you have, now more than ever a lot of us are realising how important friendship is, and community as a whole. What has being a musician has taught you about those two things?
“I’m really lucky that I’ve gotten to spend time with band mates who are also friends [and to] have that close circle around me… I think like a lot of people my age, like early 30s millennials, are thinking a lot about friendship. My band mates are important, and the people I work with are important, my partner who I live with is important, but friendship is also important, and you have to kind of work at it to make it a priority in your life, but it’s worth it. It’s hard to make new friends as you age and to not feel weird about not having friends if you haven’t prioritised it.”
What can you tell us about the next singles you’re working on?
“There’s a lot about friendship, a lot about being a millennial, but it’s definitely more diary-esque. Embracing the fact that I’m not 21 anymore is something I have a lot of feelings about and I’m writing a lot about being a woman in our genre over the age of 30. It’s a sexist industry but it’s also an ageist industry, so I’m writing for the age we are and trying to come to terms with what it means to be my age and still try to be in a band. I have amazing role models who are women that are older than me; I love St. Vincent, Shirley Manson, Beth Ditto from Gossip; it’s not that they don’t exist, I just feel like I’m looking around for those role models more than I have been for a while.”
You’re coming back to the UK for some shows in February. How do you think those shows will be different from the ones you played last time? Can we expect to hear any unreleased songs?
“We’re working on unreleased stuff to add to the set list. The last week we spent playing those shows to the school kids, [we were] digging out some catalogue gems. It will definitely still be pretty ‘Film Buff’ focused because we had just released that record while we were still touring in the UK so people hadn’t had a chance to listen to it, but there will be some old things for old fans and the new songs. Playing ‘FOR THE BOYS’ live is a very special moment so I’m excited about that. We’re bringing Gen And The Degenerates with us, we’re gonna do some fun stuff to try to lean into friendship. Anybody that wants to know more about that can follow our newsletter where we’ll be doing some fun stuff leading up to those shows.”
For anyone else who’s in a band and is thinking of going more DIY or launching a label, what advice would you pass on to them?
“Just do it. If you want to make a change or you think you’d be happier being more in control, it’s [easier] these days to do everything yourself. It is also work, which is why I like doing it with my friend Ola. It’s a good excuse to hang out and release music we’re passionate about. But my biggest advice? Don’t wait.”
