“We just play banger after banger, we’re here for a good time! Politics and the heavy topics we talk about can sometimes make it feel like there’s no hope but the whole point of a Dream Nails show is that you leave feeling galvanised and ready to take on the world.” says Dream Nails’ Anya Pearson.
With the recent release of their second album, Doom Loop, we sat down with Anya Pearson of the London-based political punk group Dream Nails, to talk about everything from the album itself and touring to how the band gives back to the world through charity work and energetic live shows.
Born from a mixture of chaos and friendship and a few drag shows here and there, Dream Nails have established themselves as a political ecosystem and a safe space for trans and queer people who enjoy their music. Although producing vibrant and punchy anthems is always great, it’s not the only thing the band seek out, they want their music to inspire change and provide hope and a community for those who need it most. Doom Loop presents itself as a deeply introspective push back against patriarchal systems in today’s society. Speaking on the album’s key themes, guitarist Anya Pearson says, “Doom Loop means a negative feedback loop and that can be socioeconomic, it used to be more of an economic term or it could be referring to patriarchal systems and negative feedback loops in your mind. Basically, in the album we’ve been exploring themes of masculinity and the patriarchy but also suggesting ways to break out of the Doom Loop and try to find healing and joy . So it’s a bit of a journey throughout the different tracks on the record.”
Since bursting forward from their DIY roots, the band have recently signed with Marshall Records, ushering in a bit of a rebirth for the band. And that’s not the only thing that’s changed with Dream Nails. Working with producer Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, Amyl and The Sniffers and The Fall) Doom Loop dips its finger into all the genre pies and takes elements from heavy metal to R&B, which makes for quite the eclectic mix. Discussing the album’s creation Pearson states, “ I think when we sat down and started writing the album, we knew that we wanted to evolve our sound. So album number one, which was self-titled, was in more of a pop-punk, surf-punk space and we knew that we wanted to explore other genres within punk and even beyond punk, that was an intention that we set for ourselves. And then, on top of that we knew that we wanted thematically for the album to hold together really well and for each song to speak to the next.”
Since the release of Doom Loop. Dream Nails have embarked on a run of in-store shows, which will be followed up by a full-blown UK headline tour and then make their way over to Europe in November. Thinking to how their live events have been so far, Pearson comments:
“On the whole it’s been an incredibly positive response. I think we’re really happy to see how much people like the record because we did take a risk by exploring new territory but there have been some really amazing moments. It was amazing to see the queues of people waiting to get their record signed . We also managed to be charting in the Independent Records Chart and we’ve had some really wonderful critical engagement with the themes of the album and it just seems like everyones really into it and it feels really great to finally let people hear it!”
While creating banger after banger is important to the band, they also want to inspire change and Dream Nails are able to do this through their extensive charity work and engagement with the trans and queer communities, as Pearson explains, “Right from the beginning of Dream Nails, well we started because myself and the other founding member met at a feminist direct action group, so music has always been a vehicle for our politics and we’re nothing without our politics really. We are one of those bands that do engage with our community and actively try to make the world a better place in the things that we do outside of writing and performing songs.”
“We’ve raised funds for Abortion Support Network and this is the second time we’ll be raising money for Medical Aid for Palestine. We also do other work with music charities like Girls Rock London and we’re also currently running a really big project this year called Dreams Of Revolution which is an Arts Council funded project bringing political music and zine making to LGBT+ youths in disadvantaged parts of the UK. We’ve been running all-age shows so that young people can come and we’re talking to them about punk and what it means to be punk and showing them how to make zines. There’s lots of ways that we like to engage with the world around us and I think that’s important especially for political musicians, so that we can make sure we’re giving back what we can because music can be such a force for good.”
But what does it mean to be punk in this day and age? With so many preconceptions about punk and what it is and what it looks like, its true intention can oftentimes be lost, however in true punk fashion, Dream Nails have their own way of defining it, “ Punk is queer, punk is liberation. Punk is kindness and caring for others, punk is community. And yeah, there’s still a rebellious part of everything we do, we’re rebelling against patriarchal structures and oppression in all its forms but it’s also a lot more nuanced than that. It’s also about joy and community and healing.”
Creating so much good and putting that energy out into the world, it’s only natural to think about the impact that Dream Nails have had. Paving the way for creatives now and in the future, their own brand of political queer-punk is something that they will surely be remembered for. “I think we’d be really happy if we inspired lots of other bands to start up, but we know we’ve done that already and we always encourage people to learn an instrument. On these headline shows we will be handing out drumsticks every night to somebody, a woman or non-binary or trans person who’s never had that opportunity and we’ll be saying to them, this is your time. I think that encouraging people to explore making music at any skill level would be a lovely way to leave a legacy as a band.”
Dream Nails will be continuing their UK tour on November 2nd, making their way over to Europe on November 24th. “We’re definitely going to be spreading the word about Doom Loop all over the world, or as much of it as we can!” remarks Anya Pearson.
Tour dates
November
02 Nottingham – Bodega
03 Bristol – Rough Trade
04 London – Omeara
24 Paris – L’International
25 Baden, DE – Werkk Kulturlokal
26 Bern, CH – Rossli Bar
28 Koln, DE – Blue Shell
29 Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang
30 Berlin, DE – Schokoladen
December
01 Langenberg, DE – KGB
03 Munster, DE – LWL Museum
06 Rotterdam, NL – V11
07 Antwerp, BE – Trix
08 Amsterdam, NL – Cinetol
