The Hedrons Do Scotland Proud

Since forming in their native Glasgow, Scotland in early 2005, The Hedrons have quickly climbed the ladder of success. A series of very catchy power-pop singles, including “I Need You,” “Heatseeker,” and “Couldn’t Leave Her Alone,” the release of their debut album, One More Won’t Kill Us, earlier this year, and a relentless touring schedule (they have already toured North America twice this year) have helped grow The Hedrons’ audience by leaps and bounds. The band has scored stacks of rave reviews, including one from the UK music publication NME that stated that The Hedrons are “an all-girl four-piece who sound like Patti Smith meets Penetration with a dash of early Blondie and a smidging of The Runaways...you have to hear this band!”

The Hedrons, pictured above, left to right, are: Soup, drummer; Gill, bassist; Tippi, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist; and Rosie, lead guitarist. Rosie once said of the band’s sound, “If you listen to us, you wouldn’t realize it was girls until Tippi starts singing—you’d think it was a bunch of big hairy guys playing.”

I have seen The Hedrons perform four times in New York City (I wrote about those performances here), and I can say without hesitation that the rave reviews they have received are well deserved. They are a fantastic live band. Soup said of The Hedrons’ onstage, “For four girls, we make one hell of a noise.” That wonderful “noise” will be on display at several upcoming gigs in Scotland, including a recently announced Christmas show on December 23rd at their home base, King Tut’s in Glasgow. If you have the opportunity to see The Hedrons play live, definitely take advantage of it. You’ll walk away from the gig as a fan for life.

I recently had the very good fortune to conduct an e-mail question-and-answer session with The Hedrons. Quite a few topics were discussed, including the band’s origins, plans for the future (including their upcoming second album), and their work with the Nordoff-Robbins music-therapy charity. We even discover which of Glasgow’s two Scottish Premier League soccer clubs Rosie supports. Here’s how it went:

POWERLINE A.D.: How did the band come together?

Soup: We were all playing in different bands but using the same rehearsal studio in Glasgow. We knew each other just from hanging around at the studios as we spent a lot of time there. It was good to see other girls who played so that was how we got talking initially. After a while we decided to jam together for fun and when we did, it worked out brilliantly and we decided we should form a band. The rest, as they say, is history!

POWERLINE A.D.: Where and when was your first gig? And how long was it after the band formed?
Soup: The first gig was in the Barfly, in Glasgow. I think it was June 2005 and we were trying to keep it low key as we’d only been rehearsing songs since March 2005 and wanted time to get ourselves tight. Word got out that an all-girl punk rock band would be playing at the Barfly that night and when we went on stage the place was mobbed, and there was a great review in the paper two days later!

POWERLINE A.D.: What were each of you doing before joining the band?
Soup: We were all playing in bands based in Glasgow, playing gigs constantly. For example, Tippi was in a 60s garage band playing everything from John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley to Alex Harvey and obscure Kinks B-sides. It was all good training for the Hedrons that was yet to come since those steady blues beats are needed in punk too!

POWERLINE A.D.: How did you settle on the name of the band? Since The Hedrons’ singer is called Tippi, is the band’s name something of an homage to the film actress Tippi Hedren?
Soup: Ahh…if we tell you, your computer will self destruct. Tippi’s name is Tippi that much is true!

POWERLINE A.D.: How did Gill come to join the band?
Soup: Our original bass player hurt her neck badly in a car accident just as we were about to embark on our third UK tour, so we had to get a new member in immediately. We had seen Gill playing really well at a couple Glasgow venues with various bands and were really impressed, so we contacted her via MySpace (something we are very active with). She managed to learn the songs in a week and hit the road the following week! It’s all been a whirlwind for her and life as a Hedron suits her down to a ‘t’!

POWERLINE A.D.: Who are your musical influences and in what way did they influence you?
Tippi: All of our influences range from Led Zeppelin to Muse, the Foo Fighters to the Rolling Stones. We’re all into different bands and I believe that's what makes us click musically. If we all liked the same bands, we would end up wanting to sound like them. Our musical tastes influence us in every way, from grooves to riffs, to how we perform live, and how we write our songs.

POWERLINE A.D.: The booklet that comes with your CD states, “All tracks written by The Hedrons.” Does the band have a main songwriter? What is the songwriting process of the band?
Tippi: We all take ideas into the rehearsal room and work on them. We give everyone’s ideas a chance and every band member adds their own personality to the song we’re working on.

POWERLINE A.D.: The Hedrons are comprised of four attractive young women. Yet, instead of putting a band photo on the front of your CD, you went with the image of a graffiti-tagged brick wall. Was this a conscious choice to keep the emphasis on the music?
Tippi: Looking back now, I suppose it was. We didn’t want our photograph on the cover, because it is all about the music. The graffiti-tagged brick wall is somewhere in a Glasgow back alley and could definitely represent the fondness we have for our native city.

POWERLINE A.D.: The CD is somewhat retro-sounding, seeming more like New York circa 1977 than Glasgow circa 2007. Was this deliberate or merely a happy accident?
Tippi: We recorded the album over the space of eight days in Parklane studios in Glasgow. We decided to record the album live—all of us set up in the same room playing the songs at the same time. We decided to do this as we wanted to create a ‘live and energetic’ sound and didn’t want the record to sound flawless, we wanted to capture the essence of what we are—a live band.

POWERLINE A.D.: Do you believe that your busy touring schedule has helped in increasing the size of your fan base?
Tippi: For us, it’s all about playing live, that’s why we’re in a band. Touring is the only solid way to build a relationship with your audience, and there is nothing better than being on tour and playing a gig every night! If one person comes to see us and likes it, next time round, we hope that they will tell their friends and bring them along.

POWERLINE A.D.: In April of this year, The Hedrons played a benefit in Edinburgh for the Nordoff-Robbins charity. Can you discuss the work that Nordoff-Robbins does and why you feel it is important to support them?
Gill: Nordoff-Robbins is a charity which uses music therapy to stimulate and teach children and adults with a wide range of needs such as mental and physical illness, learning difficulties, physical and sexual abuse, stress and terminal illness. We feel it is extremely important to support this cause as everyone, no matter how ill or disabled, can respond and communicate with music, without any background or training.

POWERLINE A.D.: How important is it for The Hedrons to break big in America?
Gill: America is the largest music market in the world and from visiting twice, it is apparent how vast the country is and how varied music tastes are in different places. We do hope to gain recognition in America and would absolutely love to ‘make it’ there.

POWERLINE A.D.: In The Hedrons’ Video EPK that can be seen on You Tube, a future tour of Japan is discussed. When is the Japanese tour going to take place?
Gill: At the moment, there are no dates finalized. We all really hope to get over there soon, if not by the end of this year, then hopefully the next.

POWERLINE A.D.: Like many other bands in the Internet age, The Hedrons have a considerable Web presence. Can you discuss the importance of the Internet in spreading the word about the band? Do you think the Web is an important tool for bands these days?
Gill: Internet Web sites and online social communities are extremely important for any band nowadays. The likes of MySpace has seen many bands go from unknown to massive in such a short space of time, the reason being these sites are so accessible and user-friendly. It is also an easy way for fans to communicate with their favorite band, which keeps them eager to check up on new releases and gigs. As a fan of many bands myself, I use the Internet regularly as a source of information. Thus, I feel the Internet is a great tool for bands in this day and age.

POWERLINE A.D.: The British band Ash have announced that their recently released album will be their last and that going forward, they will be a singles-only band. They cited the increasing importance of downloading individual tracks as the reason behind the move. Do you see The Hedrons going this route in the future? Or do you still see the album as too much of an important vehicle for your music to completely abandon?
Gill: Currently, we are writing and putting together tracks for a second album. In the future, it really depends how the sales market is doing before we can make any decisions but we would be stupid to not understand that we are in an ever-changing industry and that there is constantly the need for more ways to be innovative in finding alternative ways for fans to consume our music.

POWERLINE A.D.: What has been the highlight for the band so far in 2007?
Rosie: Either T In The Park or the American tour, which I think was very successful. The best gig by far was the Quebec festival where we played in front of about 15,000 people, definitely the biggest gig we’ve ever done.

POWERLINE A.D.: What are the band’s plans for the remainder of 2007?
Rosie: We’re hoping to start work on our second album fairly soon, and start gigging some new songs. And also hoping to get back to the US before the end of the year.

POWERLINE A.D.: Where do you see The Hedrons in five years?
Rosie: Hopefully, if we’re not all in rehab, we’ll still be gigging our wee guts out!

POWERLINE A.D.: Final question: Celtic or Rangers?
Rosie: Oohhhhh...............RANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Interview by John Curley

Special thanks to Kate Smith of No Half Measures for her assistance in putting this Q&A session together.

For further information on The Hedrons, see:
http://www.thehedrons.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thehedrons
http://www.bebo.com/thehedrons