Words by Angelika May
Photography by Anya Rose
Penny Dreadfuls are your new source of satirical rock. Part of the London DIY scene, they have built a solid network of post-rock and post-punk enthusiasts. The four-piece band is now about to release their first EP on the 13th of September, which will cement their name in the scene. With influences stemming from Ian Dury and the Blockheads and The Stranglers, their mix of punk rhythms, grunge, and rock, with occasional gypsy jazz twists, makes them a band not to be slept on this year. I caught up with Jett, Inigo, Gabe, and Todd to discuss their new EP ‘...And The Penny Dropped!’, BRAT summer, and death-row meals.
Introduce yourselves, your instruments and your sound.
Inigo I’m Inigo, I play guitar but sometimes sing and scream.
Gabe I’m Gabe, I play a girthy bass, sometimes I scream as well.
Todd I’m Todd, I play the drums.
Jett I’m Jet, I play guitar and do the majority of the screaming / singing / talking. Our sound is chaotic, kind of Half Man Half Biscuit, fun post-punk, post-rock with some Gypsy jazz influenced by Inigo’s dad. Inigo's done a really good job of lifting that into our sound.
What’s the story behind the name ‘Penny Dreadfuls?’
J It was originally a drag name I came up with when I was at university over Covid and was watching a lot of Drag Race.
T Jet blew off every other name idea we had.
J Well, the other options were Fox Hunt, which wasn’t good and Clumsy Fools, but Penny Dreadfuls just sounded right. Penny Dreadful was a Victorian comic book, which you could buy for a penny, it was cheap entertainment and that’s the vibe we go for.
I Also the idea of the comic was funny, supernatural, mystical, ghost and ghoul stories that are really dark but also very funny, we thought it aligns well as we do a lot of ‘story’ songs.
How did you meet?
I Various family connections, I went to university with Jett’s sister.
T Gabe is my best mate’s little brother, I knew him to be a musical genius, so I put him in the band.
J We came together quite serendipitously, we were given a free drum kit which launched the band. Todd hadn’t played drums since school and as soon as we decided to come together as a band this drum kit magically appeared. Thank you Mr.Rogers. From then, we started off like any other die hard garage band.
T In a metal shed.
I We managed to get the best noise complaint, from a guy who lived three doors down. He sent a note through the door, not only saying that what we were playing was ‘trash’, but that he had ‘been making music for thirty years’ and he could hear ‘nothing that was of merit’, and we shouldn’t be bothering people with our ‘rock music’ at 3pm.
T Would he rather 3am?
I We would also have some positive knocks on the garage door, people used to come and sit in to watch us rehearse.
Favourite gig venue to attend in London?
J 100 Club.
Everyone nods in approval.
J I spent a lot of time behind the bar there. It’s got the culture, and it’s family -- big up Ruby Haughton.
Your death-row dinner would be?
T One hundred different variations of gyoza, with unlimited dipping sauces. I would have chicken gyoza, prawn gyoza, pork gyoza, vegetable gyoza.
I Steak and chips.
T You’re such a boring old man.
J Pistachio ice cream.
G A wok full of really good egg fried rice.
T Ice cream before the chair might make you survive, it would cool you down.
I And that is Toddgic.
T Todd’s logic = Toddgic.
How is your BRAT summer going, any plans?
J We’re having an elusive BRAT summer.
G It’s elusive, but feral.
Tell us a little bit about your upcoming EP, any standout tracks?
J We recorded with Will from Tough Cookie, who I met when I was working at Sweet Amps on Mare St, they lent us some very lovely vintage amps to record with. We’ve been joking that we will have the nicest sound out of all of the DIY, bogus punk bands. These 1950s/60s amps have made us sound so polished. Will did a really good job of mixing it, we wanted it to sound live and raw, so we’re refraining from mastering the EP. Our favourite tracks are, firstly ‘Syd Barrett’s Wonky Chair’ - which sums us up the most.
I It’s a very funny song. Jet and I came up with it on the way to Folkstone to collect a bunch of soundproofing kit after the noise complaints, to kill the drive I told him about the story of after Syd lost his marbles he got really into making furniture, but refused to use a ruler, so his house was just full of wonky crap, uneven shelves. We wrote the lyrics for it on the drive back. Another favourite track is ‘Champagne Cocaine’, it’s what we would like to sound like, thrash rock, but it’s not our DOP, it’s the crux of very opulent and decadent rockstar behaviour - that we do not do. The song came from an interview with Alex James (Blur) who said he spent a million pounds on Champagne.
RIP ** you would have loved Penny Dreadfuls…
T Elton John.
I He’s not dead.
T Anthony Bourdain, he would, he was friends with all the Seattle lot, Queens of the Stone Age and we fit that brief.
J My nan on my dad’s side.
Upcoming dates we need to be aware of?
J September 13th for the EP. In terms of gigs we will be organising an EP launch, and maybe a listening party at Sweet Amps.
Pre-save Penny Dreadfuls debut EP here
follow Penny Dreadfuls
Comments