In bed with VALERIE, August 2005

Without wanting to make any kind of ranking, VALERIE are the most exciting riot-punk-disco-terrorist band in the dirty world of queer indie... and yes, beyond. The reason why the musical press (whether new or express), as well as most labels, are ignoring VALERIE is a mystery, proving as much the lack of guts of the former as the guttedness of the latter. Yes, I guess you're starting to have an idea of who the real heroins are by now... Their live acts are as exciting as their (too few) recordings and their lyrics sharp, fun and witty, bouncing on stripped, efficient rhythm-ridden melodies. This 3-piece should be featured in next edition of She's A Rebel, There's a Lesbian in the Pit or the number 3 of Angry Women in Rock... but while we wait, here comes an apetizer, under the form of a short mail interview with Jo (Valerie's front singer/shouter/pogo queen) after they played the Unconventional D.I.Y Convention in Oslo, last May.

OvaryAction: Why the name Valerie?
Valerie : Yeah damn Courtney Love, for beating us to it!  And 'The Sleater-Kinney Appreciation Society' or 'The Kathleen Hanna's', would have been way too obvious.  We are called 'Valerie' after Valerie Solanas, but we've always been such a lazy band, so it's kind of fitting that we've gone for the shortened version.  Being just called 'Valerie', leaves us open to interpretation a bit.  Some people just think we're big Steve Winwood fans, not art assassins!

OvaryAction: Did you start life in an indie club?
Valerie : It wasn't as Monkey-esque as it sounds...or maybe it was. Valerie were a fourpiece originally and we all met, bonded, argued, fell over and formed a band at Manchester's only gay-indie night, 'Poptastic'.  Our band roles were kind of decided by what limited appuratus we owned.  Vix had a guitar and knew her way around a Belly album or two.  Elvis had around three drums and could pound for England.  I think Nick had a bass already, and the worlds coolest Miffy bib.  Which meant i drew the short straw!  I didn't own the stylophone at that point, which meant i was lead singer/shouter.  Basically we fell into music!

OvaryAction: How do you write songs?
Valerie :We are really lyric, rather than music led.  We generally write a song and then think about the music.  We tend to write songs individually, sometimes about shared experiences or often just about things that annoy us.  However, "Tokyo Girls" was a combined effort.  It's about these two Japanese girls who used to live in Manchester.  They were always out at gigs or at 'Smile', they were kind of legendary in our eyes.  They came to a lot of Valerie gigs and after one of our shows uttered the immortal line, "You guys, you guys, you always excite us", and the rest just followed. We are still in touch, one TG has gone back to Japan, the other was last seen selling beer in a suburb of Manchester.

OvaryAction: What is the question you've always wanted to be asked?
Valerie :There's two!  The first is, 'Valerie, would you agree that you are the finest band to come out of Manchester since 'The Smiths'? And the second would be 'Valerie, can we sign you'? .

Discography :
All My Heroes Hate Me EP/ backed with Ay Karumba, Everything Happens When i'm Not There & Olympian Cool. 7 inch. Switchflicker records.
Viva La Diva Compilation.  Featuring Tokyo Girls / Electrobeats.  10 inch.  Irrk.
Sonic Mook "Hot Shit" Compilation.  Featuring Popstar.  CD/LP.  Mute
Debut Album...release TBC.  Working Title " Less Singing.  More Drinking."  Switchflicker.

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