We got in touch with Hard Of Hearing favourite Rebecka Reinhard ahead of her three-date co-headline tour with Dogeyed and a special International Women’s Day show in London.
You’re off on a co-headline tour with Bristol band Dogeyed soon, what experiences have you had with playing in Bristol, Brighton and London before now?
Rebecka: “Bristol is definitely one of our favourite towns to play, our first gig we were terrified, didn’t think anyone was gonna show but Josh and Dan from Breakfast Records who were putting on the night have a great rep and I think loads of people came down just for that. So we ended up playing in front a pretty decent crowd, all silent and just staring at us, I had no idea if they hated us or were just polite. So we didn’t expect to be asked for an encore, we had already played our encore (cause we really wanted to play it) and we ended up playing a song called No Release where my drummer goes absolutely mental at the end and the cymbals went flying everywhere, great show. We also played all-dayer-festival Breakfest in Bristol on a big ship and that was one of last year’s highlights; best vibes, all the bands were actually amazing – only bummer was missing Dogeyed’s set because we had to soundcheck. Hence REALLY looking forward to this tour!
Brighton is gonna be our first time ever, I’m equally excited to play as I am trying to get an hour in the sauna on the beach with a swim in the sea. Best cure for a hangover.
London we’ve played quite a lot, so the experiences range from great to worse but it’s always great playing the more D.I.Y. shows in London. A favourite on the scene who’s both a joy to watch and work with is Tugboat Captain. Like Breakfast Records they give me hope about the British indie scene, there’s so much heart and solidarity which is hard to come by in London in general.”
Your London show falls on International Women’s Day, was that planned? What does the day represent to you?
Rebecka: “It quickly became a dream plan when the possibility of a joint Dogeyed London show on March 8th first came up. I’m a big fan of their raw, lush, fuzzy, warm, heart-wrenching music but also the band is such a bunch of sweethearts, a cure for macho hetero-bullshit stereotypes within the genre. International Women’s day is a day to be angry and relentless against the patriarchal capitalist society whilst simultaneously struggling for an inclusive women’s movement free from TERF’s (trans-excluding radical feminists). Also the International Women’s day coincides with my birthday so it’s an angry happy day which is one of my favourite emotional combos.”
How do you feel women are represented with the music industry today?
Rebecka: “I feel a like lot of non-binary and female artists are doing one hell of a job representing themselves today. The diversity of artists being seen and heard keeps growing which is empowering as well as inspiring. It’s still a struggle being taken seriously sometimes, and the further you are from being a straight, white cis-man the harder that struggle is but there’s a sense of community between us outside of that norm that I wouldn’t want to be without. And the organisations behind that, like She Shreds, Loud Women etc. they work like safe spaces for me, where I can turn to gather strength.”
You’ve got some new music coming soon, can you tell us about it?
Rebecka: “Yes! I’ve recorded and produced an album that will see the light of day in 2020. The first singles should be coming in April/May already and for the people who have only heard my previous recordings, it’s gonna be a somewhat evolved sound. What used to be a lofi singer/songwriter dream pop project has now taken on an alt indie rock shape with full backing band. We’re already playing a lot of the unreleased material at our live shows so that’s a good way of getting to know the new songs.”
You’re living back in Stockholm at the moment, can you give us an idea of what the music scene is like there?
Rebecka: “Oh I wish I had good things to say. But tbh I haven’t yet made an effort to seek out the local indie scene which I’m at least hoping is out there somewhere. It’s looking pretty grim in general with a lot of amazing venues closing down because of noise complaints.”
What does Rebecka Reinhard have planned for 2020?
Rebecka: “Lots of gigs, some festivals (one in north of Sweden in July called Midnight Light Festival because the sun doesn’t set), releasing loads of new material and starting the recording of the next album!”
Tell us how your collaboration with Blackaby came about on ‘Sweet Lemonade’.
Rebecka: “When I still lived in London I was lucky enough to cross paths with Will who was just getting a band together for his solo project Blackaby. I joined on guitar and backing vocals and it was a total dream playing music for Blackaby, LOVE the songs! The harmonies were always a big part of it and we think our voices were a great match so I’m doing bv’s on a lot of the recordings even if I’m no longer part of the live band. Can’t wait to have Will open the night at SET on Sunday – such a birthday treat!”
Catch Rebecka Reinhard, Dogeyed and Blackaby tonight at SET Dalston. Tickets here.
By Karl Johnson