Colourful costumes and not-safe-for-work lyrics
As part of the NEoN at Night party on Saturday 11 November, Fallope and the Tubes will be bringing their colourful costumes, not-safe-for-work lyrics, and sense of YOLO fun to West Ward Works. Blogger Ana Hine caught up with the group.
Do you each make your own costumes? Where do you source the materials from?
Yes, we make our costumes, we are artists you know. We source materials from anywhere from Cotton Print Factory (Big Shout Out!) to the skip.
How would you describe your brand of feminism?
Not sure “brand” would be our word of choice here, it feels quite prescribed and rigid. We’d hope our relationship with feminism is more like a conversation and that it will constantly evolve in response to new circumstances and new information… continual self-improvement is our goal, how about you?
Srsly tho, thinking about how the band’s activities reflect our relationship with feminism is good for our brains, thanks for asking. Basically we think that male protagonist culture is a huge drag and that while female protagonist culture would be loads of fun for a while it would inevitably at some point also become a huge drag. We think there needs to be more value placed on democracy, diplomacy, open-ness, collaboration, intuition, play and all the things that women have become pretty fluent in over the eons.
How does the internet and social media affect what you do? Do you think Fallope and the Tubes would exist in a non-digital age?
We’d probably get a lot more done. We’d probably be less vain. Internet is great for rousing a rabble however.
What is a ‘witch sister’ and how does someone become one?
It’s a self-defining position; say you are a witch sister and POOF you are one. It usually helps to find another, sisterhood being relational and all.
What’s been the most fun performance that you’ve done so far? And what’s been the most embarrassing?
Each performance has its own unique flavour of embarrassment, usually comes when catching the eye of someone you fancy in the crowd whilst struggling to remember a three-chord riff and screaming about orgasms and with the other eye you catch sight of your own mother.
What are you looking forward to about NEoN Digitial Arts Festival 2017?
Returning to our spiritual home of Dundee (we all studied at DOJ at some point or another over ten years or so) and hopefully ripping the city a new one. Also we always love performing alongside other artists.
Is it true that you live together ‘off the grid’? What does that mean?
Not true, we have flats and homes in cities and villages with electricity supply AND plumbing (phew!). We have done a couple of residencies together ‘off-grid’ which means not connected to mains water/power. We have spent time together in places like Sweeney’s Bothy, Inschriach Bothy and a wee bunkhouse on the Isle of Kerrera aka the Cradle of Life – Google it. We spent those weeks together writing horrible hybrid Bothy ballad/punk songs fuelled on wine and the meat of molluscs.
What motivated you to take up performance art? Do you have any advice for aspiring performance artists?
The definition of ‘aspiring’ is “directing one’s hopes or ambitions towards becoming a specified type of person. ‘an aspiring artist’.” You’re already that person, friend. Carpe diem, embrace your best self! YOLO.
The joy of making performance art is all about putting yourself in all of its true human fleshy form in the spotlight, the risk of failure, ridicule, the risk of SUCCESS – it’s all there for the taking. It’s joyous, it’s terrifying, it’s real, live and responsive to its environment. Sharing all this within a group of people who care for one and another, who support and spur one and other on is truly m a g i c a l.
