Girl Nowhere is an up and coming pop-punk group out of Long Island. This interview holds a special significance to those of us at Shuffle Beat, because our own Emily Racanelli is a part of the group! I interviewed them via email to get a look of what it's like to be a female group coming up through the ranks in one of the biggest cities in the world.
Please introduce yourselves, your role in the band, and a fact about you!
Kirstin: I’ll be introducing Emily, who is our drummer and sometimes guitarist, but never vocalist! She once drove her car over her front lawn in the snow to come pick me up for school because somebody blocked her car into the driveway. It left tire imprints!
Emily: I guess that means I’m introducing Kirstin! She plays guitar and sings (at the same time!). She also writes most of the lyrics and yells at me when I don’t feel like rewriting our demos. A fact about Kirstin is that she can fall asleep pretty much anywhere. One time she slept through an entire Panic! At The Disco concert--while standing up!
Give us a brief history of Girl Nowhere. How did you get started and why did you decide to form a group?
Kirstin: So Emily was in this band and I decided I wanted a piece of that cake— not Emily’s cake! We started the group the day after Warped Tour (this past summer). Every time I’m there I feel like I should be in a band.
Emily: Yeah, that pretty much sums it up! I actually always wanted to be in a band with Kirstin. She’s a great musician and my best friend so it just made sense. The first time we went to Warped Tour together was back in 2013 and that was my “a-ha!” moment persay. I had been asking Kirstin for years about forming a band so you can imagine my excitement when she finally agreed! As far as how we got started as friends, it was back in high school. We have a weird, complicated history but basically Kirstin totally did not like me at first. Eventually I grew on her and now we’re here.
“Persistence is key.” -Kirstin
How did you come up with the name Girl Nowhere?
K: We want fans to figure that out for themselves! If any fan can accurately figure it out, they get a surprise from us!
E: Yeah, everything is so exposed these days, you know? It’s kind of like a game to see if you can guess it! If you know anything about us it should be pretty easy honestly. Good luck!
How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard you?
K: I’d say we are pretty much generic pop-punk. It’s catchy, fun, upbeat music with hard-hitting lyrics.
E: That’s a tough question because we are currently still in the process of developing our sound. Pop punk is definitely where our roots are, so that’s the base for our sound. As of right now, the demos we’re working on are straightforward pop punk, like Kirstin said. When it comes to the EP, we are trying to make a sound that nobody has ever heard before when they think of pop punk. I can’t tell you exactly what I mean by that, but it’s going to be epic!
You live near a market that is quite saturated with up and coming artists. In what ways do you try to stand out?
K: It’s a pretty male-dominated genre, but 2/3 of our band is female, so that definitely counts for something. Also, we have a female drummer, which Emily likes to point out all the time. We do dual vocals with myself and our (tentative) bassist. When it comes to our lyrics, we definitely want to stand out. We want all the energy and catchy melodies of any song you’d hear on the radio, but with the lyrics you find in pop punk songs.
E: Yeah, the female drummer thing is definitely a big deal! Just being female musicians in general is something that will catch people’s attention. There’s a gap in the market for female performers and we are going to fill it. I think we stand out personality wise too. We’re always down to hang out at shows and if you’ve seen any of our Youtube covers, you’d know we’re an outgoing duo and slightly entertaining if I say so myself!
Who are your biggest inspirations, both individually and as a group?
K: So I’m going to tell you who Emily’s inspirations are! She grew up listening to Green Day. Billie Joe Armstrong is a big deal to her and they’re the band that actually inspired her to start playing drums. She loves Brendon Urie because he can play practically every instrument and she wants to be just like him. She’d kill me if I didn’t mention Alexa San Román. Emily thinks she’s super talented and actually just wants to be her. She fangirls literally all the time.
E: Kirstin’s music taste is all over the place. She’s been on an Avril Lavigne kick lately and I know she’s always looked up to her. Avril doesn’t take shit from anybody and neither does Kirstin so it kind of fits. She really loves Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional because he kind of follows that same ambiguous style. Kirstin is a fan of any song that confuses the listener. Basically lyrics that mean something really specific but can be interpreted a billion ways or lyrics that talk about something that actually matters in the world. (That’d be stuff by J. Cole, Kendrick, etc.) That’s the way she approaches lyric writing. When it comes to pop punk, she’s always been into Mayday Parade, You Me At Six, and Senses Fail. It’s a good balance of influences. As a group, definitely Mayday Parade. They’re the first band we bonded over and they have the lyrical depth we’re going for. Also, This Wild Life, Neck Deep and Pierce The Veil and Dashboard Confessional in terms of lyrical inspiration.
Given how many different avenues there are in terms of promotion now, what do you think is the most effective way to get your name out there?
K: It’s all about playing shows. When you play shows, you can network and establish connections with other bands and appeal to their fan bases. It’s the best way to get exposure.
E: Yeah, I definitely agree. Social media is great but word of mouth is so important. It gives people a chance to see us in action and if even one person likes what they hear, they can tell all their friends.
As young women in the industry, do you think you have a unique experience? There are many calling out sexism in today’s scenes. Is that something you worry about or experience?
K: I don’t think we have encountered any sexism yet, just because we’re so new. I think our band started at a good time because everyone is starting to take a stand against sexism. Female-fronted bands like Tonight Alive and PVRIS are asserting a woman’s place in the alternative scene and setting the precedent for up and coming bands like us.
E: I don’t so much worry about it, but I think we can use being a predominantly female band to our advantage because there’s so few female artists in this genre. However, nobody should even care about gender when it comes to this. What matters is how talented of a musician you are. *Kirstin snaps fingers*
What do you guys have coming up? (Music, shows, etc.)
K: We can’t wait to debut all of our new music! We’re always looking to play shows anywhere on the East Coast so hit us up if you know anyone looking for an entertainer!
E: We’d love to actually hop on a tour this summer, so if any bands need an opener, feel free to ask! As far as music, we’ll be recording our debut EP at the end of this year. It’ll be released sometime in winter 2016!
Do you have any advice for any other young people starting out?
K: You should just be open. To change, trying new things, challenging yourself. I think the greatest part of being in a band is that you grow so much as a person. Don’t confine yourself to a little square box. Also, don’t be afraid of stand up for yourself. There’s a lot of sharks out there looking to take advantage of your inexperience and naivety. Take care of yourself and everyone else in the genre. We’re all one big family working towards the same goal so we need to be there for each other.
E: You have to be committed. A band is definitely an investment and it might run you broke in terms of studio time and merch and everything, but you don’t get anything out of it unless you put something in. I promise you, it’s going to be the most worthwhile use of your money. Also, make sure you find the right people. I can honestly say I wouldn’t be doing this with anyone other than my best friend. I tried before and there just wasn’t the same drive to make the band successful. Do what you love with who you love and everything will work out.
Any final words?
K: Have you actually ever met anyone named Mohammed?
E: Buy me food and we can be friends.
Links!
Website: girlnowhere.com
Twitter: @girlnowhereband
Personal Twitters: @KAMgirlnowhere @awkwardkid59
facebook.com/girlnowhereband
Instagram: girlnowhereband
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