We love new music here in the Londonist Music Dungeon, hopefully that's obvious. One of the big reasons we love new music is that the bands or artists we meet are just that bit more smiley. And if the band are enjoying themselves, it helps us enjoy ourselves that much more. There's no joy (for us, we can't speak for other music writers) in seeing someone up on stage desperate to finish the set so they can sprint off out of the spotlights. Where's the fun in that?
Going to the see The Schla La Las play live is a bit like going to see your good mates play a gig. You can have a bit of a laugh, a bit of a giggle, and know that your mates are doing the same, not taking themselves too seriously. They still play good music, they're just not paralysed by fear so you don't mind going up right up to the front of the stage.
The recorded experience, inevitably, isn't quite the same, but you still get a sense of fun, so mosey on over to our competition to win a copy of the Schlas' EP. You've got until the end of the weekend to get your answers in.
So, without further ado, the interview:
Band name: The Schla La Las
Who's in the band?
Delia, George, Hannah, Katrin, Piney
Describe your sound to us:
Piney: Rock and Roll, plain and simple but artfully done.
How did you all get together?
Piney: Actually Anna Schulte (the original Schla drummer) and I went to see one of Delia’s bands, the A-Lines and they were so good it inspired us to start a girl band! When we started most of the Schlas had never played guitar in our lives, so we’ve come a long way, I’m proud of us!
Where can we hear / see you next?
Piney: SCHLALOWEEN!!! Oh George tell ‘em about Schlaloween, you do the best spooky “bwah ha ha” laugh! It’s gonna be the best Halloween party in London, FACT! I’m so excited already!
George: Schlaloween takes place on Saturday 29th October at a SECRET venue in Camden. There will be live bands and DJs we like, spooky film showings and a BYO booze policy! Check out the news page of our website for more details. Dressing up is strongly encouraged…
What's the big game plan for the band?
Hannah: Get big, sell out, and have outrageous dressing room demands! Wembley here we come…
Who would you most like to support?
George: I just can’t get enough Maximo Park at the moment, so it’d have to be them. Plus they all seem like nice chaps so they’d probably let us ride in their tour bus/drink their rider etc To be honest, we might not offer them that much choice.
Hannh: Interpol, for sure! Though we’d prolly suit an act like Franz Ferdinand a lot better.
Piney: The Hives- five of us, five of them, matching outfits! It’s meant to be…
What's your ultimate label to be on?
Piney: I’d like to be on Rough Trade or XL or Too Pure or Domino, ‘cause I love a lot of the bands on those labels, Sunday Best or Damaged Goods would be a good smaller label to be on!
Katrin: Someone Japanese so we get to travel to Japan
What's the best gig you've ever been to?
George: I saw Beck for the first time at V97 and it changed the way I thought about live music. Literally, my jaw hung open, I was so bowled over. And I wasn’t on drugs or anything! No, really…
Piney: The Truck Festival is always good, every year there is something for everyone, and the whole community pitches in, it’s like a rock ‘n’ roll village fete, I love it!
Hannah: Ask me in November, when I will have witnessed the brilliance that was MOTORHEAD AND GIRLSCHOOL!
Have you ever thrown a TV out of a hotel window?
Piney: Erm… no. But in the States sometimes you’ll find money in the Gideon’s bible in your hotel room, so it’s always worth flicking through the pages. I think that’s why they do it, to make you pick it up. Then you get saved, works for me, hallelujah!
Katrin: No, but I once threw a locker out of my classroom window at school and then had to go see the headmaster. Does that count?
Would you like to?
Hannah: Maybe if I was having a unstable and passionate relationship with Johnny Depp and alcohol.
Any great stories from the road?
Piney: When we played the Roxy World Surfing Championship we stayed in a really nice hostel, it was like Schla summer camp! We each had a bunk bed and got lots of free matching clothes, and it just so happened to be the weekend of the Eurovision Song Contest. So we drank turbo-shandies, ate chips with curry sauce (a first for Hannah Schla) and pretended to be Eurovision judges. George particularly liked Norway, whilst another Schla favourite was the rockin’ granny from somewhere in Eastern Europe.
Hannah: Hmmm. One that involves Katrins bare bum
George: Oh man, I’m still traumatised about that.
Recommend one album to our readers you don't think they will have discovered:
Katrin: Mia (from Berlin not to be confused with M.I.A, who is also great) – ‘Stille Post’ – they’re a female led slightly eighties sounding rock’n roll band
Hannah: Autechre – Chiastic Slide
Piney: Oooo, The Organ – Grab That Gun, I listen to it every day!
George: Clor – Clor. Katrin and I were interviewed on Bestival FM last month and all I talked about, for a whole hour, was how good Clor are. That and Judy Finnegan’s breast. Damn you free Strongbow! DAMN YOU!
Why should Londonist readers go and see you?
Piney: The rock scene seems to lack glamour – like how many boys in t-shirts playing guitar too loud do we need in the world? Sometimes rock bands take themselves entirely too seriously, it’s not a global summit for chrissake, it’s music, it’s entertainment! We make an effort to be glamorous and whilst we take our music seriously we still have fun with it too. You’ll always smile when you see the Schlas. And we always make an effort to bring a bit of glamour the sticky-floored venues that we play.
What's your favourite...
...venue to play In London?
Piney: The Spitz! Good sound, nice people, a lovely space, close to my house (and they have strawberry beer)!
Katrin: Hmm, I still like the Buffalo Bar, it feels like home. But the Spitz were we played the other day is pretty good, too. Fantasy venue – Whatever the LA2 is called nowadays and Brixton Academy
George: I would love to play the Astoria, it has so many memories for me of seeing bands that I love. Plus the Gents toilet bares the legend ‘The Schla la las can see you pee…’
...venue to go to in London?
George: I’ve had LOTS of good nights in the Buffalo Bar
Piney: The Battersea Barge is darling, the people that run it are lovely too. I like the Notting Hill Arts Club too.
...record store?
Piney: Rough Trade… you can find everything and staff are really helpful.
...shop (non-music)?
Piney: Charity shops! I love vintage things and bargains.
George: My favourite shop in London is the £5 shop on Camden Stables Market. I’ve bought so many great clothes there! Co-incidentally, this is my sister’s most hated shop in London, mainly because I’ve bought so many great clothes there. We have very different taste. In fact, she has been known to refuse to leave the house with me, based solely on my choice of outfit.
...market?
Piney: Borough market… I love to snack.
Hannah: Spitalfields, for sure.
...place to people-watch?
Piney: The Curzon Cinema Cafe in Soho.
Katrin: Walthamstow market, or the King’s Road
Hannah: Soho Square, everyone is always in love there. Especially in the spring.
...place to chill-out?
Katrin: London Fields
Hannah: Tin Pan alley, especially the Rare & Vintage guitar shop. I feel very centered and zen with an old jaguar I know I can’t afford on my lap. The place under Virgin Megastore isn’t too bad either, they’ve got some awesome Steve Vai Ibenez’s…..
...place to get lashed?
Piney: The Hat On Wall in Clerkenwell, try a sakitini! Mmm…
Katrin: The slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell
George: It used to be the Dive Bar, RIP.
...place for a post-gig kebab?
Piney: I don’t eat meat, blek! Mushy peas anyone?
Katrin: Beyti on Green Lanes near Clissold Park
Hannah: Just around the corner from the Buffalo Bar, there is a kebab place that does a mean falafel in a really fluffy flat bread. Though it’s so big most of it is usually in my purse the next morning…..
George: Paradise Cottage on Bethnal Green Road does a very delicious late night pizza
...view in London?
Piney: From the top of Primrose Hill
Katrin: From the top of the Gherkin – it was open during ‘London open house’ last year and I queued up for four hours to get up there
George: From my living room window! I can see Canary Wharf from there; it’s beautiful at night.
Hannah: From Delia Schla’s living room window, despite it’s very central location, there is a backyard and you can see grass and squirrels and a cat called Maggy!
...form of public transport?
Piney: Walking
Katrin: Bicycle - oh, hold on- does that count as public transport??
George: The tube. I love it, although I wish it ran later.
What advice would you give Ken Livingstone?
Katrin: To get EVERYBODY recycling - Introduce a system whereby people get charged for the amount of non-recyclable rubbish they produce. They do this in Germany and it works quite well.
Piney: Get rid of those horrid bendy buses and finish the East London Line please!
What London place or thing would you declare a landmark?
Piney: The 24 hour bagel bakery on Brick Lane, mmm… oh and Top Shop at Oxford Circus.
Katrin: The art deco building by the Westway near Paddington – now sadly got ‘Monsoon’ written all over it. But they’re probably the ones who put the money in to restore it, so I forgive them. And the Beckton Alps! And that crazy wonky flyover in Chiswick!
The world is ending in 24 hours. How would you spend your last day in London?
Hannah: On the dancefloor, hell yeah! And I’d prolly wanna make out with someone tasty a bit as well! And I’d prolly spend at least some time in the bathroom..
George: Hannah’s plan sounds fun! Although if she thinks she’s making out with me she’s got another think coming. Depending on how much champagne we’d had of course…
Have you ever been sick on the Tube?
Katrin: Yes, although my best performance yet was spewing over someone’s neck on the top of the 38 bus.
Hannah: Yes, it was the day after a Schla gig on my birthday, and just before a Schla photoshoot.. thank god those photos didn’t turn out.
George No, but I once weed on a train.
Greatest thing ever to come out of London?
Katrin: the miniskirt
Piney: The Schla La Las!!
What advice would you give to someone new to London getting on a night bus for the first time?
George: Sing loudly, stick drawing pins under your nails, do whatever it takes to NOT FALL ASLEEP!
Piney: Get a cab!
If you wrote a song about London what would it be called and what kind of song would it be?
Piney: “My Hometown” – it’s actually half-written already.
And finally...
Sum up London in just one word:
Piney: effervescent
George: BRILLIANT
Katrin: Yes!
