At the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, social isolation caused a sharp increase in traffic to pornographic websites. What should have been a moment of exponential growth for executives in this industry became a crisis, thanks to the strengthening of the anti-pornography movement around the world. During this same period, the London-based band Femegades , and now they are giving an anthem to this cause with the EP Pornsick .
The idea to create the band arose from the existing musical partnership between Kat (bass) and Tom (guitar). The duo shared a common vision: to create music to raise debate about crucial socio-political issues, something that became possible after meeting Em (vocalist) and Simone (drums). With influences from punk, grunge, and 1990s indie, the group delivers direct lyrics with profound analyses of women's experiences today, ranging from consent to male violence.
The EP Pornsick , the debut work of Femegades, was released on September 22nd and addresses different feminist issues throughout its five tracks – even though the band doesn't define itself in that way.
The title track addresses recent allegations against major pornography companies accused of failing to remove videos of real sexual abuse from their websites and lacking age verification tools to effectively prevent the publication of criminal content on their platforms. This is described Traffickinghub petition , which has already garnered over 2.3 million signatures demanding the closure of Pornhub and holding the executives behind one of the world's largest pornography websites accountable. According to the BBC , researchers also point out that pornographic content encourages sexism.
In an interview with Wikimetal , the band explained their creative process, inspirations, and objective in addressing very sensitive and often ignored issues, even by the movements that should be defending them.
WM: The band's goal is to talk about causes they consider important. Do you share the same political views?
Em: I'm not sure if there's a collective political view [in the band]. And I don't think there necessarily should be. Each topic can be presented on its own merits. It's about taking both sides, right and left, into consideration.
Kat: I know that Tom and I think differently, for example, but we also have some points of intersection on certain topics. However, some topics are simply very easy to decide!
WM: And the band's name, is it inspired by the word "renegade"?
Tom: I think the name was my idea, actually! I remember we were trying to think of something, something that linked to the message, and we didn't get anywhere. I had the album 'Renegades of Funk' in my head and I thought, 'What if we're Femegades of Punk?'. And Kat said: just 'Femegades'. It's probably the first band I've been in and I'm not ashamed of the name!
WM: What are your main influences and idols in music?
Simone: I think we all grew up listening to punk rock and skate punk from the 1990s. I don't have idols, but I really admire Antonio Sanchez as a drummer.
In: I am a mix: Ramones, The Donnas, AFI, Smashing Pumpkins, Phoenix and more.
Kay: Courtney Love.
Tom: AFI and Ramones, yes! Courtney Love, no! What were we even talking about disagreeing with?! Kathleen Hanna, Stevie Nicks, Nirvana for sure.
WM: Is it correct to say that Femegades is a feminist band?
Em: I think Femegades is a band that talks about things that are happening in the world and that need to be heard, whether it's feminism or anything else. It may be the fact that, at the moment, most of the topics are related to women's rights and feminism, but we always hope to be able to deliver music that simply has an impact on people.
WM: What is the creative process like for you guys?
Tom: It starts with the music. When we're ready for the vocals, often the first version will just be a model to then apply a theme on top of. We have some ideas for themes, it can be just a phrase or something that scans well [the subject], that will spark that music and the connection to the theme.
WM: The EP cover has a color palette similar to the Pornhub logo. What was the idea behind that, and why is this theme so important to the project?
Em: It's just a coincidence that, around the time we wrote "Pornsick," they deleted about 8 million videos because they had no idea if the people in them had consented or were over 18.
Tom: We were banned from advertising on all social media at some point because of the art. So we're certainly doing something right!
WM: “Leash” is a great song about male violence and femicide, I loved the reference to Alice Cooper’s “Only Women Bleed.” Do you think rock and punk talk enough about these themes?
Em: Thank you! There’s always room to talk more about it. It’s important to use your voice to send positive messages out there.
Simone: I think punk rock and punk in general has always supported the idea of equality, human rights, and freedom of expression. From Satanic Surfers to Fugazi, humanity and the psychology of the soul have become more understandable.
Tom: I think today's music is in a bubble. So it becomes even more important to challenge the status quo now and not just write about what you know will be well-received. “Only Women Bleed” was released in 1975. The frustrating part is thinking about how much has really changed since then?
WM: How does Femegades plan to dismantle sexism, starting with “Pornsick”?
Kat: It’s important that bands use the platform they have to talk about these issues and close the loop by doing something about it. Bringing people together through music, keeping the discussion going, making people think. There are also many excellent charities and organizations helping people, I think our job is to try to get these messages and themes to people who aren’t already thinking about them.
In: Yes, we're just asking the questions. If we can write a song that sounds great and someone is listening, there's a good chance we have lyrics that really hit the mark. Maybe that's how change happens. One person, one question at a time.
WM: Is the future of rock and punk female?
Kat: It's whatever you want it to be!
Simone: I think the future lies in preserving this delicate balance of collaborative work.
Em: Yes. [laughs] We're excited to see how this develops.