Cars, tractors and other vehicles are important to the writing process for Adelaide’s feminist, punk rock quartet Stabbitha and the Knifey Wifeys as bassist and vocalist Eb tells me via email. Words apparently come storming to her while driving and even the band’s unique name came to her while driving a tractor (a Simpsons episode reference where Chief Wiggum calls Marge both ‘Stabbitha’ and ‘The Knifey Wifey’).
SATKW just released their first full length album, following the brilliant 2016 effort, Cats Against Cat Calls. Eb told me about the approach they took to the creative process on ‘Worriers’ and the differences to the previous album.
“I guess the main difference in the process of making ‘Worriers’ is when we booked in the recording we only had a couple of songs fully written. So it was a different process in that we were more, almost forced, to write songs rather than have a few up our sleeves that Eb had already written like on ‘Cats Against Cat Calls’. We also had a lot better idea of what we wanted the finished record to sound like and were able to communicate that a bit better to Uptoe (Alex Upton – the Hard Aches).
As far as the creative process goes, there were a lot of lyrics written while driving around in my car, a lot of music written on my couch while being harassed by 2 needy dogs and couple written in our actual rehearsal space. Sass and I (Eb) also consulted each other a fair bit more regarding the lyrics on the album as well and how they were going to fit into the actual songs. I have a tendency to write way too many lyrics for short songs haha.”
SATKW have a lot to say. Which is understandable and much appreciated here at Shouts. While they cover a vast political ground on ‘Worriers’ Eb explained there was the personal stuff that was the toughest to put out.
“There’s a whole lot of basically saying ‘we’ve had enough of your shit’. Whether that be sexism, racism, domestic violence, bigotry or double standards in general. The song ‘Worriers’ is the one that was the hardest to put out there though as I wrote it about how coming out to your parents is fucking terrifying!”
As Eb describes there seems to be quite a decent amount of bands working in Adelaide these days that use their voice responsibly. We at Shouts can agree that there is no lack of protest music coming out of Australia these days as we have recently interviewed two artists out of neighbouring Melbourne (Formidable Vegetable Sound System and Pataphysics). I asked Eb what they wanted to achieve with their music and besides the chance to tour internationally she told me how they want to inspire girls to use their voices.
“…we want help young people, particularly young women, queer/trans/nb kids see that their voices and experiences are important. We want to hear what you’ve got to say and hope our art inspires you to put yours out there too.”
I also asked the band if they had some recommendations and favourites when it comes to protest music. They of course answered the call by name dropping legends like Anti Flag and Bad Religion but also gave a shout out to some fierce, bands that, just like SATKW, scream their lungs out for the voiceless of this world. These include Cable Ties, Against Me, Outright, Gouge Away, Dream Nails and Divide and Dissolve.
When asked what is on the horizon for Stabbitha and the Knifey Wifeys, besides writing music and attending to extra curricular activism Eb told me that they spend a good amount of time to “convince our bosses to give us time off work so we can tour interstate more!”
Let’s just hope exactly that happens. Sponsor the band, let’s spread this protest music and check out their album ‘Worriers’ below.
