RINGLETS: No Fixed Position, Just Forward Motion

INTERVIEW | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC

Interview with Arabella Devine (she/her) | @_ringlets | Interviewed by Mads Bradley (she/her) | @shutupmads 

Debate Mag: What’s something about the music industry that’s surprised you since being part of the scene and growing as a band? Arabella: Oh, there’ve been a few surprises for sure. One thing I’d been made aware of recently is how people want to assume that if there’s one female member in the band, then she must be a girlfriend of one of the guys. 

I knew it was a thing that existed, but I was naive to assume that it wouldn’t be the case. I felt like the window had passed, where I’m like, surely people are just seeing me as a bass player now. 

Yeah, it’s a bit problematic, but it’s also kind of funny to assume that if there’s a girl in the band, then one of the guys must be getting some…and they are! Getting some good bass playing, I mean.

Debate Mag: As the band’s bass player, how has it been bringing Leo in on drums? Arabella: It’s been great having Leo come on board. Of course, I was nervous about whether we’d have that creative chemistry, but I just had a good gut feeling about him. He brings really awesome energy, onstage and offstage. I feel like he balances us out a bit. It’s still evolving, but it’s been good.

Debate Mag: Laszlo writes the horoscope column for Debate Magazine. Do you see the band as having its own kind of “birth chart”?

Arabella: Laszlo definitely has a birth chart for our band. I’m not familiar with it, but I like how he explains things through that lens, about each of us, or about where we’re heading. I believe there’s a coherence; our charts flow with each other really well, but maybe there’s also some healthy tension…a lot of similarities and incompatibilities, in a good way!

Debate Mag: How does that shape the way you work and write together? Arabella: We have great creative chemistry, we were lucky to find that so quickly, but we’re lucky to also have a good amount of friction between us, which I think is really needed for collaborative music - the push and pull and challenging of ideas to land where it’s meant to. 

Debate Mag: Your bass lines feel really melodic and unpredictable. Is that something you’re consciously shaping, or does it come from instinct? Arabella:

It’s not something I’ve been conscious of at all; I have no idea where it’s come from. 

I’m just playing what I’m hearing, and I guess a lot of the time, I am kind of going against what the bass should do, or is expected to do. 

But I have a lot of freedom to go in and out, with Laz and Leo holding it down.

The only thing I’m aware of is writing lines that are stimulating to play live, while still serving the music. 

Looking back on writing the last album, there may have also been an element of pushing my ideas to be heard. I had a really intense reaction to being seen as the “token chick”, with people thinking I’m there to look a certain way or tick a box. I really wanted to challenge that, so I let myself go full force and not hold back.

Debate Mag: How is a classic Ringlets song built when you’re in a writing session together? Arabella: Most often, Laszlo brings in the bones of an idea, then we all put ourselves into it.

We’re now wanting to play around with other methods of writing. Leo said to me the other day, “You can't make experimental music if you're not also experimenting with the method in which you make the music.” That really resonated.

It’s hard to remember the starting point of every song, but I know for ‘Sucking on a Surly Pout’, that started with a bass line, but our regular formula is that Laszlo will bring in an idea, and we evolve it from there. Laszlo is a freak and is constantly creating. 

Debate Mag: What has been a memorable studio moment that you've shared as a band? Arabella: The last time we were in Roundhead recording our upcoming single, ‘Hard Evidence’. 

We had this day where we didn't have a solid idea of what we were trying to do. It felt very spontaneous, and we wanted to explore different textures and not limit ourselves. So we tried to record everything really quickly, so we could spend most of the time playing around with ideas. It was pretty memorable when we got out a trash can to record percussive textures, where coins and metal trinkets were thrown into it. Nothing about it felt controlled.

Debate Mag: Are there moments live where you feel the crowd really connect with you? Arabella: It’s been really cool recently having people sing along to ‘Heavenly Wheel’.That’s something I could never get used to; it’s always a surprise. Hearing it being sung and then realising that it’s not coming from Leith.

Debate Mag: Do you have a favourite show you’ve played so far, and why?

Arabella: Our recent summer festival shows, particularly over New Year's. We went from RNV to Twisted Frequencies, which was the craziest contrast. At Twisted Frequencies, the stage had flooded the day before we performed, so Laszlo performed with one gumboot on and one bare foot because he couldn't use his pedals otherwise. There was also fire dancing and hula hooping in the back. It just felt like a really bizarre contrast from our music. That whole week felt so far from reality, but it was great.

Debate Mag: How does being part of Aotearoa’s music scene shape the way bands here make and think about music?

Arabella: We’re so integrated because we’re so small. It’s not like there’s a punk scene and a pop scene and a dance scene; it all flows into each other. Artists here aren’t limiting themselves to what they’re supposed to be or sound like. There’s also this isolation element, like being cut off. I think there’s just this organic grit here.

Debate Mag: The Rolling Stones Australia has called you a post-punk band. Would you agree with this? Arabella: We’ve never felt tied to any genre. Post-punk is such an umbrella term that doesn't define you anyway. We’ve never had a genre in mind while creating. If anything, I see us as a live band, and that impacts the writing. I’m quite comfortable with people defining it how they want. There will always be post-punk elements, whatever that even means, but I think we are moving towards something else, stay tuned, I guess!

Interview with Arabella Devine (she/her) @_ringlets 

Interview by Mads Bradley (she/her) @shutupmads