Get to know kickass band, Sweetie
Our chat with Rikki, drummer from Sweetie band
1. Who's who in the zoo
Lily (28) is on lead vocals and guitar, Lucy (26) is our lead guitarist, Janae (24) is on vocals and bass, and Rikki (28) is on drums.
2. When did Sweetie band form, and how did you start making music together
2020 lockdown. Lily and I were living together in lockdown 1.0, full of heartbreak and with plenty of time and energy to kill, so we decided it was time to learn some instruments. Lily enlisted Dom from Bored Shorts to teach her guitar in return for Thai food. I was gifted a broken electric drum kit that she had put together wrong, so things naturally went pretty well straight off the bat. Then we asked the best drummer we knew if she would learn bass and join the band. Then Lucy joined as our gold-star "person who has played their instrument for more than two months" lead who holds everything together.
3. What's the meaning behind the name "Sweetie."
The name "Sweetie" is definitely tongue-in-cheek. For me, it's a bit of a fuck you to anyone who has ever been condescending towards me on the basis of my gender. It's a way of reclaiming a word that has put us down and using it to build ourselves up.
4. Describe your genre in 3 words
Devo Country Punk.
5. Favourite part about playing music
For me it’s live shows. Live shows are great, because it's all about energy over technicality, which is a huge win for someone who is new at their instrument. I make a lot of mistakes, and sometimes things go wrong, like I’ll accidentally knock over part of my drum kit half way through a song, but I find it’s those mistakes that make a set memorable and more fun to watch and more fun to play.
6. Who are your biggest influences
Goat Girl, PJ Harvey, Matteil, Body Type, Megafauna, Angel Olsen, Chastity Belt and Haim to name a few. We also can’t make it through a single band practice without Lily talking about how much she loves Parquet Courts. She also made a playlist of our most listened to songs whilst we were writing and recording our EP, which is up on our spotify. It’s a very powerful and emotional listen so put your seatbelt on first.
7. What’s in store for the future of the band
Our debut EP comes out early next year, through Blossom Rot Records, which we are all incredibly excited about after a really positive experience releasing our first single, but Lily has a second lockdown’s worth of new content that we’ve started adding to our set, so you can bet that EP won’t be our only release next year.
8. What do the National Parks mean to you?
Does being in nature inspire creativity?
Definitely. I have recently moved a little further out of Sydney so I am very much clip-clopping around on my “I don’t live in the city anymore” high horse, but I think most people in Australia are very lucky to be within a reasonable distance from a big natural expanse, be it an ocean or a desert, which I think can be incredibly calming through recognising the comparative insignificance of a 6pm deadline next to a vast and unforgiving landscape.
Is giving back important to you?
Of course. We are all very lucky in that we live very privileged lives and have access to so many resources around us in order to achieve almost anything that we set our minds to, but in an age of overconsumption that often comes at the cost of the environment, which is often unavoidable (for example, driving up to band practice each week). That’s why it is so important to try and even out the scales at every opportunity, and this can be either on a grass-roots level, or through supporting people and businesses who have dedicated themselves to creating solutions in a climate crisis. Always important to do your research though.
Do you think it’s important to preserve and protect our land?
Definitely. I think it’s our responsibility, one that is being widely ignored by most of the people who have the power to make a difference, but that is why every small move really counts. We have also had a lot of conversations over the years about meaningful change, because it can be really difficult to understand what is actually impactful and what is purely benefiting your social capital on instagram, and I feel like the difference is in education, and a willingness to learn, rather than a willingness to be the saviour. With that in mind, we feel as though the best place to learn is from the traditional custodians of this land, who are a wildly undervalued resource, and we really need to get our act together (as a nation) and do some serious listening if we are to progress.
Catch Sweetie live at our Newport Flagship store as they support Our National Project for a live gig on Saturday 4th December.
You can follow them at @sweetiebandie
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