Die Spitz: “Women are raised to be prim, proper, quiet and small, but if you want to be successful, you’ve got to be loud and take up space”

“I have a weaponry collection,” reveals Eleanor Livingston. One of the vocalists and guitarists of Die Spitz, Eleanor’s talking about the origins of the hefty sword that she can be seen brandishing in, among other places, a supermarket and a laundromat during the effortlessly cool and surreal video for recent single Throw Yourself To The Sword. But it could double as a metaphor for her band’s songs, which serve up hard-charging mix of punk, metal and grunge.

“Throw Yourself To The Sword is a song about how you can be living what you think of as an average life,” she explains. “You can be someone small in your head, but you don’t have to be. You can rise against. It’s your world and your job to take hold of it and seize it, and try to make a real change.”

Eleanor and her fellow multi-instrumentalist bandmates – Ava Schrobilgen, Chloe De St. Aubin and Kate Halter – are certainly doing that. Since forming in 2022, the four friends from Austin, Texas have made not just a lot of noise but also generated a buzz that’s resulted in them signing to Jack White’s Third Man Records for the release of their 4/5-rated debut album, Something To Consume.

“Once that opportunity presents itself, you gotta take it,” grins Ava. “So we took it, we ran with it, we worked really hard and now we have an album, which is crazy to think about.”

Ava, Eleanor and Chloe share lead vocal across the 11 songs on Something To Consume, while Ava and Chloe also bounce between drumming duties. This fluid mix is borne partly out of the band’s live shows, which are now delivering a kind of controlled chaos that’s leading to venue upgrades and five-star reviews, but their gigs sound like they began as a bit more, well, just chaotic.

“I started out as the drummer and we played two house-party shows before we got Chloe,” recalls Ava. “We found the right one, first try! It was pretty awkward at first, though, because she’d be beyond the stage and come up and drum a couple of songs.”

“There was talk of me playing ‘rock piano’,” Chloe laughs. “We wanted to be friends, I think, but there wasn’t a clear role for me right away. Honestly, that ambiguity of roles in the first place made it easy for us to be like, ‘Fuck it, let’s just do what we want!’”

“It was pretty hard, though,” adds Ava, “because I wasn’t trained for drumming. I taught myself and so I had the right side of the kit on the left side and the left side on the right side for the longest time. We would have to swap them whenever we switched places and that would just take so much time, it would be this awkward silence with the cymbals clapping around… but I eventually trained myself to drum right!”

A relentless touring schedule also ensured that Die Spitz tightened up their transitions, something that served them well for entering the studio with only 15 days to record Something To Consume. That said, the band still managed to make time to experiment as they continue to forge their unique style and sound.

“On the day that we did Go Get Dressed, we recorded it a different way,” says Ava. “The drums don’t come in till later and they’re very loose. There’s not a heavy beat in it. So, we started with a guitar and we left that whole day to be creative and experiment with whatever sounds we wanted. Kate plays the bass with her violin bow and it sounds really sick. That was that was a really fun day. It was very creatively freeing.”

“I think that freedom comes from our live shows,” says Chloe. “If we didn’t have the live experiences we have had, then I don’t think we would have gotten to that point with recording.”

When asked what live performers they’re inspired by, the band cite a wide range of influences, from Nirvana and Black Sabbath to post-hardcore cult heroes Unwound and mellow alt.rockers Mazzy Star. This melting pot of influences has led to Die Spitz attracting a similarly diverse range of fans, in addition to drawing attention that’s not always welcome.

“Sometimes it’s people who I don’t think are there for the music,” admits Ava. “We’re in a weird period of our career, where the majority of people know about us because we’re a small band and they’re cool kids, and then there’s old dudes who are sometimes super-sick.’ The ‘sometimes’ hangs in the air before she continues. “I love our older fans who are, like, ‘Oh my god! It’s like Nirvana again!’ but when it’s fucking weirdos trying to take pics of our feet, I want to beat the shit out of them a little bit. But if that’s not you, then that’s great!

“I also appreciate those older fans because they buy our vinyl,” she jokes, somehow keeping her sense of humour in the face of the tired, sexist bullshit that often dogs female artists.

Thankfully, there far more people responding to Die Spitz’ music in the right way, and the band are quick to articulate how their image can be utilised as a force for good.

“I want people to look us up, especially young women, and be like, ‘Oh my god, they’re all girls! What the fuck?!’ and be inspired to be angry and loud and to make music,” enthuses Eleanor.

“What do I want people to take away from the album? Don’t box yourself in, do whatever feels right,” concludes Ava. “Especially women. I want them to feel inspired to find a way to let their rage out. Because women are raised to be prim and proper and quiet and small, but if you want to be successful, you’ve got to be loud and take up space and be proud.

“I think it’s beautiful to see women doing that.”

Something To Consume is out now via Third Man

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