SheWolf plays a psychedelic-sounding grunge style of music with a pop twist hammered out by three unleashed girls.
Interview conducted on September 30, 2020
By Dan Locke
Feature photo by Celine Salin
The adventure began in early 2016 in Paris when the newly formed group won a regional springboard. An EP, two DIY clips, several TV appearances, numerous Parisian dates, and three European tours later, the trio with “strong and disarming writing” (Rebel Girl Diary) released their first self-produced album, Sorry, Not Sorry, and established itself as “a spark of life and honesty in a musical landscape “rock” far too wise and agreed” (Verdamnis Magazine).
Influenced by the alternative scene of the 90s, the group puts the spotlight on the raw expression of feelings, the quality of the texts, and the originality of the compositions. SheWolf is currently working on a new album
What is your upbringing?
Alice Adjutor:I was born and raised in France by two loving people. I am the eldest of a family of 4 girls. Dad was a headmaster and we used to move into new places every 5 years or so. It was heartbreaking to leave my close friends behind each time we moved. Mum was a nurse at the psychiatric hospital. I was wild, proud, and loved breaking the rules although I did very well at school. I thought the meaning of life was to be the best at everything, haha. Good old days.
What does âWhen you go up without a reason, you go down without a ladder” mean?
I wrote that from watching people desperately trying to escape their problems and their inner conflicts through drugs – mainly alcohol and weed. I think getting high in order to smoke your emotions away rather than facing them is like going up without a reason, or at least without a good reason. When you come down, things cannot be anything else than violent and even harder than they were before. I think weed can be a good way to open your mind when you feel like it is stuck in a dead-end when you feel like you need to view things from a different perspective when you need your thoughts not to be disturbed by emotions you cannot yet control. This to me would be a good reason to get high, to climb up the Cousciousness mountain, and therefore you would get down softly, slowly, full of wisdom and happiness. But if you get there seeking oblivion rather than understanding, you are only going to come back frustrated, tired, and unhappy. And it is going to hurt. I think courage is the best quality, and honesty is the highest form of courage, especially honesty towards yourself. Unless you face your darkest sides, you are never going to be able to grow, evolve, and change. And if you never change yourself, you will never change the world. I think the world will change the day everyone stops and look in the mirror.
How did you discover music?
I started being taught music at the age of 8. I’d play the saxophone. When I was 14, dad came back from town with a Nirvana record and that was it. I then digged the whole grunge 90s scene and fell in love with Hole, Pearl Jam, the Pixies. My friends and I were obsessed with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. We were starting bands and shit, I taught myself basic guitar. I promised myself I was going to be a musician one day. When I turned 18, I was cornered into pursuing academic studies and it was not until I got 25, a degree in philosophy and a daughter that I decided to learn how to sing and start a band.
How did you start to write music?
I remember writing songs from a young age. I would just sing them acapella when I was very young. I started to write with a guitar in high school, but these songs are gone. It was more like training. Then when I started SheWolf at 26, I was very inspired cause I was living a very intense part of my life, being the young mum of a baby, not getting along with her dad very well, quitting a rewarding and lucrative job for another job at which it was a beginner – being a rock musician. Artistically, this was very fertile soil. I started writing many songs that were going to be SheWolf’s first tracks.
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
When I started looking for a band, I knew I needed an electric guitar. I went to the music stores neighborhood in Paris, walked into this shop, and asked for a guitar to play grunge music. I didn’t have a clue about anything. The guy showed me a few guitars. I chose 300 euros Les Paul imitation because I thought it looked cool, and also, I liked the fact that it was heavy on the shoulder for some reason. It did the job for a while even though it was not a very good guitar. It had good mics but would never stay in tune. Last year I decided that it was time to upgrade my gear and I took a teaching job to afford a Fender Jazzmaster. I kept the old one as a spare guitar.
What is your favorite guitar now? Year, make, model and does it have a name?
Fender American Original ’60s Jazzmaster (Ocean Turquoise). Love the color. It didn’t have a name until you asked me this question and now, I’ve just decided to call it Kat. After Kat Bjelland and after a young woman who is dear to me. I like the way that name sounds.
What was your first performance like?
Loads of doubt and excitement. MC (our drummer) and I, the original members, were complete beginners when we played the first gig. MC had no clue if she was going to tame her drum and be able to play the whole set. I couldn’t hear myself singing in this shitty Parisian venue and didn’t feel in control at all. BUT we knew we had something, we knew we had the songs and the energy. Diane’s whole family was there, all the cousins. Everybody had a good time. The only honest feedback we had was from a music journalist. He went “You still have to work out, but the songs are great”. That was enough for me to be 100% sure the songs were good. The rest I knew I could work on and get better. I thank that journalist for his honesty. As to the paternalistic way he phrased his comment, I didn’t have the courage tell him to fuck off at the time đ He might have found a feminist girlfriend and completely changed. Bad timing happens.
What makes a good songwriter?
Absolute honesty and a pinch of salt.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
It was called Anorexong. We recorded it in Germany at the Marburg Studios.
How did you start the band?
I posted an offer on the internet. I had 2 songs. I casted a few drummers. MC showed up. She was an accomplished frontwoman, guitar player, singer, songwriter. She said she had never played the drums before but always had this dream of being behind the kit. She didn’t give that much of a fuck if I was pretty or talented. She liked nothing but the fact I was ready to work my ass off to get somewhere. And I only saw she wouldn’t take any bullshit. She taught me almost everything, in terms of being in a band, gear, settings. I hope I taught her one or two things myself. Well I think I did. Later on, we hired two badass women to fulfill the band. It was cool, but they were busy with other projects, plus MC (and her girlfriend Fanny) and I had decided to move to the country. I took the guitar. Fanny joined the band on the bass, brought peace amongst that underlying tension between MC and I, learned the songs and hit the stage for the first time. All of that within a few months. She is pretty bloody badass as well this one đ
How did the band get its name?
I used the word she-wolf in a song as a metaphor for a woman that would be the freest and the most maternal at the same time. Then MC suggested it as the band’s name. Nobody had ideas. I’m not sure if I like how it sounds but I totally relate to what it represents.
Do you have any issues with the name SheWolf, because of the other band with the same name?
Yeah, this is a mess on Spotify who credited them on some of our songs and vice-versa. We are working on sorting it out.
Why did you sale your last album for âGive What You Can Priceâ?
We want to contribute in building a self-managed society where people are grown-ups and are responsible enough to understand that a record has a budget and that it is important to support the bands you like and culture in general. But we also want to give an opportunity for people that are skint to still have access to culture, while the richest might be able to afford a stronger financial support.
How is the second album coming?
We are recording and mixing the second track (out of 9) at the moment. We are working from our home-studio, built in a barn, on the farm we live in. October is tough cause you have to deal with wood chopping, apple harvesting, dead chicken burying and much more, but we are trying not to get too distracted. Or at least to get inspired by all this and have it ending up in songs, one way or the other.
What is going on with Sound of the Void, you did your last recording on your farm back in Aug of last year. Is White Delivery your last for the band?
We changed drummers and are now working with MC from SheWolf. She has been learning the songs and adapting her style to the band in the last months. We are definitely driven and working on it, hopefully, we can record a couple of songs this year and play a few gigs.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
We don’t really stay healthy. But we do carry essential oils around, does the job for vocal fatigue, stiffness, hangovers. We try to sleep as much as possible in the mornings when Fanny has not decided to wake everyone up at 9 đ
What are your feelings about streaming music?
It is the logical manifestation of a music business that has been shaped by a capitalist economy. Now if you ask me what my feelings are about capitalism…
Digital vs. vinyl?
I love CDs cause there is nothing better than listening to music in the car. Oh, and lyrics booklets. I LOVE them. I love that moment when you take them out of the box, lie on your bed, and open them. Feels like diving into someone’s mind and heart.
Your last show was March 7th at with FeminiXes at Collectif Artistique. With the virus about to hit the world hard, how was the atmosphere in the club that night?
It was fire. Welcome to Britany.
How was it to have your daughter birthday, during the lockdown? I see that she makes handmade dream catchers?
Oh, it was me who made her a dream catcher with an old tambourine and pheasant feathers đ Well, we were here with all my housemates (we live in a collective) and their kids, they were candles and presents and chocolate cakes.
Do you think kids should go back to school this fall?
I’m not sure if kids should go back to school at all. What I know is that grown-ups should stop being kids when it’s time to be adults (and start being kids when it’s okay to be kids). And then start rethinking the notion of education.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
My beautiful son from Hole. It could be about a woman in love with a man full of feminine and a bit of childish energy. Could also be a mum talking about her kid. It all makes the song a bit sick. Just the right amount of sick.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
I think people are going to get organized at a private scale to make live music happen, by their own rules this time though. Beware, it might be the start for good quality and varied live music scene.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I have been recording music with SheWolf, home schooling, growing vegetables, bricking up the farm walls.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Crafting dream catchers đ
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
I don’t really watch streaming channels. The last thing I really had a crush on was the series Dark on Netflix.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. What are you planning to do?
Write and record the most sincere album possible and throw it out in the world once this pandemic is under control. If I really can’t stand not playing live anymore, I can still play to my friends.
With no real live music (mostly virtual shows) expect for things like Drive-In Theater shows with crowds for the past 6 months, what do you think will be the future of music?
I don’t think music is waiting for humans to make sure it has a future. Don’t forget that birds sing and that wind makes reeds vibrate.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merch to them at the show?
How can you keep a bond with a friend without hanging out with them and implant your ideas in their brains? Well, by remembering the lovely (or ugly) moments you shared with them. The brilliant thing with a band is that these moments are immortalized and substantiated in an item called a record, that you can listen to over and over, discovering a new detail each time, suddenly understanding the meaning of this line you never got before.
Besides I don’t like the word “fan”. I am not sure that the band/fan relationship is a very healthy one. It is good to kill your idols. I prefer the word “friend”.
Live Nations just started Live Nation from Home? Which are concerts from artist homes. An all-new virtual music hub keeping fans connected to their favorite artists featuring daily live streams, performances, new music, and more. Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
In terms of making a living, it seems easier to me to grow vegetables. But I’d have nothing against being on Live Nation.
For smaller bands who do not play large crowds, this is not really an issue. How do you see bands going back to smaller venues and doing things like play for the door, with no guarantees?
I guess bands who are used to play large crowds are popular, which means they would fill up small venues easily, which means a door deal would benefit them.
With Social Distance being the norm, do you feel that it maybe the end of the music fest for the next couple of years?
We could work on a smaller format and have more occurrences of the fest. I don’t know.
Your next show is in Paris from Sept. 30 to Oct 2. Do you think it will happen?
Our next show is actually in November. I have no idea if it will happen but I PRAY.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
Feels like eating a virtual cake to me.
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
Drunk
Anything else you want to say?
Go check our music!
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