A Quick One with.. Honeyblood
Glaswegian lo-fi punk duo Honeyblood formed in 2012 and released their second album Babes Never Die last year.
The Beat caught up with singer and guitarist Stina Tweeddale ahead of their show in Róisín Dubh on Thursday, April 6. The Beat: So, Is there a story behind Honeyblood, your band’s name? Stina: “Yea, It comes from a Halloween costume I once made for a gig. The band I was playing with at the time had all dressed up and I didn’t have a proper outfit.
“So I looked up how to make fake blood and came across the ingredients for Honeyblood which is actually a mixture of water, honey, cornflour and red food dye.
“I ended up putting it in my mouth onstage And then spitting it out all over the audience.”
The Beat: You’ve got an interesting sound, how have you developed it?
Stina: “When I was a kid I felt I didn’t have a pretty voice so I thought I couldn’t be a singer/songwriter so I felt I had to come up with a different way of getting my songs across.
“I think my favourite singers have really individual voices. I think that having a really unique voice is sometimes much more valuable than having a classically good one.
The Beat: Who have been your influences?
Stina: “The first time I heard The Breeders I knew that I wanted to be in a band.
“I listened to a lot of PJ Harvey and a lot of riot girl stuff, and it inspired me to pick up an electric guitar rather than just an acoustic.
“The reason I enjoy Honeyblood as a band is because I feel like it’s the closest thing to what my idea of a good band was when I was a kid.
“Cat (Myers, vocals/drums) – the other member of Honeyblood – grew up listening to 90’s grungy rock stuff and the Foofighters are her favourites.
“We are a good mixture of stuff that we’re in to together.”
The Beat: Is it difficult to do what you do as a two piece ?
Stina: “There is always that fear that the sound is somewhat lacking because we don’t have more players but I think we make do with just the two of us.
“We do try to keep things simple and melodic and make sure that we make as much noise as possible for two people really.
“Cat plays bass-lines as well as drumming and I’m constantly trying to come up with ways to make my guitars sound bigger on-stage.
“It’s a challenge and we’ve gotten used to doing it we both really enjoy trying to work it out.”
The Beat: Who were your influences for starting Honeyblood?
Stina: “The first time I heard The Breeders I knew that I wanted to be in a band.
“I listened to a lot of PJ Harvey and a lot of riot girl stuff, and it inspired me to pick up an electric guitar rather than just an acoustic.
“The reason I enjoy Honeyblood as a band is because I feel like it’s
the closest thing to what my idea of a good band was when I was a kid.
“Cat grew up listening to 90’s grungy rock stuff and the Foo-fighters are her favourites.
“We are a good mixture of stuff that we’re in to together”.
The Beat: What are you listening to at the minute?
Stina: “I’ve been listening to a lot of Man of Moon I just think they’re incredible and why I havent listened to them more often.
“Also the nine-wave, I can’t wait to see what they start doing – yea there’s a couple”.
The Beat: What about Irish bands, are you a fan of any?
Stina: “The Cranberries, Dolores O’riordan’s style of singing reminds me of the Cocteau Twins who are a Scottish band I’ve always loved – I think she’s amazing”.
The Beat: Do you listen to bands on Spotify or do you still buy CDS or records?
Stina: “I use Spotify and I love it, I love the feeling that at a touch of a button I can access any tune I want.
“But, I still buy records and I get huge joy out of putting a record on, I feel really sorry for the generation that is to come because they’ll not know what it’s like to go down to HMV or any record shop and buy a CD. “I don’t own a CD player anymore”.
The Beat: Are you looking forward to your Irish gig?
Stina: “I’m very, very excited. I’ve never been, so I’m really looking forward to it.
“We’re having Cat’s birthday here too so we’re looking forward to it”.
The Beat: Where do you want to be next time this year ?
Stina: “We’re going to do loads of touring and hopefully loads of festivals too. We’re actually kicking around some ideas too about new material.
“This time next year we’re hoping to be back in the studio with brand new material, and a third album on the way!”