Keep taking the Medicine
Singer Anna Acquroff fills us in on the latest news from one of Glasgow’s hot new bands
TRNSMT is two weeks away and if you want to be terrified and enthralled make sure you check out Medicine Cabinet.
The Glasgow band formed after a Tinder meeting, look like a mash-up of Roxy Music and Die Antwoord, and could be the most exciting thing you’ll see at Scotland’s biggest festival.
Here singer Anna Acquroff of the band – which also includes Joshua Chakir on guitar, Eilidh O’Brien on guitar, Cal Mingus on bass and Tom Lawrence on drums – opens the door:
How did the band get together?
Me and Joshua met on Tinder and went on a date, then bumped into each other six months later when Joshua and Cal were at a club night at the art school.
We went to an afters at Josh’s and decided to start a band there. The guys knew each other because Cal was a gig photographer and had shot Joshua’s old band.
In the meantime, me and Eilidh had met studying the psychology and sociology of music and had been going to practice rooms and open mics together.
The same week that I bumped into the guys, Tom’s old band broke up, so he was looking for a project to drum in.
He knew Joshua from their old bands playing together in Edinburgh.
Are you and Joshua together?
We’ve actually never been together. We went on that first date and got along like a house on fire, but it was very platonic vibes from the get-go.
After meeting at that club night, we all made a group chat, booked our first practice, and wrote two songs that day. Within a few weeks we had our first gig booked, so we built up a set and played our first show. It’s been busy since.
You play the River Stage on Saturday at TRNSMT. First time you’ve played but have you been before?
It’s the first time we’ve played, but not the first time we’ve been. It was the first festival I ever went to without my mum, when I was like 17, and then last year we went to watch VLURE play the stage we’re playing this year.
We’re soooo excited! Especially to be playing the same day as The Strokes. We can’t spoil any surprises.
Does having two girls in the band make you stronger?
Of course. It’s important to have as many women as possible in any creative discourse. We have a similar social reference point for a lot of stuff too, because of how gender influences the way you go through the world.
You have a strong look. Do you find people are scared of you/the band?
Yeah, people are terrified of me and the band. Sometimes they even scream and run down the street which has been hard, but that’s not nearly as bad as the time someone spontaneously combusted when they looked at us.
How is current Glasgow music scene? Is it good?
It is good. Every 20 years or so, I think that Glasgow produces a wave of globally important music, like Primal Scream/ Altered Images/Orange Juice, Franz/Biffy/Twin Atlantic.
I think it’s in beginning of another one of those periods right now. The Joy Hotel, VLURE, The Ninth Wave and Lucia and the Best Boys are amazing. We feel honoured to be part of such a culturally exciting time in Glasgow.
You released your debut single The Signs last month – how did it go down?
Better than we could have imagined. We’ve been played on the radio like 10 times, people have been adding us to their playlists and chatting to us about it, and our grannies know all of the words. What more could you want?
You have a new single,
Factor 50, ready to go. What plans have you for the rest of the year? TRNSMT is a big one, as well as our first London headline at The Windmill on July 6. We’ll also be recording a whole lot more, and writing hunners, as always! We’d love to publish some things we’ve written about music psychology, sociology, and gender, and some more of the art we’ve made too.
What’s your favourite thing in a medicine cabinet?
My eyebrow/hair bleach. Also my extensive array of vitamins.