AxeGirl are a young up and coming band that you can’t help but like. With catchy songs and a funky dress sense they make a refreshing change from the ‘oh so’ familiar bubblegum pop and dingy guitar bands the charts have been spouting out over the last few years. With there most recognisable song ‘I Like Girls’ receiving positive media feed back its great to meet girls who are happy to be gay and happy to sing about it.

Our interview takes place in a rather “manky” pub in Bethnal Green. As soon as we walk through the door the girls, Axe (lead singer and song writer), and Becky (base guitar) draw suspicious stares from the punters, probably due to the fact they still have there makeup on from the LoveGirls photo shoot. After getting a round of drinks in we settle down to have a chat about the band, their fans and the Channel 4 show Musicool which Axe recently appeared in.

LoveGirls: How did Axe Girl form?

Axe: I was in a band before and Sarah the drummer was in another band. We became good friend so when I quit my band we decided to form our own. I lived with Becky at the time and I always thought she would look amazing with a guitar so taught her how to play and that’s how we all got together.

LoveGirls: So you never played a Guitar before?

Becky: I had never played Base before but I practiced for about two hours a day for a month.

LoveGirls: Axe Girl have not been together very long, just over six months but have been quite successful. What do you put this down to?

Axe: We are incredibly driven; it’s our obsession. Every minute of every day we are aiming our whole lives towards the band. I think it’s also that we look so striking and we stand out.

Becky: Obviously Axe being on television helped.

LoveGirls: So what have you been up to in the last few months and what have you got planned?

Axe: We have been really busy. We have had quite a lot of coverage from radio and newspapers. We were on the front cover of Diva, we’ve been in G3 magazine and we will be playing the main stage at Pride this year. We have a manager now and are about to go on tour.

LoveGirls: Where do you get the inspiration for your songs from?

Axe: I write all the song. I just write about things that happen to me, or things I find funny. Little ideas that come to me in the shower or in the bath. It’s all real life stuff. It’s always things that have happened to us or our friends. We are not a political band but some of our songs have political undertones.

Becky: But we are not out there marching and shouting.

Axe: Definitely not. I think ‘I like Girls’ is our most political song, although that is not what I set out to do. Its a song about coming out.

LoveGirls: How hard is it to write a good song?

Axe: You can either do it or you can’t. Sometimes I can write a song in three hours sometimes three years. It’s just something I’ve always done.

LoveGirls: A lot of your songs are very autobiographical, aren’t you scared about giving too much away?

Axe: I think there is a certain charm about knowing something about the writer. You don’t always get that kind of intimacy; I think it’s something that makes us a bit different.

LoveGirls: I've read a few reviews about the band, and some have focussed more on the fact that you’re gay rather then the music. Does that irritate you?

Axe: I can’t stand that to be honest. Why are we a gay band just because we happen to be gay? We are all best friends, and so it’s very natural to write about being gay because we all hang out together and go to the same places. If a guy writes about a girl no one would think anything, when I was putting songs together for the album I was incredibly conscious the entire time of not putting in too many gay songs and I thought “this is totally not fair”, they are only gay because I happen to be gay. I’m just writing about my self. But it is constantly on my mind.

Becky: One review accused us of being a gimmick.

LoveGirls: How do you deal with bad reviews?

Axe: To be honest we have only been together six months so there haven’t been that many. I tend to react by saying ‘what a cunt’ and then just getting on with it. But I don’t really worry about it.

Becky: Our fans always come back and see another show. So a bad review from someone who has no interest in us, or doesn’t like what we are singing about doesn’t really effect us.

LoveGirls: Axe, you have been on the reality show Musicool, do you think that might have turned some people in the music industry against you?

Axe: I don’t think it was a big enough show to be honest. You just have to do everything you can these day’s, there are so many bands out there. It was good for our fan base. A lot of our fans are under 18 and can’t come to our gigs but they saw me on TV being an out and proud girl. Since the show we have had so many people writing on our MySpace that we have helped them come out, and to hear that is just so fantastic.

LoveGirls: How much attention have you had since coming out of the show?

Axe: Well we can demand a fee now. None of us have jobs because the band covers it costs and now we can actually make money out of it. Before I went on Musicool I got myself a feature in Diva after I came out I got my self the cover, things like that. Now we are headlining instead of supporting. It’s a fantastic place to be right now.

LoveGirls: Why did you go on Musicool?

Axe: I actually got recommended. I sent in a photo and a tape and got called up for an audition, it all happened so fast, one day I was opening the post and two weeks later I was walking into the house. It was really intense. It wasn’t something I’d planned on doing but I couldn’t turn down the chance of the exposure for the band.

LoveGirls: When Axe went on the show without the band did you think it might cause friction within the band?

Becky: It didn’t occur to me or Sarah (the drummer) at all until other people started to mention it. They would say “what if she came out and went off and did something on her own”. We both agreed if that happened then we wouldn’t want to stop her. She has worked hard for it.

Axe: Ahhhhhhh, that’s really sweet.

Becky: We did talk about it whilst you were in the house but it was an issue that was not an issue.

Axe: you have to bear in mind we are all best friend and there is a lot of trust between us.

LoveGirls: What was the best thing and worst thing about being on the show?

Axe: The best thing was the exposure for the band, and the dance classes. I loved dance class. I will start taking classes. I was looking them up today. The worst part was everything else. I didn’t really have a good time in the house. I was away from my friends, my band and my girlfriend for ten weeks.

LoveGirls: You obviously have a very large gay following, do you get many groupies?

Becky: We have a few!

Axe: We sign a lot of nipples, which I’m not complaining about!

LoveGirls: Who would you go straight for?

Axe: there is not a man on this earth.

Becky: I don’t know, but maybe someone like Jonny Depp.

Axe: I used to have a big crush on Leonardo Dicaprio.

Becky: But he looks like a girl!

LoveGirls: Who would you break up with your girlfriend for?

Axe: Oh that is so the wrong time for this question.

Becky: Do you know me and Axe recently split up in the last few days?

LoveGirls: No, shit, sorry! Why did you break up?

Axe: Erm

Becky: Erm

Axe: you know these things just happen. We love each other more then anything. The time was just not right.

LoveGirls: How do you think that will affect the band?

Becky: Well being in a couple never affected the band.

Axe: Now that we are not together anymore, we still are best friends and we still love each other but we have rules about not shagging in the same tour bus.

Axe: Watch out world, Axe and Bex are single!

LoveGirls: If you could have written any song what would it have been?

Axe: Say a little prayer for you.

As the interview wraps up I am struck by the sheer passion for music both girls have and the respect they hold for each other. They have only been together a short time but are enjoying every moment of there success, and why not! As yet they are not at all arrogant or jaded by their brush with fame and despite the fact Axe and Becky have just broken up they are very optimistic about the bands future and their friendship. As we head towards the tube and we say our goodbyes the girls skip off to the central line, spiky dykey hair and loud eye makeup in all its glory. As I said before, you can’t help but like them!

For more information on Axe Girl including their upcoming gigs check out the Axe Girl MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/axegirlmusic.

Photography by Nadia Attura