Discover up and coming bands in 10 questions…

12 April 2019

Cape Town‘s THE MEDICINE DOLLS are the kind of sonic misfits who do it their own way no matter what. Anything that the recalcitrant duo of Greg Allan (singer/guitar) and Bex Nicholas (vocals/bass) have released so far has an authentic DIY stamp on it. Their messy hullabaloo fits their way of life, their reality, their state of fucked-up confusion. The rowdy pair produces garage rock havoc that hits you straight in the face and they look like The Cramps‘ evil children. Utterly cool indeed! They are natural born outsiders doing what they do best: creating scissored punk mayhem. Frontman Greg Allan will tell you more about their troubled souls, but let’s start the acquaintance with a loud and clear video clip…

1. What sparked you to start the band?
“I guess the spark came when my previous band broke up. Bex and I were living together in Johannesburg, Scraping by and dealing with a lot of what you might call ‘Bad life choices’. Instead of trying to breath new life into that project, I decided we ought to change our entire life situation. She had never played a note, so I thought she would be the perfect bass player. We used all the money we had left, and flew to Cape Town with nothing but the idea of this band.”

2. What’s the story behind the group’s name?
“In our favorite film, ‘Withnail and I‘ there is a character called Danny, who is the drug dealer of these two struggling actors who live in a grotty flat together. He keeps his gear, which he refers to as ‘Medicine‘ in the head of a little doll. We thought it was appropriate.”

3. What triggered the new EP’s title ‘COMPULSION TO RUIN’ and its destructive tone?
“I think it has a lot to do with the current emotional climate of the world, things are fucked, and people are feeling that fucked-ness… but it really goes full circle, people fuck themselves up to deal with fucked-ness, and that leads inevitably to more fucked-ness.

4. Which track would you pick as THE MEDICINE DOLLS signature song so far?
“I think ‘Covered in Filth‘ sums us up quite well.”

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5. What is ‘COVERED IN FILTH’ about?
“Fucked-up-ness.”

6. So far the band only released a series of EPs, not a full-length album yet.
Is that a conscious choice or can we expect an LP soon?
“Certainly looking at releasing an LP soon.”

7. Which movie would you pick to visualize your music
on a big screen while playing a gig?
“Withnail and I.”

8. Number one band on your list to go on tour with?
“I would say certainly Death Valley Girls, they have us so
hooked at the minute… incredible band!”

Death Valley Girls, incredible band indeed…

9. If you could go back into the past on whose famous door
would you knock and ask to have a selfie together?
“Certainly Lux and Ivy of The Cramps… We are in love with what
they did, the art, the attitude, they were the perfect rock ‘n’ roll band.”

10. Any chance THE MEDICINE DOLLS will play outside of South-Africa someday?
“We have just returned from our first international trip, we played the Rock A La Buse Festival on the French island of La Reunion. We are looking at putting together our first European tour beginning of 2020.”

Thank you for this interview, Greg.
May the road rise with THE MEDICINE DOLLS!

COMPULSION TO RUIN EP
in full here…
https://open.spotify.com/album/2geUvetd1OBSHPpRUsZnmf?si=qsqqfElVQ-ut9-keRKuGqQ
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THE MEDICINE DOLLS: Facebook

(promo press photos of band via Medicine Dolls pr agent)