We seriously need to buy Camille Alexander of A Void a three course meal at some fancy restaurant! Without her recommendation, we wouldn’t hear about MilkMaiden. We wouldn’t have a fantastic review on our blog and we wouldn’t have an interview with a talented singer, songwriter and composer. And MilkMaiden’s “Death of All Men” EP is probably one of the musical highlights of this year for us. With her signature sound (a mixture of dream pop, indie, college rock, Americana and rock and roll cabaret), American born, but England based Natalie Papa is simply sensational. We sat down with her to talk about her move to the other side of the Pond, her previous projects, and plans for the next couple of months. If you see her name appearing on a poster advertising a local gig, buy a ticket immediately. MilkMaiden is one of those artists you just have to see before you die. And we ain’t kidding!
We have a vaccine against chicken pox thanks to milk maidens who had immunity to the virus due to their work on the farms. And you have been described as a perfect antidote to nostalgia ridden pop that dominates British music. Please introduce yourself to the readers of Indieterria and tell everyone why they need more Milk Maidens in their lives.
MilkMaiden: Hi, I’m MilkMaiden, a solo songstress but sometimes I perform with a lovely backing band. You need more of me in your life because we all need more performative femme lesbians in the music industry.
MilkMaiden is your solo project, but you have a faithful group of musicians supporting you on records and playing live. Please say a few words about your backing band.
MilkMaiden: In my backing band are my pals Gabi Demera and Henry Louis Ogilvie Dabrowski who are in a fabulous band called Yuke. We bully each other all the time, but I secretly appreciate them and our friendship.
You are an American, New Jersey native. How on earth an all American girl ended up on the other side of the pond, in the gray and rainy North?
MilkMaiden: I’ve been based in London for almost 3 years now, but originally I moved to Liverpool in 2017 because I wanted to have fun studying a useless performing arts degree without spending 250,000 USD. I got into Berklee College of Music, but there was no way I could afford it. I was in a shitty relationship and on the fence about making the move, and even going to school at all. Then Trump got elected in 2016, so I jumped ship. Truth be told, it did turn out to be useful and a lot of fun. I am still in debt though.
We have to ask about the beginnings of your career. After moving to the Liverpool/Manchester area, you formed a band called Natalie and The Monarchy. You were doing fantastically! BBC Radio 1 played your songs multiple times, BBC Introducing labelled you the most exciting singer in town. Your band released a well received EP “Pretty Little Flower” in 2019 and you toured a lot. Then suddenly the band was no more. What happened?
MilkMaiden: Ultimately, it was because I was a teenager and the way I saw myself and made music changed as I grew. It especially changed over lockdown when “the most exciting singer in town” couldn’t perform for about two years. I value the experience, but I did make a lot of mistakes early independent musicians make that many could relate to.
In 2018, way before MilkMaiden and even Natalie and The Monarchy, you released a track under your own name – Natalie Papa. “Lingerie“ sounded like a love child of The B52’s and Southern Culture on the Skids. It has everything from southern rock, riot grrrl, folk to college rock. If it was released in the 90’s you’d end up on a three year tour with Lilith Fair. It must have been a shock to the audiences to unleash such a sound in the middle of Liverpool known mostly for lads bands. You don’t make compromises when it comes to your art, do you?
MilkMaiden: Thank you. I sometimes wish I was playing stages 30 years ago, but wonder how I would’ve done in the 90s as a size 16. In Liverpool, I wasn’t the only angry woman artist. There were loads of great platforms like Bitch Fest, We Want Women Liverpool, and Wherearethegirlbands putting on good nights among the endless Arctic Monkey cover bands.
I make compromises in my music all the time to not be meaner. I have turned down many great opportunities because of their connection to war and genocide. It’s a hard pill to swallow that maybe I’m digging myself a hole being so stubborn, but avoiding complicity as much as possible is one of the few powers we have.
You have been called Kate Bush’s angry sister but we think this label does more harm than good. It completely misconstructs where you place yourself on a musical map. To us, any comparisons should start with the likes of Tracy Bonham, Kate Pierson, Anne Danielewski (POE) all the way down to Mary Timony and Marcia Ball. None of this on the surface conservative voting oversold crap. Kate Bush is not the only woman in the history of rock who has a powerful voice and you are definitely more than just ability to hit high registers. You represent a rich and powerful tradition of a generation of women who combined blues, roots, rockabilly and rock into what constitutes the very heart of what Americana is. But that’s our take. What are your inspirations?
MilkMaiden: Wasn’t it debunked Kate Bush isn’t a Tory? Either way, after Kate Bush my biggest influences were/are Fiona Apple, Amanda Palmer, Tom Waits, Nina Simone, Rasputina, Dolly Parton, Radiohead, Sleater-Kinney, and Rufus Wainwright. They aren’t overly cohesive in how they translate into my writing, so I get the Kate Bush quote because she’s recognizable and I do draw a lot from her legacy. I more so fold my ears when people just compare me to any women in punk/rock music they can think of like Kathleen Hannah, PJ Harvey or Courtney Love because they can’t think of any other place to put me.
We gave your latest EP, “Death Of All Men” the highest notes in February. It’s an absolutely brilliant, genre blending mixture of rock, indie, pop, dark cabaret, Burlesque, folk, avant garde and Americana. 4 different styles, 4 touching tales of hope, heartbreak, ordinary lives of sex workers, through your poetic yet sarcastic lens. All produced by Finn Howells. Tell us about the creative process behind it. Where was it recorded? Are you happy with the final product?
MilkMaiden: I wrote a lot of the tunes on The Death of all Men EP as acoustic comedic songs for cabaret audiences to empathise and laugh at my struggles. I would take the songs on tour with Sexquisite Events (a cabaret of sex worker artists) and experiment with the reaction I’d get. One of my priorities with recording was to make it sound as raw and live as possible. I sometimes feel like a lot of meaningful lyricism and playfulness gets lost in production, and the finished product doesn’t represent what you see on stage. Finn really hit the nail on the head. Me and the band recorded all together live in Battery Studios in Willesden, London and tinkered away at it in Finn’s studio in South Kensington. I’m so proud of what we made and most importantly I enjoyed making it.
“King For A Day”, the leading single off the EP, comes with a fantastic video directed and shot by Camille Alexander of French-British duo, A Void. Camille actually recommended we listened to your music, something we will always be grateful to her for! Who came up with the idea of a car wash music video? Where was it shot and who are the dancers? Those ladies are amazing!
MilkMaiden: I came up with the car wash video because I wanted to do “something camp and cliche”. The video was shot in this guy’s MOT garage in Milton Keynes who I found on Reddit. He was super nice and let us use the place for free. The car was also free because the owner just wanted to see strippers in his car. It’s a win win if you ask me. The dancers are Maedb Joy (founder of Sexquisite events), Miss Avery, and April Fiasco who both are involved in Cybertease which is a pop up socialist stripclub. We have all performed, worked, and toured together.
Your music is political, provocative and in your audiences faces. And so are your concerts. You perform on stage wearing Japanese shibari bondage, bringing elements of cabaret and burlesque to a rock show. After being attacked by a man at Zanzibar club in Liverpool, you stripped down and danced, sharing a cigarette with the audience. Liverpool Echo described the event as fearless and powerful, comparing you to Courtney Love. If you could change a few things in the music business to help women, what would you do?
MilkMaiden: Jeez, the Zanzibar incident was in 2019, so very long ago. They didn’t include the part where I decked him in the face because I didn’t want to get in trouble at the time. If I could change a few things in the music business to help women, it would be to phase out women-fronted as a genre, stop painting white feminist politics and lightly bisexual boy bands as “new’”and “progressive” because it’s more marketable than Free Palestine, fuck America, rich people, and cops. I would also make festivals have a minimum 50% of non-cis man acts and bin streaming services TikToks/reels.
With new material out, and the festival season approaching fast, your fans will be eager to see you play live. Where can we see you on stage in the next few months?
MilkMaiden: Well depending how fast this gets out, April 10th I’m playing the Victoria Dalston with Marezine. The rest is to be announced.
Last questions are always fun at Indieterria. Let’s say that Hollywood called and you have been cast in the leading role in an upcoming movie. What is the film about and who is on the soundtrack?
MilkMaiden: It would be set in Victorian era London where the wife of a cemetery watchman catches the eye of a young widow. The widow ends up visiting her husband’s grave every night in order to be comforted by the watchmen’s wife as it turns into a Sapphic goth love affair.
The soundtrack would include my friends Wednesday’s Child, Torture and the Dessert Spiders, Black Bordello, and A Void.
You can follow MilkMaiden online
https://www.instagram.com/milkmaiden.web
https://www.youtube.com/@MilkMaidenlovesyou
https://milkmaiden.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2TXgjtJWRomSsQJb85NIVV
https://soundcloud.com/natalieandthemonarchy
https://www.tiktok.com/@milkmaiden.web
Further reading:
https://www.lockmag.co.uk/milkmaiden-delivers-glitter-grit-and-a-molotov-cocktail-in-lipstick-on-new-ep-the-death-of-all-men
Rita and Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 