THE ANDROGYNY
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Friday, July 5
Yours and Owls
Veruca Salt and Hole screamed through the golden grunge-rush of the 1990s and Queenslander Tessa Richards, who was a teenager at the time, was convinced chick rock was only going to get bigger.
Voices with edge such as Gwen Stefani and Alanis Morissette inspired Richards to develop a strong voice of her own and she was determined to eventually get her own band together.
A decade later and Richards feels disheartened that girl rock bands seem a rarity.
"I have days when I wonder if it's worth it, but then I think that someone's got to do it," the 28-year-old says, lamenting that Australia these days lacks female rock bands or even bands led by women.
But The Androgyny frontwoman is reluctant to sell the group as a "girl band" to get the exposure.
"Do I exploit the fact that we're all girls to enhance our success or do we try and get angry?" Richards says.
"I get questioned sometimes about whether I hate being called a girl band. I'm proud of it. I guess we get used to it - sometimes we get special consideration because we're women."
She suggests that perhaps women might be shying away from rock music as it doesn't have the polished, glam look of pop.
"The reality is we're lugging heavy equipment from the car on to the stage, so you're not going to be looking glamorous on stage."
The Androgyny is Richards on vocals and guitar, Emma Mallory on bass and Laura Maccormac on drums.
Richards and Mallory formed the Brisbane group after meeting while they were working at a strip club.
Having a muso dad helped Richards learn the basics of performing and writing, and she laughs at memories of attempted piano lessons.
"I did piano but I was always kind of frustrated," she says.
"I tend to rebel against anything I'm meant to be doing."
The Androgyny's debut EP, I Don't Desire Your Empire, was released last year and the band are touring to promote the third single off the album, I'm Not Your Heroine.
"It encompasses what we are really well in one song," Richards says.
Once the tour is done, the band will get back to work on the next EP.