We get quizzical with London’s toughest punk-rock posse, Skinny Girl Diet.
Amelia wears green cotton camo print jacket, black chiffon scarf, black leather studded platform heels all by SAINT LAURENT BY HEDI SLIMANE. Delilah wears red cotton floral print dress, black leather studded belt and metallic leather platform heels all by SAINT LAURENT BY HEDI SLIMANE. Ursula wears black cotton jacket, black and white striped cotton vest, black leather belt and belt all by SAINT LAURENT BY HEDI SLIMANE, black cotton striped trousers by CARVEN, jewelled sunglasses and python stylist’s own.
Taken from the Summer Fashion Issue of Wonderland.
“SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GIRL GANG” orders three-piece girl band Skinny Girl Diet on their Soundcloud page. It’s not like we need much persuading, though: since their first gig as preteens – supporting ex-Slits babe and fan Viv Albertine, no less – the London punks have ridden a tsunami of snot, releasing sped-up EPs like July 2014’s “Girl Gang State of Mind” and collaborating with Claire Barrow for a fashion project for MATCHES.com. I first met Amelia Cutler (bass) and sisters Ursula (drums and vocals) and Delilah Holliday (guitar and vocals) six months ago down a back-alley in Camden, and since then they’ve played every basement hovel this side of The Great Wall Of China, have graced magazine covers and have even pissed The Guardian off (a review of a genuinely bad gig, or do they just not get it?). Here, we disregard the sobriety of usual meet- and-greets and opt for a kind of Punk Pop Quiz. Take it away, grrls.
Wonderland: What’s changed since I last saw you all? Ursula: I’ve grown… a bit taller.
Amelia: I’ve grown a bit wider.
W: Proudest moment to date?
A: Playing the iTunes festival.
Delilah: Calling a bouncer a “cunt”? You know when you get revenge on someone…
W: Hang on, that’s another question…
D: Being on the cover of BEAT. I’ve always loved it, been reading it since I was 14. It’s been a goal to get there!
W: How do you think Skinny Girl Diet is seen by other people?
A: Loud.
D: I think that people see us like Marmite – they either love us or they just hate us.
U: They are repulsed by the name, which is cool.
W: Biggest misconception about starting up in the music industry?
A: That it’s easy? It’s not.
D: That we would be treated equally and that there is all this weird politics with music and how successful you are. Does that make sense?
W: No, it doesn’t… What sort of politics?
A: It’s all really snake-y.
D: The amount of money people get paid from big record labels, that was my biggest misconception. I thought once you were signed to Universal or something you got loads of money, but that doesn’t happen unless you are Rihanna or Beyonce.
U: It’s hard to make money out of music.
W: Best freebie? And don’t say your own merchandise, that doesn’t count.
U: We got sent Meadowlark jewellery, which was really cool ‘cause it was real silver.
D: A shout out by Nenah Cherry on a radio show, and in an article in The Guardian.
A: I dunno if it counts, because they didn’t pay us. But we got free headphones from iTunes.
W: When are you happiest?
A: Probably when we’re playing music.
W: Who in the band has the shortest temper?
[In unison]: “Delilah!”
U: She’s been described as having a bad attitude.
W: What’s your greatest fear?
A: Probably the band being manipulated and taken advantage of.
D: Personally, it’s just turning evil one-day. You know in Twin Peaks when Bob gets into their heads…
U: I’m not afraid of anything.
W: Which characteristic do you hate seeing in others?
A: People who are really self-centred, and don’t care about anyone else. D: People that wear band t-shirts and don’t know who the band is.
U: People who want be really cool, so they don’t speak or anything. They’re just there…
D: …trying to be like Kurt Cobain or something.
A: And they just want to say something really “deep”… pretentious people. U: So annoying.
W: Biggest vices?
A: I spend all my time playing video games… Like Dragon Agent!
D: Smoking.
U: Drinking too much if there’s a free bar.
W: Best lyrics in a song?
U: “It’s OK to eat fish, ‘cause they don’t have any feelings”, Kurt Cobain. Because I want to be cool.
D: The most recent one that I heard was Frank Ocean’s new song. In it, he was listing all these black people that got shot and goes, “They look just like me.” It’s really powerful. He says, “Trayvon Martin looks just like me.” It got to me.
W: What are the screen-savers on your phones?
D: Me and Ursula.
U: It’s just my hand with drumsticks. When we were recording, I took a picture.
D: So my one is you and me, and yours is you and your drumsticks?
U: Alright!
A: Me and my boyfriend.
D & U: WET WIPE! WET WIPE!
W: This one is for you, Delilah. Best comeback in an argument?
U: No wait, I’ve got a really good one. When Delilah was like “Your mum”, and I was like… “We’ve got the same mum?”
A: I’m passive aggressive.
W: Most repeated word or phrase?
U: I go, “Classic”, or “That’s classic”.
W: Characteristics you most admire in a woman?
A: I like strongly opinionated women.
D: I like it when women are so honest they become bitchy, and they complain a lot.
U: When women don’t hate other women.
W: And in a man?
A: A man who knows his place!
W: Worst smell?
U: The smell of London.
D: I don’t know if anyone else smells it, but you know when you walk past a pensioner who’s like, really old? And in the morning you can smell their breath, like saliva. I hate that smell, I can’t deal with it.
A: You know those weird rubber toys? The ones that look like balloons, but they have the weird rubber spikes on them? Them. They make me feel sick.
W: Goals for the rest of this year?
U: Go to New York, because LA is a bit… Well I wouldn’t complain. Just go there and gig.
A: That’s the dream isn’t it – get paid to play!
Delilah wears black and white striped cotton vest by SAINT LAURENT BY HEDI SLIMANE, white leather graphic skirt by CLAIRE BARROW and black leather boots by CHRISTIAN DIOR. Ursula wears black cotton polka dot jacket and trousers and white cotton shirt all by GIVENCHY BY RICARDO TISCI and black leather mules by ASHLEY WILLIAMS. Amelia wears white and black leather striped jacket by FENDI, black studded collar stylist’s own, black leather shorts by SAINT LAURENT BY HEDI SLIMANE and black leather cat print boots by CLAIRE BARROW.
Ursula wears black and gold embellished jacket and skirt and black patent boots all by CHANEL and gold vest and black leather choker both stylist’s own.
Delilah wears white cotton ruffle shirt and black patent boots both by CHANEL, black ostrich feather bolero jacket and black PVC trousers both stylist’s own.
Amelia wears white and black leather striped jacket by FENDI, black studded collar stylist’s own, black leather shorts by SAINT LAURENT BY HEDI SLIMANE and black leather cat print boots by CLAIRE BARROW.
Ursula wears burgundy wool knit dress by CHRISTIAN DIOR.
Photographer: Rebecca Thomas
Fashion Editor: Hannah Lambert
Make Up: Molly Aitken
Set Design: William Farr
Words: Harriet Charity-Verney