With her forthright opinions and habit of wearing fabulous attire you’d be forgiven for perhaps thinking the rest of The Gossip were meek supporting players in the ‘Beth Ditto Show’, but that is simply not the case. Priding myself on being quite the ‘big gob on the block’ and armed with a notebook full of questions, I found myself unable to get a word in edgeways pitted against the most opinionated threat on ‘normal’ to hit our shores since John Waters – and better still, the kids are on their side.
Much like a Waters heroine, Ditto is an unconventional beauty, at home with the way she is and has a much needed desire to change things - top of the agenda is Madonna and ‘art thieves’…
Nathan: Shows in the UK are wild for us!
Beth: Touring for us is crazy right now.
Nathan: We were in Paris two nights ago. Paris was amazing. Paris is burning.
Beth: Paris is burning.
Nathan: Paris was on fire.
Beth: Have you ever seen that film?
Fused: Which?
Beth: ‘Paris Is Burning.’ It’s amazing. It’s a documentary about ‘Voguing’ which Madonna shamelessly ripped off. That movie is amazing; you will cry your eyes out.
Hannah: It’s about drag queen culture kinda pageant stuff. There’s all these crazy walk offs and they get into all these crazy outfits and try to outdo each other.
Beth: You have to see it. You have to see it. You will never look at Madonna in the same way again. I swear to god, cos I was never a hater of Madonna. Like you know how people hate Madonna? I was never a huge fan but I never hated her but then I saw that and I was like I can’t believe she did that.
Hannah: She just totally ripped it off and gave it no credit.
Beth: No credit.
Hannah: She just totally appropriated this part of culture that was really meaningful.
Beth: There was people dying with AIDs and there was like, people of colour of New York living in cheap housing and they’d all get together in like a shitty old ballroom or even a warehouse and they’d all be in drag. And I don’t mean like Cher drag, but like amazing drag. You know, wearing crazy outfits and doing all this crazy voguing like using their bodies in ways you’ve never seen before.
Nathan: It was like a form of dance, like…what’s the word? Modern? Not like modern but kinda like a genre of modern voguing.
Beth: Kinda like [David] Lachappelle’s film, Rize? Crunking?
Hannah: Madonna ripped that off too! Basically don’t be a poor black person with style because…
Fused: Madonna’s lurking?
Hannah: Yeah! Madonna’s lurking!
Beth: I want a t-shirt saying ‘Be Careful – Madonna’s Lurking’! (Laughter)
Hannah: ‘Beware! Hide Your Art – Madonna’s Lurking’. (Laughter)
Beth: Nathan loves Madonna.
Nathan: I do like Madonna. I think she’s a great songwriter.
Beth: She doesn’t write any songs!!
Hannah: Songwriter?
Beth: It’s a Leo in defense of other Leos.
Nathan: Whatever…I think her records are great. Hung up was the jam of the year!
Hannah: I don’t think it was the jam of the year it was barely the jam of the two weeks!
Nathan: I wanna get a t-shirt saying ‘MIA in the USA’. MIA is not allowed into the US because they think she’s a terrorist.
Fused: Really?
Nathan: Yeah, she’s just not allowed in.
Fused: So what have been the highlights of the year then?
Nathan: Having a bus, a tour bus.
Hannah: Having a butt?
Beth: Having a butt and pooping out of it! (Giggling) I think having a bus has been a highlight but erm…
Nathan: I think playing in Paris was a highlight.
Beth: Yeah, Paris was amazing.
Nathan: Yeah, it was crazy cos our record had just come out there and I don’t think anyone really knew who we were. But for some reason this show in Paris was so exciting and we’d never done two encores before. That to me is my favourite show.
Beth: Me too.
Fused: You’ve been adopted by the British public and press as one of our own. Do you get that reaction a lot?
Beth: People always assume we live in London. I never really considered living in London. I mean, who could afford to buy a house in London? If I were to move to England I’d live in Brighton or Bristol for sure.
Nathan: Yeah, living in London sucks all your money away. Brighton rocks, but I’d probably live in Manchester.
Beth: Yeah, that’s probably my favourite city in England.
Nathan: And Glasgow! I love Glasgow. Glasgow is where we’ve had our best shows. Glasgow to me is really interesting cos there’s all these sub cultures that are really shaped by local bands and local DJs. There were clubs up there where all the kids went and now they’ve all grown up and formed bands like the Yummy Furs and 1990s and now they’re passing on to the kids.
Beth: Yeah, like I got asked once what I’d do to further feminism and I was like “first of all you’ve gotta keep it youthful” but not like youthful as in flesh but more directing it at the youth. If you want to keep things interesting, you’ve got to tap into kids because if not, it’s just gonna die out with your generation.
Nathan: Yeah, people just get old and jaded so fast.
Beth: And they forget! They forget what it’s like to be young!
Nathan: I try to go to as many shows as I can and when I’m at an all ages gig and I’m the oldest one there at 28 – I don’t know, it worries me. Cos all these kids are gonna grow up and stop playing music, like all my friends stopped playing music, got married and bought a house and that’s just so depressing to me cos I don’t want to do that.
Beth: It’s like when Freddie [Beth’s long term partner] moved in I was like ‘Oh God! I’m becoming my worst nightmare!’
Nathan: I think there’s a balance, but it just freaks me out when you see your friends who you thought would stay the same forever and they settle down and get married and have kids and they stop playing music and they stop talking about things that matter.
Beth: (To Fused) You don’t have any kids do you?
Fused: No, no.
Beth: Thank god, you’re only like 19!
(I’m not, by the way)
Beth: Nathan calls babies ‘Art Thieves’.
Nathan: Yeah, people start writing songs about their babies and expecting the world to care about their babies…
Beth: Yeah and you’re like ‘Yeah, I’m sure your baby’s cute but I don’t care!’
Nathan: Yeah, there are too many babies in the world anyway. Adopt a kid!
Good advice!
Cassie-Philomena Smyth