A Conversation with Mannequin Radio
Mannequin Radio is an Eora/Sydney based band, headed by singer Ruby Beck, who perform theatrically engaging and high energy sets. Originally known for their art-post-punk-esque style, the future of Mannequin Radio holds promise of music as genre ambiguous as their name. With two singles and a music video already under their belt, they are gearing up to head on their first interstate tour in late September after the release of the first single, ‘Rejection’, from their upcoming EP. Mannequin Radio have appeared on 2SER, FBi Radio and played headline shows at Botany View and Yulli’s brewery, as well as supporting interstate acts such as ‘Girl and Girl’ (QLD) and Andy Golledge later in September. The band's members are Ruby Beck (Vocals/Guitar, she/her), Milo (Synth/guitar, He/They), Niamh (Bass, They/Them) and Gabe (Drums, He/Him).
Describe Mannequin Radio and how the name came about.
The name describes itself. To me, ambiguity is alluring and freeing especially in art and music, which is why I chose Mannequin Radio. It helps me to explore different forms of expression with freedom.
Tell us a bit about your past singles ‘Spider on the dancefloor’ & ‘She’s my Palexia’, how did they start the journey for Mannequin Radio?
‘Spider on the Dance Floor’ began with a riff and chord progression I wrote back in high school, inspired by learning some Bossa Nova in guitar lessons. I was playing around with something the teacher had given me to learn, so the idea was birthed with somewhat of a Bossa Nova feel in mind. I initially brought the riff to a previous band I was in but soon after I was kicked out due to a personal disagreement. They still continue to use my riff which is upsetting but now I get to play it the way I envisioned. It ended up becoming one of the songs in our first Mannequin Radio sessions. I feel very proud of that riff and progression because it shows a lot of my musical voice in it, and it marks the beginning of a project that I treasure, and friendships that have become very dear to me.
‘She’s my Palexia’ is somewhat of an ode to Patti Smith, she pretty much got me through lockdown. She gave me something to look forward to in my own music. The way she performed and told stories became a really special experience to me during that time.
I did see the band described as Art Post Punk Genre - firstly, how would you describe that genre and secondly, if you don’t want to be in that genre where do you see Mannequin Radio going outside of that genre?
I would say we have a lot of similarities to Post-punk; we are loud, have the same instrumentation and there is a lot of general grime to what we play. I believe the ‘Art’ part comes in with my songwriting and how we play and perform as a group as a lot of the songs don’t have a typical chorus, or chord progression. We have an unreleased song that was initially an acoustic country song called ‘Armidale’ with the typical alternating bass line on the guitar, but then I flipped it. I put on some distortion, sped it up, and started singing not so country smooth, and here we are with a somewhat genre-less song and to me that is what the ‘art’ in art post punk means. Soon we’ll be on tour and one of the shows in Melbourne is an art and music show. I’m getting some artists from a collective called Flesh Cube involved and the idea is for us to collaborate on the show, rather than as separate entities.
Where do you see the future of Mannequin Radio music going?
The starrrrrsss
What inspired the new single ‘Rejection’ and stemming from that, what is your writing process and where do you find lyrical inspiration?
The first guitar part was something I was sitting on for about a year until I came up with the other sections and brought it to the band who each came up with their own parts. After playing it live for a while, we had a day at Milo's house and he recorded it, then we took it to a good friend Nick Griffith to mix it! They've both done a really great job of translating the live performance into a recording. As for the lyrical inspiration, it is about rejection in all forms more specifically about processing that kind of emotion when it’s self-inflicted.
Where do you source inspiration for your songs?
I would say most of the songs are pretty emotionally driven. A friend came up to me after a show and said ‘I liked …song, it seems like you're angry at someone. What's it about?’ I sing in a way that seems angry but it’s not really that I am angry at something. I think that sometimes the delivery and emotion are disconnected which I find fun to do. I source inspiration from a lot of artists like Patti Smith, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Laurie Anderson etc. It is not always just their music that inspires me, but the way they think and how they carry themselves is something I look up to.
What are your thoughts on the current punk scene or music scene in Eora?
I think there are some real gems in this music scene. No thoughts on the punk scene.
Is the music more about the process or the product for you?
It is a bit of both. The songs are cathartic to write but as soon as we’re playing them together in the band the meaning changes and the energy of the song and how we collaborate becomes more interesting to me. When we get to the ‘product’ of playing a show, it's a great feeling too, like magic.
I saw that you also have other creative outlets, do they influence your music?
I think visual art has always been something I’ve done for fun, since I was a kid. It likely indirectly influenced the music by affecting how I think about things. The more time I spend in a creative headspace, the more creatively driven ideas I'll have.
Tell us more about the band and what we can expect on tour!
The band are myself, Gabe Drums, (he/him), Milo (Synth/guitar, he/they), and Niamh (Bass, they/them). The band has gone through a few line up changes. It started off as a two piece with Myself and my friend Jazz on drums (who now plays drums in Sl8erboy.) Then it went to a three piece with myself, Gabe, and our friend Warwick on bass, (Warwick plays in his own band Warwick Kennedy) who very kindly let us keep his bass parts for the songs we played together, our songs wouldn’t be the same without them! And now, Niamh has written their own epic bass part for ‘Rejection.’
The shows on tour will be great! Everyone’s put a lot of hard work into it all.
Tell us about the upcoming music video/s.
I'm making one at the moment for ‘Rejection’. I think of the music videos as experiments because I don’t have a background in film or anything so I'm just having fun messing around with it all and seeing what happens. It’s nice to put your brain into different creative avenues otherwise I find things to become a bit monotonous.
Listen to their new release ‘Rejection’ now on Spotify!
Catch them on their Interstate Tour!
22/09 Wollongong
23/09 Newcastle
28-30/09 Melbourne