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 …Because with a bandname like HOT LIQUID SEX, there’s not much Rave could come up with to top that. Founding members OCEAN WILSON and ANGELA KOHLER field questions from MITCH ALEXANDER about The Beatles and The Stones, but also why elderly ladies love this band.
As Ocean, Ange and I meet at a relaxed coffee house on a Friday afternoon, the first thing I query is how the duo (at that stage it was Ocean on guitar, Ange on drums and a rotating-door of bass players) landed on their provocative band name. I’ve heard a few explanations, but it always looks better with a quote.
“That’s a whole fashion thing”, begins Ocean, relating to the band’s beginnings at a fashion college they both attended. “If you saw someone wearing something really nice you’d say ‘oh that’s hot’, if you saw something exceptionally nice you’d say ‘oh, that’s hot sex’”.
“And then if it was, ridiculously the most amazing thing you’d ever seen you’d say ‘Oh my God! That is Hot Liquid Sex!’” she concludes.
“Basically it’s a compliment, it began as a fashion thing, but you could apply it to anything”, adds Ange. “Like if you were a really big fan of … apples”.
A permanent trio with the addition of Ruth on bass in 2007, the band’s cheeky songs combine with their vivacious stage presence for some very special live shows. With their debut EP, Unexpect The Expected, being launched this week at the Zoo, the girls are pretty excited to show off both what they’ve been doing in the last year and what they intend to do for the rest of 2008.
After some initial speedbumps during my research (you try typing ‘Hot Liquid Sex’ into the perverted interweb and see what happens), I did find footage of the trio performing a slinky version of The Rolling Stones’ Emotional Rescue. Making the Stones’ early ‘80s catalogue sound appealing is no easy task, but the funky fun of the original seems perfect for this giggly trio.
“Someone asked me once if I would rather be John Lennon or Paul McCartney and I said Mick Jagger,” Ocean says quite profoundly, obviously much more on the ball when it comes to answering head-scratchers than yours truly
Noticing the elephant in the room, I wonder whether men make a big deal about an all-girl band and judge them with a different set of criteria to male bands. And I realise that I’m now a man making a big deal about a woman with a guitar, but as long as I’m aware, it’s slightly better, right?
“We have done press photos where we’ve looked a certain way, with people saying ‘oh, they’ve been made up’,” says Ange acceptingly. “But everyone has an image, even skanky boy rock bands have an image that someone relates to”.
“Let’s look at Amy Winehouse, she’s a really good example of someone who’s been really successful and …we’ll just leave it at that!” adds Ocean with a laugh.
“I’ve found there’s a sliding scale … either you get the guys who treat you like they would treat any other guy or girl, or you get the guys who are extra nice to you because you’re a girl,” Ange continues.
“Then we get a fairly good reaction from older women; I’m talking nannas,” she says as Ocean bursts out laughing. “I think they grew up in a time when women where getting empowered, so they totally get it, like ‘great, girls playing music on stage, yeah!”
As always, I concur with nannas.
HOT LIQUID SEX will be everything the name suggests at the launch of UNEXPECT THE EXPECTED this Saturday at the Zoo, with support from Princess One Point Five, The Art Of The State and Skinny Jean. More information is available from www.myspace.com/hotliquidsex. Just don’t Google it wildly.
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