"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
Check out the video for yourself below.
"Each track captures a moment in time and together they describe a journey which finishes where it starts and starts where it finishes," Kai says of the new tracks. "The melange of textures on this project represent life as a Muesli of emotions and experiences." The lyrics on "Muesli" are quite sad, but Kai's production and execution makes the sadness feel alright—like you've become numb to it, and instead of fighting, decide to relish in it.
Listen to "Muesli" and "Ultradiction" below.
Where does the name Skinny Girl Diet come from?
Delilah—It’s a social commentary on beauty standards put on women—how nothing is ever good enough or beautiful enough.
Why do you believe body image affects so many people in a negative way?
D—Because we are told there is one perfect body/way to be, and we are all unique.
Ursula—It's the government and society's way of exploiting your insecurities to sell you things and make you feel like you're never going to be good enough. The advertisements catered to women from hair removal to diets to pills to housewives cleaning etc are like that for a reason—to keep us in a regimented, easily controlled formula of self hatred and compliance and to try to indoctrinate us subconsciously, telling us constantly that we need to change when really we should be appreciating the gift of uniqueness, of being the only version of ourselves existing on this planet. It's all about unchaining your brain and accepting whatever form you come in as that is the biggest "fuck you" to it all.
What has been like making music with your sister? Any sibling rivalry?
U—I snatched her wig yesterday, and we are definitely like that scene from Showgirls. Let's just say she slipped!
D—All jokes aside, there would never be any rivalry. When Ursula wins, I win likewise. We have a sister bond where we feel emotions the other is feeling. In general, I love to see talented, beautiful people succeed.
At what age did you start making music?
D—I started making music when I was 12. We started the band when I was 14 and Ursula was 12 for fun, and now we are here.
What flavor would you suggest to Lay's for a new potato chip?
U—Fame flavour: bittersweet.
D—Fried chicken.
What influences you the most musically and style wise?
U—I apparently have a yellow aura (which is my favourite color), so that's the color I wear most. And I also regard Bowie as a hero/icon of mine/my everything, so I'm absolutely influenced by him.
D—Anything divine, dark, glamorous, mystic, magic and royal. I have a passion for old things. I love vintage clothes and music. I'm influenced by the 50's and 60's. I love old school rare basement soul and garage rock from the 60's. I take a lot of influence from the blues, and I love underground R&B. Right now, I'm really into Jessie Mae Hemphill. She's really inspiring to me, and I love her style. I'm inspired by 60's girl groups. I love Ronnie Spector. I love Etta James. And I love Brenda Holloway.
What would choose for your last meal?
D—Fried Chicken and a large pepperoni pizza with large fries and a large espresso martini and double disaronno and coke. Then, I would finish it off with a massive chocolate cake.
U—Everlasting Gobstopper from Willy Wonka, so the guards would have to wait for eternity until I finished it.
I hear you're working on new music. When can we expect to hear the latest and greatest from you?
D—Fingers crossed for this year.
U—We're aiming for June, but you never know as we do everything ourselves completely D.I.Y. from videos, to using our gig money for releasing physical copies of our music and merch, but we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it.
Interview by Evan Nicole Brown
Video courtesy of Actually Huizenga
You’re a Los Angeles native—so am I. What I’ve always found funny about being from a place that’s seen as this sunny utopia, is that there’s a lot of darkness just below the surface. A lot of disillusionment, a lot of grit. How does being from LA affect your relationship to “reality?”
Nice! It is always lovely to meet another native Los Angelino!
Many people in Los Angeles are on a mission-of-fame-and-glory from other places; they forget about the high population of human-predators in any metropolis, especially in a skin trade such as "Hollywood." Dreams without roots will always lead to disillusionment. Most people allow the sadness to consume them, instead of learning more about themselves through the necessary pain. [LA] is a wonderland if you simply look at it with your own eyes, feel it with your own compass; try not to let the industry people stick their claws into your brain folds--they will only ejaculate their money-diseased ideas or vomit their disappointments into you. Also, it is not just Los Angeles. Those "people" are everywhere.
I couldn’t help but notice that your email signature is “Sent from Hades.” Your band Patriarchy’s newest single, “Hell Was Full,” has a lot of imagery that is reminiscent of Greek Mythology: the Bacchanalian excitement, the abundant harvest, the sacrifice. Do you feel like a modern-day Persephone? Does Hell being full symbolize your return to Earth to bring us Spring?
Wow--you are beyond flattering. That is such an amazing read on this piece!
I went into this with Director of Photography Hazel Hill McCarthy and her husband Douglas, with some ideas of rebirth through a change of appearance, a bath of blood, the destruction of a feast and the bonding of animals enslaved by the human race. We found that mirrors kept appearing, so we went with that. I decided that the bloody corpse-paint makeup would be washed to reveal yet another corpse-paint mask, because in this life we cannot erase the mask, we can only change the reflection. I do believe that we are all Persephone and we are also her captor and rapist/lover, Hades. Persephone is the feminine, sacrificing herself and always longing for her rebirth. I never hear if she has fun down in the Underworld, only that she lives to bring new life and vegetation when she comes up to visit her mother Demeter. If I am Persephone, I will make sure that I have fun in both places.
In the past you’ve been super forthcoming about your relationship to sex, specifically porn and stripping. Are horses (and animals in general) sex symbols to you? You feature them in your work a lot.
I have always been intrigued by sex workers, especially by ancient hetaerae, courtesans, prostitutes (male and female and in between or to the side). For most of our human existence, this was the only way for a woman to gain power, while still retaining the feminine allure of the ancient Minoans and other Prehistoric peoples.
I honestly do not relate the (non-human) animals to my sexual ideas. I bring them in as symbols of innocence and a lesser evil to the human influence which dominates my work.
You look into a mirror and sing: “I’m not here, so tell me what to do.” What does power mean to you? Are you the only person who can give and take yours away?
YES!!! It all depends on ME. And all of it is Me. If I am not self-realized, then I must ask a master to tell me what to do. That is what the lyrics mean. The mirror in the video makes Me the Master of myself.
Who are some fellow singer-directors that you fuck with, past or present?
The main singer-director that I have always "fucked with" has been Rozz Williams of Christian Death. He made a film called "PIG" which made me feel the things I always wanted to feel in terms of fear and excitement, and his singing voice is of the gods, his lyrics from angel-demons. David Lynch is also technically a singer, kind of...so we can slap him on the list. But, seriously and slippery, as for living "fellow" singer-directors, Cody Critcheloe of SSION! I fuck with him very hard. I think I have his sperm in the freezer as I type this.
How is being a collaborator in your band PATRIARCHY different from being ACTUALLY, alone?
The ACTUALLY albums were a mix of many different collaborations (mostly with producer Chaz Windus), and PATRIARCHY is actually more defined and only with bandmate Andrew Means. After David Bowie died I gave up on making pop music completely and was going to focus on making films. But somehow I ran into Andrew (of 3TEETH) and we decided to mess around with some songs and it developed into the kind of music that I always was attracted to. But anyway, with my new band Patriarchy...I guess I am trying to focus on a certain aspect of hell. I want to take it as deep as I can, now that I don't give a fuck anymore about becoming famous.
I need you to help me out with a perpetual munchie/drunchie dilemma: savory, sweet, or sour?
Savory always and in all ways / Sweet in the morning / Sour if it involves tequila and sea salt.
In the current era of feminism and offshoot hashtags like #MeToo, do you find that you’re having to think differently about your representation of women and violence?
I made a film called "Viking Angel" (2014) which is based on some casting couch situations I once had. I decided to work through my anger within the project, which is why I murdered a lot of people in the end (through the help of an inner-ancient consciousness which was the Viking Angel of Vengeance). Although I am obsessed with serial killers just like any other goth, I do not believe in murder, but I was trying to feel what that human release is like. So many humans kill, so I figured I should try it in my own, "safe" way. It was surprisingly liberating and pumped my adrenaline, but I realize it is only a temporary high and not a good way to experience self fulfillment.
As for the word "feminism," I think that all -isms have valid points, just like all religions do...in the beginning. To throw a rock n’ roll quote out there, Lou Reed said: "Things always seem to end before they start." I think that is totally true of religions and -isms. Unfortunately human greed and genetic evil will never be stopped. We can only fulfill ourselves, and hope that a few other people can be inspired by a few of the good things we might do. As to my representation of women and violence, I feel the need to get even closer to the truth of what it really means to be held down by a brain molded by others...to try and crack at these barriers. The society that we live in at the moment is Patriarchal. We have been bred into it over thousands of years. I will take this word and make it my own and make my own life. I must remain an outcast to society and interconnect with both males and females through my whore-ish art. And I only say it is "whorish" because I must beg constantly for money in order to fund my projects. I can only see my work becoming more human...and probably more violent.
