“Queer women feel things differently and that’s who this is for”
BY SAMANTHA GRIERSON, IMAGE BY ANNA KOBLISH
Boyish have just launched their latest single, Congratulations. I meet them in Brooklyn, NY to find out what this queer duo India Shore and Claire Altendahl are all about. Their bright and playful energy is immediately apparent.
“We met six years ago in Berkley College. I was looking for a guitarist for an audition, and that’s when Claire and I began working together. As time went on, we realised we actually liked each other and became friends”. Co-habiting alongside eight people in a three-storey apartment, I wonder how living and working together plays out. “The EP that we are releasing is basically a snapshot of a time of our lives. It’s a love letter to our friends. We have grown up together and become adults. Your 20s are not always nice to you, whilst you figure out who you are. We all helped each other through this”.
“Our band is like delicate and softness mixed with grungy. It’s energetic and head banging with pretty dark lyrics. We perform it as a punk show, a rock and roll show. Like Cottage Core”, explains Claire, which is a nod to the American ideal of a country cottage life gone hard core.
“We both have side jobs, on top of our gigs. It’s not easy when you say to your boss: “I need two weeks off for a tour”. They mainly say “you’re fired!”, so I have to start again”, laughs Claire. They long to play in Europe, with Claire particularly drawn to British culinary classics, beans and toast and boiled egg with soldiers. India informs me that Claire’s super power is being able to choose the best food on the menu and giving everyone else food envy.
“It’s music for the queer crowd, people who like music. It’s not really meant for straight people. It’s great if they like it but it’s not really for them”, Claire concludes. “Queer women feel things differently and that’s who this is for. Congratulations is about falling in love with a friend and the age old queer question, could this tip into more? Is there any going back?” It’s based on a true story and, reader, you’ll be pleased to know that it pay off.
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