ARCH FEMMESIS VS
You may find this hard to believe, but the city of Nottingham in England was originally named “Snotingaham” after a Saxon Chief who was named “Snot” (I’ll wait until you finish laughing before I continue). But that’s not the only interesting anecdote as you may well know if you’re familiar with the legend of Robin Hood. There’s a chance that, had he lived in the current era, the aforementioned outlaw would have embraced the philosophy of ARCH FEMMESIS, if not their music. It’s only in recent months since I first had a listen to their music, introduced to me by a suggestion on my streaming service. Band founders and musicians ZERA TONIN and PRINCESS STEPHEN join other Nottingham musicians who have come before them, namely Ten Years After, Stereo MCs, and London Grammar.
The band has a grand history and embraces many types of musical genres, effortlessly weaving each element into a cohesive whole creating, in turn, a sound that’s unlike any other. You may disagree with me on this, but I’d have to say that Nottingham seems to be a gold mine of musical talent. The music and performances of ARCH FEMMESIS proves it.
When and where did the journey that would someday lead to the formation of Arch Femmesis begin?
ZT: Our mate who runs City Arts in Nottingham puts on these poetry events, someone had a dropped out and I was pulled in last minute. Princess Stephen happened to be headlining, using their synth to accompany their tracks about love, sensuality and fashion, feminine power. I hadn’t seen anything like this before- love at first sight! On a side note the organiser Amelia is now our honorary mom/manager/momager.
PS: I remember I did a piece based on an Alexander McQueen fashion show and that particularly resonated with you. I definitely think our appreciation of fashion and artists like Leigh Bowery brought us closer together.
The name of your band is a play on “arch nemesis”, the latter word of which is defined as:
the inescapable agent of someone's or something's downfall.
● a downfall caused by an inescapable agent.
● retributive justice.
a long-standing rival; an archenemy.
Who or what are you against?
ZT: I’d like to credit Princess Stephen with the name! It took me a while to warm up to it but we definitely embody the namesake. We fight against this flat notion of femininity, that is less than, that it is fragile, that it’s passive. We rebel against our indoctrination to reject our own feminine qualities. Being religious and AFAB or in Princess Stephen's case, Androgynous AMAB, every fabric of our being is a protest to be our true selves. So with that we say FUCK the patriarchy, FUCK the internalised misogyny and homophobia, and a big FUCK OFF to society’s racism and transphobia - we embrace all that we are and those around us who are seen as minorities and do what we can to elevate the voices that need to be heard.
I’ve only become acquainted with queer music for a year and a half now, and have noticed that most of what I’ve listened to has been equal to or superior to anything one might hear in commercial music. Were there always this many musicians from the LGBTQ+ community before the twenties, or have I been sleeping?
PS: I think queer musicians and queer music has always been there. If you look at the New York Disco scene and the birth of House music in Chicago it was all led by black queer communities and artists
ZT: I feel people are more proudly out and about with their identity so whilst it's always been there in the underground and mainstream, it's all the more prevalant! Tbh I was also a late bloomer so you' re not alone!
Kitchen built for two
You’ve been compared to a plethora of musicians by Headfirst Bristol with artists such as Fever Ray, Peaches, Soft Cell, Gazelle Twin, Vessel, Debby Friday, Miss Kittin, and Fever 103. One of the things I love about music today is that artists aren’t afraid to mix genres in a way that’s pleasantly obvious and out front rather than serving as a subtle but audible “seasoning”, if you will, of music designed for mass consumption. Why did you choose to incorporate so many musical styles into your songs?
ZT: It may be hard to describe music that is indescribable but there's power in the amount of audiences and scenes we can relate to, from goth, to noise, hip hop, electro, punk, kitsch and camp pop, they've all overlapped and entwined throughout history. These influences also reflect our own personal growth as people. Maybe it’s just cus we’re ADHD and monotony is BORING!
It seems there’s more to you both than just music and politics. For instance, Zera Tonin you design your own fashion and you were an art student at one time. You’re a go-go dancer as well and you perform at your shows. Have I left anything out?
ZT: Other than being a multi-media artist who hides away in their studio like a hermit, i pay the bills as a teaching assistant, mainly With SEN (special educational needs) children. It started off as COVID job but its stuck around. In one of our tracks SS//CC (which stands for 'Sensual Socialism, Comrade Companion), I always introduce it with with discussions about work, making ends meet, discussing the reality of sex work and the trash that is hospitality and retail- that shit made me ill. I'm glad to have a stable job that also allows me to get creative and silly and I can keep my integrity as a person.
Princess Stephen, you’re known as The Sexy One; does that make you the sexiest between you and Zera, or are you THEE Sexy One?
PS: I am the sexy one, Zera is the iconic one... in my opinion. We do try to compete in the fashion stakes and outdo each other a little so maybe some nights I'm not the sexiest one.
ZT: lately they've been upping the latex and vinyl while I've hibernated in sporty spice mode hahahaha!
According to your EPK, you’re “[o]bsessed with Disco and 80s film soundtracks”. What songs in particular draw you in?
PS: I Feel Love by Donna Summer is a big one for me. It has this mix between human sensuality and technology which I think is really interesting in terms of how we experience a technological world as humans. It's also just a damn sexy song. Also Relight My Fire by Dan Hartman has everything a good disco song should have - a luscious, expensive string section, a driving rhythm and big, dramatic shifts in intensity throughout the song.
PRINCESS STEPHEN making magick
What sort of equipment are you working with in the studio (aside from the obvious, of course) that enables you to build the particular sound(s) that you’re working on?
PS: We compose everything pretty much on two Novation Circuits and then do some additional work in Ableton. And Zera uses a vocal processor that I forget the name of but enables them to do their loud piercing screams, among other effects.
ZT: At the moment I'm using the Roland-VT-4- it's very nifty and accessible and can create some pretty strange noises!
There is a series of compilation albums called Loud Women and ARCH FEMMESIS can be found on Volume Four with one of the songs from your EP. How did your involvement in this project come about?
ZT: I dunno, I guess we got an email that didn't turn out to be scam and the rest is history! The femme led music scene has its webs of connections across the country so we're very grateful. I think we took a risk putting an instrumental track on there- KALI- its the nosiest and most chaotic from our EP. But she is the goddess of destruction and change so it felt fitting to put it on an album dedicated to LOUD WOMEN. They recently played it as part of their dream Glastonbury stage line up on the radio! #blushing!
I don’t imagine that you’ve had time to listen to each of those releases, but whether you did or not, I’m sure you have favorites from those recordings. No?
ZT: There are some pretty big artists on there such as Lambrini Girls, Fräulein and I,Doris - they are fucking rocking it right now! When we did the Album Launch in London we played with Piney Gir and Gilan- both such lovely humans/bands, but Gilan's voice really stuck in my head, their track Vampire is VERY MOODY, her voice is haunting!
Do you have any favourite musicians who are maybe outside of the kind of music you make or would normally prefer?
PS: I really like The Smiths, even though Morrissey is quite obviously a nob.
ZT: *eye roll* nob nob nob. People out of my genre I really like..... I lost something in the Hills by Sibylle Baier- that song just moves me so so so much to the edge of serenity and tears, you know when you look out the passenger side window like your life's a music video.
You did a show with Benefits at The Grace, and Freq described your performance as “angry and funny”. I watched your Euro Filth Tour vid on YouTube and you both come across as funny. Is humor typically part of your stage shows?
ZT: ohhhhh most definitely, we can't take ourselves seriously even though we come across as quite intense, everything is layered with sass and silliness, it's how we put the male gaze in check. Something I heard was really interesting, when asked what they're most scared of, women said being killed, whilst men said being laughed at. I found that quite wild. So the biggest weapon and non-violent action I can do is laugh at the absurd fragility of the patriarchy. Laughing is healing, laughing minimises and deescalates others power.
In a Young Producers at City Arts video, Zera, you talk about art and how integral and essential it is to the human experience. Would you care to elaborate a bit more on your statement?
ZT: Look, let's shove the exclusive Art School lingo and contemporary elitism, and lets not forget, the money laundering, OUT THE WAY.
Art is vital to our development as a civilisation it's how we reflect on ourselves on our communities, it provokes, plants seeds of questioning, searching, interpreting, understanding. It can lead us to greater communication between each other, our different stories and view points- it bridges gaps without the boundary of words. As I said- I wouldn't survive without my creative outlet, it's how I regulate my emotions, it's how I process my environment and find joy beyond a troubling existence. It's always there, no matter how long I stray away from it.
Over centuries, the elites have warned that artists are the most dangerous kind of member of society, and they would be right. Art has caused revolutions and ridiculed power, overthrown dynasties and confronted long standing traditions. For the past decade, the conservative government has been slashing funds for schools where creative courses have taken a hit, music departments abolished, art dissolved and reduced to pointless and unnecessary, children are being brainwashed into thinking they're not creative, that creativity is merely a hobby, just playtime. Everyone is born creative and children should have a right, and adults as well, to fucking express and explore their existence- and be paid PROPERLY to create and perform.
Perhaps I’m wrong but we seem to be of the same mind that eroticism is a form of subversive art. Would you say that’s true about ARCH FEMMESIS?
ZT: you betcha bitch! Owning our power through eroticism is essential to our art. Growing up religious has meant I've had a lot of unlearning to do. Being raised in a heteronormative society, the older I've become the more sapphic leaning I've becoming. Our new motto is "MILFS to the front!!". I love it that I'm doing it for the femmes and thems now. Men just get a boot in the face or a spraying of beer (I mean, which they still love, and is still erotic in some way).
Both of you seem like such good friends and it’s a beautiful thing to see. Does your relationship lend itself to your creative process?
ZT: it's turned into a sibling relationship for sure, we bitch moan throw insults at each other and verbal slaps round the face when we need to get a grip. Moreover we're there for each other, we have fun in what we do and we give that team rocket energy for sure. Something always weird happens, we always seem to make similar clothing choices when we meet up for gigs, same colours and shapes and textiles- we are that in sync our periods would be lined up if it was possible.
ST: we have each other's backs which is something I really appreciate. I don't think I could be in a band with someone I didn't care about and respect, it is like a little family and I like to think of other bands we tour and play with as cousins, second cousins, etc.
ZT: Stephen you're so cute...
What have you got going on in your life, right now. What’s remainder of 2023 look like for ARCH FEMMESIS?
ZT: WELL, we've just been asked to play HOMOBLOC, a very big festival in the UK Queer scene so that'll hopefully put us on the map!
We are due to release our new music video for ANDROGYNISTA- so stay tuned! We really enjoyed collaborating with Bad Friday Pictures and our trans sibling glitch artist, Katja (13x/deddGvRL).
Right now we're gonna take some time to ourselves to record music and apply for grants- it's been non-stop since we started so we're looking forward to having the time to organise and revolutionise.
Things are on the up! Wider audiences, bigger stages, iconic artists.... we just gotta get our foundations sturdy to take it to the next level :)
Follow this link for their music, merch, videos, and more
