By Vicky Greer. Pictures by Billie Perrett.
In an industry that oftentimes feels overrun with corporate labels, unaffordable gig tickets and ambiguous politics, Millie Manders and the Shutup are a breath of fresh air. They consistently use their platform to call out injustices in the world and use their merch and records as a means to raise money for charity, even as they navigate the growing difficulties of the music industry.
Their upcoming album Wake Up, Shut Up, Work (out August 2) combines punk, ska and pop sensibilities in a collection of mosh-worthy anthems for rock fans who want to do something about the state of the world. Their latest single, ‘Can I Get Off’ speaks directly about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the role that Western governments play in atrocities across the globe. Where other artists would fear backlash, Millie Manders and the Shutup are committed to speaking out about what they believe in.
In a refreshingly frank conversation, I spoke to Millie Manders ahead of album release day about activism, the music industry and their bold new album.
Millie Manders and The Shutup will play The 1865 in Southampton on October 25.
We’re getting close to album release. How are you feeling?
So excited. Like, there’s a bit of nervousness because you never know how anyone is going to truly react to new material until it’s out there. We’ve had good reactions to the singles, but the body of work is totally different. I don’t know. It’s putting your baby out there, isn’t it? Mainly I’m excited.
Have you been working on it for a while?
No! Last year we did three writing retreats of a week each and we wrote the album in those three weeks. We just set out to make sure we had an album. We wrote loads of songs in that time, and chose the ones that we felt best fit where we’re at at the moment.
How do you feel the band and your sound have progressed since that first album?
The evolution largely comes from the fact that my drummer and guitarist are different this time around. So you’ve got different influences from that perspective. I think it is definitely an evolution of sound rather than a move away from the first album’s sound. We stayed true to that because we enjoy it. It’s still got a lot of pop sensibilities in there. But it’s still very eclectic in terms of various genre influences. And it’s still staying honest and true to me exploring my own thoughts, feelings, traumas, angers, and all the rest of it.
Is that the first time you’ve used writing retreats to make music?
It was absolutely the first time, and it was because with the new setup, I really wanted to get to know my musicians better. I wanted us all to feel that we were really deeply connected to the music on this album. I wanted everybody to feel like they had had their part to play, their fair share of the writing duties. I think the result of that is, personally, I think it’s a more mature set of tracks than we had before. It felt less rushed to do it that way. It felt more explorative to do it that way.
You chose to release One That Got Away on this album, taken from the first EP. What made you choose to remake that song?
Actually, that was my manager if I’m being honest. He said to me, ‘I feel like One That Got Away is the song that got away.’ And it took some persuading for me to do that. And he was like, ‘Just do me a favour, just try it’. So I did. I sat there and I listened to it. And I added some lyrics. Didn’t like them, changed them. It took me a while to do it. And then when I had, I remembered that the first time I wrote it, I had never wanted the end of the chorus to say, ‘But you’re the one that got away.’ That was actually another band member at the time who thought I should do that. And I was always against it because that was never the essence of the song for me. They weren’t the one that got away and I didn’t want them to be.
And so it was kind of this revisiting of the perspective and suddenly this song became mine again. And so I’m actually really grateful that my manager pushed me a bit to do it. Because I actually prefer how it feels now and the perspective of it, and the twisting of the lyrics.
When you’re recording all of these songs, do you think about how they’re going to translate into a live performance, especially now that the venues are getting bigger?
Yes. I mean, some of them, even in the room when we were writing them, we were like, ‘Oh my God, this song would be so fun if we did x, y, z live. What if we added this to it and then this happened live?’ I’m being very ambiguous because I don’t want to give anything away right now! Because we do have some things that we’re planning to expand how we’re working live. For the first time, for me, it was really nice to explore those ideas with my bandmates and think about that early on.
We’re looking forward to having you in Southampton this October – it’s not your first time playing here.
We’ve played the Joiners three, maybe four times before. I love that venue. I love the team there. I love how well they look after the bands. This time we’re at the 1865. I’m really excited. It is a little bit bigger. It’s scary that people are giving us all this trust with these big-capacity rooms!
And one of my favourite lighting engineers is going to be doing the lights for us there. A lovely lady called Nicky. They are the touring lighting engineer for Less Than Jake when they’re in the UK. So I’m really excited because Nicky’s lightscapes are really incredible.
One song that really stood out to me on the new album was ‘Threadbare’. It just hits the nail on the head of the cost-of-living crisis and what it’s like to be in the UK right now. What is it like being a touring musician in that kind of landscape?
Exactly what the song says. Constantly worrying about whether or not I can afford the accommodation, paying my musicians, feeding my musicians and my crew members, the cost of the vans and the diesel to put in the vans. I never make it a secret that I have a limited company and that’s massively in debt from releasing album one, even though we got funding for it.
The music industry is drastically expensive and for bands at small to mid-level, they get nowhere near the amount of money they need to survive. We are in an incredibly lucky position at this point where we’ve been going long enough and have enough support that I am making ends meet and I am able to pay my rent and bills, just, by being a musician. But that’s not solely from touring, that’s also from being a freelancer and from having a Patreon.
It’s a very fragile business, the music industry. It’s fickle. If I got sick and I couldn’t do social media for six months, I know my band would be forgotten. The algorithm would totally be destroyed and trying to get engagement again after that would be a ridiculously hard thing to do. So, all of that makes life as a musician incredibly tough. Having said that, I never really wanted to do anything else. You take the rough with the smooth and you get on with it because what the hell else would I do?
Do you think Patreon is the way forward for DIY bands?
It’s not for everybody because it’s also a lot of work. You know, you have to create stuff, you have to make sure that you can entertain those people. They’re paying a subscription monthly to get extra from you as a musician. Do you have time to set up a Patreon and feed that machine? I struggle sometimes, and I often have conversations with my Patreons on my livestream about how I’m struggling and why. That’s part of the reason why people subscribe to that with me, is because they know that they’re going to get everything in terms of an insight into being a musician. But yes, it’s worth it if you can do it.
Do you have any advice for new bands that are just starting out?
Remember that you are a business now. Remember that the golden era of the music industry died a death, so you are your own record label. The only person that is going to manage your business and push you further is you. As much as that sounds capitalist and corporate, welcome to the music industry.
When you say the golden era of the music industry is dead, is there any coming back from that? Or do we just have to adapt?
No, we’re never going to have the golden era again. We’re never going to have people walking into a pub, seeing a tiny band and going, ‘I’m going to throw a million quid at you.’ There isn’t that risk anymore. They can’t afford that risk anymore. So, they have to see you as a commodity. They have to see your ability to make your own million before they chuck one at you.
Which is why so many bands you’re seeing climb the charts independently now. Will record labels survive the DIY industry? It’s probably a more serious question at this point. When you look at people like Pet Needs, and Bob Vylan, who have entered the charts twice and won a MOBO with their own record label.
Do we need the major labels other than for pop? I think that’s the right thought process.
If you were involved with a major label, you might have met a lot of resistance to putting the song ‘Can I Get Off?’ on the album.
Yes. I mean, even before I put that song out, when I first started talking about Palestine, in October, I immediately lost someone we’d been working with. He said he couldn’t work with us anymore. I didn’t even bother replying. Which tells you a lot about what may or may not have happened if I had corporate support at this point.
Do you feel responsible as an artist to speak out about what’s happening in Palestine?
Yes. I could never just sit back and allow this stuff to be happening when I’ve got 22,000 people following me on Facebook and another nearly 8,000 on Instagram when so much disinformation is out there. When some of the media is lying so hard to keep the true death toll down and their wording of things to try and lessen the impact of Israel being blamed for what they’re doing.
And not just in Palestine, talk about the role that the West has got in the tragedy in Congo and the displacement and death of millions there. And what’s happening in Sudan and everywhere else. As somebody who has always been politically based in my lyricism, I would feel like a hypocrite if I wasn’t continuing to speak out as I find out about these atrocities.
You’ve been very outspoken about trans rights and recently launched a line of merch to raise money for charities supporting transgender people. It was refreshing to see with the transphobia that has surrounded the recent election.
Thank you. I have a policy that if I see hatred go out, I will do something positive to counteract it. And we did it last year when a particular person became very transphobic very quickly, who a lot of us in the punk scene know.
They started spreading a lot of hatred and so last year we also did a pride t-shirt that raised money for a different trans charity. We’re also giving £5 of every sale of our splatter vinyl to a trans charity. So that’s 300 copies which will be £1500 to go to a trans charity as well. As I say, I strongly believe that if something awful is happening, try to do something positive to counterbalance that act.
I read recently that you made an effort to have women and non-binary people, trans people working on you with recording the album, on the crew, on the tour. What has that experience been like?
It’s been so refreshing to have so many women around me. [She laughs] It’s been amazing. I have had the best time and so has my band. I mean, they’re all really highly skilled, all brilliant people, wonderful to work with. Just such positive, strong energy in the room every day that you’re working or touring.
The only negative thing that happened was touring with our photographer Sammy, who is a trans lady, and realising that the only people that get any kind of aggression in toilets are trans women. It was really sad that Sammy would feel like she needed the support of somebody else there with her. And witnessing not aggression, but certainly someone with very aggressive body language and facial expressions just because she was there. Because she needed a wee. That made me feel deeply sad and deeply angry that this movement has spread such unnecessary fear to the point where someone can’t go to the toilet without fear of TERFs being the aggressors.
I can’t wait for the tour. We’ve got women driving us and doing our sound, and Sammy’s back doing all of the photography with us. Lighting, everything. We’ve got women across the board and I’m very excited.
I’d love to hear about some of the newer artists who are inspiring you right now?
Menstrual Cramps are right at the top of my list because they were the ones inspired to create the Bands Boycott Barclays movement [A movement which urged artists to drop out of festivals sponsored by Barclays due to their ties with weapons manufacturers. Ultimately, several festivals dropped Barclays as their sponsor].
Lambrini Girls, they put on an amazing live show. And are also incredibly outspoken. I love Nova Twins, I love their live sets. Just incredible. A theremin ring on a bassist? What an idea! Lauren Tate, who is Delilah Bon. Gosh, her lyricism is so brave. So, I think she’s really exciting.
Ramona’s Tea Party, who are the band coming over from Norway to tour with us this October/November. Ramona, last year when she toured with us, was only 19. And her songwriting is just incredible. I’m so excited to hear their new songs and the direction their going in. She high-kicks and jumps and twirls and crowd surfs with her electric blue hair bright pink dresses, and ultraviolet reflective makeup. Just a total hero. I love her. I could go on for ages.
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