CLT DRP is the Brighton-based trio turning heads with their electro-punk ingenuity. The band’s second album Nothing Clever, Just Feelings will be released on 8th September and followed by a tour later this year, so we thought we’d ask frontperson Annie Dorrett a few questions to find out more.
So, the elephant in the room: the iconic band name, where did that come from?
We all went to uni together and we were trying to come up with a name, as you do, and we wanted something kind of like Riot Grrl names were really fun and we were trying to kind of think of stuff kind of bold and in your face. And I remember saying, clit drip. It’s kind of like a little bit of a joke. I was like, that is pretty crazy.
And then we used it when we did our first exam, we kind of used it like a fill in name because we hadn’t decided on it yet. And we put it down and everyone was so shocked about it and so annoyed about it and had something to say. It was like, immediately, you can’t have a band name like that, you have to change it. And then we kind of all went, okay, we’re going to keep it now. So crazy how upset people are getting about this. So that’s kind of how it happened.
We took the I’s out because I think the mystery thing was kind of cool. But also we were trying not to shoot ourselves in the foot too. And promoters would kind of get funny about having clit on a poster and stuff. We wanted to keep it originally with the I’s, but we decided to just leave it like that and explain it kind of later. But yeah, that’s how it came to be.
I’m sure you’re as excited as I am about the queer, feminist post-punk scene both past and present. Has this always been a source of inspiration for you?
Yeah. So I guess when the band first started, it felt lyric wise and attitude wise, kind of it was a lot more about being a bit younger and finding feminism for the first time, like having someone explain that to you and what my idea of womanhood was. And now it’s journey towards kind of my queerness and our queerness has kind of been a journey in itself a little bit.
But I think being active in that scene right now has brought a lot of that and meeting people and touring with people and playing with people and watching these bands come to life. It kind of allowed us to sort of explore that kind of area and allowed significantly as well to be open about things and talk about things. And I think the scene specifically right now is really about each other and it’s really cool to see and it’s very joyful. I think that there’s a lot of rebellious fans but also a lot of genuine warmth from a lot of people. That’s really nice.
You performed at Boomtown recently, how was that? Were there any artists you were excited to feature next to on the lineup?
Peaches is obviously a big one. Watching them play, it was like that was the first time I’ve ever seen them play and that was incredible. It was like a real powerhouse of so much and so much generational amazement, if that’s a word, in one performance. It was pretty crazy, to be honest. You haven’t really ever seen so much captured, so much wiseness and craziness and queerness and pride, but as well as being political at the same time and cheeky. And she really seemed to have it all down.
Obviously, Lambrini Girls played with us. They were incredible, they’re just amazing every single time. Tokky Horror, Molly and that fucking whoopi cushion set just killed me. The Menstrual Cramps played.
Also Sudan Archives which, to be honest with you, I’m not entirely sure if they talk about their queerness, but a black woman and the things that they speak about are incredible. And I watched that and it was crazy. She’s incredible. She’s such a presence. And it was really cool to see those songs live because I didn’t realize how it’s only two people and it’s kind of like hip hop-y electronic-y vibes. It was crazy to see it live because it was so just so tight and just like the way that she kind of did everything, she plays a violin and you’re like, what?!
I thought I didn’t like the festival very much because it sounded to me like really very much like drum and bass kind of vibes. But yeah, there’s this little weird haven of alternative punk, queer kids and old people that were just like a very liberated little town amongst this huge city of people.
Is there anything that sets apart your new album from your debut? Has your creative process changed or developed in any way?
I think I’d been a bit of a solo songwriter for a long time when I was younger and started out in bands, maybe like 18 to 19. I think CLT DRP started at 19 and I’d only been in one band before that and I think it’s weird music and we all have such different tastes. Writing that album was very pure and very chaotic and very straight from the gut. Kind of like, they play the stuff, I just sing to it and that would be it, and there’s something really kind of fun and exciting like that.
But this album has a lot more kind of, like, finesse to it. I think for me, personally, I think the lyrics are definitely more, like, emotionally charged in a way, and rather more like, I’m trying to say something. But it’s definitely finesse in the sense of, like, I took a lot more time to mess around with melodies and stuff.
I think I took a lot more time with the melodies and trying to see all right, does this fit? Does this not fit? What can we play around with? I asked Scott and Daphne’s opinion a little bit more and the producer Alex Gordon and worked a bit less straight from the gut and more of, like, okay I really want to make this song work, other than just kind of like, being young and just being like, okay, boom, done with that, I’m not going to look at changing it. I feel like when I was younger, I didn’t really want advice or I didn’t want to change it if I thought it was good already, whereas I’m a bit older now and a bit like, hey, this is for the good of a song, rather than me getting it right the first time or something.
Can you tell me about the song ‘Nothing Clever, Just Feelings’? What moved you to write this song and what made it the title track?
So when we went to write the album, we recorded it in this weird little farm in Oxford. I’d been kind of having a pretty rough time that year with someone I was seeing, and it was a really difficult, very heartache experience. Obviously, everyone suffers from heartbreak, but it was like a very weird situation where it wasn’t just heartbreak, it was really kind of triggering dynamics. It brought up a lot of stuff for me, not in the way that you’d think, but triggering in the sense of dynamics between things and the way people acted and some gender stuff. I don’t know how much I felt comfortable being seen as a woman and whether or not I felt non-binary and how much that affected that dynamic. Being in an open relationship, there’s so many things that just went around my brain at once, and most of all, I was just really upset about how brutal that dynamic turned out to be.
And then it ended and we went to go record and there’s like five songs that I hadn’t written lyrics for, and ‘Nothing Clever, Just Feelings’ was one of them. And it kind of really was just this like, okay, this is exactly how I feel. I think I’ve written usually scattered down on notebooks and stuff, like stuff that I thought about or like trains of thought or moments that I thought were painful or joyous or stuck in my brain. So I kind of go back to that notebook and then I’ll sit there and kind of mess around with it.
But the short answer to your question is, yeah, to be honest with you, just a pretty gnarly heartbreak and just kind of not wanting to think too much about what I was saying and just kind of feeling it. That’s kind of where the ‘Nothing Clever, Just Feelings’ thing came from.
I feel like, when I was younger, I always wanted to be really smart or try and write something witty because I never felt taken seriously as a young person, or a young female specifically. And I think this one, I was like, oh, you know what? I listen to Taylor Swift, I’m just going to write lyrics that come straight from my belly. You know what I mean? Like and I shouldn’t feel ashamed about that, I guess, because if I like that kind of music, why wouldn’t the audience like that kind of music? Does that make sense? And like, a lot of stuff that I listen to is really direct and forward. It doesn’t fuck around. It’s just like straight to the point, and I think there’s something really wonderful about that.
The single ‘New Boy’ is a breakup song but it also feels poignant for us gender non-conforming folks. How far would you say your own experiences of gender and sexuality inform the upcoming album?
Yeah, I think it’s all tied in one. It’s really strange validation if you’re not exposed to, or if you’re in a really heterosexual nuclear family vibe and you grew up like that and so much of your validation comes from, like, okay, I’m an AFAB cis-woman so I need, like, male validation, blah, blah, blah, the patriarchy. I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir, but I feel like that sticks with you.
It’s really hard in a romantic sense sometimes to differentiate male validation that’s ingrained into you versus whether I really liked this cis-man and whether or not I felt like respect was what I wanted or validation was I wanted, or whether it was being broken. And those feelings got really confusing because I felt, like, really strong, painful dismissiveness.
I guess my point is feeling that way and then trying to write a breakup album, there’s definitely a lot of just self awareness and very honest lyrics and thoughts on this album that I just decided to be very truthful with and just kind of put down on paper. Because I feel like if I’m feeling this way, then a million other queer kids are. And it’s really nice to kind of just have that in music because I don’t think it happens a lot, or if it does, it’s like, really, like a bold kind of queerness, which I’m not really sure I’m 100% there yet. I mean, I am, but it’s still confusing. I still struggle with a lot of things around it. So yeah, it’s kind of like an insight into a very chaotic journey.
Do you have a personal favourite on the new album? And would your bandmates say the same?
It’s so hard because there’s a difference between what I like and then what I like playing, because we haven’t played all of it live yet. We actually played for the first time ever at Arc TanGent on Friday night ‘Desire / 1 on 1’. And that was so fun to play and so was ‘New Boy’. And I feel like those two songs specifically have that really crazy, chaotic energy. I think they’re faster to play. I love the lyrics because they’re just really brutally honest and they’re cheeky and sad, but also angry and fun.
So those two would be mine to play live and just like lyric wise, I really like them. I think Scott really likes ‘Desire 101’ as well. He really wanted to play it on Friday. Me and Daphne were like, let’s save some songs and he was like, no. And I don’t know, Daphne, the last song on the album ‘I Put My Baby To Sleep’. It’s just really big and I feel like once we start playing it live, I think that’s Daphne’s favorite song. I mean she might turn around and be like, oh, it’s not. I feel like it is. I feel like I’m right about that one.
You’re taking the album on tour later this year, is there a particular venue you’re most looking forward to playing?
I’m really looking forward to playing in Leeds at the Oporto. I’ve never been there before and I have no idea what it’s like, but we’re playing with Tokky Horror. I think it’s like a co-headline show, but, like, I just love those guys a lot and I feel like the fans that they’ll bring will make a really amazing night. Like, Molly from Tokky Horror runs a night called SOZ LAD and it’s a club night, queer gig, so she puts a few bands on and then some DJs, but it’s like a really wholesome event. And when we played there in Bristol it was the most fun I’ve ever had at a gig. It just felt really like I don’t know, it was amazing. It was really good. And I feel like that kind of energy will kind of happen then. So I’m really looking forward to that show.
I’m looking forward to playing London just because I like the Lexington as a venue. It’d be fun to kind of play that as a headliner. I think that will feel kind of nice.
Most of the shows where I’ve been before, it’ll be just nice to play the album. We’re all really getting sick of the old stuff. It’s been a long time. This one was supposed to come out, actually, way earlier, but we had some stuff with label stuff, so it ended up getting pushed back. We’ve kind of been really waiting to get it out, so we just want to play it live, no matter where we are.
As a band you’re known for your raucous, anarchic performances. Is there a song you anticipate will be the best to perform live?
It’s so funny. Some things you have in your head will be different than what they’re going to be out. We’ve got this one song, it’s called ‘M.U.T.M’, but it actually means masturbate. And I think there’s a lot of direct, kind of, feminine feminism in the sense of associating a lot of that feminism with, I don’t know, I guess my sexuality, or naive kind of form of it. And I kind of strayed away from that a little because, obviously what I was saying before, like, I’m not really sure how I’m feeling in general about my gender and sexuality, but that song feels like ‘Speak To My’. Like that kind of vibe just like a little bit older version of it or, like, wiser version I guess you could say, but it’s still really cheeky and sassy and kind of like a fun, bold song.
And I’m really nervous about playing it live. It’s not really chaotic. It’s actually really chilled out and kind of, like, minimal. So I think that’ll be really fun to play live, but also very scary because it’s not this crazy performance. It’s actually like, oh, I’m going to listen to the words and kind of really own it. So I don’t know if that answers your question, but I’m just interested to see how that will move into live performance from the record. I think Daphne and Scott feel that as well, because it’s not like a nutty thing, it’s sort of like a chilled out thing.
And finally, at Dead Good Music we like to close by asking, what is your favourite fruit?
Okay. I really like fruit. This is literally the most difficult, I’m like I’ll tell you all my personal problems but I can’t pick a fruit. I think grapefruit, like, with a little sprinkle of sugar on there and eat it with, like, a little fork in the morning. Or, if I’m being really annoying, a cucumber. I know it’s a vegetable, but it’s actually a fruit, technically, and I could eat a cucumber for days. I’ll say grapefruit. I feel like that’s more reasonable.
Words by Maebh Springbett
