Sŵn Festival (15th – 17th October) filled Cardiff with a sea of new and exciting music, and Hull-born Aimée Fatale was one of the acts that struck us the most. Her image and sound are totally captivating. I was lucky enough to catch her after her Friday set at Sŵn for a chat about everything that comes along with being a ‘Modern Girl’. 

This year you’ve released your first EP, A Modern Girl, and are embarking on a headline tour. How does it feel to see your creative vision come together and turn into something so successful?

Oh wow, it’s amazing, and really special because I’ve worked on this project for a really long time. We rehearsed as a band for about two years before we gigged, because I wanted everything to be properly put together and professional. It’s so funny, I look back on those first gigs and think “Wow, that was so amateur compared to what we do now!”. But it was so important for us to take the time to form what we really wanted to be. 

It’s also so personal to me, I’ve loved this image and sound since I was 12. I spent a couple of years in other projects trying to change myself to what someone else wanted me to be, but it’s really empowering and nice to know that when I’m truly myself I’m most successful.

I’m mainly into punk music, Debbie Harry is my idol. She loved the theatrics and the glamour; looking beautiful and done up, then acting a bit crazy. I think it’s so much fun to put that front on and catch people off guard with a really angry song.

Has there been a standout moment where you realised you’d built up a big fanbase and that your music career was really taking off? 

My first headline show at the Adelphi in Hull. It’s a famous venue in the industry for being a grassroots, DIY space and a rite of passage for young bands in Hull. Every band in the 90s played there when they were coming up.

I used to play there all the time at open mics, to nobody, and I said when we started this project that the only time I want to do a Hull show is when I can do the Adelphi and sell it out. Then last November we did, and it sold out in 30 minutes. I was at work in my charity shop sorting through bin bags of clothes with my laptop open, when I saw the tickets had sold out in half an hour. 

That must feel like living a double life, with customers coming in with no idea.

It really does. I feel like Hannah Montana. 

You have a dreamy 60s aesthetic that shines through in both your music and your look. Besides Debbie Harry, who else inspires you?

It comes from a lot of different places. Nancy Sinatra is one of the main ones I call on frequently, but Debbie Harry has always been my absolute idol. Through strong frontwomen and female singers I’ve found others, like Amy Winehouse, the Ronettes, Siouxsie Sioux… 

I just love strong women who just are completely themselves with no forgiveness for what anyone else wants.

I’ve seen other magazines label you as the ‘British Lana Del Rey’, but I think you’re quite unique in your own style. Do you think the music industry focuses too heavily on comparing female artists to one another?

I think there’s sometimes a lack of respect for female artistry and a misunderstanding of artistic lineage and how inspiration can be passed down between artists.  I was watching a documentary about the punk movement, looking at first generation and second generation punks. No one was slating the second generation punks for copying the Sex Pistols. They made it their own, and then The Jam came along and made it their own too. 

Because it’s women expressing elements  inherent to the female experience, it’s completely disregarded. As a woman, it seems you can only earn respect through years and years of grinding for it. Men can pop up, and because they’re cool or act a certain way, they earn respect instantly. I hate that.

On a lighter note, your set was great. With your tour coming up, what can someone seeing you for the first time expect to feel? 

That’s a good question. I’ve really put a lot of effort into this headline tour. We’re a very DIY band. This morning I brought vintage furniture in for the stage and the band were like “What is this?’’. 

Is it from the charity shop?

“It’s all from the charity shop of course it is!”

 I want to portray what it means to me to be a modern girl: taking everything that’s happened to my family, my city, England, the UK and the world over the past 50 years, and explore how that makes me who I am now. We’re in a special position to draw on so much of the past. We’re combining elements of that and designing the stage to look like a working men’s club for example.

Is there a particular song or venue on tour that gets you excited?

Rough Trade in Bristol, because of the audience reception. It’s a record shop and Bristol always has a good vibe. I’ve also got a new song: Everybody Wants a Piece of Your Heart, which I’m keen to play. It’s a really special one. There’s an unreleased song too, Nobody Understands Me, which kind of sums up how I feel, haha. 

Last question: where would you love to play in five years’ time?

Can I say Wembley? I don’t really have goal venues. I’d like to do an academy tour, playing in beautiful old theatres. What matters most to me is having busy gigs, coming from a band that used to play to nobody. Being able to sell out a show in, say, Glasgow on this tour is really special. Hull sometimes feels a bit far away from the wider music industry, so being able to play to new audiences in new cities is always cool. So perhaps a sold-out academy tour.