FRESH MEET: DR. FILTH
WORDS: KARLEY SCIORTINO
PHOTO: MARIA ELISA GOMEZ

What does Dr Filth sound like?
At the backbone of our music is punk. It’s very loud and direct, and we like the idea of storytelling through music. It’s an observation of something told by a narrator. Most of our songs are about the ills of life, or aspects of life that really interest us - like death, murder, pedophilia, or torment.

If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?
Probably Fugazi because we could learn so much from them. Hang on, can they be dead? If they can be dead then Frank Zappa. He’s everything we love about music. He epitomizes total freedom through utter control.

You have quite an unconventional stage show. Can you describe it for us?
We wear fancy dress on stage. It’s quite tacky in a way but that’s what we like about it. We dress up as doctors, patients, escaped convicts, anything. Once we even dressed up as farmers. By dressing up it immediately shows the audience that even though we’re a band that is serious about our music, we’re not too serious about ourselves. What’s wrong with being risqué? It helps us to get more into character. Basically, fun is the order of the day.

What’s the best part of being a musician?
It’s the feeling you get in the rehearsal room or on stage when you all look up at exactly the same point and you don’t have to say anything. You just know it’s clicked.

How are you different from other young English bands around at the moment?
We don’t stamp our feet for one [laughs]. We’re also not afraid to play to any audience, or with any band. We’re just as excited to play with a jazz funk band as we are to play with a folk outfit.

Is it true that you drive an ambulance?
Yeah. We were looking for a van, and we found a load of Ministry of Defence ambulances and just decided to buy one. We feel it goes along with the ethos of the band. It’s now become a home as well as transport. It offers some perks as well because after gigs we can pile as many people into it as possible and drive to a party. Also, traffic wardens don’t give tickets to ambulances.

Tell us something weird about you.
Well, we rehearse in a hut in the woods in Bushy Park, also known as “The Surgery”. It started as a joke but now it’s just its name. We basically play music to deer. The police have been a regular fixture as well. They came after some sound complaints, but instead of shutting us down they stayed and listened. We’re fans of the police now.

From: London, UK
Website: myspace.com/drfilth