.png)
Tell Me About It: Grandmas House | Bristol
Bristol’s not been the same since Grandmas House came to town.
Carrying with them an infectious energy of queer exhuberance, I meet with the team in the back of ‘The Cube’. “This is our tour vehicle, and this...” Poppy Dodgson says, gesturing to a fifth figure in the back of the car, none other than Clump Collective’s own Alice, “is our tour driver.” We’re cramped in the back of the vehicle to escape the cold that has set in during the evening of Friday 30th of July, after Grandmas House’s explosive Farm Fest set. Everyone’s buzzing, adrenaline from their first live show post-covid restrictions rushing through them.
“We’re loving it!” Smiles bassist Zoë Zinsmeister, “we just played our set and we love it.”
“We got extremely sweaty and we had a great time” adds Dodgson, before reminiscing on the highlight of the set when the stage was flooded with smoke, “I couldn't see my drum kit in front of my eyes and I thought I was going to stop playing. It made me cough.”
Lead vocalist Yasmin Berndt chimes in, with a different highlight in mind, “there were two little girls at the front and they loved it. They were so excited. They were on the barriers, it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
It’s the first festival for the trio and it’s clear that they’re not just excited about their set but the other acts the festival has to offer too. From Katy J Pearson, to Slagheap, to Grove there is a range of Bristol acts to enjoy, all of whom Grandmas House have collaborated with in some form - whether on lineups together or acting as extras in videos. It’s this eagerness to work collaboratively with people that has served Grandmas House well, now leading to even bigger shows as most recently they announced a support slot for Bristol legends IDLES on The Downs. Dodgson’s eagerness is impossible to mask. ”We’re so excited, we’ve known for quite a while, we’ve been so excited to announce it. There's lots of good Bristol bands playing,” Berndt adds with gravity, “it's a huge honor.”
Over the past year the trio released some stunning singles from No Place Like Home to Always Happy, and today they’ve just released brand new single Golden. When asked what else they’ve got planned, Dodgson responds enthusiastically. “We've got a little mix of things, we've got quite a few songs that talk about the very horrible, disgusting government that we have.”
“We’ve got a song about girls,” adds Zinsmeister before Yas pipes up.
“[About] how amazing they are. We’re queer women, its an ode to queer women and loving women.” This is a common theme in their work, and a highlight to check out on their debut EP is Pasty, a delightful track about a woman selling pasties.
On top of the upcoming singles, the group have also got a handful of live shows in the works. “We’re playing nonstop until November,” they gush. When asked how it feels to be exiting the virtual world, Dodgson is emphatically relatable. “Pre this gig we just played, quite nervous because we’ve only done seated or virtual gigs for the last year and a half. Now I've done it I'm like, ‘thank god we've done one!’"
Golden is out now.
Photography: Molly Davies
.png)