Idle talk is not something you’d associate with Gossip (formerly The). Certainly not frontwoman Beth Ditto, whose straight talking lyrics are teamed with sharp, punk pop music of danceable intent, pricking up the ears of anyone who hears it.

 

As a band that has been on tour with, and befriended, the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you know to expect something special – and their sharp pop sensibilities are now being carried by word of mouth. As the band’s biography begins, “Gossip is young and full of blood.”

 

That they can make this statement after seven years together says a lot for the spirit in the band. Ever-presents Beth and guitarist/bassist Bruce Paine are out of Arkansas, while drummer Hannah Blilie is from Washington. Naturally Ditto is the focal point of the band, but anyone who sees them live will testify to the fact that Paine and Blilie aren’t exactly innocent bystanders

 

Sadly I don’t get to meet Beth in person, which is a shame as her striking looks and sharp dress have already marked her out as a distinctive and interesting character. She’s great conversation on the phone though, and her surprisingly sultry tones are still laced with mischief as she picks up at her Portland home, even at the very un-rock n’ roll hour of 10 in the morning. She’s just got up. “I’ve got a friend visiting from Bristol at the moment, so today we’ll be doing some shopping downtown, and going to a rock n’ roll camp for girls who want to play instruments. It should be cool…but I have to say I’m sorry if I sound like I’m talking out of my ass, it’s early here!”

 

The band may have been together a while, but while public awareness has been a little slow in coming they’ve had a ball while waiting for it to happen. “Gossip started when we moved out of Arkansas in 1999. There was a circle of about 15 of us, and when it was us – several bands – sticking together, it was easy to enjoy. At the time there were just two in Gossip, but we got a new drummer so now we’re a three-piece.”

 

And have they changed much since the early days? “Well, I’m not 20 years old any more!” she sighs. “I’d say it would be impossible not to change, you start writing songs that are about different subject matter, maybe not about yourself. A lot of people think our style has come about because of bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs being our main influence, but they opened for us when we first met them. We were friends in that band way, the same with the White Stripes. Actually I think Karen O is really really good, and I really appreciate her. People are quick to think that we would have grown up with them, but we listened to bands like Bikini Kill, Sonic Youth and all the 90s riot grrrl stuff. We’ve got loads of people who’ve been influential on us and not just music either.”

 

For one of the band’s primary objectives is to make people throw themselves around. “People who don’t know say “hey, you’re a dance band now” but we’ve always been a dance band, we were all about movement. We came from Arkansas where there wasn’t even a scene! It was like something out of Footloose, you know! It was bad to dance there, and when I was 17 I remember my brother even had to get a petition together to put on a dance, it was something they hadn’t done in 40 years or so.”

 

These stark beginnings put the UK’s relative glut of bands and venues in a different light altogether, an observation Beth is quick to take up. “You guys don’t even know what you’ve got in the UK. Sometimes you seem so…I dunno… disinterested. But this record has an approach to dance that makes you move. You should have attitude, and that’s what we continue to have. Dance is so expressive; it’s about using your whole body.”

 

The record Beth refers to is the recently re-released second album ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’, featuring a hot single of the same name that looks set to break them further in the UK. Tongues have certainly been wagging about it in the US, not only for its forthright musical language but for its hatred of George Bush’s stance against gay marriage. “The reaction’s been amazing,” gushes Beth, “better than I ever expected. I didn’t do it to get a reaction; it was a really personal statement, but having said that a lot of people have tapped into it.”

 

And what of its observations? “Well thinking about that, I reckon people aren’t necessarily quick to judge, but I think they’re not keen to make a judgement, which can sometimes be just as bad. With all the war making that’s been going on it’s really good that the mid-term elections are coming up in November. I really think the Democrats are going to get in this time. Everyone is holding their breath.”

 

When talk turns to the man at the helm Ditto’s mood changes noticeably. “I just can’t think about him, I get so upset. He really fucks with people’s lives. The best way I can think of describing it is like when you’re 18, and you go away to college maybe and you have room mates that have everything provided for them, and don’t know what the meaning of the word “need” is. They just get everything done for themselves and don’t do anything for anyone else. Imagine that, a rich kid like that running the country. You wouldn’t even trust him to look after a cat! Gay marriage, war crime, rights of prisoners, I could go on – but I think it’s a really scary time to be living in America with all that stuff going on. And then they say that the people haven’t spoken, well there’s been a lot of demonstrations over here with literally millions of people in the streets, so how can you say that?”

 

Considering her homeland’s plight has brought pertinent issues to the surface. “I’ve been thinking about things, not just the present day, but what was the underground doing in the 40s and 50s, did they just leave? Did they do enough… and am I doing enough now? What do you do about it?”

 

The ensuing pause on the other end betrays this as a frequent preoccupation for the singer. She makes clear that she doesn’t dislike the country itself, more the people who are running it. And while acknowledging that some pretty odd stuff goes on at government level over in the UK, she feels it has plenty going for it. “I feel it’s way more open to music than America, and as we’re not a very conventional band I think people seem to understand us better. I have friends in the UK that I’ve known for a while now. We started coming over here in 2001. Glasgow was the first show – it was amazing, a show of completely eye-opening madness! The best show I can remember though was in Hull; that was one of the best gigs I can remember us doing.”

 

She speaks with such enthusiasm that I have to ask if she would consider moving over. “Well I think I probably would in some ways. I love Brighton, it’s so rad. I feel like I have more friends in the UK in that music way as well. Maybe I will move over, but I think I need to get married or something for that. Hey, how about it – do you fancy getting married?!”

 

Whilst mulling over this shock proposal (it wouldn’t work – she’s taken, in any case) I ask her to consider the immediate musical future. “We’re back in the UK very soon. The future’s really exciting right now, we’ve got loads of options – and we’re not even knowing which ones to do. After seven years we’re getting pay-off which is great, and we’re all really exciting. We only really came into this because it was something we loved doing, we didn’t ever expect to be making a living out of it, although we believed the music was good enough. I guess now a guide to how well it’s going is when your parents see what you’ve been up to and start talking to you about it, like “Oh, I’m always seeing you in some magazine!” or something. And if your parents are hearing about you, you know there’s something’s going on!”

 

No doubt their increased exposure will take in more TV appearances, especially after the Gossip’s cameo on Jonathan Ross, where they played ‘Standing in the Way of Control’ and chatted to Russell Crowe. “He was really, really nice, and he gave us one of his CDs,” says Beth enthusiastically. And he leaned over and said to us “I’m not so much a musician as a poet,” which was, like, quite far out.”

 

She’s almost ready to go now, the town beckons, but she sounds a bit distracted. “I’m just getting my eyeliner straight right now but it’s difficult to do it while I’m on the phone. It’s black, and I’ve got pink eye shadow pencilled in but I can’t get it straight.” A couple of seconds later she’s happy and ready to go. “I just don’t feel dressed without my make-up on, you know?”

 

Words: Ben Hogwood