Who is Lawrence, and is he dead? The
Hickeys, an emerging hard to miss, kiss bite, bite kiss (as their name suggests), is a Madrid-based band of four uncontrollable and inexplicably beautiful post-punk strangers turned best friends. This all-vocally fronted music group with their respective instrumentations was formed in late 2016, early 2017 by sweetheart drummer Maite Barren after she introduced Marta Kunitsa (guitar), Ana Erice (guitar), and Martina Gil Compairé (bass) at a university studying journalism, law, and audiovisual communication. Uniting together, they knew as “best friends, almost sisters” what they needed to do to give love, bruising love a chance. A chance to leave a mark in an overwhelmingly male industry with not too many female-music groups, and a chance to kick down the door and etch their names into the good lovin’ neck of rock ‘n’ roll’s pantheon.
“The music industry is undergoing a very difficult situation. So, right now, it’s missing almost everything. We cannot imagine working with anybody else. We’ve come to a point where we are musically and personally aligned. We loved hanging out together and jamming with the few instruments we owned. Never really thought of what came later. I guess no one starts a band thinking that they will achieve certain things. We’ve always been supported by promoters and audiences in Spain and once we got to go abroad, we felt very welcomed too.”
The Hickey’s, unbeknownst, have come to save us from industrial matters with not too many female music leads. A transitional translation of a broken-in english is fixated to be molded in place as the self-described glitter-punk four-piece went on to say, “That is changing. There are lots of women doing music and art in general. Maybe we had less role models or visibility. It’s not about real obstacles, but more about the comments and reactions of some people, who think they have the authority to tell us how to be or what to do, or even doubting if we deserve to be where we are. We were once told that we got to be where we were due to our genitals. We are forced to prove our value all the time. We also feel we are the target of more offensive criticisms about our appearances, what we do or say or how we move. We keep saying we are a music group, not a female group. We don’t know why ‘female group’ is used as some kind of music division, like another genre.”
Starting as a raw and inexperienced psychedelic power trip, the quartet have been recording and performing tirelessly in the studio with intense conviction for the past two, roughly three years since the gutted release of capturing the scene of their harmonious ‘60s, ‘70s, and lo-fi ‘90s garage EP, Diamond Munch, a debuting musical symbiosis living in close physical association, truthfully to fuel the new age of post-punk – delightfully gnarly and absolutely delicious.
After a down-in-the-dumps roller coaster ride kicking off with the mysticism a-side single “Is Lawrence Dead,” a wet soul-surfing introduction to an Arabian summer getaway of “melting leg” and “blurring minds,” the Hickeys fruitfully began to vomit snarling “Lights” and the b-side singles, “Hickey Hickey Bang Bang,” which is a chaotic blast of catchy chants, and the warmth of “Solitary Lady,” a smooth way to close out the extended play.
“Diamond Munch feels very far away now. When we recorded the EP, it was our first studio experience, so there are things that we would do differently now, obviously. Then, our sound was influenced by the bands we liked at that moment. We were anxious to release our music and we felt that the audience’s response was very good and encouraging. We just wanted to keep
making music.”
When asked about the marked man in question named Lawrence, the Hickeys reveal little about their sun-bathing single, “Is Lawrence Dead?” as they explained, “We kill him every day. It’s our daily struggle.” So, who is Lawrence, and is he dead? Yes, due to the research of Thomas Edward Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, was one of the most prolific and iconic figures of the 20th century. That is until the legendary war hero died due to injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident.
Like all fascinating stories backing famous songs, musicians from Johnny Cash to Taylor Swift, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles have taken the challenges in their lives and created music that have some interesting backstories behind them. Of course, the Hickeys has dabbled in inspiration of real-life events, for better or worse, with their own take in the form of what looks to be an ill-fated ‘60s expedition of black-widows devouring multiple of their lovers in, ‘Is Lawrence Dead.’ A written contribution between Martina Gil Compairé and Marta Kunitsa.
Speaking to Eclectic Shades Magazine, Ana Erice, manager and Hickeys member said, “We write about matters that concern us, that worry us, which displeases us. We write about the uncertainty and dimness of these moments in which we exist. The lyrics were written by Martina and Marta in different moments, but with the same feeling. It depends on the song; some come out of jams and others are formed after an idea that one of us brings. We flow very nicely together. In terms of lyrics, there’s always one of us that is more touched from a particular experience or feeling and wants to express it through the writing. We want to decide what we are communicating to the world.”
The success behind their debuting extended play, Diamond Munch, has fueled the fire of its purpose. Now the fiery group with good morals and reckless intent are currently moving forward in the composition process of what will be their debut studio album, “Alegría Di Vision,” a prelude, reflecting a supernatural current state of mind and shifting us closer to their transformation.
It goes, the Hickeys explained, “With ‘Alegría’ we have darkened. We do not know if it was by groups like FONTAINES D.C. or by the sharpness of the uncertainty and bewilderment of these moments in which we exist. We wanted forcefulness. We wanted the sound to crack this time, to be like lightning, like a vase against the ground. Because sometimes we have felt this way; sometimes we have felt and sometimes we do not feel. We feel it and we do not regret it.”
In short of what it would be like to usher in a glitter-punk movement for further generations to see fit to nod them as female trailblazers like their other favorite iconic crowds such as the Velvet Underground, the Runaways, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Hickeys response were as followed, “Not at all. If we ever get to that point of significance in music history, that’d be extraordinary.”
“The best thing about the band is that we are best friends.”
