Fresh from a night playing with Bilk at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, Isle of Wight, duo The Pill sit down for a chat with GIITTV.
The stylish punk duo were one of the highlights of this year’s Rockaway Beach festival. Serving satire, their fresh frenetic set lit up the venue. Behind their bubble gum lyrics, and fierce hook-laden riffs hides whip-smart, witty, searing social commentaries on gender stereotypes Their stagecraft, banter and synchronicity is phenomenal. With basslines that would make The Breeders proud, they gloriously juxtapose a lightness of lyrics with buzzsaw of riffs and breakneck guitars. Their songs are freewheeling, frenetic and hook-laden giving them the potential to be huge. Steve Lamacq is a huge fan, having shared ‘Money Mullet’ on his round table. They have played with Welly and Big Special and at Eurosonic and have just been announced to play with Hot Wax and Panic Shack. It seems like the sky’s the limit for this punk duo.
We were delighted when vocalist and guitarist Lily Hutchings and bassist and vocalist Lottie Massey sat down to chat over Zoom from their homes in the Isle of Wight, together with Lily’s dog Pixie, who joined us as they talked festivals, Instagram, provoking the patriarchy, ‘industry plants,’ laughing in the face of darkness and the vibrant Isle of Wight music scene. Warm, stylish and down-to-earth; authentic, witty and talented, 2025 is sure to be The Year of The Pill.
So for anyone new to the Pill, how did the band start and is it true that you started it to get out of schoolwork?
Lily: Basically, yes!
Lottie: We were literally just hanging out and thought it would be really funny if we pretended to be a band and just set up this Instagram page and hide our identities and just see if we could get people talking about it for literally no reason. People started following it saying, ‘”Who are they?” We’re from a very local place so people were coming up to us saying ‘Do you know who they are? And I was like ‘No’
So even your neighbours didn’t know it was you?
Lottie: No. and it started getting traction and thought maybe we should actually think about doing this and then we started writing songs and we booked our first show to expose who we were and then the rest is history.
Did you start the band when you were fourteen?
Lilly: We were about 17 or 18 when we started which is a good thing, because the things we talk about, no 14 year old should be talking about! We went to school together so we’d known each other since we were 14 but it started when we were 17.
The crowd were hooked at Rockaway Beach festival Your lyrics are so whip smart and witty. You seem laughing AT some men rather than WITH them
Lottie You are so right. There’s no laughing with men here.
With some of the songs like ‘Woman Driver’ a lot of men might not realize that it’s meant to be satirical. It almost goes over some of their heads.
Lily: They don’t and that’s what makes it so funny. A lot of the hate we get is because they just don’t quite grasp that that’s what’s happening and that’s what drives me to keep going (she laughs)
You seem to be to mocking the image that men have of some women
Lottie: That’s exactly it and then you get men saying ‘Oh my God she’s so arrogant! I can’t believe she’s saying this about herself and it’s Iike “Oh My god you don’t get it!” (head in hands)
Lily: It just goes straight over their head. It’ s quite funny.
Does the satire ever wind up the online trolls? It’s so uncalled for
Lottie: It happens a lot,
Lily : Every post now is pretty consistent
Lottie: The problem is. you see it now with loads of female bands on line anyway even those that aren’t being provocative.
Lilly: We’re quite provocative- We’re egging them on. It’s almost worse for them with people saying ” You should play this chord like this or you should do it like that” and you never see them doing that to a male band.
Lottie: And you see male bands who do pretty much exactly the same thing and no one really has a problem with them.. For us it’s kind of not as bad because we think “Oh Okay cool they took the bait.” Sometimes they step a little bit too far and We’re like “Maybe go chill. Other people can see this!”
Lily: And it’s awful when they think they’re complimenting you but what they’ve said is the most VILE thing you’ve ever heard in your life and they’re like ‘Can I not say that any more?” and I’m like “NOOO You Can’t!“
Lottie: Last night someone said “You guys have great legs. Am I allowed to say that any more? I don’t care.” and I’m like. “I can see your grandchildren in your profile picture so maybe don’t.“
Yea. How would they like their grandchildren to be spoken to like that?
Lottie: Exactly!
You seem to handle it all with remarkable strength and grace.
I saw that Steve Lemacq played your latest track ‘Money Mullet’ on his round table and was a huge fan.
Lily: That was a big pinch me moment when we had the round table thing. We were like “Oh My God. Wow!“
Lottie: Thinking of when we sat down and wrote the lyrics for it and stuff. It was so stupid and all of a sudden it’s on a radio and people are listening to it and we’re like “How the Fuck does this happen?” This is SO surreal also because our lyrics are so stupid when you hear them on the radio you’re like ‘What?’
Lottie: I don’ have a problem with mullets I used to have one. The inspo for ‘Money Mullet ‘ was that there’s a certain breed of Mullet man that are finance bros in London and rugby boys and any person that we’ve spoken to that has been engaged with one of those men has had THE worst time and we were like let’s just tap into this niche and write an absolute hate song about them which has become a slight problem live because they’re always at the front and we’re like ‘Sorry.’ They are like the architype and I’m not even sorry.
But within the witty lyrics there seems to be a level of darkness in lines like. ‘ How’d you earn your mullet? I shouted at my girlfriend” lyric and the “Panic attack” outro. Are there some shards of darkness hidden beneath the upbeat hooks?
Lilly: I find there’s darkness under any mullet!
Lottie: That’s where they hide their darkness at the back!
GIITTV: They hide it in the Party Zone!
Lottie: With lot of our songs they are super stupid and comedic and we try to make them as silly as possible but there is always something really depressing underlying at the root.
Lily: There’s a bassline dark, quite brutal topic that we’re talking about that we’re just trying to make funny.
It makes it more digestible if it’s funny
Lottie: We constantly live by the motto ‘If you don’t laugh you’ll cry.’ I feel like if we ever release an album it should just be called ‘If you don’t laugh you’ll cry.’
Lilly : 100%
Lottie: There’s something we’ve probably cried about and then we’ll meet up and say Ah well whatever
Lilly: And we’ll say, “Well that’s funny isn’t it?”
So have to you got an album in the pipeline?
Lilly: At the moment we’re looking towards our EP with our record label AWOL. Can we say we’re nearly done?
Where did the Jank punk genre come from?
Lily: We basically set that up so that we can say that it’s messy without saying that it’s messy. It’s a nice word to fall back on when it’s chaotic.
Lottie: It’s a nice way to say If I mess up it was on purpose..
Well, all punk is rough around the edges look at the Sex Pistols. I think you are both technically proficient and have awesome stage craft.
Lily: It’s hard to believe in yourself sometimes with that sort of thing especially when you are doing punk music because it is quite fast and aggressive and there’s a lot of room for chaos. We knock each others leads out all the time
Lottie: The other day I bought a brand new pair of leopard print heels and I thought I’m gonna wear them on stage and the first song in I just yanked Lily’s lead out.
Lily: At this point we just do it on purpose if we want a break we just pull everything out!
Your on stage image seems cool and elegant. Stylistically, what are you going for?
Lily: We kind of dress like old ladies…. If you saw my outfit now you wouldn’t think it was elegant. Haha
Lottie: In terms of style, we wanted to create something that was the opposite of how we sound so that people don’t really know what to expect, so super girlie with ribbons and then just have this really loud and obnoxious sound. We have people come up to us who don’t know who we are and say, “I wasn’t expecting that sound.”
You must be writing all the time so you must have a load of new songs coming up to the EP?
Lottie: We’re just sifting through them and thinking which one sits together the best
Lilly: We’ve had a lot of these songs for a really a long time and not released them so now that we’re coming up to the last song we’re thinking do we do something new or do we gather all the things we did in the past. That would be quite nice but everything is changing.
Do you get any Wet Leg comparisons and do you like them?
Lottie: Yes we definitely do. We’re a blonde and brunette girls
Lily : From the Isle of Wight. It’s fair. You can see where they’re coming from for sure.
Coach Party are from the Isle of Wight too aren’t they?
Lily: Yea so we’re all good pals. We’re off to rehearse in their studio in about an hour. I used to work for Steph and Guy in Coach Party in their café that they had. It’s a very tight knit community we only have one proper venue.
Lottie: We’re all good pals. It’s such a tight knit group and that’s a very nice part of the Isle of Wight and it’s so nice watching people do well. I remember hanging out with you at the venue when we were 15 and now you’re on a big stage and that’s really cool.
Like Coach Party in the past, you’re doing the Great Escape next year
Lily: Yes it’s really exciting. The calendar is really starting to fill up. We did Eurosonic in January. It was an amazing experience. It was really wild.
Lottie: I was like this is the most surreal bizarre experience ever and everyone could see how scared was up close with the cameras in our face.
GIITTV: It sounds like you all have an amazing musical community on the Island. Do you think it’s harder for bands outside the major cities?
Lottie: The element of travel for us is a big one at this year we’ve been lucky enough to be given our first brand deal with the Ferry! It’s crazy expensive otherwise.
Lily: The sponsorship has helped us so much.
Lottie : If people can get it because I know that Coach Party had it before and Lauran Hibbard and without that it’s just impossible. Beyond the music community.
Lily: We’re very grateful for that and once you get your First show off of the Island everyone’s like ‘I’ve MADE it! This is it!.. We made it to Southampton!! haha
Lottie: I remember our first London show in 2023 and everyone was like WHAT you’re playing in LONDON? The big smoke! But I feel like the community is great because everyone is so localised and shares everything together
Lily: There’s a LOT of kit sharing. It’s good but logistically for us it’s a little more tricky as an islander but it might be the same for people in Southampton if they’re not right in London, but I think it breeds a lot more creativity when you’re growing up with only one venue and not much else around and two buses you kind of make your own fun happen..
Lottie: Well Look at us we were just sat making fake Instagrams.
Lily: People would make random gigs in fields and really fun things like that. We kind of had to think beyond which pub we could go to.
Lol Tolhurst of The Cure said that about where he grew up. He said there wasn’t much going on where they lived so they had to make their own entertainment, but a lot of big bands played in their hometown and had big influence.
Like the Cure. you must have huge names coming onto the Island for the Isle of Wight festival every year Does that inspire you? It must be incredible having the the biggest bands in the world visiting every year.
Lily: When you were younger that would be THE thing of the year.
Lottie: Oh yeah The Isle of Wight festival basically the schools shut down because no kids turn up because they are all going to the festival.
Lily: The Isle of Wight Festival used to be in our High School school fields so they had to actually shut down the school for the festival. Then you weren’t allowed into the school for 2 weeks because they had people checking for drugs in the bushes!
Lottie: It’s the Island’s thing. Basically the whole Island stops functioning. If you aren’t going to the festival and are trying to live your life normally over that weekend then good luck to you coz you are going no where! Haha
Do you think that’s what makes the Island so creative with all that musical influence coming in ?
Lily: Yea there’s something very special about it.
Lottie: Yea I feel like when you go and you’re surrounded by music for four days, even when you go to the smaller tents, it has a massive impact on you because you then go every year, rather than just randomly go to Glastonbury because it’s on your doorstep. It’s almost like a rite of passage and it’s great for the island as well.
You must have been really young when you first started going
Lottie: I think the first time I went I was two years old – Brian Adams played! haha
So it must be in your blood- you’d have more musical influence than most people really.
Lottie: It’s so much fun. It’s such a great time.
It sounds amazing! That creative vibe on the Island must have influenced so many bands living there. I saw Wet Leg live very early on and thought they were incredible. I think its unfair how it mostly seems to be women bands who seem to get the ‘industry plant’ label.
Lottie: You have so many male bands who even sound the same. I mean it’s a compliment when people say that we’re like Wet Leg coz they’re amazing but I feel like every girl band is compared to another girl band even if the only similarity is the visuals or the genre whereas how many bands want to sound like Arctic Monkeys that are men and no one says anything. You so rarely seen guys being compared to each other. We’ve also had it recently where we are compared to Lambrini Girls coz they’re a punk duo as well and it’s like we’re all doing different things..
Lily: I love the Lambrini Girls
Lottie: It’s hard as well because you love all of these bands so much and it’s so inspiring seeing other women in music and then you have these men coming up saying ‘So do you think you’re better than them?’ I’m like “Why are you trying to pit us against each other?” Like only one can succeed.. They think if we’re going to have female bands then we’re going to have to have the best one and it’s just a very bizarre mentality that we’ve had a few times with men and you just want to be like ‘Fuck Off.’
Yea. There’s space for everyone and it’s great when everyone succeeds.
Lily: Why can’t there be loads of us? What’s the problem?
Exactly
Lottie: It shows how old fashioned the mindset is even though there’s so many pioneering women who are doing amazing work like Lambrini Girls, Amyl and the Sniffers, Wet Leg, Coach Party all of these female fronted bands then it’s still such a weird atmosphere and dynamic around it created by men in the music industry and in public. It’s strange. You see it developing so much and yet you still see this very dated attitude.
Lily: Some how we got compared to The Last Dinner Party and I love them but we’re nothing like them. We a completely different genre of music. The only thing we have in common is that we’re girls.
Lottie: Something I’ve seen with so many girl bands is If you ever see a girl band on a red carpet on all you ever see on the comments is ‘Trust Fund Baby’ ‘Nepo Baby.’ Women aren’t allowed to do well just because they are talented. It’s so crazy.
Is there anyone that you would like to support or anyone that’s inspired you?
Lily: Amyl and the Sniffers definitely
Lottie: If we got a slot with them I think I would cry for 5 days or more. IDLES and Soft Play too.
Are they bands that have inspired you or were there any growing up?
Lily: It’s funny that you mentioned The Cure earlier because they were definitely my favourite band in the whole wide world growing up and they still are now. It would be really cool to support them but I don’t think we’re cool enough to do that!
Just Mustard Supported them in Ireland and I think you’re just as cool as them.
Lily: I wouldn’t be able to deal with it. I’d just be crying!
Lottie: Mine would be The Beastie Boys even though that will never happen but that’s my favourite band but we can dream. Our Top would be Amyl and the Sniffers- Amy Taylor‘s the coolest person on this earth!
Going forward what are your plans?
We’re playing with Dork. April and May should be very special (they couldn’t say at the time, but they later made an announcement they are touring with Hot Wax and Panic Shack) We’re playing with Welly and Big Special again. Festival Season will be really fun we’re Playing Victorious and the Great Escape and loads more ( including Bearded Theory and Camp Bestival which were announced this week )
Lily: We’re playing everywhere. I’m so excited.
So, we can see everything on your website. Might there be an EP?
Lottie: You’ll have to keep your eyes out for that
Anything else you wanted to say to our readers?
Lottie: It’s The Pill, if you don’t like it go away!
It was an absolute joy to meet this band. It seems like the sky’s the limit for The Pill. Catch them at a festival or venue near you before they hit the big time.
The Pill Band thepillband.com / Instagram / TikTok / Youtube / Spotify / Apple Music
