INTERVIEW: Danni Monroe – The Dirty Youth
WORDS: Neale McGeever
Welsh rockers THE DIRTY YOUTH are the latest band to emerge in the explosion of British rock music. The Welsh five piece have been making waves in recent months and on the back of their successful record, Gold Dust, we spoke with vocalist Danni Monroe about blurring the lines between genres, their upcoming tour with ALIEN ANT FARM and who he would be if he was a superhero!
Do you feel your latest album, ‘Gold Dust’, was received well?
Danni: Yes, we’ve been extremely humbled by the response to Gold Dust. Not only have we had great reviews but our fans have really embraced the album which is what is important to us. It’s awesome that all the fans of Red Light Fix are digging it and also its opened the door for new fans. It’s been an exciting cycle and we’re even more excited at where we can take it next.
The cover art features the band as cartoon characters, if you were an existing cartoon character, who would you be?
Danni: The hulk he’s a mean green angry smashing machine! Like me after a few ciders….
Your rise to fame was helped by your YouTube videos, do you feel social media is the way to get bands out there these days?
Danni: Social media is definitely becoming more and more pivotal on a bands career. It’s making it easier for bands without a big budget to get their music out there. It’s also great for fans of music as they’re becoming more and more connected to their favourite artists and share the journey. Many artists including ourselves use social media to gain opinions from our fans and that gives us a better idea of what they would like to see from the band so it’s great for both sides.
You are also known for blurring the lines between genres, how would you describe your music?
Danni: We all share very different musical influences which comes through in our music. We have never followed a trend and always stay true to our roots and express ourselves the way we want. I would describe THE DIRTY YOUTH as rock but we’ve always got fire in our songs we fuse that with melodic vocals, electronics and a punk attitude.
Do you feel Wales is a good place for bands right now?
Danni: There’s always been a healthy music scene in Wales. There’s so many talented bands and healthy competition it helps bands to grow and develop. There’s a real hunger for success in Wales. We’ve lost a few great bands over the past year including THE BLACKOUT, KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES and FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND announcing their final tour early next year which is a shame as they are all class bands. It makes us want to work harder to keep Wales at the top and we believe we’re in a great position to do so and the scene is constantly growing for the better.
You are about to hit the road with ALIEN ANT FARM, were you big fans of them growing up?
Danni: Oh yeah, who wasn’t?! It’s going to be a great tour and we can’t wait to hear Anthology in full every night!
You have shared the stage with BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, KORN and FOZZY (among others), who is the one name you would like to tour with in your career?
Danni: FOO FIGHTERS, MUSE, MARILYN MANSON, BMTH, I have a long list and am ticking them off one by one! It’s good to aim big, we wouldn’t of achieved what we have today if we didn’t have that attitude.
Do you think women have a harder time in the rock industry than men?
Danni: Not at all, the constant comparison to bands who share the similarity of just a vagina pisses me off, but that’s just crappy journalism for you.
You have two live DVD’s out, both named after horror b-movies – are you planning another? Maybe ‘The Dirty Youth.Chainsaw Massacre’?
Danni: I like that…keep an eye out!
What’s next for THE DIRTY YOUTH?
Danni: We are releasing our next single Just Move On from our album Gold Dust. This will be a double A-Side accompanied with a cover of BLONDIE‘s Atomic. We then head out on tour around the UK and Mainland Europe with ALIEN ANT FARM in January! Check our website (www.thedirtyyouth.com) for details and regular updates.
