Wet Leg frontwoman disagrees with guitar’s “loser gatekeepers” who think songs need “20-plus chords” to be good
Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale is a big believer that some of the best songs have just two chords, and that music doesn’t need to be overly complicated to be respected.
Looking back on her own journey into music, she’s faced a “demystifying” process after coming up against musicians who feel guitar music in particular should have vast numbers of chords and complex solo arrangements.
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Speaking of her own early listening habits, Teasdale’s own interests in guitar music piqued with music that felt fun and even at times a little bit trashy. In an interview with The Cut, she recalls learning songs by Kings Of Leon and revelling in the indie rock era of the 2010s.
“The first song I ever tried to play on guitar was Molly’s Chambers by Kings of Leon — back when the band was super-trashy and fun. It was a real epiphany to learn that you don’t have to be a virtuoso guitarist to enjoy playing music with your friends,” she says.
“It’s been a bit of a journey demystifying music-making for myself. I’m not from a musical household, and I even got kicked out of my GCSE music course because I was too far behind the rest of the class, which is kinda hilarious.
“There are so many loser gatekeepers who want you to believe that you need 20-plus chords in a song for it to be worthy. In reality there are so many bangin’ songs that literally are just two chords.”
She goes on to add, “I was also a big fan of PJ Harvey before I realised that I could make music myself, and Björk. Everyone in the band is a fan of Big Thief. When I started going to gigs and festivals, it was very much that indie rock era: Alt-J, Mystery Jets, the Wave Pictures. I love the Strokes.”
Find out where you can catch the band on tour via the official Wet Leg website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
