INTERVIEW

AN INTERVIEW WITH DELILAH BON

Image Source: Album Artwork for Evil, Hated Filled Female by Delilah Bon

Words By Emily Jade Ricalton

Identifying under a genre of ‘brat-punk’, Delilah Bon is an artist that is refreshingly unique from what we are used to within the music industry. Especially when exploring the rock genre and heavy aspects of this type of music, Delilah Bon is a jewel to this scene. Having broken into music with her band Hands Off Gretel, Delilah explores feminism and LGBTQ+ rights within her songs. True to herself and her own identity, I was fortunate enough to speak to Delilah about her promising career. With her second album, Evil, Hate Filled Female, having been released in October, Delilah is one to look out for. With a perspective on heavy music that is inspiring to this stereotypically male-dominated genre, we discussed all things music, fashion and politics. 

What made you want to get into music? What inspired you to start your career?

D: I think it came from it being the only thing that I was good at at the time so when I was 12 I used to sing. I used to do singing lessons and I hated them so much but we used to do little performances, which I also hated so much. I just despised the competition element of it. It was one thing that I wasn’t good at school. I would misbehave at school, so it was something in my mind that I thought this is the one thing that I’ m good at and I need to stick at it because if I don’ t do it there is nothing for me. It’s been probably since I was about five years old showing off in front of the TV with the remote in my hand wanting to be a performer. 

With singing lessons, how were they? They’re quite formatted aren’t they? How did you find this with your genre of music? I guess with your genre now, it’s very different to what I’m imagining they’d make you sing.

D: All I wanted to sing was Pink. I went to about three different singing teachers and all of them said to me, the way you sing is going to damage your voice. I would always argue this and say that I like the way I sing; I don’t want to sing like opera. They’d try and get rid of the rasp in my voice all the time, so they’d hear any little croakiness in my voice and they’d be trying to get rid of it all the time. I eventually quit.

What has influenced your music? What sort of bands and musicians have influenced your genre?

D: I’d say the 2000s had a big influence on me, like 2000 pop stars, because I’ve really leaned back into my childhood self when it comes to doing the music I do now. The fashion, the music videos, all those things. I was inspired by Pink, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. I love the fierceness of those women. Saying that, as a teenager, I got into punk, so I was listening to women like in Bikini Kill. However, now people ask me what has influenced the music I do now, I always say I don’ t really really idolise anyone anymore. I think when I was younger, I used to listen to people on repeat and try to take all of the influence from them, but then as I’ ve got older I’m just in my own little bubble sometimes. 

I think for me, your style has a lot of subcultural elements to it. Would you agree with this? What has actually impacted and influenced your clothing taste?

D: I think it’s just all of the different parts of me all put together. There are like two versions of myself that fight all the time. I like all my pink stuff and I’m very girly. I love cheetah print. This is what I call my brat element. It’s like the brattiness of that playful style that I have in my music and in my style. However, I also have the punk part of me, which is quite goth-like. When I was younger I would never ever admit that I liked pink clothes. As a teenager I was definitely a tomboy, but as I’ve gotten older I enjoy combining all those elements together. It just feels like the most me I’ve ever been in my music and in my style. 

With your style and your image, would you say it’s important in promoting and representing your music as a whole?

D: Definitely, I’ve had people before saying they want to style me and it just makes no sense in regards to my aesthetic. It’s very much my own personal thing, and I think how I dress it suits my songs. If I want to promote a song, I have to do my hair, I have to get dressed up and I have to dress a certain way.

Would you say this is like a persona for you? Do these outfits help you become Delilah Bon?

D: Yeah, definitely. Delilah Bon isn’t a character, I think she’s more like the most confident version of myself. It’s easier to be Delilah Bon. When I get on stage and I’ve got my outfits, I have my makeup on and my hair done, it’s like I can feel my most confident self.  Yeah, this is not all the time. Sometimes it is a bit harder than others,  but I think it is all part of making yourself feel better about yourself and dressing up contributes to that. 

When we first spoke you said that you’re making your own outfits for the tour. Tell me more about that.

D: I made my own outfits for this tour. I started making my own outfits at the end of my last tour and then I preferred them to everything else. So, this time around it’s like I want to make everything customised. Everything has a slogan on it. Everything has a little bit of pink or neon green on it. I’m trying to get all my like villainous colours in there. It’s taken me a long time. 

Moving on from this, you did Download, Trees and Reading festival this year. How was this for you and how are festivals different from concerts? 

D: I think festivals are a lot more stressful. You don’t really get a sound check, you’re kind of just thrown on there and you never know what to expect. I always worry about clashing times and everything like that. However, this year has been the best for festivals. I’ve met so many new fans, and so many of my fans have been there, They’re always the best dressed! 

I agree! Are there any songs from the new album you’re looking forward to playing live?

D: From the new album, definitely so many of them. In particular, I think Epstein. When I sing it live, even just in rehearsal, I’m really channeling just a lot of what’s been going on recently. Especially in regards to seeing a lot of violence towards women, it’s like I’m just ready to just scream that one. I think it’s the same for Dead Men Don’ t Rape. Every time I play that one live, that one is just it. It has such a moment in the room because you’ve got a room full of people screaming it with me. Nothing else really matters in that moment. 

I think it’s definitely comforting and reassuring to listen to you as a woman. Being someone who gets it, what are the main aspects that inspire your music? What purpose do your songs have within the industry do you think? 

D: I think it’s definitely empowerment. I’ve had so many messages from fans saying ‘you’ve basically written exactly how I feel’. That’s what I think about when I’m writing these songs. It’s about getting these words out there. These topics are things that I would typically write in my diary, they’re things that would usually anger me. These are subjects that wouldn’t go anywhere if it weren’t for my music. I’ll be writing these songs just to get it out of me because I would feel so helpless and frustrated with the world if I didn’t. This album has allowed me to talk about some serious topics, whilst also being able to make fun of a lot of my haters as well as people that dislike me.  

In regards to your haters, do you think this is an overall issue with gender? For example, if this was a man singing about similar issues, do you think it would be received differently online?

D: Yes, definitely. For example, Frank Carter is the one with the women only mosh pits. The guys at his show are not annoyed by that. For them, it’s really cool because he’s a sound guy and he’s letting these women have a nice time.  No one looks at him like a man hater. Whereas, if I say ‘this next song I only want the women to mosh’,  I already imagine how people would react to that. I would be accused of hating men. Yes, he wants women to have a good time, but yet men are usually the ones that dominate those spaces. When he says it, he’s respected; whereas when I say it, it’s as though it’s a part of my feminist agenda.

What’s it actually like being a female within the rock industry? How different can it be for a woman in metal?

D: You’ve got to really prove yourself. I think the main thing is wanting to be taken seriously. I think people take one look at me and think my music isn’t rock.  They question what I wear and automatically believe my music isn’t rock music. They question why I’m playing spaces like Download whilst my music is so suited to this scene. Finally being accepted into these spaces they can see that it’s you, and I just feel like I’ve been working so long to get to these places and to get on these stages. I remember with my band before, Hands Off Gretel, I was trying for years and years to get on download and try and get seen. I actually remember that there was a woman who worked for some sort of PR or something for these festivals, and she told me how hard it is to get people to just take women seriously when you present them at a board of festival organisers. These people  try to put you in a box, so when I have been asked to play these festivals I’m always shocked. I do truly believe women are working twice as hard in no matter what industry it may be. 

Obviously, you are now running your own record label. How are you finding this and how is this different from working in the mainstream music industry?

D: It just means I can  put my music out and I can just do whatever I want with it. I have looked at going down label routes before and I’ve spoken to people, met up with a few different labels, and each time it just felt wrong. I just think unless someone came along and truly, in their own words, could describe exactly what Delilah Bon means and stands for, I can’t put my music in someone else’s hands. Everyone that I met didn’t quite get it, I had to explain myself too much. Until I can prove myself and show people who I am and exactly what I am, I just want to do it all on my own, on my own label, and be my own boss. 

​​Do you have any sort of aspirations for the label? Could you see yourself expanding it at all?

D: I think I’m too busy at the minute. I always have a dream that when I’m older I could do a workshop for women, non-binary and trans people, and I’d love to work with other artists in that way, but that’ll be far in the future. 

You mentioned that you’re big on representing LGBTQ+ communities and giving them a platform to express themselves. How important is it to communicate these messages within your music? Do you think this has had a positive impact on your fans?

D: I remember discovering my own sexuality when I was a teenager and I think it would have helped me a lot if musicians were more open about their sexual identities. I think I had a lot of like gay icons growing up, but they were never very close to me. Sometimes I just  wanted to have a queer icon just to feel connected to. This is why it’s so important with my music to say ‘I’m queer’, so that my fans know that they can call themselves queer too and they shouldn’t be ashamed of it. When I meet my fans, it is a big part of it because they’ll say ‘I’m bisexual too’. I think it’s important because, especially as a younger person, it’s seeing representation of yourself whilst also hearing it in the music you listen to. 

With this, what sort of genre would you identify your music as?

D: I always say brat-punk. The bratty element of me is like the kind of playfulness that I have, the kind of sarcastic and bit mischievous sides of my character. Yet, the punk side of things is the politics and the hard-hitting messages of my music. Those two elements together, that’s my genre.

If you could listen to five albums for the rest of your life, what would they be?

D: I’d go with Pink M!ssundaztood. I’d probably go with something by Nickelback because I grew up listening to Nickelback. I think the album was Dark Horse or something like that. I’d probably go with Bikini Kill The Singles and Nirvana In Utero. My last one would definitely be Gwen Stefani’s The Sweet Escape.

Listen to Delilah’s brand new album Evil, Hate Filled Female here.