CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE ISSUE 2: PLATFORM

HAPPY ACCIDENTS
then I get a creative energy from
other people,” Phoebe explains,
“so I guess when you (Rich) are in
a good creative mindset, and we’re
both writing together, that’s where
I’m at my best, and we’re creating
something cool.” Playing shows,
getting involved in the politics of
DIY, and meeting people all over
the UK and Europe where they’ve
toured has been a big inspiration
not only for their writing and their
creative drive, then, but for the
movements they follow. “The DIY
community is so supportive in getting
in people from all walks of
life,” Phoebe says. “I don’t want
it to die, so hopefully it won’t, because
I know there’s a lot of people
kicking back against that.”
Happy Accidents aren’t outwardly
political, at least in songwriting
content compared to other bands
playing the festival, but that doesn’t
mean they can’t take their platform
for good use in the industry. “I feel
like it’s important to, not send a
message straight-up, but to lead by
example,” Rich says, “live what
you want; rather than say ‘this is the
message’, show people.” For Phoebe,
it’s the same; by playing drums,
onstage, as a woman, it’s hard to
avoid politics by simply that, and
by pursuing this in a world where
she faces prejudice, she’s setting an
example of empowerment for other
women watching her.
Referencing an interview with Gem
from Colour Me Wednesday from
the film So, which band is your
boyfriend in?, Phoebe encourages
overcoming the double-whammy
of stage fright and sour looks from
sour men who think non-male performers
can’t do their part for the
others like her in the crowd watching.
“You think maybe there’s a
kid or a girl in the crowd who is
also scared to play, and then if
I’m scared to play and not showing
them that it’s fine to play, then
there’s no hope,” she says. “So
sometimes, just being there and me
playing, as a woman, I guess it’s
good for me to be doing it. Because
I know it took me so long to get in
a band, when probably should have
been in a band from, I don’t know,
age eleven.” Where Rich was jamming
with his brother from that
age, Phoebe didn’t take part until
she was eighteen, but she hopes
setting the example will inspire just
one more person to do the same.
While the politics aren’t so much
apparent in the music – “it’s a part
of the scenery of the music,” says
Rich – they’re still working on be