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Katie Antoniou interviews and styles The Palpitations

Before the snowpocalypse, I was lucky enough to spend a day shooting the gorgeous Danielle Webb, lead singer of The Palpitations.It was already ruddy cold; that coke she's drinking in one shot was half full of brandy to prevent the onset of hypothermia!Here's some stuff about Dani and the band, as well as details of their forthcoming gigs, which you'd be mad to miss.






Chris Martin on NME radio referred to the band as ''a cross between Siouxsie Sioux and Arcade fire"- do you think thats an accurate description?
Yeah we'll take that one thanks! I think it's because we have lots of contrapuntal melodies between me, Davey & Will, Nick is a bit of a flamboyant drummer too. But then there's also aggression & a feeling of ennui with it all perhaps.






Pushing Pussy Records released your last single- it must be great working with people who are keen to promote women in the music industry?
Yeah being a woman in the music industry isn't really an issue to me or my bandmates. It's all fine and dandy for women these days but like any job, being a mum & working requires a bit of juggling. When men become dads their working lives don't usually change much but it's important for women to work that little bit harder at being 2 or 3 people if they want to work and be a mum and not feel they're missing out on either. Tears in The Rain is about going back to the working world when you just want to be with your baby but you can't- for many reasons perhaps. Trying to work it all out, this new juxtaposition and new dual identity you find yourself in. Trying to get the balance right. Emily Pankhurst has a lot to answer for! I do admire that sense of contentedness that my nan and even my mum would have had at my age. A mum and a wife, no less. Very selfless.






You recently did a podcast for Nostalgia of the Future about female singers before the Beatles; were they a big inspiration for you?
Absolutely, the lyric content back then is so interesting for me, very suburban, all about looking for a potential husband, weddings, spending the rest of your life with one person, having children & living happily ever after. So innocent. They just wanted to care for their men. Perhaps Wartime made them very romantic in that sense, their men had come back to them if they were lucky and that's all that mattered. Roles were clearly laid out. No one on the pill, no career aspirations, no frustration....yet.





Your last single Tears in the Rain was released with a track by The Lovebirds- are there any other bands you'd like to collaborate with?
We love 'Klaus' and 'The Spivs'. You can find them on myspace.




Singers these days launch their own fashion labels, jewellery lines, perfumes- you name it. I know fro working on this shoot that you have a passion for vintage fashion, but are there any other areas you'd like to dabble in if you could?
Yeah I have this obsession with découpage at the moment. Just découpaged a Rolling Stones stool, doing a Tony Wilson tray next for my boyfriend when I bring him tea & toast in bed and then I'm going to make tissue box holders covered in porn. I was going to call them 'Découpage D'amour' and number them all as little works of art. The only problem is I am totally rubbish at it. Got all the ideas but not the skill. The paper keeps bubbling. If anyone knows how to stop this let me know! I'll just carry on with the band for now I guess. William is a bit more successful than me with handy stuff; he actually made his own bass from scratch, carved out all the wood & built in a tuner to it. Clever git.



Upcoming Gigs:
16th Jan @ Enterprise, Camden
12 Feb @ Purple Turtle, Camden

The Palpitations
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Shoot styled by Katie Antoniou ...

Clothes from Vintage Secret
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Photography by Holly Falconer
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Make-up by Bella Cruickshank
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