We caught up with DAMEFRISØR ahead of their debut EP Island of Light out in February.

We're very excited to have the opportunity to speak with DAMEFRISØR, a Bristol based shoegaze band that has taken the music scene by storm. DAMEFRISØR are Kazhi Jahfar (vocals), Nyle Dowd (drums), Garin Curtis (guitar), Jamie Brown (guitar), and Sam Nobbs (synth). We recently had the chance to sit down with the band and chat about their upcoming debut EP, their creative process, and what's in store for the future. So join us as we get to know DAMEFRISØR.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from, and a little bit about the music that you make? 

N - We are DAMEFRISØR. We're Kazhi Jahfar, Nyle Dowd, Garin Curtis, Jamie Brown, Megan Jenkins & Sam Nobbs. We're from Bristol and we like to make noisy guitar & electronic music.

How did you form? 

N - We started to properly start taking form around the end of 2019, Kazhi recruited me and Jamie upon his return from his stint out in Copenhagen and then Garin joined a few months later on (famously at a Arnolfini club night) later Sam joined after me & Kazhi bumped in to him around my area, tripping on magic mushrooms, and agreed there and then he would join. Megan, our most recent member, and 4th bassist to date, joined in February 2022, after our previous bassist Tom Gould had left to pursue his love of acting. Meg agreed to do 2 shows and then she just carried on from there, and how glad we are she's stayed with us! 

We love your new single ‘D.O.D.’ can you tell us more about the lyrics? 

K - This song is about how alienating city’s can be, sometimes these big metropolitan places can feel like an island in which no one is seen or heard and unless you swim with the current you can easily get lost.

How are you feeling about releasing your debut EP Island of Light? 

N - We're really excited, we feel like we've been trying to put out a E.P since we started pretty much, but now is the right time. We're really pleased with how all the songs turned out. We had a studio space we were sharing with Bingo Fury* which we used to write most of the songs in, recorded some decent demos and took those up to Leeds to work with the amazing Mr Alex Greaves*. Working with him was such an insightful experience and we learnt a lot about our own sound and also new techniques we wanted to use going forward, whether it be live stuff or studio work.

You’re releasing it via Permanent Creeps. What’s it like working with them? 

K - It's good, they did really good work on our first release, which resulted in our single '2-HEH-V' getting lots of radio 6 play. It's really nice to work with people who recognise your vision and allow creative freedom. Shout out to Lloyd and the PC team!

Can you tell us where you got the name DAMEFRISØR? 

K - I lived in Copenhagen for 3 years, and towards the end of my time there, I decided I wanted to get a band together. On a hungover morning I walked past a hair salon and the sign read ‘DAMEFRISØR’ thought it looked cool and went with that. 

Can you tell us more about how you produce your music?

K - Unfortunately there isn't a formula for coming up with ideas, so since we've started making music together, we've gone through different ways in which we approach our writing. For this record we took an approach of working from rough demos on Ableton, and then basically building more fleshed out demos, by doing overdubs in our studio. This worked really well and resulted in getting songs finished really quickly, although it meant we had to then learn how to play the songs, after we had finished the record.There's pros and cons to all methods.

What’s the best thing about being in a band together?

K - We're friends! Sometimes being in a band can be hard, and I think the thing that makes it all worthwhile is that we are enjoying exploring music together as good mates.

You’ve supported some of the best new artists around: Squid, Katy J Pearson and Folly Group to name a few. Do you have any untold stories from these tours? 

K - At the show where we supported our good friends Squid* at the Marble Factory in Bristol, we had drunk all of our allocated rider beers, so we were in search of some more free drinks. It turned out that Squid weren’t drinking during their tour, and Anton handed me two bottles of Grey Goose that we drank in the taxi on the way to the pub, was pretty fun.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s important to you?

N - All the BATTLES albums, John Stainer is the G.O.A.T, their music is so important to me and quite influential on the band too.

Why should people listen to DAMEFRISØR? 

K - They shouldn’t...

If your debut EP were a film which would it be?

K - Night On Earth by Jim Jarmusch. 

What advice would you give for anyone trying to achieve a similar sound to your music?

K - So first of all buy loads pedals and synths, then listen to shoegaze and dance music, then find some people who wanna make music with you!  

What do you love right now? 

N - Cheese.

What do you hate right now? 

N - The cold.

Is there any new music from 2022 you have been enjoying?

N - Gilla Band's new album, Bingo Fury's Mercy's Cut EP, Nukuluk's Disaster Pop EP & the new Robbie & Mona singles.  

Is there anything you would like to share with our readers?

Watch the video for D.O.D Clump Collective made for us and get out there and protest.