Californian blues rock duo Deap Vally in interview: "For us, rock’n’roll is sex"

Like an all-girl White Stripes, but with better legs, Deap Vally have blazed a wild blues rock trail since they met in the unlikely environs of an LA crochet lesson back in 2011. Lindsey Troy’s Robert Plant-like howls and dirty riffs married with Julie Edwards’ sweat-flecked, pounding rhythms offer a visceral window to a havoc-wreaking life of hard drinking, hard rocking and awesome hair. Debut single Gonna Make My Own Money is a fierce two-and-half-minute slice of Riot Grrrl attitude shot through with classic rock posturing. Upcoming release Lies is sexy, snarling and immediately crawls under the skin.

Yet when The Skinny catches up with Julie at home in LA, cat meowing round her feet, at the decidedly un-rock’n’roll hour of 10am, the Jack Daniels is nowhere in sight. In fact she’s deciding whether to go to her friend’s Pilates class or head out for a hike. “I’m getting as much nature as I can while I’m home,” she explains, pointing out that they’re going to be heading to India soon to kick off a globe-hopping tour that will hit Glasgow in March and lead up to their first album, due in May. “I’ll be in the studio later,” she adds. “I’m so excited. I’ve never released a record before so it’s a big first.”

The idea that these two backcombed hellraisers could’ve met through needlework (Lindsey randomly walked into the crochet class that Julie was teaching) has already been catnip to hook-hungry journalists. As an origin story, it certainly kicks the ass off ‘we met at school.’ Julie, however, remains nonplussed. “We thought it was the worst origin story. We wanted to make one up that was better.”

Like their hometown, Julie and Lindsey straddle two worlds – raised by health-conscious parents, they have that West Coast, granola-munching sheen of health but it’s married with a dive bar, Guns N’ Roses, dirt-under-the-fingernails authenticity. Their yards of bare thigh announce girls who like to have fun.

“We were never going to be wearing knee-length dresses. Or a blouse. That was never on the table,” says Julie of their skimpy stage attire. “For us, rock ’n’ roll is sex. It’s experiencing something in the deep, immersive, profound way that you would experience having sex. We all live our lives, we go through the day and if we’re lucky we go home and have sex. That’s what playing rock is like.”

It’s scarcely a controversial outlook. The link between the Devil’s music and the pleasures of the flesh has a long and storied history. Though, as Deap Vally has been finding out, certain factions of the rock'n'roll world still find it hard to see two headstrong, talented women grabbing life by the balls. Led Zeppelin can be sex gods, but a pair of goddesses?

“They take one look at us and they’re just blinded by hate and judgement,” exclaims Julie, bewildered. “We didn’t think what we wear was going to be controversial or novel. It just seemed natural. I’ve been playing drums for seven years and I’ve always worn tiny shorts. When you’re drumming, you heat up, so it’s nice to not be wearing too much.”

Still, the haters have been vocal. Apparently, the 'brain and a body' thing is a bit too much for the knuckle-draggers. “It’s fascinating that in 2013, dressing sexy as a woman in a rock band is still a controversy. Pop music stars are always dressed really scantily and pelvic thrusting – nobody seems to have a problem with it. There’s something about the genre that we’re in, that it really rubs some people the wrong way.”

Julie’s quite clearly not one to run from a fight, or cover up just because her legs are blowing some eedjit’s tiny mind, but for those that thought their name was a further statement of intent, you’d be wrong. The double entendre was entirely inadvertent, she insists. “For me, it was originally just a reference to a region – the Deep Valley, which is in the San Fernando Valley where I grew up. Being from the Valley isn’t very cool, so being from the Deep Valley is, like, even worse. It’s as far as you can get from Hollywood.

“Of course,” she allows, “people see it as being a play on another region. That was an accident. It wasn’t until we already had the name that I realised. It’s like Hole!” If they’ve ruffled some feathers, Deap Vally have matched it by piquing interest from important places. They found a fellow crafty ally in Matt Bellamy of Muse, who picked them to support the band on tour. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to out him,” says Julie, “but he knows how to knit. I had a nice bonding conversation with him about knitting.” Josh Homme is also reportedly a fan, which scarcely comes as a surprise. But odder is their link with Christian folk behemoths Mumford and Sons. 

Following Mumfords’ recent Grammy win, the Brits are riding high in the US and accordionist Ben Lovett has been using the leverage to push his own record label, Communion, which sits under the Island banner. Deap Vally is among his recruits and Mumfords are about to bring the girls out on tour across Europe. You can’t help but worry that Julie and Lindsey will eat the waistcoat-wearers alive. 

“They’re not scared of us,” insists Julie. “It’s a really strange pairing, though, right? Obviously in the heavy rock circles, Mumfords isn’t a very cool band but the fact they’re supportive of artists of all kinds is very cool.“I’ve seen them live a couple of times and I feel like they have a intensity and an energy – a rootsiness – that’s kind of akin to us. There’s something very sincere about what they’re doing. Musically, though, it’s way different. It’s definitely going to be a weird opening experience for the fans of Mumfords.”

Always aiming to immerse herself as fully as possible in the rock’n’roll world, Julie will bring a bunch of music biographies on tour for her reading material. “They don’t even have to be about bands I like. I just started the story of Phil Spector. It’s another way to immerse yourself in the world. Even while I’m living it, I have to live vicariously.” Plugged into the heritage and stories it’s almost as though she’s treating each gig as a pop quiz. Furiously revising, she’ll be ready for whatever rock throws at her.

Whether you love or loathe Mumfords, with the world’s top-selling band of the minute right there for advice, the girls could do worse than to pick their brain for some planet-beating tips. “We would love one day to have full-on domination,” she muses.

And what would the world look like if it were run by Deap Vally? “There would be lots of great hair. And more great heavy guitar riffs sounding out over the world.” So a bit like that other rocking Californian duo, Bill and Ted, then? “Totally!"