Words by Alicia Tomkinson, Photographs by Lauren Cremer

In 2021, a hagstone-rock four-piece made its way out of bed into a studio under a railway, with a car wash involved. Invented by Kate Mager (bass), Ella Russell (drums, flute, vocals), Nina Winder- Lind (cello, guitar, vocals), and Violet Farrer (violin, guitar, vocals), the band found their way out of the twisted cobbles of Brighton, becoming a glowing figurehead in London’s eclectic music scene.

The first thing that came to my mind after listening to The New Eves was some kind of jumble like, “if Angela Carter started a band and brought art-rock Morris Dancers along with her, this would be what they’d sound like.” So, you can imagine my pleasant surprise watching them at the 100 Club on Oxford Street in December, as I pretty much hit the nail on the head. (No, there was no actual Morris dance performance involved, but the jig I was doing at the back of the room came close.)

I first meet The New Eves on a crisp December morning, in the top floor of a warehouse in Hackney, up some rickety metal stairs - definitely more of a fire escape - and inside of DCC studios, where photographer Lauren Cemer is already in full swing and the band is already in full Vivienne- Westwood-meets-the-ceiling-of-the-sistine-chapel glam. After wrapping the shoot, wishing the team adieu and managing to misplace the band for approximately half an hour, I lead The New Eves into what can only be described as Hackney’s loudest greasy spoon café. With football on the screen in the corner, which none of us are paying any attention to, and the café’s owner trying his very hardest to make a hot chocolate from an audibly obvious broken machine, we still manage to power through, talking about dinner parties, rock collecting and inspiring landscapes.

From seeing them half an hour ago, dressed to the nines in Renaissance-styled vintage clobber and pin-curled hair, to now with the true, day- to-day patterns of The New Eves being in full effect, I can’t find much difference. A series of milk-maid dresses, cowboy boots and 70s-esq flared jeans, bustle through the glass (or plastic) door with an announcing bell ring, catching the attention of not only me but the whole room. With an eclectic assemblage of instruments on their shoulders, including violins and flutes, I observe the panic in, who I’m now mentally referring to as Mr Café, eyes, as if they are about to set up his own personal serenade. Regrettably, they are only here to speak to me. They order a platter of eggs on toast and a single can of Cherry Coke. We are ready to try our best to combat this far-from- Parisian ambience by shouting loud whispers into my phone’s mic.

What could go wrong?

As we begin small talk about nerves or excitement towards tonight’s sell-out show, the quartet recounts how they’ve, “always been a live band, it’s how we began and it’s our favourite thing to do.” So, nerves seem to be out of the picture and if I wasn’t already looking forward to this evening, I am now. “It’s always been about the shows, people coming out and experiencing us whilst we’re still exploring. We’re very experimental when you watch us, and we throw everything in to see what we want to keep or not. That’s what we want to get across in recording too, but we want to be as live as possible at the moment.”

And live is what they have been. It’s difficult already to enter such a saturated industry, and if we’ve learnt anything these last few years, it’s that being at the right gig at the right time can change everything. The experimental nature of The New Eves has certainly already attracted my attention as it plays an ode to a psychedelic rock and folk- themed cocktail. Their daring nature to stray from putting themselves in a box, and to intrigue fans to never knowing what to expect next, makes them a perfect addition in this modern era. “It’s a really hard question for us to answer when people ask what genre we are. It’s like someone saying, who are you? What do you stand for as a person? You just kind of don’t really know but you express it just by doing a show. We’ve always been honest and personal, facing any difficulties we come across head-on, and we embrace that.”

Aside from the music, the group excite themselves by staying creative; painting, dancing, writing, you name it, they do it. They have a certain historically elegant meets DIY aesthetic that is perfectly matched in this cover shoot and can be seen across the band’s agenda. From designing all their artwork to directing their own music videos, it’s admirable to see their passion for what they do. Pushing further to discover who The New Eves are when they’re not being ‘The New Eves’, they come clean about their love for food and dinner get-togethers, often hosted by Nina. She details her dishes often going “from extreme consumption of brown foods, like potatoes, to something very extravagant, like dishes with pomegranate garnishes.” The way she speaks about her “cheffing” knowledge is intimate and specific, similar to the likes of Gregg Wallace or John Torode on Masterchef UK, making me question what other alter egos this group lurk beneath their musical exterior.

“I like collecting rocks,” Ella demurely admits, before a red shade of embarrassment crosses her face. “Carry on” I probe. “I just love it because it’s nerdy. My whole life I’ve been searching for one called a Sea Potato, it’s like a type of seed but it looks like a potato. They have a star pattern on their backs and when we were in Blackpool we actually found loads of their shells on the beach.” “What happened? Did you take them home?” Now invested in the story’s ending, “I was really, really excited and called everyone to tell them, but they got smashed up in my bag on the way back, so they never made it,” and an instant gaze of sorrow is cast amongst the group. I abruptly laugh before quickly covering my mouth to hide the taunt, because it sounds like the perfect storyline for a New Eves love song about heartache. I’ve previously noticed that none of their released tracks seem to have a mortal protagonist or muse, which is something more that sets these lot apart from their industry counterparts. “We’re definitely influenced by the people around us; we’d be silly not to use that, but often our themes relate to mythical creatures or saints. Something ethereal rather than real.”

I quickly realise that the whole time we’ve been sitting down, they refer to their discography as a “project” rather than a single or song, which intrigues me to know what their planning or plotting process is like. “It’s a research project. There’s a lot more that goes into this band than just music,” which I don’t find hard to believe, “The influences that we have aren’t musical, it’s more what is conscious in our minds when we’re making a song. I would never sit and think ‘Oh I want to make something influenced by the musicality of this person’, it would be more like ‘Oh this one is influenced by caves.” Kate revelas. “Previously I’ve watched a four-hour-long lecture about TS Elliot’s ‘The Wasteland’ and that to me is research for a songwriting session.” states Nina.

The more they talk about their mindsets, the more intrigued I am by tonight’s showcase, which over the last half an hour I’ve completely forgotten about and how they actually need to leave to set up for that. Plates are scraped clean and the last sip of the Cherry Coke is downed before I send them on their merry way, wishing them luck for later.

Credits:

PHOTOGRAPHY, LIGHTING, CREATIVE DIRECTION, POST PRODUCTION: LAUREN CREMER (@lozfolio)

PHOTO ASSISTANT: LYDIA PAYNE (@lydiaxrose_)

WRITER: ALICIA TOMKINSON (@leeshtomkinson)

STYLIST: FREYA THOMAS TAYLOR (@freyathomastaylor)

STYLING ASSISTANT: MARLINA GELIDES (@lenaangelides)

HAIR STYLIST: TIMOTHY FURSSEDONN (@timothyfurssedonn)

MAKEUP ARTIST: JO SUGAR (@jo_sugar)

BACKDROP: MATTHEW LAWRENCE (@mgjlawrence)

LOCATION: DCC STUDIOS

THE NEW EVES WEAR: Balenciaga, Dora Teymur, Freya Thomas-Taylor, Callisto Venus, Dulcie D, Milla Giulia Badin