DRONNINGEN, rocking highness
Dronningen are the royal rock riot with a guitar fuzzed, mad electro twist. Ready to blow your mind are Top left Drums: Amélie , Top right Bass: Wai Ting, Bottom left Vocals/Guitar: Beatrice, Bottom right Lead Guitar: Vito - photographed by Neil Anderson.
Dronningen means “The Queen” in Norwegian, this group base their music on three guiding principles
1) Getting rid of general negativity
2) Dance as a purifying ritual
3) Being the sovereign of your own world
If you can go with that, the read on.
Developing over the last couple of years, Dronningen are ready for anything. Born in 2014, they came into our hearts via one of TheZineUK's star making allies, End Of The Trail Records, who held a showcase event at New Cross Inn, supporting SONS in Autumn 2016. We bit hard. In the true sense of story telling, magic worked it's spell. As did Dronningen's Royal Riot EP.
By the time of our most recent music social in October, SONS and Dronningen were two of the bands repping on the dance floor, down the front for the bands playing, so it makes our next event even more special. We are seeing the start of the fully formed Dronningen, live on stage. TheZineUK team get a thrill from catching buzz performances early doors and close up. To bring us up to date, we asked Dronningen to please tell us more.
TheZineUK : Where did you come from, and how did you all come together in the first place?
Dronningen : "We are definitely an international band as each one of us comes from a different part of the world (Italy, France and Hong Kong). we are very happy we have found the right line up for Dronningen after many changes."
At the very start, Dronningen was created by Bea (lead singer and guitarist). She moved to London to start this project and she looked for other musicians to turn this into a proper band, so here we are.
Vito discovered Dronningen on the internet, he saw they were looking for a lead guitarist so he called Bea for an audition and found out that they were both living in the same street!
Amélie discovered the band at one of their shows. At the time Dronningen had a session drummer so after an audition and a nice chat, Amélie took the role.
After the departure of the previous bass player, we put an advert on Gumtree and that's how we have found Wai Ting. We did an audition and the first thing he said was "I can't speak English but I can play bass". It was magic straight away."
We believe in magic, this is a situationist tale, after all. Part of these chapters, Dronningen are true Londoners. Lively ones, at that.
Z : There is so much fun and energy involved in your story and collective personality. You support other artists, down the front for their shows, is it an exaggeration to say that as a band, you TRULY believe in the power of rock n roll? (especially in these days)
D : "Energy and fun are two weapons we love to use against negativity. When something goes wrong in life it's important to be able to see through it, and turn it into a strength, so yeah, rock n roll definitely sums up our attitude.
When we go to a gig and see kick ass artists on stage, we are naturally drawn to them and don't hesitate to enjoy their music, getting loose in the crowd, it's a great way to connect with each other. To mention a few: Who Killed Nancy Johnson?, Pussycat and The Dirty Johnsons, Los Padres, SONS, Zkeletonz and Apeman Spaceman - check them out ;) "
(Dronningen are not just saying that for effect, papped below at the October music social; Vito, Bea and in the foreground, Amélie with poet and radio presenter, Jimmy Bowman of The Glass Collectors with two of our beloved Sisteray brothers and sisters, Rohan Murray (who will appear live on stage with Dronningen on 2nd March, and Alýsson Creiche - #Zeenagers all - we have diversity in our DNA, come to TheZineUK party if you can make it, lets make new futures together!)
2016 was already ace, but now with the line up completed and new horizons, what's next?
Z : "How is 2017 shaping up for Dronningen, what are your next plans?"
D : "This is going to be a very exciting and busy year for us. First of all, we are very happy to play at The Zine's event on the 2nd March. We love the atmosphere of these nights, and can't wait to be part of it on stage. We just did a great recording session at The Park Studios with the incredible engineer Tobin Jones, so get ready to hear more from us. We are also doing a lot of song writing, and are tailoring our next shows. (We can't give away too much now, but expect some fresh news in the near future)."
Great to bump into the band again recently when The Velvet Hands (another of TheZineUK music social stars) played at Camden Monarch, February 2017, oh, and see below!
Hormonally Yours, dronningen.co.uk
Great to bump into the band again, when another of TheZineUK music social star turns, The Velvet Hands, played at Camden Monarch (February 2017) and and get this, from the same vene; Try before you fly, a live taster of Dronningen; 'White Saliva' November 2016
psst Festival scouts who seem reticent to book female fronted bands should take another look at the best new music scene in years. The black hole times since the end of 2012, especially, have escapism that is full of noisy joy, and an interplay of exciting, ambitious artists and excited audiences (with a high percentage of artists there, too) supporting each other with the best entertainment and atmosphere.
words/snaps by Caffy, main image by Neil Anderson.