THE JEZABELS
And front-woman Hayley Mary, our ultimate girl crush.
interview: Tiffany Diane Tso
image: courtesy The Jezabels
The Jezabels, a four-piece Australian band, formed when founding members Hayley Mary and Heather Shannon started school at the University of Sydney. The two found Nik Kaloper and Samuel Lockwood and formed a band that has been self-dubbed "intensindie." Though the band is from down under, it's hard not to find yourself swooning over them as if they were playing the local coffee shop at your university. And Hayley Mary as the front-woman, with her deep, sultry voice and black-clad waifish figure, plays the part of your idyllic girl crush from college.
I read that your first job was as a waitress in a cafe, and you hated it. What were some other jobs you've had?
I worked in bars the whole time I was at uni, which you may refer to as college, and had a very small stint at Greenpeace.
Which one did you prefer?
I guess bar work, because I seemed to stick with it. I like the fact that you didn't necessarily have to be hospitable. Sometimes the customer isn't right. Sometimes they're drunk.
How was being a teenager in Australia different than being a teenager in America?
I guess I can't really compare them, because I only have experience with the former, but I think we just have less of everything, less shops, less people. Maybe a little less to do, but a little less dangerous too. Oh yeah, and everything is more expensive. Music, clothes all that defines a teenager is more expensive in Aus than the states. This doesn't seem to effect the teenagers though, probably just their parents.
How was it the same?
Like the rest of the world, Australia gets it's fair share of American culture. Pop music is the same, even smaller subgenres are borrowed from overseas to an extent, it wasn't until I left school that I really became aware of the more homegrown parts of Australian culture and music.
What was your favorite subject in school?
Probably modern history or legal studies, basically the ones where the teacher was likely to mistake an argumentative nature for some kind of intellectual potential.
Sexual tension and aliens are such a good combo.
Who is your favorite writer?
That's a toss up between Anne Radcliffe and Virginia Woolf, though I have recently been introduced to Murakami, and he's pretty great.
Poet?
Either Carol Ann Duffy or T.S. Eliot. Actually, I don't know. Shakespeare's alright too.
What director do you love every film of?
I couldn't say I love, or have even seen all of any one director's films, but I dig some Tim Burton and Lars von Trier.
What was your favorite TV show in high school?
The X-Files. Sexual tension and aliens are such a good combo.
What was your rebellious phase like?
I became really straight. I am the straightest in my family.
Name one law you've definitely broken.
I would but I don't want it to effect my visa.
If you were going to have to be arrested, what would you want to go down for?
Depends on who I'm going down on, but if it was going to get me arrested, I would want it to be for something substantial.
Speaking of which, your latest album Prisoner came out earlier this month... what does the band have coming up now?
We're about to reach the shores of America and Canada to tour the album. Looking forward to it very much.
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