Dubbed the 'Queens of Australian Punk', Canberra punk rockers Glitoris are four fierce female musicians preparing to embark on a massive 16 date national tour on the back of their recently released single 'Slut Power', a song that best typifies Glitoris and their unapologetic and uncompromising stance on feminism.
"It is a very powerful song," affirmed guitarist/vocalist Andrew Glitoris.
"It has a slower than average tempo which was quite deliberate. We wanted it to be driving and relentless and heavy and we also wanted the music to build dynamically, simultaneous to the way that violence against women starts and ends.”
“That's why the first verse is quite sparse musically. It starts with just words that are drawn from a lexicon that we feel is used to undermine and demean and unfairly critique women. It builds and gets more intense so by the second verse it's about how capitalism is structured and so many billions of dollars are made in that system of making women feel terrible about themselves.
“Everywhere we look, every second of the day someone is telling us that there's something wrong with us and we need to spend money to fix it. The song builds into full-blown rage by the third verse because we're told that when violence is committed against us - whether that's verbal, psychological, sexual or physical - that it's our fault.
“That's what 'Slut Power' is about. It's about the slow burn of violence against women. We have the right to live our lives free from violence.
We have the right to choose; we have the right to express ourselves sexually without being attacked or targeted or slandered for it. It ain't pretty but I wouldn't call us a pretty band."
Glitoris have established a strong reputation as a ferocious live act, with their political views and subject matter given greater meaning in a live setting.
"We've completely overhauled our show for this tour," Andrew said.
"It's gonna take the form of a protest. We're sick of this government and the sheer inaction on climate change; the repression of our human rights and the slow erosion of those rights. We are watching everything that a progressive Western society has worked towards unravelling and we are over it. Fans can expect us to be on pretty rousing and combative form."
In a modern society that is becoming increasingly sanitised, Glitoris are a refreshing refusal to conform to expectations. They won't say anything they are not prepared to back up, and refuse to even contemplate censoring their views to appease the masses.
"We released our debut EP in 2016 and ‘The Policy’ in 2018," Andrew said proudly.
"We're now in 2020 and embarking on the biggest tour we've ever done. We won the National live music award Hard Rock Act of the year last year and our fan base is increasing every week.
“I think it's because we are willing to put our necks on the block and we're willing to stand up and say things that maybe some people might be thinking, but it does take courage. We have been trolled pretty badly at times but that's part of it. We don't care. It's not gonna stop us. We won't be censored.
“Again, the patriarchy thrives on women being silent and telling women they must be silent and we won't be. That's over. We will not sit quietly and acquiesce to the wants and needs of men in leadership roles."
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The band members of Glitoris use pseudonyms inspired by Australian politics: Andrew, Tony, Keven 007 and Malcolm. Catch the ferocious foursome when they hit Vinnies for their Slut Power tour on 20 March. Tix through OzTix.
