EBONY BONES ON WILDNESS

By Crash redaction

JUDGING BY OUR PICTURES, YOU MAY WELL THINK THAT EBONY BONES! LOOKS A LITTLE MAD. WELL, LET US ASSURE YOU, SHE IS A WHOLE LOT MADDER THAN YOU MAY THINK. INSPIRED BY CLOWNS AND DRIVEN BY THE URGE TO ENTERTAIN AND CONNECT, THIS GIRL SURE KNOWS HOW TO ROCK A PARTY. DURING OUR SHOOTING SHE WAS WHIZZING AROUND THE STUDIO TRYING ON SKIRTS AS HEADPIECES, GENUINELY LOVING THE SPOTLIGHT AND SQUEELING WITH JOY ABOUT HER MAKE-UP FOR THE DAY. IN BETWEEN JUMPING INTO DIFFERENT ROLES FOR THE CAMERA, WE LITERALLY TIED HER TO THE CHAIR TO FIND OUT ABOUT HER BACKGROUND AND WHAT IT IS THAT KEEPS HER GOING AND GOING AND GOING. ENJOY THE WILD AND WONDERFUL POST-TRIBAL-PUNK SONGSTRESS FROM SOUTHWEST LONDON. THIS IS EBONY BONES!

 TELL ME ABOUT YOUR NAME.

Well, Ebony is my real name, actually. I was named Ebony by my parents because of that awful song by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder: ‘Ebony and Ivory’ – I shouldn’t really admit to that, but it’s one of their favourites. And Bones is a real reflection of my music: it’s quite raw, it’s stripped down and it’s the fundamental basis of the music. When someone says ‘show me your bones’, it means ‘show me the real you’.

THE REAL YOU – IS THAT WHY YOU RECORDED THE WHOLE ALBUM BY YOURSELF?

Sometimes I find working with other people quite annoying. You know that feeling when you start to compromise or water down your ideas to compensate other people’s feelings, that’s never good for creativity. Once the track’s down, it becomes something else, but in the studio it’s very much me, myself and my silly little faults.

YOU WERE RECENTLY NAMED ONE OF THE “40 MEN & WOMEN WHO MAKE LONDON” BY TIME OUT. DO YOU FEEL LIKE A LONDON GIRL?

Ironically I’ve always felt like I’m so not London. My parents were born in Jamaica. My mum’s got Irish blood and my dad’s got Asian blood in him. But there’s no such thing as a London girl really. London is a cosmopolitan city so it’s a melting pot of anything goes. I guess it’s always been a magnet for the eccentric. There’s something about the energy. I think we’re not afraid to break the rules and we’re able to switch things up a little which makes it fun.

WHAT WERE YOU LIKE WHEN YOU WERE A LITTLE CHILD?

I was very much a tomboy. I wasn’t interested in dainty things and if a boy picked on me I’d go and slap him back. I didn’t want anyone to help me, I could do my laces myself, thank you very much. But at the same time I could be very shy. I had a really huge imagination and I’d get sudden bursts of energy and just jump up and down like a mad cat running around the room. I think that part of my child is still very much alive and I’m able to kind of embrace that when I’m up on stage.

BEFORE GETTING INTO MUSIC YOU WERE ACTUALLY QUITE KNOWN AS AN ACTRESS. DID YOU GET BORED OF ACTING?

I started off in Shakespeare doing McBeth at the age of 12 and then from there moved on to this British soap named Family Affairs. My character owned a hair salon and sort of thought she could dress well. I loved acting, but after a while I did get bored of it because I realized there’s not a lot you can do to connect with people playing a bimbo in a miniskirt. I was always looking for ways to vent my creativity. I would take costumes home and customize them, but I was starting to feel stagnant creatively and I really didn’t want to be stuck in a glasshouse. I’d forgotten what it was like to be scared of not having an income and I wanted to challenge myself.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC?

Well, my album is really just a soundtrack to somebody with ADD (attention deficit disorder). It’s almost like a compilation or iTunes playlist of random thoughts. It’s very much split up into these kind of dark political-like tracks and then like fun or kind of pop-like sing-along songs to deflect from that. In the end it’s all about juxtaposition and subversiveness.

YOU DESIGN A LOT OF YOUR OWN STAGE COSTUMES.

Yeah, I do. But I also work with Timothy James Andrews and Alison Gaukroger, two really good and talented designer friends. I’m into silhouette and shape and colour and I like things that put fun back into the heart of creativity. I think there’s no beauty without strangeness. That’s why I’m sitting here right now with clay on my face while I conduct an interview (laughs).

WHAT DID YOUR PARENTS DO?

My mother, at the time, was working in fashion for Yves Saint Laurent, Missoni and Moschino. She was constantly in Italy and Paris, so I spent a lot of time in London with my dad and my sister, who was 15 years older than me. My dad had a small record store in Brixton Markets selling punk music to black folks. After school I would stand on a little stool and dance and just hear so many varieties of music. I think having a mother on the fashion end and my dad in music really inspired me in what I’m doing now.

WHO HAVE BEEN OTHER IMPORTANT INSPIRATIONS TO YOU?

I’m a fan of anybody who can have the audacity to step outside the circumference of what they’re expected to be. You know, growing up I always felt like I didn’t really fit in. I had this uncomfortable feeling about being a girl. I felt girls were weak and annoying and it wasn’t until I saw artists like Patti Smith, Suzie Sioux, Grace Jones and Annie Lennox, these women, who redefined femininity in music in their own way, that I realized that being female was also very strong. So those women were definitely big inspirations. I also vividly remember this lady I used to see on my way to school. She was always riding this bike with a basket. She had the craziest redhead and wore eccentric clothes. I had no idea who she was but I used to sit and watch and wait for her. It wasn’t until years later my dad told me it was Vivienne Westwood. I met her recently when I was at a photo shoot with Jean Baptiste Mondino with the New York Times. I remember thinking wow, the queen’s arrived.


DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER PASSIONS BESIDES MUSIC?

Many, yes. I’ve just learnt how to swim, so I’m really proud about that. And I’m really into a lot of politics. Without sounding like Bono, I like to know what’s going on in the world and I’m disturbed by a lot of what I read or see. I mean, you can tell when something just doesn’t feel right or doesn’t make sense and you go: hang on, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.

IF YOU COULD BE SOMEONE ELSE FOR A DAY, WHO WOULD IT BE?

I’d love to be a fly on an MI5 or FBI government headquarters wall to find out lots of secrets and put them all on twitter.