Poppy Richler is a multi-talented musician, writer and dear friend. Poppy has been surrounding herself with music for the past year: playing saxophone for one of the most exciting up and coming bands, DEADLETTER; organising events with Sister Ray Records; opening for Craig Charles; doing radio shows; and writing for So Young magazine. She has a frankly dizzying resume, but this is Poppy in her absolute element -- and it’s just the beginning. I managed to catch her before DEADLETTER go on tour with Placebo and we spoke about how she’s navigated the industry, the need for gender diversity and her love of surrealist art.
ZS: First of all, congratulations on DEADLETTER’s new single “Binge,” which was premiered on Steve Lamacq’s show on BBC Radio 6. How’s the reception been?
PR: It’s been really good! We’ve got a few plays since then, one on Radio 1 as well as Radio 6, which has been pretty crazy. I started in January and this is the first single of the band I'm on, so it's very exciting for me. The sound is quite different to the old songs, which are a bit more down the post-punk route. “Binge” represents the kind of music we're moving towards now, which is a bit more dancey, and you can hear that with Alfie's drums on it.
We’ve just got back from tour, which was the National Lottery Music Venue Trust which Steve Lamacq chose us for, where we were doing cities we wouldn't usually play in like Margate and Frome. Nottingham was great. One thing we noticed was that people really responded to the new stuff, where they were up and moving and dancing, which has kind of given us confidence that the new stuff we’re writing together sounds and feels really good. It's something that we're all really proud of.
ZS: You have an extensive background in music writing, which you’re currently working with So Young magazine. How did you get into that and what’s been your music journey from writing to playing with DEADLETTER?
PR: I did saxophone at school and got involved with music writing when I started working for our uni paper. That kind of kick-started everything else with radio, and then the two just wound themselves together quite well. I then met Lily Carr-Gomm who runs Last Bus through our mutual friend Bella Charlton and did some work with her. From then I just incessantly sent my portfolio to people – I actually sent a few emails to So Young before they replied to me. I've been writing for them for a year now, and that’s led to some other amazing opportunities as well with DIY and Clash.
As for the DEADLETTER boys -- last summer, I went to End of the Road festival and met these guys in a forest on the last night. I stayed in touch with one of them, who saw a picture of me playing saxophone like six months later – we hadn't spoken or met since -- and he was like, “Hey, do you want to come to rehearsal? We need a new sax player.” I just turned up, practiced everything in advance because I wanted it to go well, and they were like, “Cool, so what are you doing this weekend? We're recording some stuff and we'd love to have you on it, including Binge.” And then they said, “By the way, we’re going on tour, do you want to come with us?” I obviously said yes, so then…trial by fire… and here we are!
ZS: I know you also do some art writing for Quietus, which has been brilliant. What about Surrealism speaks to you and has it informed you music in any way?
PR: Nothing’s really off limits with Surrealism. It just seems like an art movement that was so before its time. It's always fascinated me because it's very multidisciplinary, and I really like how it's influenced so much music, film and writing. I really liked the Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition at the Tate because it decentralised it from this purely white, western male surrealist perspective. You got to see how global the movement was and how it's been used as a form of protest in so many different ways all around the world. For me, the idea of the unconscious is definitely important in writing lyrics and improvising. It’s just being able to take yourself out of your body and create freely.
ZS: You’ve been very vocal over the years about the lack of female identifying and non-binary acts in festival headlines -- how's it been this year?
PR: I mean, it's still pretty disappointing. I actually put on a gig night in January which was just for female identifying and non-binary acts because I was just like, it's ridiculous how many amazing musicians aren't getting booked. Even with the festival circuit this year, it just seems a bit lazy. I can pretty confidently say that the top three names on the list of about 80% of festivals this summer have been men. When you get to a level where you can afford to pay bigger artists and get anyone you want, there’s really no excuse. And it’s the same thing for DJing as well, you see it all over London. I do think there are more and more people starting to put on nights to celebrate gender diversity, which is good. Hopefully one day these specific nights to showcase people won't be necessary, but right now it is necessary and it's amazing.
ZS: Do you have any advice for young people, particularly young women and gender-diverse people, trying to break into these industries that sometimes seem impenetrable?
PR: I think surrounding yourself with people who also want to make a change is really important, because then you don’t have to convince anyone representation is an issue in the industry, and you can then create safe spaces for yourself and others. But I also I think you shouldn’t be afraid to have a bit of a bite back when people tell you it’s “too difficult” or whatnot. We need to understand that that sentiment is not normal. Just because, you know, a 30-year-old man has been DJing for five years, that doesn’t give him the right be dismissive. Also, you’ve got to have confidence in yourself and just be like, “No, I know how to do this. I know how to work the tech.” Educate yourself as well, take the time to sit down so when someone comes to you, you can fight back.
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Catch DEADLETTERS new single Weights, and keep an eye out on Poppy’s socials for upcoming DJ residencies on her Instagram.
