- 2 hours ago
Wet Leg front woman Rhian Teasdale chats with Bandsplain host Yasi Salek for the latest issue of Billboard magazine. She gets candid about the band’s humble beginnings, what she learned from Harry Styles and being a representation for women while on stage. Plus, she shares the original concept for the “Moisturizer” album cover!
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00:00Ellis was like scaffolding when we started touring, Henry was a delivery
00:05driver, Joshie was working at a cafe, Hester was making like jewelry for the
00:11family business, I was working on like mainly like commercial shoots like doing
00:19like wardrobe assistant stuff. It's so, so random that we are where we are now.
00:30Hi, I'm Yossi Solek, host of the podcast Bandsplain. I'm here with Rhianne Teasdale, the icon for a woman.
00:42Hi.
00:43I was in your wet dream driving in my car, saw you at the side of the road, there's no one else.
00:50I'm so excited to talk to you. I'm so excited to talk to you.
00:54This is like self-serving, but it just recently started lifting weights and I was like gorgeous.
00:59I'm going to need to talk to Rhianne and get some tips, some tips and tricks. I'm like,
01:04I need to talk to her about protein intake and need to know like where she's landing
01:08on creatine. Like these are important questions. And I was like, you seem a bit of an expert.
01:14I don't know. I do my best. It's really hard on tour with like the whole protein
01:18intake thing. Like you do kind of get a bit crazy about it. And like, it is just so hard
01:25to eat while on tour. I just recently did a very deep dive into the life and career
01:32of Alanis Morissette. Her ascent was so fast, right? It was like zero to 60 in like two seconds
01:39with that first album. You guys had a pretty psychotic also like overnight blow up.
01:46Yeah, it's been crazy. Like it's like completely changed the trajectory of like everyone's lives.
01:56It's so, so random that we are where we are now. But I do feel like lucky that I have the perspective
02:07of working a lot of jobs before getting to do this. Otherwise, I think I would find it
02:14quite overwhelming. If I'm having like a bad day and then like I have to like get on stage and like,
02:22you know, entertain. I just feel having the perspective of working, having worked like so
02:29many shitty jobs. Well, actually, it's really not that bad, is it? And whilst it's like my like fifth
02:37gig in a row, like it's, you know, it's people in the audience. It's their first time seeing these
02:44songs. And I think that's really special to get to sap all of their energy. What kind of shows were
02:50on the Isle of Wight? What was going down? Yeah, there weren't many shows on the Isle of Wight. Some
02:57friends started this thing called Vendor Fringe Festival. And so every summer they'd like bring
03:04over artists and like curate their own like little festival lineup. Of course, growing up, I had
03:11the Isle of Wight Festival and Best of All. So I was more of like a festival goer from the age of like
03:2014, 15 festivals kind of just really solidified in my brain. This like needs to to be around music.
03:32Are there some buried photos of you wearing a flower crown? No, I was too cool for that. Okay, excuse me.
03:39Me. Just trying. Apparently like flower crown was too far, but there are there are definitely um
03:47photos of me and like sequins. Moisture is incredible. I'm not just saying that because
03:52I'm interviewing you. I genuinely pretty obsessed with I've been listening to it a lot.
03:57I'm most struck on this album by the self-possession and the confidence in in the delivery of the music,
04:13but especially in the lyrics. Do you feel like that's something that you've noticed too that
04:19like you've gained more of since the last album? Like yes and no. Definitely when I
04:28look back at the first album and I listened to the first album, I'm just like taken back to,
04:34you know, just how it felt to walk into, you know, like a studio environment for the first time
04:42and just how how out of place I felt there. I've definitely like come a long way from,
04:48you know, that moment in time. It's a very different experience making a second album
04:54when now, you know, suddenly, you know, people are expecting something. People have like got a
05:00relationship with the first album and like, you know, so there's those kind of pressures.
05:07The cover of the album, might I say super creepy. Was this sort of like the intention of the cover and
05:15was there like artwork before this maybe that didn't make the cut that was like even creepier?
05:22I don't know. It's so funny. I feel like a lot of our visual stuff kind of comes out of having
05:28the time and space to just like be together and try things out with the cover that started out from
05:39from us just going away together on a kind of like residential trip to take photos.
05:48So we're like cool. We'll like go away. We'll have a play. We'll like rent this like holiday home.
05:56And from that I can show you like the original idea, literally like the spawn of the album cover.
06:05I don't know. It just came from this one kind of pose and yeah, just kind of expanded from there and
06:16morphed into, you know, like what it is.
06:20Well, okay. Kind of in that same vein, I heard through the gossip grapevine that you guys watched
06:27loads of horror movies together when you were making this album. I'm not a horror movie,
06:33girl. Okay. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm a little scared and it's a bit difficult for me.
06:37What were the best ones you watched? I'm going to take your advice on what to watch and like
06:41did any of them inform like the feeling and tone of the music you were making?
06:52We watched Jennifer's Body. It's the title of the track on the album.
06:57I like how that has had like a full cycle, Jennifer's Body,
07:00in the fact that it was originally a song title that informed the title of the movie because it's
07:05a whole song off of Live Through This. I don't know. It's that way round.
07:10Yeah, because that because Live Through This came out in 94. So that's way predates the film. And I
07:16I'm sure Diablo Cody was probably a fan. And then Jennifer's Body became the film. And then now
07:22it's the song title again via the film. It's gone like kind of full circle.
07:33I'm like very obsessed with the visual language of rock music, just in general. It's two parts,
07:39right? It's the music, but it's, it's the presentation. It's, you know, we think about it
07:44as one and it, it's so important. And I'm really interested in your self presentation as of, you
07:51know, this recent album cycle and stuff, because with the way you dress and your fashion background,
07:57I'm sure it comes into play there. And the str the strength and the presentation of your body
08:02is so fresh and new. There's something about it that makes me feel so good that there's young girls
08:10that get to look and see you look like that on stage and feel inspired by that or see it as something
08:19very amazing. I guess I was wondering about if it, if you think about what it might mean to
08:26younger girls who see a very strong woman like you in a position of like adulation, like they look up,
08:37they might look up to you, right? You're a musician that they love and how that might change their
08:43lives. I've like always been like quite like naturally, like quite a muscly, like athletic
08:51kind of like, I've always kind of like had that physique, but I've always really like shied away
08:55from it because it's like, yeah, I didn't have anyone. Yeah, it wasn't part of popular culture.
09:06I feel like really hopeful for the younger generation now that, you know, it's there's so
09:15much more representation out there. I think what's interesting about like how I'm presenting myself
09:22now as compared to like how I was presenting myself before. I really hope that also it just
09:28like inspires people to just be whoever they want to be and like you're allowed to explore
09:35different characters and like different personalities and
09:38and you're allowed to grow and don't get stuck.
09:47All right, you guys have done, from what I understand, a ton of touring, a lot of touring,
09:53so much touring between like the last album just blowing up and you touring probably way more than
09:57you thought you were going to and now you're on tour again for Moisturizer. What have you learned
10:04from all this touring about like how to do it best for you? So we're on this current block of touring,
10:13America and Canada. It was supposed to be a six-week tour and right away we were like no,
10:20three weeks is the maximum but we can do because it should to be really fun and I think after three
10:27weeks it does get a little bit like oh maybe a break would be nice, you know? I need my protein
10:35shit, I need my creatines at all. Literally, that was something that we kind of like put in place.
10:43We had like a week off in between the two three-week blocks which is just so, you know, nobody wants
10:53the wheels to fall off of the cart, so you've got to take care of the cart. Yeah sure, take it to the
10:59Jiffy Lube, get a little oil change, give it a rest in a non-beige hotel, yeah. What do you guys do
11:06to recharge on in that week in between? My partner flew out to LA and we just like hung out there and
11:16did not much really and just, yeah, just enjoyed being together again and they brought me out.
11:25I ran out of contact lenses so they brought me out contact lenses. I was like babe, I really need
11:31Marmite, I'm missing it and they brought out Marmite and baked beans and then the surprise item was
11:38crumpets. You're aggressively British babe. Do you eat before you go on stage or is
11:46there like a swimming type policy where you're like no eating for one hour prior to stage
11:51performance? Yeah, I think I've learned now that I need to order food before soundcheck,
11:59eat food after soundcheck, so that's at like 4 30 and then I'll eat like after the gig at like
12:0811. What are we eating at 11 pm? Anything. I feel like I'm starving, I've burned a lot. Anything that's
12:15going. Many types of crisps, many different types of beige food. Quick left turn, where do you keep
12:23your grammy babe? I have this cabinet that I bought on Portobello Road. It's like this like old art deco
12:35drinks cabinet. I've got a collection of like, oh what are they called? They're like these little
12:42Japanese dolls, just like a cabinet full of dolls and then there's like a couple Grammys. Just a few
12:50just like a few dolls from Japan, just a few Grammys. Do you have any big plans for Grammy week 2026?
13:02I don't know if we get to go. We've been a couple times now which I just think is just so
13:07wild and it's just, we're from like this little island in the south of England. The Isle of Wight is
13:16very very far away from Hollywood and Grammy town so it's, I think we were just really like going and
13:25like looking at all the celebrities. Yeah, it's good fun. What is Eddie Vedder like? He's really nice. He seems so nice.
13:35He's really chill and like really like into music which I just think is so admirable
13:44for like someone that's, you know, been in the business so long. I love to hear it. I'm a big Pearl
13:51Jam fan so I'm just curious. Speaking of famous male celebrities, did you have an extremely memorable,
14:02you're like, where are you going with this? I could go anywhere, isn't it? It's so scary. I could like,
14:07this could be the biggest jump scare ever. Like I could truly just pull something really out of my
14:11pocket that is frightening but it's not. It's, it's, did you have any really memorable moments
14:15opening for Harry Styles? No, just like, I don't know, that tour was so, so eye-opening and so mad.
14:23I think before that, I like, I'd never been to a stadium gig so like never had really experienced
14:32an audience like that. You know, like a lot of, a lot of young girls and a lot of queer people
14:38and just you'd think, oh like because it's a stadium show it's going to be really like impersonal and
14:44like there's so many people there and the sense of community like between all of the fans was just so
14:51sweet to see and I really like, I really wish I had that when I was younger.
14:55Did he give you any advice? Was he like, hey, try this, move your hips like this,
15:02eat this beef jerky before you go on stage, a little protein tip for you.
15:07No, no, I feel, I feel cheated. No, he never tried to give me any unsolicited advice.
15:15Safe male celebrity, babe. Safe male celebrity. He's not going to mansplain to you how to do your show.
15:20Yeah. We stand, we stand hairstyles. You played piano from a young age.
15:28Not from a young age. Oh, okay. That was the question. See, I didn't know.
15:34When did you, you went to a couple festivals and you were like, you know what would be so sick
15:38if I play piano? Yeah, I think, I think it just seemed easier to pick up and I was like 17, 17 or 18
15:56when I decided, right, I'm going to start writing songs on piano. Like didn't really like,
16:02know anything about music, but just kind of like muddled my way through it. And then people would be
16:09like, wow, like the chords are like so abstract. And I was just like, I would just like sing like
16:18really loudly and like make sure that like the vocal was like very busy. Like, so you're like,
16:26whatever's going on down here, babe, with the piano, don't you worry about that. This singing.
16:34Yeah, I should have, but like now in hindsight, I'm like, damn, I should have like picked up guitar
16:39earlier. I'm sorry if there's a few holes being poked and you're like, I was too cool to go to
16:43stadiums. And one is the sequence. And the second is that you were like, I need to learn piano first.
16:48These are just, it's not adding up, you know, but I respect it. You have, you have many layers as a
16:54person, as we all do.
17:02What is the wildest thing you've seen on this U S tour so far? And what is the best place to party
17:09in America? I went to a high this show in LA. They're so good. I'm so sad I missed it. They're
17:18so good. I feel like I like live under a rock. I only just discovered turnstile this summer.
17:24I just kind of like wandered over to their show at Primavera. I was like, oh, so this is hardcore.
17:31And so yeah, I'd never like been to an actual hardcore show. And it was just really cool. There
17:41were like three bands supporting just like the, like the culture, like in the crowd is just really
17:51cute and fun. And like just people jumping on stage and like diving off is just so silly. And like,
18:00that's just, it's just like an unspoken rule that like, that's what you do at these shows. And I just
18:06really, I loved to see it. Hardcore shows have the same energy in a way as like a Harry Styles
18:12show, like kind of like what you're talking about. There's like a real community and camaraderie there,
18:17you know? I mean, plus the stage diving. Yeah. And then your favorite or the best place to party
18:24in the United States? I don't know. The only place that we've kind of like had the chance to go out for
18:29like a bit of a party is in Nashville. It was one of our crew members' birthdays and we made sure to
18:40get her drunk on loads of like weird vodka jelly shots. We went out and we hit the strip.
18:45Oh, you went down to like where all the honky-tonks are on Broadway.
18:48Yeah. We did that. We did it.
18:51My two last questions are about, since you just mentioned that you recently
18:55just discovered Hardcore and I welcome you and Hi-Viz is wonderful. There's many other bands.
18:59Military Gun is very good. There's so many. What songs are like on your like top rotation right
19:07now? Like what are you bumping these days as the kids say in the parlance of young people?
19:11There's a band called Water From Your Eyes.
19:14So good. I've been listening to a lot. The song Life Signs is my particular favorite.
19:29Oh, what else?
19:31You can take your time.
19:31Cuntology 101 by Lambrini Girls and Peaches. Have you heard that?
19:36I love it so much. I love Lambrini Girls. They're so good.
19:39I love Lambrini Girls. Yeah, that's what was good about the Eddie Vedder Festival as well,
19:45was like Lambrini Girls were there. Yeah.
19:48And also Hi-Viz were there too. We got to hang out backstage and it was awesome.
19:55Okay. All right. All right, Rhea. I'm gonna have to rub it in and miss that one too.
19:59This was super fun. I hope it wasn't too painful. I didn't learn anything about protein,
20:05so that was sad for me, but otherwise I had a great time.
20:09Thank you so much for making it very unpainful.
20:13Thank you so much for making it very unpainful.
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