WORDS BY ANITA CRAPPER
PHOTO BY KINGSLEY IFILL
Throwing Up are a new band from London who are different from most new bands in London in that they might not be total dog piss and they don’t sit around being moody and taking themselves seriously. Ben Rayner’s last band, F.O.G. (Fuck Off God), lasted for precisely two gigs, one of which was in a garden attended by 30 people. We missed out on that one, so we thought we would jump on Throwing Up in case it’s a similarly brief yet magical musical blessing.
Vice: So who’s in Throwing Up aside from you two?
Camille Benett (guitar/vocals): Clare James Clare. She’s got a weird name and plays bass.
Ben Rayner (drums): Camille used to be in a band called Headless.
What happened to them?
There were too many periods in one band, it’s not a good combo.
Camille: Shut up, douchebag!
How did this new thing get together?
Ben: I was hammered and said I could play drums, but I hadn’t actually played for ten years.
Camille: I decided I wanted a band called Throwing Up, like, two years ago, then last year Ben said he’d be our drummer and we made the band actually exist. But he was kind of bad at first and now he’s great and doesn’t ever wear a shirt, like the Hulk.
Where do you practise?
We have our own rehearsal space in Dalston. It’s this weird little secret room in a warehouse and it’s got glow-in-the-dark graffiti that says “Throwing Up are better than Pens”.
What do Throwing Up sound like?
Ben: Somebody said Britpoppy to me, but I don’t think it does. I think it’s more grungy.
Camille: Yeah, I don’t think we sound like Elastica but we were told we did.
Headless were a grunge band, right, Camille?
Yeah, I guess. I think we were trying to be metal, we were trying to be Black Sabbath.
Who are you trying to be now?
Maybe the Distillers.
Ben: Meets Katy Perry.
Are you going to tour?
Camille: Yeah, we’re going to NYC and SXSW. Ben practically lives in New York now.
SXSW, the place where you talk to people and they’re constantly looking over your shoulder.
What? Nooo, mate.
In between BBMing somebody and asking you to get them into a party. That’s what happens to me.
If I remember rightly, it’s where you get wasted and wear shorts and get sunstroke and eat loads of shrimp straight off the table. My friend Nell ate her contact lens last time we did that.
Throwing Up have a single out on What’s Your Rupture? soon.