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Goat Girl have argued for cultural protections for independent venues in an effort to stave off intensifying threats of closure.
Speaking to NME, the band’s bassist Holly ‘Hole’ Mullineaux said: “It would be good if there was some sort of cultural protection, like how a building is grade-listed. These places are for the community and you can’t put a price on what they bring – and they can’t be replaced once they’re gone.
“Obviously, we want venues to be funded and all of that, but there should also be something that protects them and says, ‘You can’t turn this into housing’ or ‘You can’t turn this into a car park’.”
Guitarist Ellie ‘LED’ Rose Davies added: “With that protection, you could also have a rent cap on places of social importance. People get priced out. There should be a rent cap full stop, actually.”
Mullineaux also discussed the implications of the UK’s Brexit trade deal, which doesn’t include musicians in its list of workers exempt from needing a visa to enter the EU on business. “Obviously not everyone had money to get the tunnel across before, but you could just go and play a gig in Paris and get paid enough to cover the train or ferry,” she said.
“It will mean only bigger and more elite bands can do that and that’s a shame. It’s also a shame that European bands won’t be able to come and do the same thing over here.”
Goat Girl also discussed their latest album ‘On All Fours’, which was released on January 29.
In a four-star review, NME said: “It might not hold any firm answers or blazing rebuttals to the world burning up like a flaming, stinking trash can, but crucially it refuses to look away from the mess, and confronts it instead.”
Last month the band announced single ‘Badibaba’ along with details of a UK tour set for September.
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