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Smashing into the music scene, the already notorious new band, Stomping-Ground, have caused a blaze of controversy for whether their music is able to branch out to both genders. With critics slamming them for only having one male member, Stomping-Ground speaks out in this exclusive interview.

“They can all F*** themselves” Kirsty throws back, hot-headed as usual (‘spose it goes with her orange and yellow fiery hair). “I don’t care!”
Spraying out her drink, Emily-J, joint lead-singer, collapses back onto the sofa, giggling away with laughter at what’s presumed an inside-joke. “It’s the way she says it”, Emily-J explains. “She says it all the time and I think it’s sort of became her catchphrase”. Giggling away to himself at the back, Adam, bass, finally composes himself. “We sort of see it as we make the music for everyone to enjoy, we don’t aim for a specific gender. One song can appeal to girls more, another to boys. We try and make the songs diverse.”

But going by recent critics’ outrageous reviews, is it fair to say Stomping-Ground has built quite a reputation at such a young age? “Of course we wanted to make a reputation eventually” Kirsty, joint lead-singer, tells. “But we didn’t want it to be because of only having one boy in the band. What the critics have been saying is completely unfair and quite abusive; it’s sexist to assume a boy can’t be in a band full of girls and make good music. We are just a band who makes music for fun and the fans; we didn’t want to become the face of some sort of bloody controversy when we’re still so new!”

Straight off the heels of their #1 hit, Black Sheep, it’s understandable that the new band may find it hard to adjust to their new attention, both negative and positive. “It’s sort of surreal, y’know? We got stopped in the streets now for photos and autographs” the quiet Emily-I, drums, says. “It’s like, before we were nobody’s, outcasts even, and now everybody wants to know us. It’s sometimes hard to get a quiet moment with the paparazzi, but it’s always nice to meet the people who listen to and like our music.” Picking up, Adam states “We do this for them- everything we’ve done, we owe to them. They’re the ones who made us and could even break us, I don’t doubt that.” Noting how powerful the public is, he continues “It’s one of the reasons we’re not completely happy about being criticised because I’m the only guy, but it’s nice to know the fans are out there and they’re sticking up for us, fighting tooth and nail. We really do owe them.”

By the time you read this, Stomping-Ground’s new album and lead-single, Fallout, will be released and Emily-J and Kirsty will be belting their songs out at T-Festival to their incredibly devoted fans. The album, Fallout, has already reached over 800,000 pre-ordered copies and Black Sheep has become #1 in over 4 countries in Europe and the U.SA. With all worries of breaking into America gone, Stomping-Ground will be able to sleep peacefully knowing that their fans will always be beside them. “We’re actually going to release 2 songs for free in May to thank them” Emily-J states giddily, showing her dazzling smile. “We want to be able to repay them in any way we can and this is just the start.” It truly is, it’s just the start of Stomping-Ground.