After a stint of touring and releases, feminist rock band Body Type made up of  Sophie McComish, Annabel Blackman, Cecil Coleman, and Georgia Wilkinson-Derums came together to record their debut album ‘Everything is Dangerous but Nothing is Surprising,’ in just 8 short days. This self-funded album was born from a desire to bottle their restlessness that rose from stifled creativity and is all about yanking back control and embracing the rollercoaster of despair. What they created was an album filled with lyrical grandeur and an excitement that emits their white-hot fury.

I sat down with drummer, Cecil Coleman to discuss everything Body Type and their debut album release!

Tell me a bit about Body Type, how did the band start?

Sophie and I knew each other from studying in Perth together many moons ago. We reconnected after both moving to Sydney and we decided to start jamming on guitar and drums in a shitty warehouse in Marrickville. Not long after that, we met Annabel who was living with one of our close friends. Basically, Sophie asked her to come jam after she noticed a guitar in her room. Georgia was the missing piece of the puzzle, a fellow Perth ex-pat Sophie knew from the W.A scene who could shred on bass. As a whole, we all wanted to learn/play our instruments in a non-judgmental space and were also partly fuelled to see more diverse bands on stage.

How did you come up with the name?

The name ‘Body Type’ was actually the result of receiving a parking ticket after a prac one fateful evening. We had been deliberating over a few names for quite a while when we decided to start reading random words on things we could find. Low and behold, there it was in the fine print of the parking ticket:

Make: Toyota

Body Type: Station Wagon

Colour: Silver

The original parking fine features on the cover of our first EP – ‘EP1.’

When do you feel more creative?

When we’re all together jamming, there’s honestly nothing like it. It’s just so much fun! We will usually head into the studio with the intent to practice for an upcoming show, and we’ll come out having written new songs, new parts for something and new ideas.

What music inspires your sound?

We all bring different inspirations to the sound, with some definite crossovers. It also constantly changes depending on what we’re listening to. Some big ones are,

Kim Gordon, Pavement, The Replacements, B52’s, Dianas, Deerhunter, PJ Harvey, Warpaint, Blur, Kleenex/Liliput, The Raincoats and so many more.

What is the most exciting moment you’ve shared as a band?

This really depends on who you’re talking to! A favourite of mine was doing a BBC1 Live Session at Maida Vale Studios in London, that was a real dream come true. Also, playing our first headline show in London was super special.

What is your favourite song you’ve recorded so far and why?

Hot Plastic Punishment from our album is a favourite for sure. It was the result of a random riff Sophie started playing and we all kind of just jumped in with our parts and that was that. The lyrics are a poem Annabel wrote which is actually the partner poem to Georgias ‘Buoyancy’. When we recorded it we all sat down and took turns reading it into this little radio microphone Annabel had bought at a vintage shop week before, it was mad.

What is next for the band?

June and July have been dedicated to our album tour! We’re going to play the album in full, plus a couple of classics. We’ve been so excited to be playing again! After that, we’re writing/recording album 2 before the end of the year.

You can listen to Body Type’s debut album ‘Everything is Dangerous but Nothing is Surprising’ here and follow the band here.