Interview with Anna Meacham

Your website Unfashionable Creatures has really taken off, what inspired you to create it?

I got frustrated with a lack of female merchandise for extreme metal fans. I saw alot of other girls getting fed up with this aswell so thought I'd start something up to solve the problem a little.
My friend Jessa also contacted me with the idea to start a webzine with female writers, so we combined to two and the rest is history!
I've been lucky to work with some great people in the scene, and lucky that it's going so well.

You now manage Ingested, can you tell us a little about the band and what can we expect to see from them?

Well the band just finished recording their debut cd which will be released in March through Siege of Amida Records. It sounds immense, those guys are really on the brink of something special for brutal death metal. They'll be going on a UK tour in november, which we're hoping to follow with international appearances in the new year. Keep your eyes peeled!

We all know you’re a big fan of Gore Grind - what bands are really pushing your buttons at the moment?

I love the energy and fun created by goregrind. I'm still in love with the classics like Rompeprop, Bile, Screaming Afterbirth and Sarcophagia Carnaria - I think they're definitely the best.
I havnt seen much along the lines of exciting goregrind recently, but theres some awesome grindcore coming out of Australia, paticularily Beyond Terror Beyond Grace!

UC's store is steadily stocking more diverse and fantastic clothes, what designs do you have in the pipeline and what do you look for in a band in order to issue Official merch?

This week we're releasing some new Ingested male merch... then in the new year we're looking at loads more styles including halternecks, skirts, etc. I'm looking forward to it!

As UC tends to focus on women only writers, do you think we'll see more guys working for it as it expands?

We have a few guys involved who are great, but the majority of writers are women which I think is important for Unfashionable Creatures given it's story. Alot of females have said to me that they don't feel they have an outlet in metal as they're the minority, and it's great to see the differences in how women and men view music. I think although sexist attitudes have changed loads, it's still great to have loads of female writers, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

What can we expect from yourself and UC over the next year?

We're gonna be pretty busy! With the webzine, it'll just keep growing. We're doing features on all major festivals next year and interviewing some great bands! The bands on our agency have exciting times coming up, and I'll be adding two more to the roster before new year! And the merchandise is gonna keep on coming!

I'll be doing some travelling and mainly working for the next year around the US and EU. Really looking forward to the coming year!

How long have you been writing as a journalist?

I owe everything to Hervé who runs extremer zine in france! I wouldn't be doing this unless he'd asked me to join up when I was around 14. It's been about 5 years now, and I love it. I've spoken with some great people and had some really exciting oppourtunities because of it. If people want to write they should take every oppourtunity they get!

As you're from Manchester, whats the Death metal scene like up there?

It's fine... I think not only Manchester, but metal, has seen alot of changes in recent years and people are struggling with it. Shows can be packed if the right bands are playing, but the more underground foreign metal doesn't rub so well. Bands which stand out to me are Foot and Mouth (their live performance is chaotic) and veterans Nailed. Veils also seem to be really popular aswell, but I've never seen them.

You've also started Unfashionable Creatures Merch Girls which is a fantastic way to get girls more directly involved in the music scene. How is this going and is there anything in paticular you look for in a girl before signing them up?

It's going pretty well. We have a Lividity tour lined up which will be awesome for the girls who go!
The girls generally need to be assertive and mature. I would rather not get someone involved just because they want to be involved with the stigma of going on tour (it's not as glamourous as people'd hope!), but rather cause they have a geniune interest in metal, working in it, and meeting some great people.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Thanks for the interview, keep your eye out for new merchandise and signings which will be coming shortly! & stay sweet. x

If you have any questions for Anna/Unfashionable Creatures please contact her via Unfashionable Creatures  or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it