The Girls of ‘MEDICINE CABINET’
The Scottish band that should be on everyone's radar.
Photos by Eva Pentel
It all started in the same way that many modern romances do. You guessed it... tinder.
Let's go back to the summer of 2018. Anna and Joshua match with each other, probably exchange a few awkward flirty texts, decide to meet up and as the saying goes, the rest is history... sort of.
They both realised from that start that although they were not necessarily romantically interested in each other, they got on well enough to salvage a friendship out of this date. They ate cakes that Anna had baked the night before, talked about music and a few months later after collecting some friends along the the way, Medicine Cabinet was born. With Eilidh, Cal and Tom joining in, they had themselves a fierce fivesome.
Having only been a band for just over a year, you would expect that they were pretty used to dingy, cramped rooms above pubs, their Instagram following being made up of purely proud mums and their friends and audiences consisting of about three and a half people, but with Medicine Cabinet it's quite the opposite.
From touring with bands such as Spector & Walt Disco and being branded by Tenement TV as 'Ones to Watch' to flying out for the Celine PFW show and befriending Alex Kapranos (a fellow Scot & lead singer of Franz Ferdinand), Medicine Cabinet are defying the law of starting out as a band. Plus they've achieved all of this with no music out yet... We smell witchcraft.
Anna wears sunglasses KOMONO; top OLLIE BRITTON; boots AGNE KUZMICKAITE
Eilidh wears top AGNE KUZMICKAITE; skirt, sunglasses & shoes MUSICIAN'S OWN
We stole Anna and Eilidh away from the boys and had a day of bus hopping, boogying to Blondie and plenty of brie.
LB: Start of by telling us about that first tinder date.
Anna: There was no flirty feel. He was telling me loads about the band he was in at the time, and it was the first time I realised that was something actual people could do. You could make this thing with people and things will happen in these spaces. I remember I brought along some cakes I had baked and he spilled his coffee everywhere. I think we were just very comfortable being flawed around each other straight away. There was no flirty vibe.
How did you get the others involved?
A: Me and Eilidh were the first people we both met on our course at uni and had already butchered an open mic together (acoustic Supermassive Black Hole cover) so were well on our way to forming a band. Tom had just left another band so was looking for another creative shindig. Cal was a film photographer and had shot Joshua's old band and had made a bunch of music on his own.
And how quickly after that did you decide to form the band?
A: A few months later. We properly decided to form the band in October/ November when I bumped into Joshua and Cal at a Edinburgh College of Art Night.
Now to the more important question, what’s in your medicine cabinet ? Mine is just lots of paracetamol that’s probably all crumbly now.
E: I’ve got inhalers and glitter which is not a good combination
A: Bleach. So much bleach.
What’s the story behind the name?
E: After 6 months of trying to choose Tom hit his head on a medicine cabinet and it just felt right.
Did you always want to be in a band / the music industry?
A: I was the resident singer for everything at school, and it was always my fun thing when everything else was shite. I don’t think I could escape it if I bloody wanted to. I don’t think anyone can really. Music is a big part of everything.
E: I went through a bunch of ideas that I could never really commit to like games design, and animation but really I think I wanted to be a tory MP.
If Med Cab wasn’t a thing, what would you all be doing now ?
A: On a yacht. Or maybe I’d be a doctor. Probably not though.
E: I would be the owner of many, many birds.
1. Anna wears LYDIA FUNG 2. Eilidh wears sunglasses BY ROGUE; dress NAYA REA 3. Anna wears LYDIA FUNG 4. Eilidh wears dress BIBLOS GLASGOW; shoes CHRISTOPHER RITTER 5. Anna wears red latex SIXTINE GENDRE
In light of International Women's Day being last week, who were your female musical heroes growing up?
Anna: Our mums were our first musical heroes. Mine played me loads of punk and new wave and took me to all of my first gigs. Also Dolly Parton for her flawless identity work. Eilidh: And Kesha. I couldn’t get enough of the ‘Warrior’ album.
The amount you’ve achieved in a year is bonkers - what do you hope the next year brings?
E: Good health and as many lovely people as we’ve met this year!
You’ve also supported some greats & played lots of live shows. Are the pre-stage nerves still there / how do you combat them ?
E: I think for me and Anna the nerves are gone by now. I was terrified at my first performances at school but I think with more people on the stage and being confident in our own compositions eases my tensions. Along with practice. A: That open mic went so badly wrong that after that I don’t think there was any way we could be nervous together on stage. We’re usually running about getting fun bits like feather boas and plastic phones ready to get nervous just before we go on too. Our pre-show ritual is literally just finding everyone in the venue to go onstage. We always have a good hug after it though.
Who would be your dream act to go on tour with ?What’s your dream venue ?(speak it into the universe now - anything is possible)
E: The Strokes, even though it doesn’t make much sense stylistically. And Confidence Man.
A: I heard of a band that toured city to city and played with a busker or street performer every new place they went. That sounds really fun.
Both in LYDIA FUNG, Eilidh wearing earrings EYSE DAGH
What’s your dream venue ?(Speak it into the universe now - anything is possible)
A: MARS! *cough* Grimes take us with you *cough*.
Having no music out yet, there's nothing to lure the readers into the Med Cab world apart from your aesthetic. How would you most accurately describe your sound?
A: It’s guitar music you can dance to. We like solid singable melodies and weird textures.
E: We’re inspired by people like Britney Spears and Madonna but also bands like The Garden, Siouxie and the Banshees, early Metronomy and the B52s.
When will music be released?!
A: Its a secret! Stick with us and we’ll make a big fuss when the time is right.
You always look great. who are your fashion icons / where do you draw inspiration from?
E: Thanks, that’s so lovely of you! Grannies, other guys we perform with and watch perform, and the most eccentric things charity shops can offer. We also just try to out do each other’s stage outfits and it seeps into reality.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
E: A bit of Damien Rice, The Flying Lizards, and Feet.
A: Friends in the Bubble Bath by audiobooks, Molchat Doma and Baxter Jury.
What do you listen to on your Last Bus home ?
E: I can never sleep with music on or concentrate on much else while I listen so it’s usually just whatever my favourite music is, at the moment Wooze and The Strokes new singles.
We fell rather in love with these two and we hope you do too.
Stay tuned for more Med Cab content coming soon...@medicinecabinetband
Words - Lily Carr-Gomm
Photos - Eva Pentel
Styling - Sophie Emmett
Location - Sub Rosa Studios
