For most successful musicians, there comes a time when they have to decide between mainstream greatness and allowing themselves to fade into comfortable irrelevance. Most musicians apart from The Femcels that is: the highly sought-after, London-based, electro-twee duo caught in a golden pocket of recognition, somewhere between niche-ness and widespread internet stardom.
Contrary to what their alias suggests, The Femcels are no less than hot-shit. Something you’ll hear them advocate for (“Sometimes I trip over in front of him because it humanises me / Without that, I would just be too perfect”) and argue against (“You are listening to The Femcels / We don’t have sex ever") in their debut album I Have To Get Hotter last year — a light-hearted analysis of early womanhood and all its idiosyncrasies produced by Ike Clateman of Bassvictim.
Since they started playing together in 2024, they have penetrated London’s underground electronic scene, but aesthetically The Femcels tell a different story: the pair can often be seen frantically running round grassy fields holding pink plastic guitars and wearing frilly dresses.
Their name isn’t their only contradiction, though. While their lyricism echoes the beautiful, irony-poisoned cynicism of Gen-Z, their sound is an example of genre-defying mastery. Their music is more directly inspired by a mix of early 2000s electroclash, reminiscent of Ladytron, CSS and Cherry Bikini, and 2010s indie pop that isn’t too dissimilar from a pre-Elon Grimes.
METAL caught up with Gabriella Turton and Rowan Miles in the midst of their European tour.
Take me back to life pre-The Femcels. What would a regular day look like for you both before your success?
Rowan: We lived in this flat with an insane mice infestation. And a photographer broke my bed. So I would share my mattress with all my tiny little friends. I had this glamorous moment where I went to New York and dated this rock star dude, but then I came back broken, got fired from my job, felt very insane. Then we started making music.
Gabriella: I was at university studying computing. I would go in with crazy gyaru makeup and keychains on my jeans and then get freaked out and go back to our flat which had fake hair on my wall.
Even though your debut album only dropped in January, you’ve been recording music and performing together since 2024. How have The Femcels changed in that time? If you have!
Rowan: I don’t really know. We made it all quite fast and then sat on it. We kind of leaked it onto the internet ourselves, through NTS mixes and stuff. So, we assumed that everyone who wanted to know us did. We didn’t really realise that you have to actually properly release an album to have actual progression in music.
Gabriella: I think we’ve become more lady-like. Rowan said my hair looked really brushed last night.
You were both circulating London’s creative scene for some time before making The Femcels your main gig. Why did you decide to lock in to music?
Rowan: The art world is just some unbreakable thing. I had no clue how to be taken seriously as a painter. Everyone we knew that had made any money was doing music. I just really didn’t want a job lol.
Gabriella: I really liked the idea of making music. I just had no idea how one even did that. It was before the Ableton rent-to-own. I felt like music was the easiest way to connect to people. I also had to tell them about being a London valley girl.
What’s the creative process behind your songwriting?
Rowan: We normally write in the studio together and bounce off each other like those little office ball things (Newton’s cradle) with the producer stoic in the centre.
Gabriella: We find an intern.
Since I Have To Get Hotter came out, it feels like The Femcels have catapulted from a niche pocket of the internet right into its central discourse. Did you expect this kind of response to your music?
Rowan: I think when we made it we were like: Wow. What did we do? And it felt kind of magical. Then we just decided to sit on it for ages. But if you asked us when we first made it, we would have been like yes, we are gonna be huge. I still hope we will be.
Gabriella: That’s cool you think we’re in the internet’s central discourse.
Which one of you is more chronically online?
Rowan: Gabriella takes a while to reply so probs me sadly.
Gabriella: I’m literally glued to my phone. My eyes have gone square.
I saw that you were unfortunately unable to head on the US leg of your tour due to problems with your visas! Do you have plans to try to go again?
Rowan: Yes, we are coming in late September, to New York and LA.
Gabriella: September!
You have been everywhere over the past few months. You opened for Charli and now you’re about to play at La Route du Rock in France. What do you do to wind down after all the busy-ness?
Rowan: I like to watch YouTube and eat big sandwiches.
Gabriella: Stand on my head.
I don’t think I'd be alone in saying that The Femcels stand very much in their own camp. Are there any artists that influence your music?
Rowan: I feel like we are just sort of piggybacking on all the great girl bands that have existed. Strawberry Switchblade, The Roches, The GTOs, Le Tigre… I could go on forever, but those are probably my favourites.
Gabriella: Ween, The Mouldy Peaches, The Marshmallow Kisses. Music can be silly and clever and rhyming, but also emo and deep and beautiful and walk down the aisle-able.
Have either of you had an ‘I made it!’ moment yet? What was it?
Rowan: Hmmm not yet. Got to keep moving forward to the toppermost of the poppermost.
Gabriella: The guy who’s been to the most chippies in London followed us this morning.
You’re big champions of electro-twee. But, if your music had to be another genre, what would it be?
Rowan: Relaxing rhythms of peace and gratitude.
Gabriella: Electro-cheese.
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