Give us a brief about your band. Who are you and what do you do?
Emma: The Guilt is riot grrl goth punk. We make music for people who like to dance while screaming.
Lizzy: We consider Malmö, Sweden as the base camp. I play guitar. Emma does vocals, loudly. We use drummachines, computers and synths in a very disorganised way.
When did you first launch the project and how has it come along since?
Emma: The band started plus ten years ago. With me and another guitarist. The Guilts second album was released and tour waiting to happen just in time for the pandemic. My original plan was to leave the project after that. But the scenery changed and with a lot of support and push from other musicians and friends (like Lizzy), I realised there was something to make of the situation, and that I wanted to do it with Lizzy.
Lizzy: Since then we’ve played many shows, we’ve written many songs, made many fires, danced a lot and ate many good things. Drank a lot of coffee.
What bands and artists influenced you the most and why?
Emma: We have a super wide range of the music we like. So that wont tell you much. I would say Adult.- because of their excellent expression of dead seriousness, and quirkiness at the same time. They are so self-explanatory. Lyrically Patti Smith is an icon but in reality I’m more Devo-ish in the lyrics-writing haha.
Lizzy: I’m representing the rock-department of this band, and also country! I would say The White Stripes and early Black Keys. Ferocity and simplicity are key, hehe.
If you could pick a single song from your discography to explain your music, which song would you pick and why?
Lizzy: For me, I would choose “Naked on My Own”. I think it perfectly captures the energy, some of the topics we write about and a good general vibe of the kind of music we’re into doing.
Emma: Ooo, I’m a “SKIN”-girl. It has that violently quirky mood I love to get in to.
What is your most recent release and what is it about?
Lizzy: Our latest release is our single “Red Light”. Our album drops January 15th 2026 so hold on to your heads. The album is called NAKED RAT DANCE. It’s very emotionally charged and reflects quite well our expansive relationship to genres.
Emma: We had to explain the album title quite a lot. Maybe we’ve should have gone for something simpler like “exhilarating chaos of being a silly fragile human”. For us “Naked Rat Dance” has many layers. Some as obvious as referring to a RAT-pedal. Since we like to invite everyone to join the dance, however vulnerable or chaotic they are. Join the rat dance instead of the rat race. We can be the pied pipers from Malmö if you want haha!
Take us through your creative process. How do you compose a song from start to finish? Where do the ideas come from?
Lizzy: It can be quite different. Sometimes I find a stupid guitar riff that we want to use or sometimes Emma comes up with a theme for a song and then we take it from there. It usually involves a lot of experimentation with synth sounds and drum tracks. We often put together a demo version and then we rehearse with that a couple of times or even play it live and then we go back and work on it a bit more once we know the track a bit better.
What’s your current favorite song, band, or album within your scene? And vice versa, what do you enjoy the most that’s completely opposite of what you make?
Lizzy: The opposite- I’ve got it! I love americana and country music! Can’t get enough of that and we also have some common ground here with us both liking the likes of Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton.
Emma: My favourite song is a remix by Boy Harsher of a Special Interest song- “Street Pulse Beat”. We have many scenes but if I’d choose a current favourite it would be two Belgian duos: Pornographie Exclusive because of their stunning live shows and way of working with video and imagery. And “Le Prince Harry” who has very intense stage presence and that stupid approach to electronic sounds. I love their tom- samples, haha.
What is on the horizon for your project? Upcoming gigs, tours, merch, videos, etc. Name it, link it, show it off.
Lizzy: We’re releasing our brand new album “Naked Rat Dance” 15th of January with a subsequent album tour called “Naked Rat Tour” from January the 23th to the 7th of February in Germany, be sure to catch us there! Infos on shows and album HERE.
