“You kind of forget that the point is for people to actually listen to it”: Man/Woman/Chainsaw on their sonic evolution as a band

Man/Woman/Chainsaw (M/W/C) are an art-rock, post-punk, windmill indie – a dizzying subversion of genre – six-piece from London, made up of Billy Ward, Vera Leppänen, Emmie-Mae Avery, Clio Starwood, Lola Cherry, and Billy Doyle. After releasing their debut EP, Eazy Peazy, in 2024, they have shot to fame within the UK alternative music scene, and their debut album Cannonball, released last month, has solidified their success. This new project embodies their repertoire of styles and showcases masterful songwriting, with lyrics telling tales of young love and heartbreak. 

The release month for Cannonball has been a busy one for M/W/C, after spending the first half touring UK record stores before performing at Spain’s Canela Party and France’s Rock en Seine. Catching a break between festival season and their EU tour, vocalist Vera Leppänen and drummer Lola Cherry spoke to me about the surreal nature of playing outside of London. 

Being the first time playing the new album abroad, there was a lot of apprehension surrounding these shows, with Cherry describing how the true way to gauge the album’s popularity is through live audiences. She recalls the “incredible feeling” of seeing people outside of London singing along and cheering when they hear the start of certain songs, and how, as an artist, “you kind of forget that the point is for people to actually listen to [the music]”.  

Regarding their EU tour, it’s refreshing to see such a plethora of cities on their lineup, such as Portsmouth and Guildford, which rarely see big names play. With so many artists only frequenting the classic London-Manchester-Glasgow tour circuit, venues in smaller towns and cities are missing out, and it is vital that musicians continue playing them to keep their doors open. The band shared these sentiments, especially regarding “uni-towns”, which according to Leppänen, “always have a good vibe”, generated by the wealth of young people populating gigs.  

The show feels more like a communal sharing and appreciation of art, rather than paid entertainment

Some of my favourite concerts have been at small venues, where you inevitably feel connected to the artist. The stage is lower, the artist is closer, and the people tend to be friendlier (in my experience!), so the show feels more like a communal sharing and appreciation of art, rather than paid entertainment. This feeling of mutual closeness is shared by Cherry, as she talks about “going to pee five minutes before the show with everyone else”, with fans coming up to her expressing their excitement for the show. 

Going to more venues is a literal tour of the UK, and Cherry sees this as an opportunity to experience the vast range of cultures this island has to offer, visiting regions she otherwise wouldn’t have. By playing more cities, bands can literally meet fans in the middle, and she says this is one of the joys of smaller venues: seeing familiar faces and giving fans the opportunity to see the band in their hometown, when previously they’ve had to travel elsewhere. 

Man/Woman/Chainsaw have come a long way from their debut EP Eazy Peazy, a punky, spirited crash onto the scene, to Cannonball’s bittersweet romanticism. This genre shift is something the band puts down to simply growing up, with Cherry epitomising this by paralleling the cluttered newspaper clippings that adorned her teenage bedroom and the “maximalist” sound of the EP. This was borne out of naïveté, with the band getting used to playing with each other as a key factor. Being new to recording also led to this maximalism, to “fill every single gap with sound”, and with six members doing “the most”, you get the “chaotic” and “complicated” Eazy Peazy.  

Compromise is “part of being in a band”

Vera Leppänen

In contrast, Cannonball offered each member a chance to step back and learn how to “play as one piece”, rather than all at once. With a band this size, taking the backseat is crucial to keeping the sound clean, with Leppänen stating that compromise is “part of being in a band”. She also says that the “less crazy” approach is a result of each member developing as songwriters and becoming more conscious of each other’s methods and styles. For instance, because all six write lyrics, meanings shift over the course of a song, so sometimes the chorus writer will have to clarify their initial intentions to keep the song on track. However, the more harmonious sound of Cannonball hasn’t gone down well with some older fans. Referencing negative comments about their switch-up in genre, Cherry jokes that “we all just wanna be pop stars now”.  

Shapeshifting across genres, Cherry mentions that whatever direction a song takes, the violin and synthesiser are what make it Man/Woman/Chainsaw. This violin is what gives Cannonball such a unique sound, elevating its themes of teenage romance to a cinematic level, which frames the album as the perfect soundtrack for a coming-of-age film.  

Cannonball is about the ups and downs of being young, written from the perspective of impassioned teenagers

Leppänen jumps with excitement when I ask the two which film Cannonball would soundtrack, citing Lady Bird and Booksmart because of their angsty female protagonists, while Cherry puts it simply: any film about “having crushes on people”. These themes on the album are punctuated by “blue overtones” and bittersweetness, which is especially evident in Nosedive’s lyrics of heartbreak and letting go. Overall, Cannonball is about the ups and downs of being young, written from the perspective of impassioned teenagers. This is all the more obvious in the lead track, ‘Only Girl’, which was devised from Cherry, being “literally about 12”, suggesting it should be about sex, playfully dubbing it a “cute sex song”.

In keeping with the band’s name, chosen by vocalist Billy Ward, we discussed horror films, with Leppänen gushing about her favourite “final girl”, Sidney in Scream, who she describes as “so badass and so sick”, while joking that the bad haircut she got before the interview makes her look like Courteney Cox in Scream 3. Meanwhile, Cherry teases some exclusive M/W/C iMovie horror films they made when they were younger, including the fantastically named Hotel for Dogs Gone Wrong: Hounding for a Pounding, and Night of the Tequila. I can only hope that this article sheds light on these gems and one day they will be released … 

Man/Woman/Chainsaw aren’t your stereotypical alternative band; they defy genres, and this new release has made it even harder to pinpoint their distinctive style. This is what makes them so fresh and exciting; it’s almost impossible to predict their next move.