"Chicks On Speed Records" just came out with "Girl Monster Vol 1", 3 CDs full of innovations, pleasants memories, and pure "female creativity".
Created by Alex Murray-Leslie (Chicks On Speed) and Anat Ben David (www.yippieyeah.co.uk/anat) this compilation brings forward a musical horizon seldom heard of, probably as we are too busy, poor mortals which we are, to following up with the "Incredibles Adventures of Miss Paris Hilton" !!
All right, here are a few guests to make you drool, Siouxsie, Björk, Tina Weimouth, Peaches, The Slits, Le Tigre, for mores famous but also Angie Reed, Sir Alice, LoE, Cats5, Liliput, Mignon and much more to be found.

No less than Sixty intrepid Amazones will take you on punk/rock, electro eighty, mad techno, trickter and open mind in a whirlwind. There is enough to satisfye our spirits dreams and needs of dance floor. I catch a few dollars and run to feed my sonic neurones.

Jim Nastik


Sabine Morandini: We love the "Girl Monster " compilation, was it a lot of work?

Alex Murray Leslie: Thanks! We're all really proud at the label! The work was a labour of love, we invested around 1 year in researching, compiling and licensing all the tracks, of course it gets a bit tricky with older material, where artists sometimes don't know where the masters are, or in some cases, who owns the songs, all in all it was a great learning experience. The fun thing was, whilst researching, I discovered more and more unknown acts from the past, just makes you want to go on and on, releasing endless Girl Monster compilations and dvd's of historically important material yet to be seen!

SM: Are you rather analog or digital?
AML: Personally i'm a very analog user of digital equipment, i like to see movements generate sounds, thats why i play Abelton Live for Djing or the Air Synth on stage.

SM: How was the MOMA in NY? (your perfo)
AML: It was smashing ! To perform with Anat Ben David and Douglas Gordon on stage was something memorable to say the least, and we really got a glimpse of NEW YORK NIGHT LIFE whilst we were there, with some super hardcore creatures of the night !

One of the most crazy things about playing the MOMA was seeing Patti Smith and Vivien Goldman in the audience and being surprised by Tina Weymouth, when she jumped on stage to do a few lines of "Wordy Rappinghood", a song we covered many years ago!
Oh and playing with Balzac next to us was a laugh, I started dressing the poor guy up, only to see security coming my way......and an evil eye from Klaus made me stop dead in my trax.... I think they would have stopped the show if I had have kept touching the old bronze guy!

SM: What's your graphic inspiration?
AML: Japanese packaging, Old situationist postcards and box sets, "CUT" cover by The Slits, dress style of The Raincoats (original grunge), Fast Product Record label graphics and photocopy style, 50's wall papers made by Marimekko, all Marimekko screen prints, Schiaparelli silk prints and so many things we have collected on our travels around the world.

SM: Do you have new project on the go?
AML: Well, first of all, Chicks on Speed is now a girl group of 4, Anat Ben David has joined the group as a project for the 4th coming album in 2007. Right now we're planning GIRL MONSTER EVENTS world wide, we're got a tour in motion in Canada featuring Kids on TV and Angie Reed, then Girl Monster in Australia with Chicks, Planningtorock and Batrider. We're also planning Girl Monster in Russia in May 2007.

Chicks are touring the new single release ART RULES, a collaboration with artist Douglas Gordon and Christopher Just, released on COS RECS on 15th November. The events start in Edinburgh on 31st October as a pre launch and continue throughout Europe into 2007, including The Pompidou centrer and Guggenheim Museum in New York. The presentation of ART RULES occurs mainly in art institutions, throwing the art world a mix up between performance art and a live Chicks musical, with Douglas getting into the action too !

SM: Fashion is important?
AML: Its necessary! Of course a love hate relationship exists, we hate Zara and Love Jean Charles and Karl !! We love to design all of our stage outfits with Kathi Glas, who is now a member of Chicks on Speed too ! Its a great feeling to jump around on stage in something that fits perfectly, is made with a detailed eye and out of great quality printed silks!

SM: Your favorite stylist?
AML: Teresa Logan in New York

SM: Why Chicks on Speed and not "Chic" and Speed?
AML: Yes funny you ask, the first time we went to Paris, the ladies working at "Le Bon Marche" called us "le Chic", we were very flattered by this, seems logical to the French of course its more stylish.
Chicks was a derogatory word, by us using it in an opposite context it empowers us to use a word usually only used by men to put down women, we've made the word Chick cool and strong!

SM: Are you rather Divine or Leigh Bowery?
AML: Definitely Leigh Bowery hanging upside down naked in a forest

SM: What fascinates you ?
AML: Discovering women's music from 78-81, reading the New Yorker when Woody Allen has his column, Courtney Love, fashion gossip, Paris Hilton, female surfers and super women!