For the short life (so far) of Essex Punk-Rock duo The Meffs, there’s already been a global pandemic and the never-ending (oh, it would be “so simple,” we were told!) decoupling of the UK from the EU to digest and respond to, not to mention all the other pervasive horrors of the world we live in today.
Thankfully, the pair of vocalist/guitarist Lily Hopkins and drummer/backing vocalist Lewis Copsey have the musical chops and wit to make their social critiques of everything from immigrant-bashing populists to economic inequality as toe-tappingly catchy as they are righteously energizing.
Having found themselves touring with heavy hitters like The Damned, Alice Cooper and Kings of Leon, the forward momentum of The Meffs cannot be denied.
With the band’s second full-length Business (following 2024’s debut What a Life) out this week on FLG, New Noise caught up with Lily Hopkins to get the low-down on the new record and all things Meffs.
Well first of all, what is a “meff” to you?
Back in the ’80s/’90s, there was a show in the UK called Brookside set in Liverpool. My sister loved it and used to call me a “meff,” an insult they used in the show. That’s where the name comes from!
Do you remember a defining moment or moments that made you want to write and perform your own music?
A day doesn’t go by without me listening to music and it’s been that way for as long as I can remember. There wasn’t one defining moment but hearing albums like Sing Sing Death House definitely made me realise I needed to do what they were doing. When I started The Meffs I knew early on that this needed to be more than just a casual hobby.
How long and winding was your own musical journey before you started making music with Lewis Copsey as The Meffs?
Pretty short! I started playing live in a local duo then shortly afterwards formed The Meffs. There’s been no magical path for either of us; we can’t read music, I’ve never had a guitar lesson. My dad showed me the bar chord and its remained my staple. If you’re talking further back, I found an old school book from when I was about 11 that said, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and I wrote “rockstar.” Written in the stars maybe!
The title track “Business” gives a very succinct observation that I think will resonate with a lot of people who get caught in the wheels of the entertainment industry. What experiences inspired this song?
It does relate to an industry we love, but haven’t always felt the love back from. It is about being underestimated and overlooked, something that isn’t limited only to the music industry. Many people can relate. But then there comes a time when the same people who showed no interest suddenly come running when there’s a bit of noise around you.
The song is saying it’s dirty business; we might have been left behind in the past, but now we’re taking our share of the action. We are in a place where we know who we are, we know what we’re about, and our door is open if you want in. No hard feelings. Business is everywhere; it’s everything, which is why we named the album this.
Aside from the catchy songs and the tight performances, I think you got a great sound on the forthcoming album. For the recording and the mixing, did you have any guide records that you had in mind with the sound you were aiming for?
Dan Weller from SiKth produced the record. We knew the songs were bigger than before, especially tracks like “Business,” “God Complex,” and “Like Gravity,” but Dan knew exactly how to bring the heavier sound out of us when it came to tracking and production. There were a handful of guide tracks; “Never Fight a Man With a Perm” by IDLES was referenced for its production, “Born As Ghosts” by Rage Against The Machine was referenced for its huge clear guitars, and “It’s Mine” by Amyl and the Sniffers was referenced for how full and noisy it was without being overly complex in its production.
You’ve toured a lot recently. What do you remember about your first time playing and touring outside of the UK?
I think our first time outside of the UK was at a secret squat show in Germany. It couldn’t be advertised, and we had very little information, but we turned up to over 1000 anti-fascist punks getting on it in the blazing sunshine. Police cars down the road in case anything kicked off. We went on stage, and there were kids running about behind us, circle pits kicking up dust out front, and just pure chaos from start to finish.
Have you had any mishaps on the road yet, whether in the U.K. or abroad?
Too many to mention! Doing a 20-point turn in a van on the edge of a cliff in Italy has to be up there. It was 3 am, and we were trying to get into a B&B carpark. We then found out the B&B had locked its doors, so we couldn’t get in. There was nowhere else available nearby. Our next show was 20 hours away in Madrid, so we just drove straight there. We were awake for a lot of hours. Definitely started hallucinating.
With all the iconic bands that you’ve supported up till now, was there anyone in particular where you had a moment of, “Holy shit, I can’t believe we’re sharing a stage with them?”
We just got back from a tour with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. I remember seeing videos of Joan in her leather jacket with a guitar owning the stage, thinking “I want to be like her,” so sharing that stage was unreal. To then be gifted a signature Epiphone after the tour was off the scale.
Obviously supporting Sex Pistols (featuring Frank Carter) is up there too, iconic. An experience that will stay with us forever is playing the final NOFX European tour back in 2024. It hit home after the tour, “Wow, we shared the stage with NOFX, and it will never happen again.” What made it extra special was joining them on stage for The Decline; Lewis joined them in Madrid, and I joined them in Vienna.
I was lucky (I guess) to be out of the UK for all of the whole Brexit process (well the first years, anyway) and COVID, though that was pretty bad everywhere. How have these social traumas affected you, and how much have they fueled your songwriting?
The Broken Britain EPs were directly influenced by social factors like Brexit and COVID-19, and WHAT A LIFE was the story of what came after. For example, “Everything’s Gone” is about shops in our hometown never reopening after the pandemic. I write about what I see around me and across the world, so social, political, and economic matters have always been central to my song-writing.
The new album Business is slightly different in that it also looks inwards, something I haven’t focused on with my song-writing before now. It felt important for the new album to show both rage and vulnerability because we’re living through a time where balance is lacking.
What other events have been firing you up the most that you’ve felt needed to be put into your songs?
People being conned into hating each other. Wealth distribution. The climate. Politicians and their celebrity friends blaming refugees for any problem that they either can’t explain or don’t want to take accountability for. There’s a housing crisis but hundreds of thousands of sites remain unoccupied because land owners are sitting on them waiting for their value to increase. Yet if you ask people why there is a housing crisis, you’ll get at least one who says, “too many immigrants.”
There is so much division both in the UK and globally, but it’s not the problem/impact that people are disagreeing about. We’ve got more in common than we realize. This is what our new song “Disorder” is about. Instead of blaming each other, we need to come together and challenge the people who are actually responsible.
In this age where information or misinformation is all around, how do you stay reliably informed and how important do you think it is for kids and young adults to be socially and politically aware?
How else can we make informed decisions? With social media and the constant feed of negative news, it is difficult for anyone to get away from politics. It’s hard not to get sucked in by the algorithm. Use trusted news sources not Barry’s cousin’s next-door neighbor, or go out and research yourself. I’ve learnt more from meeting with our local refugee and migrant charity or attending LGBTQ+ pride events than I would from Facebook or GB News. Other option, just listen to Business on repeat.
Preorder Business here.
The Meffs are on tour in Europe. Check out all upcoming live events here.
Photos courtesy of Jeanie Jean
