After reading Mr Phormula’s rave review of the new Stilletoes album I made it my mission to interview Efa Thomas. She’s everything that the lead singer/ songwriter of a teenage punk band should be – and then some. The band are described by their record label Ankst Music as “sheer ‘balls-out’ punk rock energy”, and anybody who’s listened to ADH Dreams or seen The Stilletoes live will know that there’s no arguing with that.

I interview Efa because I want to know if there’s more to this young woman than snarly punk lyrics and barely controlled in-your-face anger, but as Efa’s only 17 years old I don’t really know what to expect.
What I find is an intelligent, honest, clued-up woman who’d put most people to shame when it comes to being aware of the history of punk, Welsh culture or what they’re aiming for with their art. Young punk bands can be misdirected; drawn to nihilistic, angry, anti-establishment ideals without an understanding of what it is they’re fighting for (or against).

Efa is a million miles away from this stereotype – her attitude and music are firmly rooted in the ethics of the strong 70’s female punk artists. Bands like the X-Ray Spex (fronted by Poly-Styrene), and the (all female) Slits brought a real art element to the punk movement that was often missing from male bands.

Efa says, “A lot of punk now is what punk was never supposed to be; it’s just people wearing the uniform and looking a certain way. Punk nowadays can be too macho, but women can give a different perspective on the world. It’s not just anger, female lyrics are also trying to reason things out - men can just be angry which isn’t so productive…”
Perhaps that’s why she feels that people listen more to what she’s saying?
“If I was a guy I think maybe people wouldn’t pay so much attention to the lyrics. I play punk, and because I'm a woman doing that it’s different – so it catches people’s attention and then people listen more to lyrics.”
Efa’s clipped Welsh accent speeds ahead as she says with real passion, “The X-Ray Spex lyric ‘my mind is like a plastic bag’ was so futuristic, like she’s saying that we’ve seen too many ads, it’s like she could see into the future. What she was saying is so relevant even today.”

Efa writes in both Welsh and English language and shows an acute awareness of the damage caused by aggressive nationalism. She talks about going to school in Pen Llyn, “There was lots of racism in school, casual racism and I’m so against racism. I’d see English people beat up for fun – imagine if they did that to a black person…” there’s a pregnant pause, “people will laugh at others when they’re trying to learn Welsh which really puts them off, we need new people learning the language; they need to be encouraged - not put down. We’re all going to die eventually and the language will die with us if new people don’t start to learn.”

This is such a mature perspective that I wonder how she has acquired such a liberal and intelligent outlook on life. Efa tells me, “I was born in Bethesda but then we moved to New Zealand for 3 years. We saw the Maori people struggling with language and this experience made me realise how important the language is. I saw things with new eyes. Welsh language people will say ‘twll tin bob sais’ which is a real insult, it’s said so casually in many areas of Wales and I think that’s wrong. People have to understand that we’ve got to get on with each other, Welsh culture is important but the people are just as important.”

Efa’s confidence in her Welshness means that she doesn’t just play the comfortable Welsh language circuit as many bands will, she’s not afraid to push the boundaries and get her music out to a wider audience and introduce the Welsh language to new people. It’s odd that she’s probably doing more to promote the Welsh language than anybody actually gives her credit for, but that’s what happens when you refuse to conform to established ideals.

Being in a teenage punk band can also mean that some people see them as fair game for getting cheap headlines. A recent article in a Welsh magazine focussed on a gig in Caernarfon where Efa had some trouble, and although it’s now water under the bridge it’s clear that Efa wasn’t treated kindly by the magazine’s journalist who decided that a bit of an altercation at a gig in Caernarfon should make front page news, “It’s like there’s nothing better for them to write about” she mutters, “back in the 70’s at every punk gig there would have been a fight – why did the magazine need to make such a big deal out of it? It’s not exactly proper news that there was a fight in Caernarfon.”

Then there was the album review in the same magazine, Efa’s response to this is again intelligent and articulate when she says, “she (the reviewer) was kind of saying that we should grow up, but we are just teenagers in a band. Of course I’m only going to write about what I know, I don’t know about paying bills and stuff – why should I? It’s like people forget what it’s like being young.” Efa does point out that the reviewer also added as a footnote that The Stilletoes could actually go far, even saying that Efa could be the next Cerys Matthews. “It’s like she didn’t even have the balls to do a proper shit review” is Efa’s response.

So, the band’s debut album is out and, barring the odd petty swipe, is being highly acclaimed by one and all (including Mr Phormula). Efa is on lead guitar & vocals with her younger brother Iago Thomas on drums and their friend James Peglar on bass. ADH Dreams was recorded by John Lawrence in 3 sessions - Aug and Dec ’08 and Mar ’09.
“There’s loads of fun to what we do, we’re always having a laugh,” says Efa now that we’re talking about the music again, she has genuine enthusiasm for what the band are doing, “We recorded everything live. We’ll go really mental to capture the energy so that when people listen to the album they can get a real feel for what we're about as a band.” There’s no denying the sheer raw talent that launches itself out of the speakers when I play ADH Dreams – this is one album that will definitely be on theAbsurd’s playlist for the foreseeable future.

I finish my conversation with Efa feeling uplifted that this strong, intelligent, ridiculously talented young female artist is breaking the mould in North Wales – she is absolutely going to be someone to watch out for.