#Mathilde Queen of the Sea Zombies

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Another World - TDC Holidays - Day 7

I’m experimenting with a new style so tell me what you think!

DAY 7

AU: BAND

POV: MAGAZINE

‘Queens of Music - The rise of girl group Reign’ by Mathilde Seer - Sunpool Magazine

The Rolanth pub is alive and bouncy tonight as new kids on the block Reign take the stage. I sit at the bar and laugh along as singer and guitarist Arsinoe interacts casually with the crowd before the start of their set, while her fellow bandmates warm up their instruments. She is bubbly and shockingly alive as the dimmer lights hit her iconic black and red half-face mask.

The crowd eats it up, cheering as eventually drummer Katharine starts their beat. Bassist Mirabella grabs the attention of every person in the room as she joins in. Their synchronicity is currently unmatched by any band their age (hell even bands older than them) and their set roars into action.

The Queen sisters rose into the music scene nearly a year ago and I’m lucky enough to be one of the few journalists invited to the pub gigs they play in between sold out stadiums. Their set is filled with their own self written hits as well as countless classics that everyone knows (even an improvised cover of Bohemian Rhapsody) and the crowd just gets higher and higher.

When I’m allowed back stage at the end of the night, or early morning (there were a lot of impromptu encores), I’m unsurprised to see the sisters still completely wired. Katharine and Arsinoe (who is hanging upside down on the couch) are playing a game of UNO that is surprisingly intense and Mirabella looks like she is trying and failing to meditate. The background speaker is playing what sounds like Hey Violet’s ‘Guys My Age’ at a volume that is just short of too loud.

Arsinoe looks up when I walk in, smiling and flipping herself right way up, standing with a skip. She’s taken her mask off and her deep facial scars catch the light of the backroom, but her smile is infectious as she hugs me, UNO cards still in hand.

I’m lucky enough to have been offered to travel with the sisters for the next stop in their tour and I can tell already it will be as chaotic as all else, especially as Katharine yells at Arsinoe to “get her ass back to the game”. I take the seat Mirabella subtly offers me and prepare myself for the road.

~

The next morning, I wake on the tour bus before the triplets and prepare to interview the three of them. Mirabella’s the first to rise, stretching to touch the ceiling of the bus and apologising for not waking up earlier. She grabs a protein bar and comes and sits down across from me. I start with their break into the music scene, the Quickening Music Festival, which they shouldn’t have been playing in and everyone I talk to agrees they definitely crashed illegally.

“Our start to the music industry was definitely one that could have gotten us in trouble, mostly because Arsinoe takes opportunities where they come, no matter how hair-brained they are,” Mirabella tries to sound mad, but she actually sounds like a proud older sister, which she is. Her protective nature is well known in the fandom and is the subject of many journalistic questionings and internet memes that, when mentioned, gains a serene and agreeing nod.

Speaking of serenity, I am quickly learning that Mirabella is the most calm musician I have ever met, and when I mention this, Mirabella just laughs.

“Compared to my sisters, sure. But I have my days, just like any one else,” at that exact moment, a loud thump comes from the bunk area and Katharine stumbles out a minute later, rubbing her hip. She doesn’t speak and I’m vaguely reminded of a zombie. But, a really short one. My interview with Mirabella ends there as she stands to check on her sister. Quintessential older sibling.

Katharine is my next interviewee and she tells me to just call her Kat. The youngest triplet sits across from me, fiddling with the 8 rings she wears, one of which is definitely an Arron family seal ring. When I ask, she tells me she stole it. I can’t tell if she’s messing with me. She’s the smallest of the three and looks like she could lose a fight with a strong gust of wind, but you wouldn’t think that if you saw her on the drums.

“I have a lot of pent up emotions,” she declares when I ask about her instrument, “I nearly broke one of Arsinoe’s violins when we were younger, so she bugged Willa to buy me a drum kit. I haven’t looked back since,” I can’t help but smile at the story. Arsinoe and Kat seem to enjoy the most banter, but anyone looking at them can see there is genuine sisterly affection there. “But yeah, I went through some shit when I was a teenager and the drums helped me express my aggression healthily.” I don’t ask for any more. Anyone who listened to songs on their debut album like ‘Down, Down’, ‘Viper’ or ‘Dead and Gone’ can hear the deep emotions lying underneath Kat Queen’s skin. Their technical prowess and gory themes have also immortalised the songs as fan favourites.

Kat is gone by the time I look up, seeming to be inspired as she sits on another table and begins writing something down that she eventually hands to a passing Arsinoe, who has spent the morning texting a mystery person with a nearly imperceptible blush on her face as she enters the kitchen area. When she catches me looking, Kat leans over and whispers to me;

“Her and Junior have been chatting forever, if that’s enough of a scoop for you,” she laughs slightly as Arsinoe comes back into the table space.

Arsinoe seems to be the brain behind the operation’s more chaotic elements. She is a verified master of at least four instruments (five if you count voice) and has written the most songs on their album. She looks at me with a cheshire grin and the first thing I can think to ask about is her scars.

“I fought a brown bear and won,” she says, casually enough for me to question whether she’s actually serious (it seems deadpan outrageousness runs in the family). I move onto her music.

“I did a lot of travel when I was a teen, so I had a lot of influences as I was learning my instruments. I also had a lot of people with different styles who have made my music better,” and then she says “shoutout to Jules Milone” and laughs. Her laughter is rough but bright. Much like her songs, which include ‘Sea Ports’, ‘Mount Horn’ and ‘Pub Song’.

She makes me feel comfortable enough to even ask about her love song, ‘Maybe More’. Despite being on the B Side of the debut album, it sent fans crazy with theories. Most in Reign’s fanbase agree that the song is about Arsinoe’s old friend and fellow famous musician, Billy Chatworth, who has also written a song with strikingly similar themes and metaphors, ‘Caught Out’. Both are so tight-lipped it’s almost confessional, but that never stops anyone trying to confirm. Arsinoe laughs when I ask but doesn’t answer, a la Barney Stinson when asked about his occupation on HIMYM.

We get off the bus at the castle-turned-stadium that acts as Indrid Down’s hub of entertainment and it’s all systems go. Mirabella is co-ordinating with the roadies who are moving their stuff. She is somehow both kind and authoritarian. Arsinoe is writing lyrics as she’s walking while listening to something through earphones. Kat is rubbing her drumsticks together and tapping her legs with them while also trying to trip Arsinoe up as they walk together.

They take the stage an hour later and the crowd is deafening as Kat hits the first beat of their set (the jaunty 'Pub Song’). The next two and a half hours go by quicker than expected. The crowd is wild as all three triplets interact with them, and even I’m swept into the hype and I go to concerts like this for a living. Finally, the gentle but haunting lull of ‘Queen Crowned’ finishes their setlist and the audience roars as Arsinoe hits the final, stunningly high note of the song.

Backstage is bustling as mics are removed and sweat is wiped away. Arsinoe picks her sisters up with the force of her hug and then she pulls me into a tight (and very sweaty) hug. The back area fills and Mirabella squeals in excitement as two women who must be her girlfriends kiss her. Kat is embraced by a tall, blonde guy. Arsinoe grins and continues a conversation as she helps one of the roadies pack up before they go out to sign merch.

I leave before the triplets enter the venue lobby to sign merch and meet fans, but I hear the cheering and loud speaking a block away and can’t help but smile. Reign will be around for a while, I reckon.

Crowned - DEBUT ALBUM

Yin

Dead and Gone

Protect

Pub Song

Down Down

Queen Crowned

Viper

Falling Rocks

Sea Ports

Mount Horn

Yang

B-Side

One-Handed Mistress

Fire Maiden

Maybe More

Court Rules

Jules

Cliff and Tower

Three Prisoners

{Cover} SUPERBLOOM (MisterWives)

{Cover} Clean (Hey Violet)

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