One recent sunny London day, photographer Tom Marshak documented rising local band Gingerella running riot around the city’s Soho district – suited and booted with pompadour hair courtesy of Soho Japanese hair salon My Snug Room.

Published exclusively here, we show the images alongside an interview with Gingerella as they find their feet, and sound.

What’ve you guys been up to lately?
TA: We’ve been gigging like crazy recently, playing everywhere that’ll have us. We’re just about to fly to Berlin as a band, which could very well end up being a twisted little merry adventure, it’s our first show outside of England! I’m constantly writing though, I’m trying to write two albums before we actually release one. They say you have ten years to write your first album and ten minutes to write your second…

How’re the new tracks looking?
TA: I’d say we’re heading in a more glam-slash-pop direction. The new tracks are quite camp and melodic, choruses are a big thing for me, if something isn’t memorable enough melodically I tend to scrap it. I want songs to be iconic. I think a lot of bands get caught up with trying to sound new and contemporary, but we just want to write good songs and that will breed new ideas.

What music are you listening to at the minute?
TA: We’re all obsessed with Wet Leg, literally from the day the first single came out. We were in Paris recently and had them on repeat, so we have many fond memories attached to their music. The band delved into a disco moment after that trip, we’re really enjoying Charlotte Adigéry’s new album too. Otherwise, I’ve been digging English new-wave punk like Elvis Costello, Squeeze and The Undertones.
Noah Charlton: I’ve swapped out The Smiths and Babyshambles for a motley combination of French pop, Wes Anderson scores, and McCartney. Great melodies are typically the attribute I look for.

You’ve uploaded a bunch of demos to soundcloud, are you going to be adding to these?
TA: We actually never intended to release them electing to rather wait for a record we love the sound of but we were also aware we live in an age of instant gratification – people need the songs! It’s nice to put them out there so audiences can get to know the tracks without having the pressure of a formal release, hopefully we can build some buzz around the songs before we do end up properly releasing them too. We’re currently recording a couple more that we gig including my favourite, currently titled Woman In A Supermarket, but very likely to change.
NC: They’re a really early look at the current incarnation of Gingerella. The current demo EP, Who dear? Me dear? is a showcase of fairly classic Gingerella material. What’s coming next definitely retains our sound and style but takes several detours into new musical territory.

Where did you record these?
TA: All the tracks we’ve recorded so far were done in our manager’s studio in Shepherd’s Bush – free studio time is a blessing and I enjoy working with him. It’s always been quite natural. I do studio work occasionally there for a soul artist he works with called Ellie M. It’s actually where me and our drummer Jamie used to rehearse when we were kids playing in a cover band so we feel like we’ve come full circle!

What’re your future plans?
TA: We’re supporting Mystery Jets on their upcoming tour and our next show is in Newcastle on the 20th April, a homecoming gig for our Noah. Otherwise more of the same: writing, gigging, recording and working on getting signed. We only want to release an album when we have a label backing us so it isn’t lost in the ether of self-published songs and the dreaded algorithm. We’ll be playing in Paris this summer though and all over London.

You were also recently the face of Hedi Slimane‘s debut Celine campaign, how was that experience?
TA: Yeah man that was a laugh. I’ve always enjoyed doing Celine and working for Hedi, I really admire his non-compromising artistic vision and passion, it’s how I view my songwriting. The team is also absolutely lovely. The actual shoot was good, I had to navigate between pouting and online school for a month or so – it was probably one of the rarer excuses my teachers had heard. The press for it was definitely notable though, I got a kick out of seeing half my face on a bus stop for a little while.

And can you tell us more about this article’s shoot?
TA: This shoot was cool, the band had all been to the salon (My Snug Room) individually before, and me and Jamie had shot with them in 2021 so we know the team well.
NC: The shoot was a multifarious experience of various looks, from 50s pompadours to our typical mullet styles and the location was in the heart of Soho, on the roof of an apartment building on Wardour Street.
TA: We just sort of ran riot around Soho and let Tom capture it, some of the shots of us in our own clothes with the pompadours are a sight to behold, proper mod looks with a rocker do on top; pedants would have a field day. I always think the look and the music have to match mind, so maybe we’ll start releasing some goth-crooner records in due time.

Follow Gingerella on Instagram and Tom Marshak here.
Gingerella are playing at Newcastle The Riverside April 27th with Mystery Jets.