Coat Check is a new column combining our love of fashion and music, exploring how both are used as a form of self-expression. Each month, Fran Barclay will speak to a band or performer in Aotearoa about their on-stage wardrobe and the making of their trademark look.

Kicking off the series is Phoebe Johnson of the Wellington-based feminist funk band Revulva, whose debut, self-titled album was released today. The group takes pride in challenging norms and conventions, both in their music and their sense of dress.

Phoebe says the album is a celebration of the many juxtapositions that power their seductive performances. From sporting her granny’s bras on the cover of the album to finding her power in 70s flares, clothes have played a key role in Phoebe’s journey to build the femme-fronted band she knew was missing from Wellington’s jazz scene.

Revulva will tour Aotearoa throughout October and November, dates and tickets here.

What was the last thing you put in a coat check?

I do have a bit of a reputation with the band for nicking their jackets, but often what I'm checking in is my bass or my upright bass. I play a lot of jazz gigs, so I try to store my instruments in the bar somewhere out of the way. 

What does a typical on-stage outfit look like for you?

High-waisted 70s flared pants are probably where I feel my most comfortable. If it's a festival, I’d pair them with a bikini top and some sandals, or I've got these crazy platform Dr. Martens that I never have the excuse to wear out and about in real life, but Revulva feels like the perfect reason. 

With eight members in your band, how much do you try to coordinate your wardrobes?

What we started doing recently is kind of colour blocking to connect with each other. We might pick a colour for the start of the gigs – shades of blue, shades of pink – and we go with that. Our drummer Lenox is actually colour blind so that has led to some issues!

If it's at a festival and we've got a big bag of all our most flamboyant bits and pieces, we all do a bit of a fashion montage with each other and dress up in each other's clothes, which is really sweet. I'm always really happy to share clothing, and I think that kaupapa extends to the group as well, which is really special. It’s quite intimate and close in a cool way.

Your debut album “reimagines the anything-goes energy of New York City’s 1970s downtown scene and London’s 1990s funk and soul renaissance through an antipodean perspective”. How will this playout in your on-stage aesthetic?

For this tour, I'd love to allude to some of the themes of our music videos, which have clowns, business chic and show-timey stuff going on. We fly a little more on the last minute side of things, but we’re always looking to make every show more theatrical and slick and inclusive. 

As the name suggests, Revulva champions feminist politics. Does this influence your personal approach to getting dressed?

I'd say it's just taking the pressure off and listening to my body about what it wants to wear to be comfortable and feel hot no matter what that means. I reckon feeling hot is a mentality rather than a defined look. Sometimes that means dressing up in a suit and slicking my hair back and feeling really masculine. Sometimes it's exposing a lot more skin and letting all the body hair fly out. And sometimes it's a mix of the two.

Has clothing ever been a source of anxiety for you, or is it more of an enabler to overcome some of those other types of performance anxiety?

I'd probably lean towards the latter. Revulva started out as an avenue to express things which weren’t being expressed in the music I was seeing around. It's grown into this real fun, inclusive, theatrical party where we talk about things that are hard to talk about, like sex, and working really, really hard and getting super burnt out, and having low key road rage (but probably just needing therapy.) Our clothing is challenging some of those norms of what it looks like to feel sexy.

Where are your go–to spots for shopping in Aotearoa?

I'm a big second hand shopper: I almost never buy anything new. So my go-to would be Facebook Marketplace or Recycle Boutique in Wellington, and oh my gosh – I love a SaveMart! You could just spend the whole day there. When we're in Tāmaki  I love heading to Crushes on K’Road, and I've always wanted to buy some cowboy boots from Vixen, just down the road.

What’s one item of clothing you always take on tour?

It's been a while since we were on tour, but I do recall this pair of pink pants with a fringe at the bottom: they’re like my Revulva pants. We have to keep it pretty frugal, which usually means only one pair of shoes, and I'd say some high top Dr. Martens keep me real stable.

‍Which city on your tour do you think will have the best fashion?

I love the style in Dunedin. There are all these different timelines going on and people are dressed from different decades, but it all feels really interconnected. It's sick.

Do you have any fashion advice for all the Revulva fans out there? 

Sexy is an attitude. For a long time in my earlier 20s, I would try to squeeze myself into things that I used to fit or used to make me feel sexy. But I’ve started ignoring the numbers, ignoring if the clothing is meant for men or women, and it's really just a day by day thing, wearing whatever feels really good.