Ipso Facto have crept into the consciousness of the young British public like a black and white vision of kittens jumping through magnifying glasses in a dream you once had after a night of red wine, Disney movies, and licorice cigarettes. These dream-like visions are not randomly conjured likenesses, but rather, what one imagines when listening to the band who were recently earmarked by a popular English broadsheet as the sole inspiration for YSL's show for Paris Fashion Week.

The four young girls— singer Rosie Cunningham, drummer Victoria Smith, keyboardist Cherish Kaya, and bassist Samantha Valentine— have come a long way in their first year together. Having started with a handful of psychedelic fairground ditties, they have hurtled into ‘08 with a number of sold-out singles and support shows for Yeasayer, and have become mini fashion icons. When a band this exciting comes around, most people obsess over the immediate now’s, how’s, and why’s— but with Ipso Facto, one can’t help but imagine them in ten years— playing with a full orchestra, with their own film, comic book, cartoon show, and faces splattered on lunch boxes.

psychoPEDIA got together with Cunningham and Smith to discuss cartoons, the Spice Girls, and the things they can’t live without:

What can't you live without these days?
RC: The black beret, because you can hide behind that. It pushes your fringe down so people can’t see that you have no eye make up on, you can go out with no makeup and shit clothes on, but as long as you have that black beret, you can survive.
VS: What about black tights?
RC: Yeah, but everyone has them. The black beret is better. If I feel rough, I can put on the black beret, and I’ll be fine.
VS: OK, then my drumsticks from Vic Firth, I can’t live without them. I break a set of sticks every gig. But we are talking song lifespan here. Regular sticks last two songs, but Vic Firth [last] about seven songs. Without them I wouldn’t be able to drum.

Are you quite anal about what instruments you use, then?
RC: I have always been a bit of a guitar pervert. It’s not a new thing, and it’s not like I can afford any of the guitars I perve [lust] over.
VS: I have that with electric drum kits as well, just because I could never afford one.

What instruments would you get if you had the money?
RC: Easy— a 1965 Fender Mustang in cream and brown.
VS: Mine would be a Roland B Series, but any grade really. It’s an electric drum kit for those who don’t know.

Were you just lucky that your style was similar in the group, or was there ever a point where you had to say to another band member, “You can’t wear those jeans on stage!”
RC: When we met we were lucky that we came from hanging out at the same places and dressed very similarly. But the whole black and white thing was a conscious decision— only so we could have some kind of uniform that people could identify [us] with.

Doesn’t the fact everyone could look like you in a year scare you?
VS: Kind of, because what if it becomes faddy? If it's connected with fashion, then it’s a short term thing, and we aren’t a short term thing and don’t want to be involved with a fad.

Is this black and white aesthetic something you’d like to stick with, like Ramones' philosophy of “dress the same till you die?"
VS: I would rather that than have to “Madonna-it-up” and keep re-inventing myself. That would totally go against our authenticity.
RC: We will develop, but perhaps not image-wise— definitely musically. The other day, I turned up to a gig in brown and white and got in a bit of trouble.

Is there a danger that so early in your careers, you could be scared to change anything?
RC: Not really. If we stick to the whole "look" thing, that means we can experiment however we like with the music.
VS: It’s interesting how the simplicity and predictability of image can draw people in obsessively.
RC: And the Spice Girls were a prime example of that. Victoria’s your Scary Spice. I would be Ginger, the confident one with the big boobs. Sam is Posh, the sexy one. And Cherish is the youngest, so she is Baby Spice.

I could also see you guys as a cartoon show like The Beatles had.
RC: Funny you say that, because some old guy approached us after a gig [saying] that he was an animator and that we were literally perfect cartoon material. I wish we could be made into a cartoon.

Is it strange hearing people describe you as being “too cool for school?”
RC: I guess we do seem like a sophisticated black-and-white, Nazi secretary, harsh females kind of thing, but it’s not how we are as people. We are more like cartoon characters in real life.

~Kevin Soar


Second photo by masatoo_hirano via Flickr
Third photo by K-Camp via Flickr
Fifth photo by 154 Photography via Flickr
Sixth photo by graguitar via Flickr
Eighth photo by Kevin Soar
Ninth photo via STEREO4
Tenth & Eleventh photos by John Lewis via Flickr