Making Nasty Cherry: Real women, real sound and authenticity

Real women + Real sound + Charli XCX’s glitter and pixie dust = Nasty Cherry, a pop creation with an alternative bent. Manufactured can still be authentic, right?

Let’s be real, Netflix’s docuseries, I’m with the Band: Nasty Cherry runs the same gambit as its predecessors have in music-tinged reality television. You throw some strangers in a house together to work on a common goal, and watch as the chemistry sizzles, fizzles, and explodes.

I’m with the Band simply fast forwards through the nail biting bits of band member selection. This isn’t a competition show; no one’s competing for their place in Nasty Cherry.  The four members of the band were handpicked by Charli XCX, and they’re all there to make music.

Never mind that before Georgia signed her name on the dotted line she’d never played bass and had only been playing a year by the time she packed up her life in England and moved to L.A. to be with her bandmates. Or that lead singer Gabi had not only never fronted a band, but also isn’t a trained singer. Her musical resume consisted of high school musical theatre before landing this gig.

But in the words of Chloe, Nasty Cherry’s guitarist:

"I really feel like there’s a purity–ugh, sounds creepy–that comes with non-musicians. And I think that’s why Charli chose Georgia and Gabi. There’s no stigmas. There are no rules in their head about what they can or can’t do. So it’s gonna create something very special and, for lack of sounding creepy, pure. Or…never mind. You know what I meant."

Though I, like Debbie the drummer, was skeptical as to how far “purity” could actually carry Gabi and Georgia. Out of the four members of Nasty Cherry, Chloe and Debbie have the most experience and were musicians prior to joining the band. Chloe is the frontwoman for Kitten, an alternative rock band whose music I’ve been jamming out to since college, and Debbie toured with Charli.

So, you have two non-musicians paired with two professional musicians. That’s a strategy if I’ve ever seen one. Charli was not trying to start from the ground floor. This may be the band she wishes was around when she was 14, but this isn’t an up and coming, straight out of their mom’s garage, three chords and a message type of band.

She’s tied their name to hers, so they got the star treatment in return – from social media buzz, to red carpet photo-ops, and interviews well before they’d even finished a song, let alone had enough in their back pocket for a set.

And there’s the rub.

Charli said she feels “now more than ever is such a great time to see women in control and making exciting, powerful work” but Nasty Cherry haven’t been around long enough to separate themselves from the pack. They were hyped before they dropped any music, and they were hyped throughout their docuseries.

But besides the unfortunate kerfluffle between Chloe and Charli over wanting to work with producers who are women, they aren’t bringing anything new, exciting, or powerful to the table.

Chloe said:

"I want to be a band that promotes female producers, female songwriters. I want to show people how that happens, you know? Because I think in music, people automatically assume, for whatever reason, that females aren’t writing their songs, and they’re not recording them. And that’s unfortunate, and I think that should change."

And while Charli is right in her assertion that she isn’t any less feminist for working with men, it still is a missed opportunity that the scenes we had of the girls jamming out and writing together weren’t interspersed with them working with other women in the industry besides Charli and Kitten’s bassist, Blu DeTiger.

If we are in our “I am woman, hear me roar feelings,” if this is an estrogen fest, then I want to see and learn about women who work behind the boards in the industry.

Give me the ladies! If we’re trailblazing then let’s trail blaze.

In any case, Nasty Cherry’s EP Season 1 taps out at 5 songs in 15 minutes, and it’s got some bops. I recommend listening to the whole thing all the way through to digest the wall of funky alternative pop this group is selling. Stand outs are “Music with Your Dad” the brainchild of Georgia (which is a track you can see get made on the show) and “Live Forever.”

I’m rooting for this band. I do think Nasty Cherry has the potential to be great. If you push past the branding and the hype that still needs to be earned, you get four women who just want to make music. The kind of girls whose couch you can hang upside down on and watch Debbie struggling to open jars, Chloe bouncing off the walls, Georgia practicing bass, and Gabi in resting frowny face before cracking up at something ridiculous.

You want to get to know them, and you want to hear their sound. And that’s their best selling point not the idea that they’re going to take over the world or be the best thing since sliced bread.

We don’t need all that, not necessary. We’ve got four women making music together and figuring out where they fit in the music landscape. Add in a side of championing other women in the industry and you’ll have a winning combination.

All they need is more time to bake, so I’ll be here with my timer watching them rise and cheering from the sidelines.

What women should Nasty Cherry work with in the music industry?