Words with: The Puppini Sisters

Gigwise, the home of new music, meet up with a threesome of 1940s throwbacks with a twist. The Puppini Sisters are classically trained, and a very clever set of young London ladies. They met up at Trinity College, one of the capital’s top musical institutions, with Italian born Marcella having set the ball rolling for the group after watching Benoit Charest’s Oscar nominated animated film Belleville Rendez-Vous. The same inspirational man was, in turn, so impressed by their work he became the producer of The Puppini Sisters’ debut album, ‘Betcha Bottom Dollar’.

After viewing the film, Marcella thought, “I could do that…it was great...amazing.” So the poised Bolognan asked fellow student Kate to help re-arrange some 1940s classics such as ‘Mr Sandman’ and ‘In The Mood’; who in turn asked another Trinity student, Stephanie, to complete the three-girl group. Surprisingly, It's only a coincidence that Marcella is a brunette, Kate is a blonde, and Stephanie is a red-head; we love it when a plan comes together.

So here’s where the twist comes in, and what sets the beautiful Puppini Sisters apart from those other less noted 1940s tribute bands; they do other, more contemporary covers. The Smiths’ ‘Panic!’ and Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ feature among the Puppini’s exciting and surreal setlist.

The girls are a breath of fresh air to a female pop world in which scantily clad women sing about making love to men. It's also ironic that a group stuck in the forties can seem more confident and independent about there gender than a whole host of female musicians in 2006. Unlike most girl groups and thanks to their classical education, they can play a plethora of instruments. Marcella can play an Accordian, a piano and a ukulele; Kate can also tackle the piano, as well as the saxophone and a melodica; while Stephanie can rock the violin and harp.

The Puppini Sisters have done pretty well considering they have only been together for eighteen months, “We started performing straight away…everywhere appreciated us and was enthusiastic.” Each gig seemed to give the Puppini’s that extra boost to go further, “the feedback was very positive for us.”

The positive responses deserve even more credit when one realises the variety of venues they have played, from “your run-of-the-mill jazz clubs…Pizza in the Park in Kensington…Bethnal Green WMC...gay clubs…Vivienne Westwood’s Christmas Party…a Morrissey Convention.” The latter was where they first played 'Panic!'; very daring we thought, considering the hard to please and slightly stubborn nature of Morrisseyites; “We thought we were going to get a slap, but they loved it,” exclaims Kate.