February 2025 sees The Meffs tour Europe with their critically acclaimed new album What a Life. We talk to singer and guitarist Lily Hopkins about the band's success, family, fans and life on the road.
IT FEELS LIKE THINGS HAVE EXPLODED FOR THE MEFFS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. YOU HAVE QUICKLY MADE THE LEAP FROM PLAYING IN SMALL VENUES TO TOURING WITH ALICE COOPER, PRIMAL SCREAM, FRANK TURNER AND NOFX AND YOU HAVE FORMED DEEPER WORK RELATIONSHIPS WITH FRANK AS YOUR PRODUCER AND FAT MIKE SIGNING YOU TO HIS RECORD LABEL, BOTTLES TO THE GROUND. HOW DID TWO MATES FROM ESSEX DEAL WITH LIFE ON THE ROAD WITH THESE BIG NAMES? DID YOU SEEM THEM ON DRESSING ROOM CORRIDORS, IN CREW CATERING, AT AFTERSHOWS OR HANG OUT WITH THEM MUCH IN THE VENUES YOU PLAYED?
2024 was huge for The Meffs and 2025 is building on that. Lewis (Copsey) and I quickly found out that life on the road was the life for us. Don't get me wrong, downtime is great, but we get jittery if we're home too long. All of those names you mentioned are established to the point where everything was really well-organised and crews welcomed us with open arms. This helps when thousands of miles are being clocked up and you're sleep-deprived!
We spent a lot of time with NOFX, Frank and their crews during 2024 so you get used to each others' company quickly; communal eating and backstage. It's fair to say that when the final NOFX tour ended the blues set in, knowing that will never happen again, but we got lifelong mates out of it. As for the Alice tour, this was our first arena tour and it was PROPER. We got extra tight and we made the most of every second.
HAVE YOU NOTICED YOUR AUDIENCE CHANGE SINCE YOU PLAYED ON THESE TOURS AND AT A BROAD RANGE OF FESTIVALS?
We were chatting about this yesterday funnily enough. Our headline tour just showed how varied a Meffs audience is now. We saw old school skins, kids with their parents/guardians, teens who are raging for a pit, mods and everyone in between! We love that about our audiences and we love that people get it. They get what we're about and they back it 100%.
Photography: Cris Watkins @punkinfocus
YOUR GIG SCHEDULE THIS YEAR IS PRETTY FULL ON AND YOU AND LEWIS MADE THE DECISION TO QUIT YOUR DAY JOBS. WE SPOKE ABOUT YOUR PREVIOUS CAREER. HAVE YOU BROUGHT MUCH OF THAT ROLE WITH YOU TO THE BAND IN TERMS OF LYRIC WRITING? HAS IT HAD AN IMPACT ON THE SUBJECTS YOU WRITE ABOUT?
My previous work has definitely impacted my writing. It's not something I talk about much. We joke about me being from Clacton-on-Sea and getting out, but I think it says a lot that I chose to go back and work with the people living there for my whole adult life before The Meffs. It would be impossible for that to not influence my writing, seeing experiences of others and reflecting on my own. Nigel Farage can do one too.
WHAT A LIFE WAS RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER AND FOLLOWED THE TWO BROKEN BRITAIN EPS. YOU ARE CURRENTLY TOURING THE UK AND EUROPE TO PROMOTE THE NEW RELEASE. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE TRACKS TO PLAY LIVE?
The energy on this What a Life tour has been mad so far. Favourite tracks...got to be Deathwish and Clowns. Everyone should check out those two first. Although Only Human is quickly becoming a favourite. What's your favourite?!
Sarah: It's Stamp It Out and Only Human for me. Every track has its own energy but these are the ones I find myself listening to most and looking forward to hearing at your shows.
YOU HEADLINED YOUR BIGGEST SHOW YET AT THE GARAGE IN LONDON ON 31 JANUARY. THERE WAS SO MUCH LOVE FOR YOU BOTH IN THE VENUE AND PEOPLE SEEMED GENUINELY EXCITED FOR YOU TO BE PLAYING TO SUCH A BIG CROWD AND TO BE PART OF YOUR AUDIENCE. YOU BOTH MAKE AN EFFORT TO MEET WITH FANS IN LOCAL PUBS ON GIG NIGHTS AND AT YOUR MERCH STAND AFTER THE SHOWS. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO MAKE THAT CONNECTION WITH THE PEOPLE WHO BUY YOUR RECORDS AND TICKETS?
It's one of our priorities. Without fans there are no shows. They've got our backs and we've got theirs, that's just the way it is. There's a fan-run Facebook group called the Meff Army. Within that group, people organised meet-ups before each show on this tour. Lewis and I had no involvement in setting them up. It was mad to see that they've grown from just a handful of people!
Photography: Oi Oi The Shop
WHEN WE FIRST MET, YOUR MUM MARIAN WAS WITH YOU AND SHE TALKED ABOUT GOING TO YOUR GIGS AND HELPING OUT BY SELLING YOUR MERCH ALONG WITH YOUR DAD. SHE IS A TOTAL LEGEND AND YOUR FANS CLEARLY THINK SO TOO AS SHE IS OFTEN MENTIONED BY THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA. IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR WITH YOUR PARTNER OLA ALSO WORKING WITH YOU AND LEWIS WHEN YOU ARE TOURING. DOES HAVING A CLOSE CORE CREW MAKE IT EASIER WHEN YOU ARE AWAY FROM HOME FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME?
Family is big for both of us and having Ola out on the road is a game changer. My lot run our merch at Rebellion Festival (my mum was gassed she got to watch Subhumans as a result last year) and help a lot behind the scenes. Having people we trust involved in something we love is essential for it to work.
Photography: Oi Oi The Shop
AS WELL AS YOUR MUSICAL OUTPUT YOUR GRAPHICS HAVE BEEN STRONG FROM DAY ONE AND YOU WERE BOTH INVOLVED IN THE DESIGN OF THE ALBUM ARTWORK. IS THE PUNK DIY ATTITUDE IMPORTANT TO YOU ACROSS ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR WORK?
Oh yeah, 100%. I remember when someone said "you should never use a selfie as an album cover" so we did! Our mate Timmo had just cut our hair and we liked the photo so why not. I worked closely with Tom from Packaged Sounds on the design of What a Life and the general theme.
One person we need to shout out is Christie Rance who is a tattooist we'd worked with before. She got on board to design a different flash tattoo for each song on the new record and she smashed the brief. They can be seen on the insert of the What a Life LP. All the photos on the insert are by Ola or our mates. People think DIY means being scrappy and if you play to more than 100 people you can't be DIY. Do me a favour. DIY doesn't have these sort of limitations.
IT'S A GOOD TIME FOR FEMALE FRONTED BANDS. WHICH OF THEM ARE YOU LISTENING TO AT THE MOMENT AND ARE THERE ANY YOU RECOMMEND US CHECKING OUT?
I'd give The Meffs a go first. Lambrini Girls just released a new record (Who Let the Dogs Out), well worth a listen.
THE MEFFS CONTINUE THEIR TOUR THROUGH TO END OF MARCH WITH DUBLIN'S FINEST, MERYL STREEK. CATCH THEM AT A CITY NEAR YOU.
Oi Oi The Shop has both featured t-shirts in stock and is the exclusive stockist of the limited edition burgundy/white Logo design. This has never been sold before and was only available from the band as part of a mystery bag offering. SHOP NOW as stock is limited and will not be repeated.
WHAT A LIFE IS AVAILABLE ON 12" BLACK VINYL AND PINK VINYL HERE.
Live photos of The Meffs are by Cris Watkins @punkinfocus.
#OIOITHESHOP #WHATALIFE #THEMEFFS #MERYLSTREEK #PUNKINFOCUS