Delilah Bon is the alter ego of Hands off Gretel’s Lauren Tate and she’s actually quite surprised us with her love of Britney!

“After Roe vs Wade was overturned in the USA, I saw the very real aftermath on social media. So many women feeling completely helpless knowing their human right to bodily autonomy had been stripped from them. It made me think of how the system was failing women and those with uterus’ so badly, especially with such high cases of rape and the majority of those cases not resulting in convictions. Not only are the victims being punished in a system that’s meant to protect them, the punishment of illegal abortion in many countries is worse than that of actual rapists. It’s heartbreaking to see cases of women and girls killing their rapists in self-defence and spending their life behind bars because the system would not protect them. I wrote, mixed and produced this song in three days after being so deeply hurt by everything that’s happening right now.” DELILAH BON, JULY 2022

There’s not a lot more needs to be said, save we fired off 13 Qs at Delilah Bon anyway.

Where are you and what are you doing?

Well, currently it’s 8am and I’m at home in my living room drinking tea and getting ready to start my day knowing I’ve got a shit ton to get sorted before my first solo tour begins in a couple of weeks! I’m so excited! My new single, ‘Dead Men Don’t Rape’, just hit 100K streams last night on Spotify so I’m gonna make a TikTok about that later and push people to grab tickets for the shows. There’s A LOT going on, but I love it, I love being busy and having a goal.

Favourite view?

I love waterfalls and nature best. The woodland where I live in South Yorkshire was my favourite place growing up. I’d always be skipping school and sitting in the trees to think about what my life could be, hoping if I sat still enough I’d see a fairy. I really dislike big cities and impatient people. 

Favourite swear word?

I love saying BOLLOCKS when I burp. I’ve always done that, and I don’t know why haha!

First record / CD bought with your own money?

The first CD I ever bought myself was My Chemical Romance – Danger Days when I was 14. I won tickets to see them live in London and I realised I’d been listening to the old album the whole time. People at school bullied kids that listened to alternative bands, especially emo bands like MCR, so it always felt like such a middle finger to the system when I walked around listening to that album. I couldn’t care less if people judged me, this band got me through the last years of high school.

Marmite yes or no?

HELL NO!

If you could go to a gig right now anywhere in the world who would you see and which venue?

I’d love to teleport back in time and see Britney Spears at the Staples Centre in LA as part of her Circus tour. I grew up on Britney, dancing in my mirror as a kid, pretending to be her, I knew her every word! But by the time I was a teenager I stopped listening to pop and only listened to heavy music. Luckily though, I’ve since then reconnected with my inner child and can confirm, I would LOVE to have been at those shows!

Who are your musical influences?

I’m influenced by opinionated women mostly, that’s the overall theme. I loved P!nk, Xtina, Anastasia and Britney since I was a kid but then fell in love with the feminist punk bands The Distillers, Hole, Bikini Kill, L7, Jack Off Jill and My Ruin as a teenager. I blend that in my music now, the love for all things bubblegum pop and riot grrrl princess, these women MADE ME.

How do you like your eggs?

Aha! I haven’t eaten meat or dairy for nearly 10 years actually. Even since I saw the videos of what happens to animals in the meat and dairy industry I felt physically sick and decided I’d be a hypocrite to say I loved animals yet ate them too. I’m never going back!

Tell us something we don’t know.

I’ve written every single song of my whole career so far and I just calculated how many of my songs were physically released and, my god, I’ve released 89 songs so far across my solo project, my band Hands Off Gretel and my music now as Delilah Bon. I’m only 25! Haha! Wow! This is what happens when people in the ‘industry’ tell me I can’t write songs. I make it my mission to prove them wrong.

Which city do you recommend we visit and why?

Well I’m not big on cities, they scare me. I went to LA earlier this year and I had mixed feelings about it. If you look up to the sky it’s beautiful, you see all the lights and the celebrity glam you’re looking for but if you look to the ground you see the homeless everywhere, a lot of them being old veterans just left there. It’s a shock, particularly if, like me, you get lost for 6 hours because your phone died when you got out of the taxi in the wrong place and you had to walk through the streets in the shortest dress in the world surrounded by people screaming across the street on drugs. I thought I was going to die. I still recommend everyone go in their lifetime though, just to experience the city of angels for real, just don’t forget to charge your phone!

What’s your drink of choice?

I love a pint of cold Budweiser on draught. Mmmm. I used to hate it but it’s all we ever had provided backstage at our shows on the rider so eventually it became like water to me. I kinda want one now.

What band or album should we check out right now? 

Ok I’m gonna shout out a duo called ALT BLK ERA from Nottingham who are actually supporting me on my UK tour in a few weeks. They’re two of the coolest girls I’ve ever seen, and they make screamy trap metal music for girls to mosh to. It’s so incredible and they’re so undiscovered. I cannot wait for them to blow up, I’ll be there front row screaming along when they do!

Anything else to declare?

Just that I’m so excited to be going on tour across the UK starting 15 September. I’ve been planning my stage show to make it super extra and thinking of ways to make it the safest place possible for all the young girls and queer kids coming down. I honestly cannot wait to hear the crowd screaming my new song ‘Dead Men Don’t Rape’, which is a song I released recently about abortion rights and rape culture. It’s going to be everything!

SEPTEMBER

Thu 15 BIRMINGHAM Hare & Hounds

Fri 16 NOTTINGHAM Bodega

Sat 17 NEWCASTLE  Cluny

Thu 22 LONDON Colours

Fri 23 BRIGHTON Patterns

Sat 24 BRISTOL Exchange

Thu 29 SHEFFIELD Leadmill

Fri 30 MANCHESTER Deaf Institute

OCTOBER

Sat 01 LEEDS Key Club

Thu 06 GLASGOW Nice N Sleazy

Fri 07 LIVERPOOL Arts Club

Tickets available from: https://www.delilahbon.co.uk/tour