MPF2025 FIRST TIMER SPOTLIGHT: PERIOD DRAMA

Sometimes, being a music journalist is difficult. When you get a subject who doesn’t have much to say, or worse yet, does, but there’s no substance to it or any sense of energy, churning out an article is tough.

Thankfully, there’s no such issues with Period Drama! When I caught up with Hope and Rosie of the self-styled ‘spooky queer emo punks’ from Sheffield, the love for what they do and the fun they have doing it reverberated through the screen. If I had a tape, it would’ve worn out!

Early periods…

So, to business then – Period Drama are still relatively new, formed out of jamming sessions between Hope and Rosie, where they burnt together the amusing concoction of Kim Petras and Charli XCX (‘but punk!’ they stress, laughing) into jams that formed the basis of the band, at least once their fellow members Niamh and Dan joined.

While Period Drama is new, the two aren’t neophytes – they’ve both played in several bands, including Slash Fiction, Disaster Forecast, and Snatch Game, and it seems as though their answer to any quiet time is simple – play more music!

Early success

As Period Drama, they’ve had some success already – having started at a burning pace, they recorded their first EP, Desire, inside a year, and released it in July 2024. That’s already led to airplay on Radio 1’s Rock Show, and that’s clearly a source of huge pride to the band.

In many ways, though, it almost seems like it doesn’t matter – as long as there are friends and people to lend an ear, Period Drama will play, and love it, too. There’s a pertinent quote from Rosie, who says “I feel like your friends taking you seriously and enjoying your music doesn’t always happen, so having friends who actually want to come to gigs and want to join in actually does feel like a good achievement!” There’s a wonderfully free feel to how they view the music industry, and there’s a genuine love for it too – the word ‘fun’ crops up more times in our short chat than in almost any other I care to remember, as there’s a lightness and levity to everything this group does.

That includes the name, which, giggling, they say is ‘hilarious’, and it’s hard not to agree. “It’s especially funny when people say ‘why are you called Period Drama?’ and then gradually realise as they’re speaking” grins Hope. They feel a huge benefit from not taking things as seriously as they might have done in years past – “I feel like since I just started doing it more for fun, and less worrying about if people will like it, then I’ve seen people receive it a lot better. If you’re there just to have fun and sing about what people think is important or what you enjoy, then it all seems to work a bit better” says Rosie.

Drama comes to MPF!

What they’ll bring to MPF is fast-paced, no-nonsense, hardcore, but with a sense of fun and a tongue in cheek attitude. I was also told to look out for between-song ‘anti-jokes’, which have apparently been a staple of the band’s live output. They’re extremely enthusiastic about playing such a diverse and interesting lineup as MPF, openly commending the festival for giving a good, egalitarian environment to simply play music. Perhaps this is no better summed up than Rosie’s quote: “At MPF, and the more diverse crowds, it’s better, because people are not going to personalize you, because they understand that there isn’t a difference between anybody, really…”

That’s easy to agree to, but the difference with Period Drama lies in the sheer ferocity and melody of their music. They’re full of life, full of energy, and will surely light up MPF when they arrive. It’s no surprise from talking to these two musical Duracell bunnies to hear that there’s more to come from Period Drama, including a new song the week after MPF (perhaps we’ll get a little preview?) and gigs with other bands, like MPF mainstays Random Hand, in their future plans.

It was a real pacy, life-affirming chat with the Period Drama girls, and I’m fully expecting their set to be the same. Go catch them at YES Basement at 7:30pm on the Saturday, because I guarantee you’ll end their set like I did this chat with them – reinvigorated and smiling. We need more episodes of Period Drama!

Stay punk x

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