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The Last Dinner Party on misogyny, maximalism and making it big: ‘Men think they’re the arbiters of rock’

The London five-piece are due to have this year’s Glastonbury moment – the cherry on four years of hard work. But from accusations about their authenticity to the speed of their rise, they say success has been ‘disturbing’

In 2019, well before the two parts came together, Morris and Davies wrote a “manifesto” for their future band while on a pub crawl, detailing their vision down to colours (emerald, burgundy, cream) and fabrics (velvet, obviously); the top of the scrap of lined paper read “decadence”. ‘From the beginning, we were taking it so seriously.’ Photograph: Pål Hansen/The GuardianAlthough squarely gen Z themselves, playing to “screaming women”, as Morris proudly describes their recent crowds, TLDP’s classic rock influences and heavy airplay by 6 Music meant they were embraced, early on, by an older male audience. “It’s a strange kind of avuncular gatekeeping, like they’re the ones who are the arbiters of rock music:‘Have you heard of the Slits?’” Early on, Davies says, they were treated “like we were the first women to have picked up guitars” – erasing their influences and their individuality (Mayland is non-binary).

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