From the BTTM up
ATTITUDE MEETS PWR BTTM, THE QUEER PUNK BAND REDEFINING GENRES AND GENDERS
WORDS: DYLAN JONES
Liv wears top by Fyodor Golan Ben wears top by KTZ
PHOTOGRAPHY: TERRENCE SEAH
FASHION: UMAR SARWAR
From the outset, Liv and Ben, of American punk band PWR BTTM, command the room. With a mischievious grin, Liv sweeps through the studio barefoot, Kate Bush-esque, hoicking up a glistening cascade of skirts and swishing around the room as they shoot their final look.
Ben glowers smokily from the other side of the room, bottle of water in one hand, phone in the other. “I’m gonna nix this jacket,” Liv tells our stylist, shrugging it off. “I’m just wearing this awesome fringed top underneath, and I really wanna see her fly.”
Ben looks up from tapping away at their phone — both band members prefer gender-neutral pronouns — and turns to the band’s PA. “Can you change the music? I want Rihanna. Anti. And start with Needed Me.”
This is not the unappealing diva behaviour of spoiled pop stars, it’s the self-assured, confident behaviour of punk stars. PWR BTTM have never compromised being themselves, never compromised getting what they want, and if that means rejecting £300 jackets and changing photoshoot playlists, then so be it.