Scissor Sisters reunion: ‘We are this weird thing, and that’s cool’

The Scissor Sisters sit down with ITV News' Entertainment reporter Rishi Davda to talk about why they feel more at home in the UK and why the US could be becoming less tolerant

Classics at the club, repeated on the radio, Scissor Sisters’ songs are synonymous with the early noughties.

Now 12 years after their last live show, they’re getting the band back together for a host of dates in 2025.

The group is made of Americans but found even greater success on this side of the Atlantic, with both their first and seconds albums (released in 2004 and 2006 respectively) making it to number 1 in the charts.

This year marks 2 decades since their debut record ’Scissor Sisters.’

The 3-time Brit Award winners were known for their ‘out there’ live performances…I’ll let you research them for yourself.

Vocalist Ana Matronic isn’t part of the return, it’s Jake Shears, Babydaddy and Del Marquis that will be delivering the hits starting in Nottingham next May.

Reflecting on how they first become stars, Jake says that "20 years ago, it was a very different time, it was like another era. CDs were being sold, smartphones weren’t around, bands were everywhere."

"There was a lot of bands and I think that we were a band that came out with a very different sound and style and I think we stood out."

One of the reasons they stood out was their ethos of inclusivity and acceptance, with LGBTQ+ positivity at the heart of everything they did.

Babydaddy believes that "some people would want to categorise us as this or that, as a gay band or a queer band. At the time we weren’t in the closet, but there was more to us than that. We were a band playing music that everyone was included in."

"America feels the need to characterise music, we didn’t really want to define ourselves as anything, we came to UK and everyone was like ‘you’re this weird thing and that’s cool."

While Jake acknowledges that "there was something a bit different about us at the time, we were all out, I couldn’t imagine holding that back, it was such a big part of who were were from the outset."

The band - which delivered hits like ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ and ‘I Can’t Decide’ was birthed in New York City, but has a strong affinity with the UK and the British Music scene.

As the American political world reaches boiling point in the run-up to another socially, environmentally and financially pivotal Presidential election, there is a growing sense of worry within the LGBTQ+ community.

Babydaddy told me that "we were part of a generation that was really open about who we were, it was a tougher thing to do in that time in the US. We felt this explosion of identity, people coming out and being who they were."

"I think we are seeing a backlash to that too, it’s visceral to think about the fact that the stuff we thought was becoming so accepted is maybe taking a turn in the other direction, it’s heavy and is on our minds a lot."

The first movements behind the reunion happened during the pandemic when the band, along with fans online, watched a YouTube concert stream of an old 2006 show.

Del remembers viewing it and "being shocked at what we once did, we were kind of surprised, like oh we were a good band."

When looking ahead to the feeling of getting back on stage, he recalls "the memory of stepping out in front of people."

"It’s an experience you’re lucky if you ever have once and I get chills just thinking about when that will actually happen."

Tickets go on pre-sale on 6th November and general sale on 8th November.

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