High-energy rock’n’roll quartet VULVARINE is revving up to unleash their empowering sophomore album and Napalm Records debut, “Fast Lane” — and they’re kicking it into high gear. As part of the rollout, the band is dropping a turbo-charged cover of “Cheri Cheri Lady”, giving the iconic track a fierce new edge. In a special twist, bassist Robin Redbreast sits down with Femme Metal Webzine for a no-holds-barred interview, diving into the band’s sonic evolution, the production process behind Fast Lane, and the story behind their signing with Napalm Records.
So Robin, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine. How are you and how are these days treating you?
Well, thank you. I’m feeling pretty good. We’re two days before our next tour leg with Thundermother. So on Thursday, we’re going to Leipzig for the first show on Friday, and then we’re going to be on the road for almost three weeks again.
The formation of Vulvarine
First of all, I’d love to ask how Wolverine came together. I know you’ve already had a few releases under your belt, but this upcoming one feels like the big moment
We’d known each other for quite a while before starting the band—mostly from going out, catching shows, and just spending time in the same bars and clubs. Vienna’s not that big, and there aren’t too many rock or metal bars around, so you end up getting to know people pretty quickly when you’re part of that scene. There’s a scene here, and since we already knew each other, we felt it was time for Austria to have an all-female rock band. And that’s how Wolverine came to be.
The production of “Fastlane”
Listen, I wanted to ask you—”Fastlane” was released back on March 28th. What was the process of producing the album like, and when did you first start gathering ideas for it?
Well, songwriting is kind of a continuous process—it’s always happening in the background. But when we found out we’d be touring with Thundermother, we knew we wanted to bring a new record on the road with us. We got the news at the beginning of 2024.
Then, in the summer of 2024, we hit the studio and pushed to wrap up the recordings by autumn, so we could have the vinyl ready for the tour this spring. And we pulled it off! But yeah, that’s a short time to make a full record.
That’s also where the name “Fastlane“ comes from—we had to jump into the fast lane to make it all happen.
Vulvarine collaborating with three producers
And speaking of production, I know the album was made in collaboration with three different producers: Thomas Svanger, Dietmar Baumgartner, and Thomas Engelmayr. I wanted to ask—what was it like working with them, and what did you take away from that experience? There were a few reasons for involving multiple producers, and the first one was purely logistical.
So we recorded the instruments with Tom Svanger in Graz, which is a couple of hours away from where we live. But we did the vocals with Dietmar Baumgartner in Vienna to give our singer more flexibility time-wise. That way, she could say, ‘Okay, today’s a good day, I can record for a few hours,’ and maybe the next day wouldn’t be as productive—but at least she didn’t have to travel back and forth constantly. So it just made sense to keep that part of the process in Vienna.
Reason #2
Another reason for working with multiple producers was to get a wider range of input and feedback. We thought having more perspectives might help speed things up a bit. But of course, as much as we value the different inputs and areas of expertise each person brought to the record, it can sometimes get complicated when there are too many opinions in the mix, right? In the end, I think both approaches—working with one producer or several—have their pros and cons.
Logistically, it made sense and worked in our favor. But finding three producers who are all on the same page can be a challenge, don’t you think? Yeah, for sure. One really important aspect, though, was that Engelmayr handled the mixing entirely on his own.
So it wasn’t like all three of them were doing the mix together. Engel was the one who recorded the remaining instruments, overdubs, lead guitars, and percussion with us at his studio—and then he took over the mixing process
“not just because of the challenge of pulling it…”
I also read that “Fastlane” is considered Wolverine’s most ambitious album yet. Why is that?
It’s the most ambitious Vulvarine release so far—not just because of the challenge of pulling it off in such a short time, which I mentioned earlier, but also because we reached a new level in our songwriting, both as a band and as individual musicians. You know, the longer you do something, the better you usually get at it.
Also, the band’s lineup has changed, and you can feel that influence on the new album. I’d say it leans more towards hard rock now, whereas the first album had more of a punk rock vibe.”
The line-up change
How has this change influenced the album beyond just the musical shift? I mean, aside from the sound evolving, in what ways has the lineup change impacted the band as a whole?
Well, the songwriting process changed. There was a lot more interaction within the new lineup when it came to songwriting—between band members, but also through working on songs in different constellations. It wasn’t always the whole band together; sometimes I’d meet up with just the guitar player or the drummer, and the two of us would keep working on a song. We kind of built things loop by loop in these different pairings.
Overall, I feel like we’ve become more ambitious with this lineup. The people in the band now really have the spirit it takes. We share the same dream and the same passion, and we’re ready to give it everything to make it happen.
Vulvarine deal with Napalm Records
I wanted to ask—you know, this album is your first with Napalm Records. How did you girls get connected with them, and how has it been working with them so far?
Yeah, exactly. They’ve always been supportive of Austrian bands, and now they’re also making a point of increasingly supporting female artists—which is a great thing. And you know, the music scene in Austria isn’t that big. It’s a small country, so at a certain point in your career, you start crossing paths with key people.
We just naturally started a conversation with Napalm, and it turned out to feel like a great fit for both sides. We’re really happy about that, and the collaboration has been going well so far.
We’re now reaching a much bigger audience, which is, of course, super important for us. But at the same time, we know we have to prove ourselves—Napalm takes a risk every time they sign a band, especially smaller ones. So right now, we’re working hard to live up to that trust.
The two singles
And speaking of working hard—I know you’ve already released two singles so far: “For the Drugs, the Love and the Pain” and “Fool”. What you can tell me about these two songs, Robin?
The first single we released, along with the music video, was an experiment for us—it was the first time we worked with an external songwriter. That decision came partly because of time pressure, but also because we wanted to explore how it would feel to involve someone else in our songwriting process. Until then, we’d always written everything ourselves.
We were curious to see what kind of influence an outside perspective could bring. The songwriter was German producer Felix Heldt, who’s written for a lot of bands. We just wanted to get some expert input in terms of songwriting. He wrote the instrumental part of the track, and then we added the lyrics and vocal melody. It was a really interesting experience.
Also, it’s the shortest non-acoustic track on the album “Fool”—there’s only one acoustic song that’s a bit shorter.
As for “The Drugs, the Love and the Pain”, that one was written by Sandy, our guitarist. It’s the album opener and also the fastest song on the record. It has a real rock ’n’ roll energy—with an old-school intro riff that sets the tone right away.
The song itself is about being out and about, trying to escape from life for a little while—and I think that’s something a lot of people can relate to.
Vulvarine featuring Modern Talking’s “Cheri Cheri Lady”
And you know, I was also surprised—in a good way—to hear your cover of “Cheri Cheri Lady”. I have to confess something… I’m a little bit ashamed to admit it, but I secretly love Modern Talking songs. The songwriting is amazing! I wasn’t even born back then, but I’ve secretly had a crush on those tracks—especially “Jet Airliner” and “Do You Wanna”
I mean, I wouldn’t say that we are modern talking fans, but we are fans of their songwriting. But I know you have your answer.
I love the extremes.
So yeah, well, including a cover song on the album was actually a bit of a strategic move. Usually, you throw in a cover every now and then for live shows—to help engage the crowd a bit more, you know?
But this time, we thought it might be interesting to bring that idea into the studio and put it on the record. At first, we were discussing which song to cover, and the obvious thought was, ‘Okay, let’s pick a rock song.’
But then we thought—wouldn’t it be way more exciting to take a non-rock song and turn it into a rock song? Musically, that just felt like the more interesting challenge. And of course, with four people in the band, you need to find a song everyone can agree on—where everyone says, ‘Yeah, I’m in. This is gonna be fun.’
And “Cheri Cheri Lady” was honestly that one song where everyone immediately said, ‘Yes. This is great. Let’s do it. It’s honestly an amazing song—so well written. The melody is just… timeless. Timeless.
Putting to votes
And it’s kind of amazing to hear that you girls agreed on “Cheri Cheri Lady”—because, you know, you’d expect something different. You wouldn’t necessarily go digging into the ’80s, and especially not land on such a well-known pop song from that era. So it’s a bit surprising that everyone was on board with that choice!
We love the ’80s—not just ’80s rock, but the whole decade. There were so many amazing songs from that time. Everyone in the band threw their song ideas on the table. I remember “Like a Prayer” by Madonna was one of them, for example.”
It was hard to find a song that everyone agreed on. So we decided to do a vote—because with four different opinions, you need some kind of system to make a decision, right? And “Cheri Cheri Lady” got four yes votes. So that was it—the decision was final.
In the studio, we wanted to make the song our own. We mixed in so many subgenres of rock in this one cover—you’ve got a stoner rock vibe in the solo, a punk rock groove in the verse, four-on-the-floor in the first half of the chorus, and metal-style double bass in the second half. And I think it worked out well. It’s so much fun to play live!
Anyway, I’m really happy with it. And you know Dieter Bohlen from Modern Talking, right? He’s a great songwriter—but also very much an old white man. So we thought, ‘Alright, Dieter, watch this—we’ll show you another way to do it.’
The tour together with Thundermother
I know you girls are about to head out on a long European tour, and I wanted to ask—what are your expectations for that? We’re currently about halfway through the Thundermother tour now, right?
Thundermother—you know them—they’re a great all-female act from Sweden. We first met them back in 2023, when we had the chance to support them for one show in Nuremberg, Germany.
We immediately hit it off—backstage was a blast, and it was just great hanging out with them. Now, we’re lucky enough to be supporting them on their full European tour. We’ve already played 13 shows, and there are 13 more to go.
For us, this feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. You have to start somewhere, and being the support act for a bigger band is what helps get your career going, I think. We’re super excited.
Of course, you don’t get paid much for doing this—it’s more about the exposure. But it’s worth it because we’re playing to crowds of 800 to 2,000 people per night on average. And that’s just an incredible opportunity.
Yeah. Well, Robin, I wanted to thank you for the interview. I hope you did enjoy it.
And thank you for your time again. Thank you very much. You’re more than welcome