Last Updated on 2025-05-29 by a-indie
For me, SAVAGES is one of the greatest bands since 2010.
The band itself has been on hiatus since 2017, but this interview is truly a miracle.
I want to once again express my gratitude to “Bella Union” for setting up the interview and to Fay Milton for her sincere answers.
Goddess is the solo project of Fay Milton, the drummer of the London post-punk band SAVAGES.
Her self-titled album “Goddess” is set to be released on May 30th.
The album features 10 singers, including Elena Tonra (Ex:Re), the frontwoman of Daughter, and a notable characteristic is that all of them are women or non-binary.
This time, we focused on her debut album “Goddess,” in which she stepped out from behind the drums into the role of producer, infusing a strong feminine energy throughout,
and also discussed her musical roots, her relationship with Japan and Buddhism, and her activities with the climate change activism charity “Music Declares Emergency,” which she co-founded in 2019.
BELONG Media / A-indie will also host an online analogue listening session with Goddess’ ZOOM on Saturday 7 June 2025, from 10am Japan time!
For listening session details and participation information, click ⏩️here or click the flyer image above🖱️
Childhood in London and Roots
-Yuuki Takita: Our media focuses on artists’ roots, the background of their music’s creation, and the music, culture, and art that influenced them. Since this is our first interview, we’d like to start by asking about you personally, to introduce your appeal to our readers. Could you tell us about your childhood and life growing up in your hometown, London? We’re also interested in hearing about the city itself and any culture or experiences there that influenced you.
Fay Milton: I grew up in a borough of South East London called Bromley. Bromley has roots in the punk and post punk scenes, with the ‘Bromley Contingent’, a group including Siouxie Sioux, Steve Severin and Billy Idol. David Bowie also grew up in the area, so there’s a rich musical history from this quiet suburb.
Growing up, I learned percussion and would be playing music together with all my friends at the local music centre every evening after school and at weekends in wind bands, orchestras and percussion ensembles.
My mother is a keen listener of contemporary classical music and I was lucky enough to be taken to lots of concerts as a child at the Southbank Centre and the Barbican in central London. Particularly influential concerts for me were hearing Steve Reich Clapping Music, ‘Momente’ by Stockhausen and a concert of Japanese experimental electronica called Japonica – where artists were performing music in a way I had never experienced before or since.
At University I studied a mixture of ‘world music’, contemporary music and music and sonic communication.
I was very lucky to have my mind expanded at a young age in terms of what music can be.
Encounter with the Drums
-Yuuki Takita: Could you please tell us about the events or influences that first inspired you to start making music? Also, you are widely known as the drummer for Savages (currently on hiatus). Could you share what led you to start playing the drums?
Fay Milton: I started playing the drums at age 8 because my next friend Lucy did and I copied everything she did. 🙂 In my early life, learning an instrument was very normal, but it’s less normal to keep going with it into adulthood. When I left University, I stopped music for a while and became a video artist and filmmaker for a few years, but then following a break-up, I suddenly had the urge to play the drums again and so I started practicing whenever I could. This time on the drum-kit with the hope of joining a band. I think there was something in the hurt of that break up that gave me a steely determination that it needs to become a drummer.
Experiences in Japan
-Yuuki Takita: We understand that you lived in Yamasaki-cho, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (now Shiso City) for work when you were 18. What were your experiences in Japan like back then? Are there any specific memories or inspirations you gained from your time here? If not, perhaps you could share any aspects of Japanese culture or music that you appreciate.
Fay Milton: Wow, it’s called Shiso City now! Staying in Japan when I was 18 was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. We were two young women living in the countryside volunteering at a Cheshire Home for cognitively disabled adults. We were treated so well by some many people, we also had so much fun, getting the bus into Osaka and staying up all night because we couldn’t afford a hotel room. I had a Japanese boyfriend called Aki. It was a huge experience for me. My mind was blown by how the young people embraced culture with such passion, including all sorts of Western music cultures but also traditional Japanese culture and a fashion culture that was from another world entirely. I feel like staying in Japan at such an influential age has mean that Japanese culture will always be a part of me.
- is a music media platform run by BELONG, a Japanese music organization. We publish music articles with a focus on indie music.