“You're a dumb cunt, you're an asshole,” Amy Taylor’s trademark sneer greets fans within the first seconds of new album ‘Cartoon Darkness’. A clear statement of defiance to the trolls and haters that have been sticking to high-voltage pub-rock band Amyl and The Sniffers like chewing gum since their debut back in 2016.

Since then, the Aussie band have been steadily gaining momentum thanks to their explosive live shows and Amy’s whirlwind energy that has her stomping along with the crowds, their breakneck style of punk seemingly as cathartic for her as it is for the audience. Through it all, Amyl and The Snffers have never lost that raw energy, winning over new fans supporting the likes of the Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters, and even squeezing in a stint at Glastonbury 2022.

What attracts fans all around the globe to Amyl and The Sniffers, to Amy Taylor, (aside from the fact that they’re THE hottest live band of the moment) is that they are and have always been unapologetically authentic. Both, on stage and off stage. There is nothing fake or “put on” about the way Amy carries herself, she is 100% herself and has no desire to change for anyone. In fact, she has a very clear message to people who demand her to be less: “I’m not for you, I never was for you, so like get the fuck out of my face”

But, as a woman who receives a lot of attention, as a woman who enjoys being “a scantily clad lady”, Amy is no stranger to the dark side of a rather shallow industry, or, let’s be honest, society as a whole. “I think people think that I’m very one dimensional. They go like ‘oh because of the way she looks and dresses, she must be a dumb arse. Or because of the way she speaks, she must be uneducated’,” she explains, talking about her experience of people talking down to her and making assumptions based on her thick accent and “loud” way of self-expression. This, of course, couldn’t be further from the truth.

As someone who – as Amy herself admits – wasn’t exactly political until she turned 23, she takes every opportunity to educate herself and other about prevalent issues around her. Starting with people groping her at shows or fans trying to kiss her on stage, to the sheer fact that it is not possible for women to walk home at night safely. A frustration that she addresses in explosive track ‘Knifey’ – “All I ever wanted was to walk by the park. All I ever wanted was to walk by the river, see the stars. Please, stop fucking me up. Out comes the night, out comes my knifey. This is how I get home nicely.”