The Duke Spirit’s Liela Moss

Rock 'n' roll has experienced something of a rebirth in recent times, and there seems to be more young bands popping up right now than at any time since the '60s – which, of course, makes it more difficult for all concerned to stand out from the crowd. Fortunately, that’s never been a problem for afflicted North London’s top purveyors of down-and-dirty indie rock, The Duke Spirit. Combining bristling guitar with a rumbling monster of a rhythm section, the band’s music has been winning rave reviews from critics, fans and their guitar-wielding peers for their distinctive sound, and they have a front-woman with the talents to match: bold, beautiful and possessing a dark-as-midnight rock 'n' roll drawl. What’s more, she’s a committed vegetarian and friend to animals who’s not afraid to speak her mind – as we found out when we spoke to her. Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to introduce the lovely Liela Moss …

When and why did you go vegetarian?
When I was about 11. I think I’d seen some TV programmes about animals’ being injected with hormones to fatten them up, and I was struck with the utter absurdity of eating something with chemicals. I just thought about how abhorrent it was to eat something with a face in which all kinds of shit was being injected!

What did your parents think of it, and what did you say to them?
My mum probably instigated the vegetarianism. My dad’s father was a butcher – he thought I was a sentimental fool.

Was it an easy transition for you?
Yep – overnight. I didn’t even like meat that much … very chewy and fatty is mostly what I remember.

Being in a band, you must travel a lot. What do you eat when you’re travelling? Is it easy for you?
It’s fairly easy to avoid meat – hummus all the way! Spain is quite a hard country in which to avoid meat, so I end up eating a lot of bread when I’m there. Not so great!

What do you think it will take for more people to go vegetarian?
The corruption in food farming is what shocks most people – the notion that they’re being cheated, eating pulped chickens’ feet in their nuggets instead of flesh. Hopefully that’ll piss some people off enough to make them more mindful of what they stick in their gob.

Are there any animal issues that particularly interest you outside of vegetarianism?
I think it is preposterous to slap on makeup that may be tested on animals. How ridiculous to preen in front of a mirror when an animal has suffered for it. I buy makeup from health-food-type places or The Body Shop or Aveda.

Rock 'n' roll has once again taken the fashion world by storm, and the vintage look has been in style for quite a while now. One thing we’ve seen in line with this is that some people are choosing to wear fur – do you think that’s acceptable?
It is bollocks! No way.

Ahem, we couldn’t have put it better ourselves. Those interested in Ms Moss’ cruelty-free beauty tips ought to know which of those big, scary pharmaceuticals firms are testing their products on wee baby animals: Have a look at our beauty guide to find out.

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