We chat to Deborah Coughlin, leader of the haunting and melodic all female, Gaggle Girl Choir.

I am intrigued as to where this all began, I believe you were involved with a band previously to Gaggle. What made you make the change from an Indie Rock band to a fantastically evocative all female choir?

The band ended.  I had more time and just as much if not more creativity.  Plus I had the experience of being a woman in music, touring, putting on shows, living in vans, soundchecking, recording.  Gaggle was a reaction to that experience.  The only thing I could have made with the background I have, the things I'm good at, and the things I care about most.   

How did you initially bring all these women together to perform, and what were your original expectations?

There are lots of tales around the Gaggle community of how different people were asked to join, how they accidentally joined, how I even said to one they wouldn't have to sing!  Ha!  Im still not so sure that ones true!  But I started from 3 close friends and moved outwards, explaining how I was starting a choir, writing the music and my ambition was to make an album with this choir, tour and create the most exciting weirdest and smart girl gang ever.  In which I have succeeded!  

In regards to your most recent Video and the phenomenal costumes you wore, what was the inspiration behind them, I believe that oopsfashion.com created them, however I assume you all had some artistic input into the designs?

That would be our debut video for debut single I Hear flies.  Oops (the amazing Emily Bosence) designed the costumes with me for that period of Gaggle since then we've had many incarnations working with lots of different designers including William Raes, Roberto Piqueras, Naomi New, lots and lots of brilliant people but our main and most brilliant designer is Angela Marie Platt who I work really closely with and love.  She did the costumes for The Brilliant and the Dark (with Kathryn Bonner), Jools Holland and our most recent costumes for The Mouth of the Cave as well as many more.   

The costumes are incredibly important.  They are another expression of the same ideas and feelings.  About changing how women are viewed and how women can compete with each other.

What sort of reaction or thoughts were you encouraging your viewers to have in regards to the striking make up used in the video. Thick black lips suggest an attempt to cover or hide the part of the mouth that men find attractive? 

One of the Gaggles has a kinda motto "Confound Expectations", this is McClean, this is her motto as it were.  And it perfectly sums up what Gaggle is. Gaggle confounds the normal expectations of what a woman should be, sound like, look like, feel like, compete like, act like. The huge black lips are a joke but quite serious at the same time.  A dark brooding clown and the dead cold fillered lips of glamour model. We want people to listen to us. Natalie Sharp is our make up artist.