Wasps Vs Humans: Cork duo on making music together, and dealing with the trials of life
Linda Plover and Carl Plover of Wasps vs Humans.
With Andrew Tate still awaiting trial for sex trafficking in Romania, and his ongoing status as one of the most high-profile purveyors of misogynist views, the parents of teenage boys might be forgiven for worrying about the existence of just one influencer like Tate in the world, not to mention 20 million more like him.
Punk poet Carl Antony Plover’s catchy, thematic lyrics capture the queasy state of affairs where a man like Tate can become a role model in '20 Million Andrew Tates', a single from his freshly pressed album which launches this week.
“I was reading this article and the journalist said, the issue with Andrew Tate is that he has 20 million followers, so it’s like there’s 20 million Andrew Tates, which is a really upsetting idea,” Carl says.
“The influence he has, how he talks about women and masculinity, is really so concerning. We have teenage sons, so I think it’s important to highlight this stuff. I want my songs to have an emotional perspective on the world around us, on the things we see like street crime and celebrity culture, and the shitty things that are happening, but doing it with a bit of humour.”
As Wasps Vs Humans, Carl has been a solo stalwart of the Irish alternative music scene for many years, his words commentating on everything from celebrity plastic surgery to the daily grind of paying the bills, as he's shared line-ups with figures like John Cooper Clarke, Scroobius Pip and Jinx Lennon.
But within the past year, and now with the release of a new album, Scratchcard Empires, a very different Wasps Vs Humans has emerged, now a duo: Carl’s wife Linda, a multi-instrumentalist who worked in music events management in Cork for years, has joined the project.
The Plovers have lived in the Cork suburb of Carrigaline for 25 years: their sons are now 19 and 16, and the couple joke that they are on the verge of becoming musical empty-nesters.
“For so many years, we both couldn’t go out performing: babysitters cost a fortune,” Linda says. “We had released two singles as a duo, under the name of Chunky Planet, more than 20 years ago, but then I got more career-driven and we had the boys and it sort of disappeared into obscurity.”
Finding her voice again after throat surgery Linda’s presence in Wasps Vs Humans has brought a folkier, more melodic side to what was once Carl’s solo repertoire: she plays bodhrán and tin whistle on several tracks on Scratchcard Empires, and there’s her voice, too: a voice she once feared she would lose for good.
In 2019, she underwent thyroid surgery for a “tumour the size of a small orange". In the aftermath of the surgery, over 18 months as she recovered her voice, she says she really considered her relationship with her voice, and that it revived the singing spark in her.
“But it has taken a long time,” Linda says. “It has literally been in the last year that I have been hitting those high notes, and still, it’s a bit like being on a diving board: will it happen, is it going to crack? Maybe it kind of spurred me on, having come close to losing it.”
Like all couples, they weather the trials and tribulations of life, and its tragedies too: Linda’s stepdaughter from a previous relationship, Joy, was lost to suicide in 2021, inspiring her to create music and mental health festival Joy in the Park, held in Cork’s Fitzgerald’s Park each summer.
“It’s still hard, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about her,” Linda says “Joy in the Park was me really just wanting to do something that reflected what Joy was about. If there is someone who is not in a great place, people can tap into it and get something positive: it’s quite healing to feel that something good can come of this.”
Carl and Linda look at each other and smile. “Yes, it’s certainly been a journey, but that’s life, isn’t it?” Carl says.
“There are good days and bad days, good gigs and bad gigs, parenting and working and having to be practical and pay for things. But creativity is the cement holding the bridge together.
“Life gets in the way, doesn’t it? You have work and other commitments, so carving out a bit of time for music, that’s our time. It’s not family time, or work time, or pay-the-bill time: it’s us time.”
- Wasps Vs Humans’ Scratchcard Empires is released on Friday October 4, with downloads available via their Bandcamp page.
- A pre-release launch show will be held at the Crane Lane Theatre in Cork city on Thursday, September 26, with touring dates to follow
