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Milkie Way

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Not to be confused with Mikey Way.
Milkie Way
Way performing in 2023
Background information
Birth nameRachel Alexandra Hastings
Also known as
  • Milkie Way
  • Girl in the Pit
Born (1997-12-09) 9 December 1997 (age 26)
County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Occupation(s)Musician
Member of

Rachel Alexandra Hastings (born 9 December 1997), known professionally as Milkie Way, is a Northern Irish musician from County Antrim. She spent time as a model and a concert photographer, and played bass guitar as a session musician for Barns Courtney after meeting him through her photography. She and Sam Matlock formed Wargasm in August 2019, which took Explicit: The Mixxxtape to No. 19 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart in 2022 and Venom to No. 88 on the UK Albums Chart in 2023. She has also featured on Trash Boat's 2021 single "Bad Entertainment", which she performed at that year's Heavy Music Awards, and Gunship's 2023 single "Monster in Paradise".

Life and career

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Rachel Alexandra Hastings was born in County Antrim on 9 December 1997.[a] She was raised on Motown, soul music, and pop music such as David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and the Temptations, got into guitar music via the Smashing Pumpkins and Bikini Kill,[5] and got into nu-metal via Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.[6] Aged 14 or 15, she taught herself bass guitar to spite an ex-boyfriend who had derided her musical ambitions.[7] She moved to London to study at London College of Fashion, but dropped out due to her inability to cope with being told what to do; shortly after dropping out, her modelling agency asked when she could move to Tokyo, as a Japanese agency was interested in signing her.[8] She also modelled alongside Cara Delevingne[7] and for Toni & Guy and Valentino campaigns.[9]

While at university, she would make friends by attending concerts with mosh pits, which she would photograph using disposable cameras; after accruing a collection, she launched the "Girl in the Pit" photography project, named after a sobriquet she had earned from her ubiquity at gigs.[10] As part of the project, she would photograph Dead!,[7] a band who took The Golden Age of Not Even Trying to No. 11 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart in 2018,[11] and would meet Barns Courtney after being given a press pass to Reading & Leeds Festivals,[10] who would take her on tour as his bass player.[12]

In 2018, after Dead! broke up, the band's Sam Matlock direct messaged Hastings asking if she played an instrument,[7] as he was looking to set up a band with female vocals and a riot grrrl attitude.[12] The pair later bonded over a love of nu metal acts such as Limp Bizkit.[13] The pair began producing pop punk,[1] but pivoted to producing nu metal after an incident in which Matlock rejuvenated a failing party with Limp Bizkit.[14] The pair later launched Wargasm in August 2019,[15] which took Explicit: The Mixxxtape to No. 19 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart in 2022 and Venom to No. 88 on the UK Albums Chart in 2023.[16] The band also played Reading and Leeds Festivals' Apex Stage in 2022, on which she was the only woman to perform that year.[17]

Milkie Way performing in London as part of Wargasm, 2023

In July 2021, Way featured on Trash Boat's "Bad Entertainment", a track about media bias.[18] The song featured on that band's Don't You Feel Amazing the month after,[19] which charted at No. 9 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart and No. 70 on the Scottish Albums Chart.[20] The band and Way performed the track at that year's Heavy Music Awards;[21] the ceremony's Twitch stream was banned for three days after Way appeared on stage with her nipples on show, prompting Way to sarcastically tweet that she could not believe how powerful her nipples were.[22] She also received tweets of support from Trash Boat's Tobi Duncan, who observed how hypocritical the ban was given that his nipples were also visible through his fishnet shirt, and from the award ceremony itself.[22] Matlock later attributed the ban to multiple fans of another artist reporting it.[4] In July 2023, she provided vocals for Gunship's "Monster in Paradise", which also featured Dave Lombardo, Tyler Bates, and Tim Cappello;[23] later that year, the track appeared on their album Unicorn,[24] which charted at No. 26 on the UK Albums Chart.[25]

Artistry

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In a January 2020 interview with Crowdsurf & Turf, Way cited vocal inspiration from Romily Alice of Japanese Voyeurs, on the grounds that her voice was the "perfect combination of sexy and aggressive".[26] When asked in an early 2021 interview with Fred Perry what subcultures inspired her, Way cited disco music, on the grounds that the genre was "as much about sex and drugs as rock and roll was, only everyone just looked much more grandiose",[27] and when asked who her style icons were by Rokit Vintage Clothing in March 2021, she cited Prince, Wendy O. Williams, Paris Hilton, Sora Choi, Tank Girl, 1980s cock rock, Dennis Rodman, Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, Brody Dalle, and Lady Gaga.[15]

Discography

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Main article: Wargasm (band) § Discography
Year Title Album Ref.
2021 "Bad Entertainment"
(Trash Boat featuring Milkie Way) 		Don't You Feel Amazing[19] [18]
2023 "Monster in Paradise"
(Gunship featuring Dave Lombardo, Tyler Bates, and Tim Cappello) 		Unicorn[24] [23]

Notes

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  1. ^
    • For her first and last name, see [1].
    • For her middle name, see [2].
    • For her birthday, see [3].
    • For her birthplace and year, see [4].

References

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  1. ^ a b "WARGASM on creating their spiky brand of electro-rock in AltPress issue #402 cover story". Alternative Press. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  2. ^ "HASTINGS RACHEL ALEXANDRA". ASCAP. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  3. ^ @milkieway_ (November 23, 2011). "oop. kinda forgot it's my birthday in 16 days" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ a b "Meet the rising NI heavy metal star who caused 'topless' stir at awards ceremony". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 2022-07-24. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  5. ^ Shutler, Ali (2023-10-27). "Wargasm: Thank you for the Venom". Dork. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  6. ^ "Nu-metal is cool now". The Face. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  7. ^ a b c d "Wargasm: Nu-Metal-Loving, Riot-Grrrl-Spirited U.K. Duo Are "Fire and Fire"". Revolver. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  8. ^ "The Downbeat Podcast w/ Milkie Way (Wargasm)". YouTube. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  9. ^ Summan, Yasmine (2020-03-13). "Female musicians breaking through the industry that you NEED to check out". Distorted Sound Magazine. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  10. ^ a b "WARGASM's Milkie Way: "If the choice isn't presented to you, do whatever you can to make one. Be a rebel and be an ally"". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  11. ^ "DEAD". Official Charts. 2018-02-04. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  12. ^ a b "WARGASM: "We stand for chaos"". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Wargasm: "Everyone takes themselves so seriously in the rock scene"". Upset. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  14. ^ ""Someone said that they were in a Portaloo while we were on stage, and the bass rumbled some excrement out of them." Getting to know Wargasm, the genre-splicing, Fred Durst-approved duo making major waves in modern metal". LouderSound. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Ten Minutes With Milkie Way". Rokit Vintage Clothing. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Wargasm". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  17. ^ Shutler, Ali (2023-06-27). "Why it's never been a better time to be a UK metalhead: "There's a sense of togetherness"". NME. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  18. ^ a b "Trash Boat team up with Wargasm's Milkie Way on new single Bad Entertainment". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Album review: Trash Boat – Don't You Feel Amazing?". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Trash Boat". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Trash Boat - Don't You Feel Amazing? (album review )". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  22. ^ a b Childers, Chad (2021-09-03). "Twitch Shut Down Heavy Music Awards Stream Over Nipple Incident". Loudwire. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  23. ^ a b "Hear Milkie Way, Dave Lombardo and more on Gunship's new single Monster In Paradise". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  24. ^ a b Marshall, Will (2023-09-29). "Gunship - Unicorn | Album Review". Noizze UK | Live Music | Reviews | Interviews | Podcasts. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  25. ^ "UNICORN". Official Charts. 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  26. ^ "Crowdsurf & Turf Meets: Wargasm". crowdsurf & turf. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  27. ^ "WARGASM Musicians — London". Retrieved 9 September 2021.
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