From causing chaos with their riotous live shows to being the latest signing to Jack White’s Third Man Records, meet the Austin, Texas, quartet who are taking the world by storm, all on their own terms.

“It’s easier to just say ‘I hate women’ than accuse us of being industry plants,” laughs Die Spitz guitarist and vocalist Ava Schrobilgen. From the band’s rehearsal space couch in Austin, Texas, the four best pals have ended up on the subject of misogyny while discussing the DIY work ethic behind their rapid rise. “It’s because we’re doing well and people don’t like women.”

Just about every group of women who’ve had an explosive start in recent years has had to bear the brunt of such lazy labelling; just ask The Linda Lindas, Wet Leg or The Last Dinner Party, to name but a few. But more importantly - for every naysaying crank - there’s seemingly thousands more people ready to jump straight into a Die Spitz moshpit at the band’s increasingly notorious live shows.

“It’s just a compliment to us because we’re doing it ourselves and we’re learning along the way,” says Ava, who started the band with her childhood friends Eleanor Livingston (guitar/vocals) and Kate Halter (bass) before they found Chloe De St. Aubin (drums) weeks before their first ever show. A case of learning on the job, Eleanor says, “We would take any show that was offered to us and give it our all. It was that ‘fake it until you make it’ mindset.”

Their signature showmanship was present from the band’s first ever show, back in 2022 at Austin dive bar Hole In The Wall - a venue with the words ‘booze, brawls and bands behaving badly’ lettered upon its faded exterior sign. “We played awfully but we went completely insane on stage,” she laughs while cringing. “The songs did not deserve that level of energy but people moshed, glasses got broken and that was the start of it all.”

That abandon and playfulness was writ large across the band’s early recorded material; from the scuzzy grit of 2023 EP ‘Teeth’ right through to this month’s debut full-length ‘Something To Consume’, the evolution between those two releases is easily drawn. Take recent single ‘Throw Yourself To The Sword’, which ditches their garage rock roots for the kind of overblown metal riffs that fellow Texans Power Trip might call their own.

Having grown up listening to heavy metal giants, Eleanor says it’s inevitable that such influences crept into her own playing - alongside elements of shoegaze and grunge. “I was raised with bands like Sabbath, Ozzy and Maiden on the stereo. That genre was huge for me and it still is so we do have some heavier songs, it’s mainly for fun.”

Fun - and freedom - is exactly what the record boils down to, and that’s something the band have taken to the stage too, with crowdsurfing, cartwheels and flying kicks galore. “We’re always trying to make each other laugh onstage and play pranks on each other all the time,” says Kate. “We played this French festival that had a barber included and Chloe was planning on just rocking up with one of those soccer boy fades before our set.”

“It’s harder to gain respect; before you even put your foot in the door, you have to work ten times harder.”

— Eleanor Livingston

There’s no denying that ‘Something To Consume’ marks a moment of growth too. “We’ve got to give ourselves credit,” says Eleanor. “We’re just going to keep getting better. Do I think I’ve gotten better since we started? Fuck yeah! It’s cool to hear people notice the nuances and growth within our music now, that’s a really nice feeling.”

With the band selling out tours in Europe with barely any recorded material out in the world, it’s unsurprising that labels were all scrapping for the band’s signature in the run-up to their debut album. Ava says it was an easy decision moving forward with Jack White’s Third Man though.

“They were just the nicest and so artist-friendly. We love Jack White as well, it was fucking insane to watch him play guitar from the side of the stage. He’s one of the greatest guitar players of all time. He’s so awesome and so weird, so kind and so cool.” She puts on a piss-taking voice before impersonating the other major labels who came knocking: “Yeah, we’re the biggest label ever and you have to make three records we’ll own forever and you’ll sell your soul.”

Moving into the future, the band hope to use their rapidly growing platform to be the change they want to see. “We are going to have it harder than some bands,” says Eleanor. “It’s harder to gain respect; before you even put your foot in the door, you have to work ten times harder. We’ll be playing a festival and we’ll get comments all the time. It’s kick ass that we have this mixture of heavy and melodic songs, it’s a bit of a fuck you that shows we’re here to stay.”

Ultimately, they want a Die Spitz show to be a safe space for girls to come and let loose. “There’s not a lot of space for women in hard rock music or whatever. Also with so many guys down at the shows it can make it uncomfortable for women to want to come and get involved. I think making that arena for everyone - but particularly young women and queer people - to be fucking angry is cool.”

Whether it’s videos blowing up or hitting the road with celebrated names like Viagra Boys, you get the impression it’s all about enjoying the ride and having fun for these close mates. “It’s about being in every moment because we are sensitive people,” agrees Kate. “We’re all super grateful we get to do this with each other because we all get along so well: our wildest dreams are really coming true.”

‘Something To Consume’ is out now via Third Man Records.

As featured in the September 2025 issue of DIY, out now.

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