"It genuinely changed my brain chemistry." Turnstile's new guitarist Meg Mills explains how Freaky Friday inspired her to pick up a guitar

Meg Mills playing guitar placed next to a photo of Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan smiling — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Turnstile guitarist Meg Mills revealed she was inspired to pick up a guitar by 00s Jamie Lee Curtis/Lindsay Lohan movie Freaky Friday.

Speaking to Knotfest's Tori Kravitz for She's With The Band - a series celebrating women and femme people in the music industry - in September 2024, Mills discussed her journey through music, and why she started learning guitar in the first place.

"I genuinely think [Freaky Friday] changed my brain chemistry when I saw it aged ten or eleven," she says. "I thought it was the coolest thing ever. That scene where they're practicing in the basement... that's how I wanted to be."

Mills officially joined Turnstile earlier this year, after being recruited as a touring member in 2023. Prior to joining Turnstile, Mills played in UK hardcore bands including Big Cheese and Chubby And The Gang.

Speaking to Kravitz, Mills recalls her first show with Turnstile was a baptism by fire - at the 20,000 plus capacity Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota. "We hadn't had a full practice with lighting and everything yet," she recalls. "We walk up, it's dark and the lights come on, they were the brightest thing I've ever seen in my life, pointed directly into our faces. I couldn't see a thing, I was trying to play, doing my best, and it was like, 'This is insane!'

"I'd catch glimpses of the crowd like, 'What on earth is going on?' It was the most overstimulating, overwhelming thing that I've ever experienced."

She goes on to say she felt like she might just have to get used to experiences like that... only for her bandmates to also flag they were blinded by the lights.

"It turned out the lights were on full, maximum brightness," she reveals. "Everyone on stage had been struggling, like, 'What is going on?'"

Mills will make her official recording debut with Turnstile on the band's forthcoming fourth album Never Enough, due for release on June 6. The following week, the band will perform at the UK's Outbreak Festival alongside Knocked Loose, before later making their debut at Glastonbury.

Watch the full interview with Mills below.

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News editor for Metal Hammer, Rich has never met a feature he didn't fancy, which is just as well when it comes to covering everything rock, punk and metal for both print and online. He's as happy digging up new bands from around the world and covering scenes in countries like Morocco and Estonia as he is covering world-conquering acts like Sleep Token, Black Sabbath and Deftones.