VenusZine_No6.pdf
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- VenusZine_No6.pdf
- extracted text
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DEAL WI:TH I:T!
deals with
boob~h~/=se
to safer sex to
Sa•~~ sexual preference, .
and more ......
I'
'm writing you this lett_er at 3 a.m. ~n a ~ednesday - make
,. that a Thursday. I m gomg to the prmter m JUSt a few
hours, and I'm not quite done. Yep, Last Minute is my middle name.
I won't really believe that I've finished this issue until I see it
in print. It's been on my computer for about a year, and for the
small handful of people who've actually read Venus before, well,
they probably won't believe it either. For the many other people
who've never heard of Venus until now, I'm about to tell you
why.
I write you this letter from Naperville, Illinois, a suburb about
25 minutes west of Chicago. By the time you read this letter, I
will be in San Francisco. I've been doing a lotta moving, and I'll
explain that in just a few seconds.
I started Venus about five years ago as a freshman in my dorm
room at Michigan State University. The first issue took only
one day to make. It was about 10 er so pages, and it was constructed in part with a word processor, in part with a glue stick
and markers. I continued printing a new issue about once a
year, each issue getting a bit better, a bit thicker. I've now
decided that I'm going to print four issues per year, distributing
around the country (and not just in Michigan where it was distributed exclusively before) starting with this sucker.
So, back to the moving thing. It all started almost a year ago
in East Lansing, Michigan, where I was on the five-year program at the previously mentioned Moo U. I majored in
women's studies, which I've been defending since I moved to
New York City and started interviewing for jobs - what I did
right after graduation. I moved in with my best friend, J. Pants
Showers, in Brooklyn, and thought I'd be able to follow my
dream of getting a dope job, getting my own apartment and
living happily ever after.
Well, that didn't quite happen. I'd go to interviews, and I was
either inexperienced, overqualified or my personal favorite "You
have a lot of experience in entertainment writing; are you sure
you won't get bored here?" There was also: "Why don't you get
some investors and make Venus your full-time job?"
Hello? I'd love to do that, but I don't really want to go the
investors route. I'd rather just do things my way, the only way
I'm really comfortable doing anything. So anyway, after about a
month in New York (and thinking I'd be unemployed forever), I
ended up getting a job as a copy editor for a hip-hop magazine.
I loved it, but I couldn't afford to live in NYC. So with my bago-clothes, inflatable mattress and, of course, my computer, I
moved to the ville de Naper d'Illinois to live with my sister. I
figured: The Windy City (my at-the-time goal for a place to
live) is cheaper, the goddman Midwest (which I desperately
missed for the first time in my life), easier and, well, my
boyfriend was go~ng to move there (that flopped about two
weeks after I moved: wouldn'tchaknow.)
So anyway, my sister, a social worker and all-around good gal,
I
lJ
let me live with her. My rationale was this: I get a job as a
designer for whomever'll take me, and then I'll have plenty of
energy left over to work on Venus, my real dream.
The opposite happened. I got a design job at a podunk newspaper, and the whopping three weeks I was there, I spent all my
time thinking that I should be at home working on Venus.
Hence, by the time I got home, I'd used up all my energy thinking that I shoulda been working on Venus, rendering me to complain about staring at a computa screen all day, and hence, not
to work on Venus.
My next plan of attack?
Quit the day job. No two-week notice. Nothing.
The next two months were the weirdest of my life but probably the most important. Although I experienced a wonderful
sensation of I-quit-my-job-and-isn't-it-fabulous, it lasted all of
one day, and then I was like, "What to do now?"
OK, yeah, do Venus. But how do you plan to make money? I
know: work at Kinko's; that way I can get discounts on copies. I
applied to Kinko's and didn't get hired. I think I failed the
interview when they asked me how long I intended to work,
and I answered, "Ugh, I don't know. Maybe a coupla months."
On to plan B, or is it plan C by now? Plan whateva was to be a
free-lance writer. This plan was working. Sure, I spent most of
the time just trying to get assignments and less of my time
actually writing the stories, but suddenly I was able to support
myself - sort of. The only downfall of free-lance writing is
that you work at home all day, and in my case, that meant sitting at a desk that was inside my sister's closet. Not that her
closet isn't nice, it's just that it's a bit dark.
Outta the blue, I get a call from the publisher of a San
Francisco magazine, for which I'd interned and long-distance
edited during college. He said, "Amy, I thought you were going
to move back to San Francisco after you graduated?"
"I was?"
"Yes, that's what you said."
"Oh, I forgot."
"What are you doing now?"
'Tm free-lancing and junk."
"Would you like to work here?"
Hell yeah.
That's the end of the story, so I'm off to San Francisco for
my first real job. I'm still going to print Venus on a quarterly
basis as planned because I can't picture myself not doing it.
If I've learned anything this past year, it's that you've got to
do what you really want to do. Even if you have to put your
pride on the line, just do it. It all pays off in the end to follow
your heart.
The moral of the story? Well, unless you're supporting a
family, find a day job that you really love. Even if it pays shit.
Or, if you can't afford to do that, never lose site of what you
--Amy Schroeder
really want to do.
a riew web resource for grrls who are into DIY, self-expression and creativity. Join t he revo!utiono
SEND LETTERS TO
VENUSMAG@AOL.COM
I was really impressed with Venus
No. 5 (The Midwestern Viewpoint
Issue). I really liked how the interviews took on a feminist perspective.
You seemed to get some information
out of these women that I've never
read before. In your interview with
Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino, she
stated that when women rock out
they are perceived as being in a state
if hysteria. This zine gave me a lot of
helpful information. I'm studying
telecommunication with an emphasis
on audio at Michigan State
University, so I'll be entering the
male-dominated recording industry.
You gave me a little more fuel for my fire. The more I know the more
I (with other women) can change the music industry.
AUDRA MARKS
EAST LANSING, ML
I sometimes run a web site for Helium, and I'm very interested in
your interview with Mary
Timony. Mary is a lot of fun,
and I find her a little fascinating as well. She's so selfeffacing, but the stuff she creates is so wonderful. I'm also
enclosing a recent snapshot,
in case you find it useful in a
future issue. The photo was
taken at the Knitting Factory in
December 1998.
SCOTT BATTEN
NEW YORK, N.Y,
I have just received my first
copy of Venus , and I am very
impressed. I read it from front
cover to back cover. I found it
to be informative, entertaining,
imaginative
and
smart!
Wonderful layout to boot!
Page 11 's "Electric Women" is
exceptional. I really enjoyed
the article on Misconstrued
Liberalism and Ms. Gillespie, but also got a real kick and a few
laughs on the Midwestern viewpoint and reading about your various
scenarios. Your band interviews were interesting too. I like everything.
TAMMY FERRANTI-LANSDOWN
BELLFLOWER, CA
Liked Venus No. 5 very much, though , girl, you're missing Indiana from
your story ("Everything You Never Needed to Know about the
Midwest.")
AYUN HALLIDAY
EDITOR, THE EAST VILLAGE INKY
NEW YORK, NY
Our response: She's right -we failed to mention the Hoosier state. And I truly
apologize. Truth is, we kept looking for interesting or weirdish facts about
Indiana, but we couldn't find any. We almost wrote about Dave Lettennan
being from Indianapolis, but who really cares about that? If anyone knows
some fabulous facts about Indiana and can fill us in, that'd be great.
PAGE NUMBERS
27
INTERVIEWS
17 Although KIM PIETERS sent us a downloadable photo
of herself via e-mail, Venus' editor sucks at solving computer problems. Hence, there's no photo. We really apologize for this. Maybe it's because the photo was sent from
New Zealand. I have no idea.
18 JEN WOOD
19 LE TIGRE put the uh-huh, that's right into this issue.
22 Her Royal Truxness: JENNIFER HERREMA
23 RACHEL GRIMES of Rachel's
25 TARA JANE O'NEIL
27 Detroit DJ HANNAH SAWTELL
29 DANIELLE HOWLE
31 What should we call this story? The C in Cake? No,
that's how the Sea and Cake got their name. We're not writing about them. Duh. This magazine is about women in
music. Have your cake and like it too? No, that's dumb. how
bout an interview with CAKE LIKE? Sounds good.
33 Former New Radiant Storm King drummer ELIZABETH
SHARP tells us what's up with what's going down and her
new band, Ill Ease, via e-mail. "It's a hell of a lot better than
getting drunk at some bar while being
interviewed."
35 Atari Teenage Riot's HANIN ELIAS
37
talks about Fatal, a non-hierarchical
record label for women. This news just
in: Elias is scheduled to release a solo
album sometime this year.
37 Let's get over all this talk of how cute
Miho Hatori is and the neato factor of
Yuka Honda and Sean Lennon's hookup.
Let's get to the point: CIBO MATTO is
the dope shit.
FULL-LENGTHS
15 DANCE IN DETROIT
42 ISSUE OF THE ISSUE: Images of
Women in the media: Two essays; well,
three, really.
45 DOPE-ASS ZINES and the women
who make them.
RANDOM
12 YOPINION: Dumping seems to be a very popular subject
to write about lately. by Lynda Twardowski
13 YOPINION: How To Live Cheap-ass in NYC by April Fresh
14 Three photos by a Midwesterner in New York
49 WOULDN'TCHAKNOW? "fruit-flavored rings" taste test
REGULARS
5 PRELUDES: More information about the articles in this issue.
6 CONTRIBUTORS: Get in on the action
7 IN SHORT: News and reviews
11 Q&A: A Tribute to the Mixed Tape
48 CLASSYFIEDS: more like a forum of information for writers, zine makers, record labels and other good stuff
50 AND THEN SOME: Who doesn't like looking at more photos?
4
FOOTNOTES
I
n every issue of Venus, we pick one question
for several musicians to answer. The question
for this issue is "What 10 songs would you put
on the A side of yer own mixed tape." To make
the question a bit more challenging, we asked
six women (see page 11) to tell us their favorite
10 songs of all time. I was really looking forward
to hearing MOE TUCKER's answer because she
is, after all, one of the most influential women of
rock. She's also one of
the first well-recognized female drummers in history.
When I received her
list of songs, she didn't
bother to mention the
artists of the songs. She
shouldn't have to, but
unfortunately, I didn't know who recorded all
the songs, and I wanted to list the artists with
their respective songs. So, I sent an e-mail message back to Moe, asking her to tell me who
some of the artists were. Her response? "You
must be young."
Speaking of mixed tapes, I really like ELIZABETH
SHARP's philosophy: "I'm pretty into the art of
mix tapes - it's not just about slapping together
any ol' 10 great songs. You have to allow some
breathing room, peaks and valleys, time to
come down etc., etc., etc."
Speaking of E. Sharp, I received a cool e-mail
message from JESSAMIN SWEARINGEN, a college friend of her's. She had quite a bit of cool
stuff to say about Sharp: "We went to
Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts total Weirdsville, but GREAT music. Apparently
there's a direct relationship between collegiate
neurosis and song writing talent. ELLIOTT SMITH
and his old band, Heatmiser, come from there,
and the loveable townies: DINO JR,
GOBBLEHOOF and SEBADOH.
Sharp used to play in NEW RADIANT STORM
KING, then left to form a band called SKINNER
PILOT. We all shared a practice space for a
while in Brooklyn, but that was a long long time
ago.
I didn't really know Sharp much in college; we
were dueling workaholic musicians. We ended
up hanging out with, or dating a lot of the same
people (and Hampshire is about as small as KMart.)
I do know that we entered Hampshire in fall of
'89. She was from the D.C. area and steeped in
that straight-edge DISCHORD vibe of the holier-
than-thou politically correct '80s.
She played drums for a band called MYTH OF
SYSIPHUS (don't remember how it's spelled) with
some older students, and they kinda sucked, so
she and their bass player formed New Radiant
Storm King with two other '89ers (Do your own
research on NRSK; they had brilliant moments.)
Sharp was one of the most evocative, different drummers I had ever heard. Listen to "New
Math" on NRSK's Rival
Time, and you'll know
what I mean. I first
recall seeing her play
bass when the members of Storm King
switched instruments
for a cover of their
departed guitarist's
"theme" song.
Then around 1992 or '93, she started playing
bass for this band called Skinner Pilot, which was
this guy Andrew Zarco who entered a year after
us, and drummer Andy Montleonne who played
off and on for a band called Beth's Clit. They all
relocated to Brooklyn in '97 after stints in
Georgia and Minneapolis.
The last time I saw Sharp, I had just had my
wisdom teeth removed . She came over with
some cherry ice cream, and we smoked a ton
of pot and watched Welcome to the Doi/house.
She kept telling me about this side project away
from Skinner Pilot, and I was psyched for her,
because I thought that Zarco was a lame
Peyton (NRSK) rip off, and her own music was
better.
So there you have it.
Me? I'm a New York City web developer and
educator. I have endured the surreal experience of teaching junior high at my old high
school for the past two years while completing
a master's in computer geekery at Columbia's
teachers college.
I wrote an undergrad thesis on the
Emergence of Punk Rock in the States around
'92 to '93 and continued to write about rock
music until the fall of '98 when I basically
stopped playing in my own band (VELMA) and
writing about stuff, because the NYC scene and
indie-rock stuff was just stale. I've been focusing
on the web and educational resources since
then, but I still love the whole rock as sociology
thing."
Check out her web site: www.jessamin.com.
- compiled by Amy S.
(ELIZABETH) SHARP WAS
ONE OF THE MOST
EVOCATIVE, DIFFERENT
DRUMMERS I HAD EVER
HEARD.
ALL THIS PLUS
MUCHMORE IN
VENUS
NO. 7/MAY 2000:
Sleater-Kinney
Mary Tirnony
Broadcast
Sarah Cracknell
Worst jobs, dope
jobs, dream jobs
Your Inventions
Photographer
Cynthia Connolly
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t h a n ks i n advan ce
from
5
WHO IT IS
CONTRIBUTORS
~B&lh-lllhf
aa
•""'
ii:'
I!
ii'
..
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-
II
•
II'
M
•
Editor/Art Director
AMY SCHROEDER
Writers
AMY BEVEVINO
MEGHAN BUSLEPP
APRIL FRESH
MIKE HASTINGS
ROB KOWALCZYK
ELISA LUDWIG
LYNDA TWARDOWSKI
TAMARA WARREN
MACKENZIE WILSON
Shooters
JAREK CARETHERS
NICOLA KUPERUS
DYLAN DUEL
JULIE SHOWERS
Assistant Editor
PETER NOLAN
Assistant Copy Editor
JON "SCOOPS"
MAHALAK
Send all mail to:
420 Indiana Street
Vallejo, CA 94590
E-mail:
Venusmag@aol.com
Site:
WWW.
shemadethis.com
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Subscriptions:
4issues
for
$11.95
Venus is a planet.
It's also the name
of this zine.
APRIL FRESH is originally from Canada, but now she "lives and rocks"
in New York City. She's been playing bass for seven years. Fresh used to
play in Tristan Psionic, "a semi-well-known Canadian indie band" on the
Sonic Unyon label but quit to move to the big city and play even more. "I
write stuff about the world around me and how most of it is pretty fucked
up. I make art in the same manner. I have two chapbooks of my writing
available." Her web site is www.april-fresh.com. Fresh wrote a guide to
living cheaper in New York for this issue.
TAMARA WARREN is an aspiring (struggling) writer and potential (hopeful) filmmaker. She has
spent the past five years crafting her memoir about her 89-year-old grandfather, Opa, reflecting
on his survival of Auschwitz and Communist persecution, but also his influential positive attitude
and his sillier side, playing games like Who Can Scream the Loudest? Ms. Warren is building a
documentary for the younger generation about her story. She moonlights as a freelance journalist and writing consultant. Warren is sort of like Venus' Detroit correspondent. In this issue,
she has written two stories on location (she lives there): Dunham dance and DJ Hannah Sawtell.
J. PANTS SHOWERS has been contributing to Venus since it got its start in
1995. In past issues, she drew a cartoon about the life and times of a character
named Pants and participated in the egg-and-spoon race in Venus' 1997 "sports"
issue. The 23-year-old who "lives in Brooklyn this month" photographed both the
Cibo Matto and Cake Like stories. "I couldn't get my camera fixed in time, so I
rented one, and the store gave me a camera with duct tape holding the battery
on. When I went to photograph Cake Like in Manhattan, they asked if I was just
a fan -- I guess they didn't think I was a photographer." When not inspiring
Venus editor Amy Schroeder to get her shit togetha, Showers works as a designer for The New York Observer and runs a gardening service on the side.
MACKENZIE WILSON is a 22-year old Michigander. While freelancing for various publications
such as College Monthly 101, the College Press Network and The Flint Journal, Wilson also deejays for Michigan State University's radio station. Aside from her jaunt as an inspiring rock journalist, her work also has appeared on Rolling Stone Online. Wilson wrote the Cake Like story in
this issue. "Nina and Kerry were a blast -- totally down to earth and very excited about their
band. I was a little bit nervous that they would peg me as this conservative college geek, but
they were so funny and articulate about things going on in their lives. They are busy women who
keep it together, and they don't mind that the world is moving at light speed. They keep things
real, and it's really good to know that some people out there enjoy what they're doing and don't
get side-tracked by all the social bru-ha ha."
AMY BEVEVINO is a down-and-out post-graduate English major "in search of some excitement." She lives in East Lansing, Michigan, and works as a substitute teacher. "I am still writing
and attending poetry workshops under the instruction of poet Diane Wakoski with
a group of other women. I hope Venus will make it big, hire me, and save me
from grad school." Bevevino and her former college roommate, Meghan Buslepp
both wrote essays about women's images in the media.
EUSA LUDWIG is 24 and lives in Philadelphia. Besides writing about indie music
she is finishing up a master's in Creative Writing at Temple University and a collection of short stories, which she hopes to publish soon. She interviewed Jen
Wood for this issue.
DYLAN DUEL is 20 years old, and her parents named her after Bob Dylan. She
studies psychology and women's studies at Michigan State University. She plans
to join the Peace Corps once she gradgitates. She has red hair, freckles and the
ability to wave her hands in the air like she just don't care. Actually, she does care
-- about a lot. When asked to write a profile of herself, she avoided the sitch for
several months and then finally wrote, "I pick my nose." Then she said, "No, don't
put that." Then she said, "OK, it's true for Goddess' sake." Duel photographed the
Loopy Frooty Things taste test for this issue.
6
■
I
We fell in love with Tracy
Chapman for her simple,
sobering folkish songs in 1988
when she released her debut
self-titled album featuring the
big hit "Fast Car." At a time
when Reagan ruled and
Poisonous rock and shallow
pop topped the charts,
Chapman's songs not only
served as a breath of fresh air
Who It Is: It's amazingly inspirational to hear that the members of this
but also a wake-up call. The
Ontario quartet are all between the ages of 15 and 18. Since Kittie
Cleveland native sang about
makes some of the hardest, thrashingest metal I've ever heard, I
tough times, survival and
probably don't have to tell you that their youth serves their energy facpoverty. Finally, by the end of
The latest Sue Garner and
tor well. Pictured from top left are bassist Tanya Candler, drummer
the '80s, someone was using
Rick Brown project is, in
Mercedes Lander, singer Morgan Lander and guitarist Fallon
honesty and personal experithree words, stunning
Bowman.
ence to write songs about what
melodic rock. The wifeThe Music: Kittie's been playing metal for several years, and their
really mattered.
and-husband duo boast
12-song debut, Spit, was released on Artemis Records on January
A year later, she released
impressive rock resumes -11. "We're intense and a lot of people don't expect it," says Mercedes
Crossroads, which, because of
both are alums of Run On,
in their press release. "That's why 'Spit' is my favorite song in the
its predecessor's popularity and Garner is a former
world. People expect us to suck, then we get on stage and blow them
and
because people expected
member of both Fish &
away. One minute they're just standing there, then their mouths drop
a "Fast Car Part II" and didn't
Roses and the post-punk
open and their dicks feel small."
get it -- received mixed
girl group the Shams. For
The Dope Shit: During live performances, Tanya tears apart blow-up
reviews.
She then took three
the 12-track album, Garner
dolls by biting the crotch out of it and spitting it into the audience. The
years off before recording
and Brown recruited
point? She says the destoration of the female doll represents the
1992's Matters of the Hearl
Tortoise's Douglas
destoration of what men think of women . Kittie's not only comfortable
and then 1995's New
McCombs, rocker Tara Key
with their sexuality -- they define it -- and they're still in high school to
which boasted
Beginning,
and producer/mixer extraboot.
uplifting messages and an eleordinnaires Chris Stamey
ment of rock.
and Doug Weiselman. All
Chapman has been defined by
four donate impressive
her highly successful debut, and
instrumental work, making
it's been difficult for many listenfor the album's full effect -ers to appreciate her diversions
not to mention a significant
in
style. Her latest album, Telling
transition in mood from
Stories, is worthy of praise and
song to song. You can do
contains elements from both her
all the indie-rock familyearlier work as well as a new
tree tracing and linking you
style
of song writing. She reintrowant, but the main thing to
duces herself as the artist with
focus on here is Garner's
some of the richest, mellowist
graceful lyricism and
vocals
around, and reminds us
Brown & Company's powthat her talent is being able to
erful instrumental bliss. On
mix her signature folk with other
.·.··\. "~
t"' 'i:i:mn
some songs, you'll recogcharacteristics - in this case,
nize Garner's affinity for
Staryit;g: Julie Doiron. is the former bassist of the Nova Scotiaba"d
country. The 11-song album
country ballads mixed with
Eric;, [trip. V\(h n she parted with the Trip in 1996, she started doir,g
holds
true to its title, telling poetic
straight-up rock 'n' roll; on
berpwn stuff on h~r own label (Sappy) under the moniker Broken Girl?
stories about strength, pain and
others, she is a slow-jazz
Since .then, . she's recorded .a coupla dope records (using her real
love. One of the album's standsongstress. On "Damp
namel,Ancluding tier late~teponympus number with a dope collectiye
outs
is "Paper and Ink," in which
Spirit," Garner's indecipher<•
called TheWoodep Stars.
}
Chapman
sings "Money's only
able chant-like vocals are
ft,lltttring; a pertectcombination of gentle guitar, drums, bass and
paper only ink/We'll destroy ourlooped with simple drums,
s~dl¥sweet vocals. Ms. Doiron's got a real talertforteliing little stories
selves if we can't agree." Guest
guitar chords and percus'- al'.!~.aU the d7tails -- about what'~going on in her lif7. Fordnstanpe;
vocals
by Emmylou Harris along
sion. Garner and the gang
ontr~song "]tie LongestWinter," she sings, "Not even prankcallsar~
with
sounds
of mandolin, melody
also do an impressive to.r etpjQg tC> p~s~ fh~J ime/ On "Dance Music," she sings, "Please furn
harp and pedal steel provide an
the-point rendition of John
off ypurdance music; please go to bed now; I won't get up too early
Lennon's "It's So Hard."
torppl'fow, lyi,on"tstay up too late tpnight. Cuz J'm tire~,"And on •;~4 attractive country quality throughout the majority of the songs.
>con.~ra!re/ s~: sings en francais,.so l]m really sorry, but my high school
and 9ptleg~ ~t:Jc>Btion dldp't do a good job of teaching me French.
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Maffeo; "The . Sl<in," asyper-coql, spacey·. .. . . .• • •
head--nodder in.which !rownst!il'l plays g~itar
and sorreVelv't S~alij~A' Larsentalk~; \
''I KnewT hem,1'..·Slim.Moon's..tra,nce7y.hiprhop
word art with theremin by KO.; and Qh,.geez, •••
•· •·•·•·• I0tsmore; butlook: Nol'l10re·room to write! r • •
P·
Q!
Who It Is: Sally Bunny Timms not only cofronts the legendary punk band Mekons,
she's also the only British person I can think
of who can sing the country blues. Her previous solo recording was a five-song-only
EP called Cowboy Sally, and it left quite a
few Timms followers saying, "That was so
dope, I'm pumped to hear more." After waiting two years since the Bloodshot release,
she gives us the real deal: a full-length on
the same label, creatively -- and not jokingly -- titled Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments
Introducing: The Dishes have earned quite a reputation as one of the loudest,
fastest, most entertaining bands in Chicago. The all-woman quartet make short,
ruggedly tight three-chord punkish rock songs about, well, whateva they want.
In the case of their upcoming debut eponymous late-March release, they sing
about being "Punch Drunk," "French Kissing" and "Burnin' Up," among other
rawkin numbers, successfully packing 13 songs in less than half an hour. With
their no-fuss-about-'em-energy-charged combo of guitar, drums, bass and
Sarah Staskauskas' uh-huh-yeah lead vocals, the Dishes aren't a far cry from
the Ramones, the Donnas or Ramones.
Who it is: Guitarist Kiki Yablon, vocalist Sarah Staskauskas, drummer Graeme
Gibson and bassist Sharon Maloy.
The Scoop (a short interview with Kiki Yablon): If there's something people
should know about The Dishes (that they wouldn't otherwise unless we told
them) what would it be? "Sharon says I should make sure you know we're all
virgins. But seriously, pretty much nobody knows anything about us at this point
unless you tell them. Also, it bothers me a little how we almost always get compared to other female or female-led bands. (Really the whole comparison game
is sort of a critical crutch anyway, but that's another issue.) One guy recently
said we sounded 'like a more together Raincoats, or maybe the Muffs.' Listen
to, say, Odyshape, and try to figure that one out. It's not that I care if people discuss our gender; I don't pretend it has nothing to do with the appeal. I mean, if
there's a band of attractive women rocking out on one side of the room and a
band of white guys in baseball hats on the other, who am I going to look at first?
Maybe it's just that most people listen to vocals above all else, and our vocals
are female. But it'd be nice if they dug deeper.
for Lost Buckaroos.
The Dope Shit: This woman's got taste, all
right. Her beautiful vocals give new name to
the concept of the cover on the Velvet
Underground's "Lonesome Cowboy Bill"
and Modest Mouse's "Cowboy Dan.''
Standouts include the Johnny Cash's "Cry,
Cry, Cry" and Guy Lawrence's "Dreaming
Cowboy."
And Get This: When she's not touring, she
works part time as a publicist for Chicago ~
publicity company Biz 3.
BIG NEWS IN
CHITOWN:
LOUNGE AX
CLOSES
Who: You probably know all about
Mary Lou Lord, but I'll tell you more
about her just for fun. She's an
excellent songwriter with an edge
for her kinda pop, country and
punk. She's a major player in the
Seattle/Olympia, Washington , rock
community. Oh yeah, and she used
to go out with Kurt Cobain.
It would be pretty cool if Sean
Na Na's real name was really Na
Na, but it's actually Tillmann . He
used to be in a punk band called
Calvin Krime.
What: The two have recorded a
split EP -- three songs each . Ms.
Lord revamps songs by Janis
Martin, Lucinda Williams and Bevis
Frond. The CD opens with "Bang
Bang ," a swing song recorded in a
barn and backed by a band called
the Raging Teens. "Hard Road" is a
slower, country-ish song flavored
with mandolin. "Aim Low" is a pop
song aided nicely with backing
vocals by Buffalo Tom's Bill
Janovitz.
Mr. Na Na's first song is called
"Princess and the Pony," a nice
acoustic guitar ballad in which he
sings about convincing his friends
to transform his funeral into a party
complete with whiskey and rockin'
out to Wire.
When: The split was released
February 1, 2000.
Where: Lord will tour on the Right
and Left coasts in February and
March. Na Na will tour the left, right
and just about all over the U.S. in
March.
Why: Because it's good stuff. Too
bad this is just an EP. The good
part is that the two will continue to
record collaborative efforts in the
future.
9
Who it is: Sankofa Camille Yarbrough has done everything possible
in the world of art and progressive thinking . She's distinguished herself in multiple careers as a community activist, writer, teacher,
actress, composer, singer, dancer, radio talk show host and lecturer.
What it is: Yarbrough's first record release, The Iron Pot Cooker, is
being re-released in late February 2000 on the same label that
released the album in 1975, Vanguard. The record was produced at
the end of the height of the Civil Rights and Black Liberation movements, and although it received critical acclaim back in the day, it
received little or no airplay outside of lefty radio stations.
The Iron Pot Cooker opens with "But It Comes Out Mad," a sixminute song that starts off as a straight-up spoken word soul-andblues-tinged rap story to a backdrop of guitar pluckings and bass. It
then transforms into a full-fledged blues poem .
Yarborough discusses many important topics on The Iron Pot
Cooker, including her experiences growing up on Chicago's South
Side, black empowerment and the woman's experience within this
fight for empowerment.
Interesting stuff: Hip-hop music journalist Kevin Powell wrote the
CD's liner notes, saying that Yarbrough is one of the founders of
hip-hop and a major influence of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and
Me'shell Ndegeocello. "I was keenly aware of the influence of musical wordsmiths like The Last Poets, Gil-Scott Heron and Melvin Van
Peebles on what is popularly called rap music. Because hip-hop
has traditionally been a very male-centered art form , I naively
assumed that its forebears, too, had been male." He goes on to
explain that The Iron Pot Cooker speaks volumes about the continued ignorance and oppression of women artists in American culture.
More interesting stuff: You know Fatboy Slim, right? You know his
song "Praise You"? Well, it was originally written by Yarbrough . The
original version along with two of Fatboy Slim's remixed versions
are included on The Iron Pot Cooker.
And then some: Yarbrough is a former member of the Katherine
Dunham Dance Company and taught the Dunham technique at
Southern Illinois University. (See page 15 for more information on
Dunham.)
Probably the
biggest yet saddest
event of 2000 for
Chicago independent
rock fans took place
right at the beginning
of the new year. On
January 15, the
Lounge Ax closed its
doors, leaving behind
a 12-year history as
the city's best venue
to see indie luminaries.
Owned by Sue
Miller and Julia
Adams, Lounge Ax
was the only femaleoperated club in
Chitown. The two had
been fighting to keep
Lounge Ax open since
1996 when a series of
noise violations had
been filed against
them by an apparent
"yuppie neighbor'' who
moved in behind the
club. The neighborhood had become
quite gentrified since
its beginnings a
dozen years earlier,
and the Lounge Ax
would continually
receive a vibe to get
the heck out.
Lounge Ax lovers
banded to help raise
thousands of dollars
to help fund their legal
defense.
Although the fight
was lost, Miller and
Adams are now seeking a new home for
the venue.
During the final two
weeks of Lounge Ax's
existence, the club
hosted quite a lineup
of bands, including
Seam, Red Red
Meat, Tortoise, Wilco,
The Dishes, Eleventh
Dream Day and
Shellac, all of which
said their farewells
and paid homage to
the club.
ANTI-TAMPON
CONFERENCE
Huh? The Anti-Tampon Conference is also
known as the Mid-Atlantic Feminist
Conference or the Let Blood Flow Fest.
Tell me More: The feminist conference
focuses on activism, radical change and
women's empowerment in hope of fueling
more power to the anti-tampon campaign .
Speakers, workshop hosiers, presentation
givers: • Cunt author Inga Muscio
• The Blood Sisters (menstrual activists, creators of Urban Armour and the zine Red
Zone)
• Lynn Lough, owner of goddess shop, On
My Wings, and creator of "Goddess Girls: An
Alternative to Scouting"
• Queens of Periodia
Workshop topics: Herbal solutions for PMS,
art action, pelvic self-exams, reproductive
choices and rights , animal rights and feminism , direct action , women and globalization,
and much more.
What else? Brainstorming sessions, preparing for the direct-action event at a tampon
plant that will take place in late April , yoga
and viewing of the film Born in Flames, a
video about women becoming revolutionaries.
So where is it? Harrisonburg,Virginia , which
is two hours Southwest of Washington, D.C.;
April 1 and 2; housing and vegan meals provided; $10 registration fee.
If you would like more information about the
conference, please send e-mail to jmuequal@yahoo.com.
ON THE LOOKOUT
UPCOMING RELEASES
February 15
• BOSS HOG White Out (In The Red)
• CADALLACA Out West (Kill Rock Stars)
February 22
• YO LA TENGO And Then Nothing Turned Itself
Inside-Out (Matador)
• SEELY Winter Birds (Koch)
• DA BRAT Unrestricted (So So Def)
• VUE Vue (Sub Pop)
March 7
• MARY TIMONY Mountains (Matador)
• SPINANES Imp Years EP (Merge)
• BELLE AND SEBASTIAN Lazy Line Painter Jane
Box Set (Matador)
March 21
• CAT POWER The Covers Record (Matador)
March 24
• SARGE Distant (Mud/Parasol) Rarities, demos, bsides and unreleased tracks from recently split-up
group
April
• PIZZICATO FIVE Pizzicato Five (Matador)
• Broadcast
May
• SLEATER-KINNEY All Hands On The Bad One
(Kill Rock Stars)
K
~:•
t~::
I
ir.~
~i=i
I
Ir.
n
t
!~
~I
If
Ii,r_.,
athy Acker was
born in 1944 and
died in 1997 of breast
cancer. She spent the
majority of her 53
years impacting all
those who came into
contact with her -mainly through her
writing and speaking.
Acker is most known
as a novelist and performance artist in the
East Village punk
scene of the 1970s
and early '80s. She
wrote 10 novels,
"' dozens of stories and
essays, an opera
libretto and a screenplay.
She started her
career as a writer by
publishing her own
books and peddling
them at book shops
and also once worked
as a stripper to support herself.
Kill Rock Stars
Records recently
released a collection of
Acker's spoken-word
poems, which were
recorded over a period
of 10 years. The title of
the album is Redoing
Childhood.
I'm not going to mislead you and say, "Oh ,
this will make you feel
sooo good ," because it
won't. Redoing
Childhood, will , however, inspire you to
rethink your own childhood and how it has
affected your adulthood. The spokenword collection is a
very important piece of
1
work for understanding lesbian identity
along with sexism, inner-city life, sexual orientation, politics and many other challenging subjects. Acker speaks so directly, so
vividly and with so much detail, that you
almost feel as though she's in the same
room with you .
Like her other work, she describes in
detail her experiences with violence. The
tone is sometimes sad, sometimes revolutionary and always honest.
Acker's stories are about childhood experiences, such as her first experience dancing
with a boy, being part of a kids' street gang
and understanding the differences between
the sexes and how gender is constructed.
The New York Times quotes Acker in her
obituary as saying, "William Burroughs was
my model. For me, he was the first writer,
the only one who was working politically in
the field of language as power. He was
questioning language. Everybody else was
just thinking about it."
Acker's other novels include Great
Expectations, Don Quixote, Literal Madness
and My Mother Demonology.
Her opera libretto, Birth of a Poet, was
performed at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music in 1985.
She also recorded a record with The
Mekons called Pussy, Queen of the Pirates.
.
, ,' X-\':Y-:>:I ❖
'
·~=•,:,lfh
We asked Edith Frost, Kahimi
Karie, Manda Rin, Kate
Schellenbach, Moe Tucker and
Slim Moon to tell us what 10
songs they'd put on the A-side of
their own mixed tape.
In other words, the question is:
What are your 10 favorite songs
of all time?
11
KAHIMI KARIE
solo artist
1. "Pink Moon" by Nick Drake
2. Best ofLeonard Cohen
3. "Melody Nelson" by Serge
Gainsbourg
4 . "The Camera Loves Me" by
Would-Be-Goods
5. "Beat Samba" by Astrud Gilberto
6. "White Light, White Heat" by
Velvet Underground
7. "Melody" by Bee Gees
8. "Claudine Longet" by Claudine
Longet
9. Upsetters: First Five Albums
10. "Pop Model" by Lio
KATESCHELLENBACH
drummer, Luscious .Jackson
1. "You Got the Lov" by Rufus and
ChakaKahn
2. "Golden Lady" by Stevie Wonder
3. "What Goes on" by Velvet
Underground
4. "Side of the Road" by Lucinda
Williams
5. "Everybody's Happy Nowadays"
by the Buzzcocks
6. "Ping Pong Affair" by the Slits
7. "Stand" by Sly and the Family
Stone
8. "8th Wonder" by Sugar Hill
Gang
9. "Pretty Baby" by Blondie
10. "Cannonball" by the Breeders
EDITH FROST
solo artist
"I cannot possibly name my favorite
songs of all time because there are
just too many. But here is at least
one version of what that list might
be. I could make a different list with
more modem stuff; I guess this is
the old-timey country version."
1. "Making Believe" by Jimmy
Work
2. "You Belong To Me" by Pee Wee
King
3. "Hello Stranger" by Carter
Family
4. "Old Pal of Yesterday" by Girls
of the Golden West
5. "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever
Know (About Him)" Davis Sisters
6. "Treasures Untold" by Jimmie
Rodgers
7. "Girl Left Alone" by Dolly Parton
8. "Day Into Night" by Kitty Wells
9. "Lovesick Blues" by Hank
Williams
10. "Seasons of My Heart" by
George Jones
MANDARIN
Bis vocalist
1. "Stutter" by Elastica
2. "Dig Me Out" by Sleater-Kinney
3. "Reject All American" by Bikini
Kill
4. "Better Left Forgotten" by Steps
5. "Lost on Abbey Road" by
Compulsion
6. "Little Babies" by SleaterKinney
7. "Song 2" by Blur
8. "Hey You What's That Sound?"
by Les Rhythm Digitales
9. "Juvenile Scene Detective" by
Compulsion
10. "Good Times" by Brassy
MOE TUCKER
former drummer, The Velvet
Underground; current drummer,
Magnet
1. "Louie, Louie" by The
Kingsmen
2. "Amazing Grace" by any gospel
singer!
3. "Sister Ray" by The Velvet
Underground
4. "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky
Nelson
5. "Da Doo Ron Ron" by Crystals
6. "Bolero" by any orchestra
EXCEPT Andre Kstolanitz
7. "To Know Him is To Love Him"
by The Teddy Bears
8. "Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley
9 . "A Ki WaWa" by Olatunji
10. "River Deep, Mountain High"
by Ike and Tina Turner
SLIM MOON
wordcore artist; founder, Kill
Rock Stars Records
"Wow, this is hard. This is not scientific -- just off the top of my
head."
1. "(I'm Not There) I'm Gone" by
Bob Dylan
2. "Positively 4th Street" by Bob
Dylan
3. "Failure" by Swans
4. "Free Man In Paris" by Joanie
Mitchell
5. "Blonde In The Bleachers" by
Joanie Mitchell
6. "Jeffrey I Hear You" by The
Girls
7. "No Fun" by Stooges
8. "I Want You To Hurt Like I Do"
by Randy Newman
9. "Anarchy In The UK" by Sex
Pistols
10. "White Riot" by The Clash
·~~-t
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Taking care of fun-guy business
LYNDA TWARDOWSKI CONSTRUCTS AN EASY 3-STEP DUMPING PROGRAM
So I met this guy.
Nice guy. Smart guy. Fun guy.
Love, or at least a mutual like, blossomed
between us almost immediately - or at least, as
long as it takes to down four gin and tonics,
two beers and the occasional cigarette. No matter. The point is, I liked him. I digress.
A lengthy bar-stool conversation turned to
an exchange of business cards, e-mail addresses, longing looks out the door, and one week
later, the first of many
workday brighteners
announced with those
three most romantic
words: "You've got
mail."
Next came the date.
In one weekend of nonstop togetherness, he
proved himself attentive, kind, attractive and
interesting. Plus he
drove a motorcycle. You
understand.
Obviously, I was in some serious like. The emails continued, the phone calls flourished, the
visits escalated, and then it all went wrong ...
horribly, horribly, horribly wrong.
Yep. You got it. After a mere three weeks of
dates and correspondence, my nice, smart, fun
guy evolved into that creature every woman
fears and every woman, if she's had at least one
date in her lifetime, has known all too intimately: The nice, smart .. . fungi.
That's right. On me like stink on shit.
Couldn't get enough. Always calling, calling,
calling, e-mailing, e-mailing, e-mailing. Let's
hang out. Let's do this. Let's do that. Initially, I
though this was cute; enchanting even. But
then I remembered, oh yes, I had a life before I
met this clown; perhaps I should see how that
life is progressing. I tuned back in, and lo and
behold, it was progressing - but without me.
All this after only a month? You bet. Quickly, I
put on my brakes and called in the ranks.
"Ranks," I said. "Ranks, we are being invaded
by an outside force. He's a bit strong and overpowering, but we've got to get him to back off
a bit."
"Ranks," I said. "Ranks, what do we do?"
Since it was really just me there, talking to
myself, the answer came back quite quickly, not
to mention, unmuflled.
"Lynda," they ... er, I said, "Lynda. Just tell
him. Tell him you need some space."
And so I did. But since we already live a few
cities apart and saw each other just those few
weekends, fungi didn't quite understand. He
continued to invade. And invade. And invade
some more. "You've got mail" didn't seem so
romantic anymore. Neither did my phone's
constant ringing.
And so I called in the ranks a second time.
But before I even opened my mouth, I got my
answer, quickly, and of course, unmuflled:
"Dump him," said the ranks.
So I did.
Which brings me to the most problematic
part of dating: dumping. Especially dumping a species of the
fungi family. They're a
fragile lot, those fungi.
Sensitive to the elemen ts,
poisonous
unless you know how
to handle them they're not easy. So
with that in mind, I
constructed a tidy and
gentle solution. I call it
the three-step dumping
program.
Step One: Evasion. Never return calls when
you say you will. Return them, yes. But three
days late. Complain of being busy often. Then
drop off the face of the earth for four days.
Step Two: Avoidance. Send some form of
non-interactive correspondence that shows,
while you still care and have warm and fuzzy
thoughts, you are still busy. Then drop off the
face of the earth for seven days.
Step Three: Astonishment. This is very key.
Using the same sort of non-interactive communication, perhaps e-mail or a card, drop a
small, confused-sounding note that goes something like this: "Dear Fungi, how've you been?
It's been a while since we've connected. Guess
we fizzled, huh? At any rate, I'd still like to be
friends. I'll call when things slow down."
Never call. Wallah! You're off the hook.
Believe it, sisters, this method is tried and
true and comes recommended by me and now,
several of my friends.
With the turnover it allows, you too could be
back on the dating scene within a week. I know
I was. I met this great guy . . . nice guy, smart
guy, fun guy.
But not a fungi. Nope. Doesn't stick too close
to me at all. Just last week I talked to him. Four
days later, he called to say hello, sorry he's been
so busy. Then I didn't hear from him for a week.
But I did get an e-mail. It said he's still busy but
he's thinking warm and fuzzy thoughts.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
I've got mail.
THEY'RE A FRAGILE
LOT, THOSE FUNGI.
SENSITIVE TO THE
ELEMENTS,
POISONOUS UNLESS
YOU KNOW HOW TO
HANDLE THEM.
12
RANDOM
How to live cheap mNew York
(Or at least cheaper, yo)
BY APRIL FRESH
This is not an easy task, especially if you are like me and are
one of the dreaded two: Artist or
Musician. But there is a way to
cut down on your expenses - just
refer to my simple outline, which
I have broken down into three
categories:
HOUSING
In Two words, Brooklyn and
the Bronx: Trying to find a place
in Manhattan is next to impossible, nevermind trying to find a
place that is a decent price. The
next-best thing to do is look for a
place in either Brooklyn or the
Bronx (yes, there are nice neighbourhoods there). They aren't
more than a few stops into the
city, and you'll knock a good couple hundred bucks off your rent
(as compared to Manahattan).
College Boards: Check out the
local college housing boards,
which usually list "roommates
wanted" and are, on average, a lot
cheaper. The New School
University (www.newschool.edu)
and NYU (www.nyu.edu) have
good ones.
FOOD
99 Cents Stores: Be careful
with these because although most
of the time you are getting a
good deal, sometimes they will
charge you more for something
you could get cheaper in a regular grocery store. These discount
stores are good for canned foods
and Ramen Noodles and things
that haven't sold well in other
stores. Locations everywhere.
San Loco: This taco joint might
not seem like they are so cheap,
but their weekly specials are the
CHEAPEST! Nachos for 50
cents, tacos are two for $1, and
the nice bright-yellow interior
put both a smile on your face and
a little sunshine into your life.
Locations all across Manhattan.
Gray's Papaya: This was suggested to me from a friend who is
a veteran of the NYC Live Cheap
13
Program. He told me that you
can get a hot dog for 50 cents,
which is twice as cheap as the
street vendor price of $ I. This is
located at 6th Avenue at 8th
Street.
Dojo: This is a good place for
vegetarians and friends. Prices
range from $S to about $7 for salads, sandwiches and Asian dishes.
Make sure you get a side of their
killer carrot-tahini sauce, a trademark of their's. Locations: St.
Marks Place between Srd/ 2nd
avenues and W 4th Street at
Broadway
ENTERTAINMENT
New York Public Library: A
library card is free and gives you
access to all the libraries in the
NYC boroughs, including the
gorgeous old reference library on
5th Avenue. You can check out
movies, CDs and records, check
out the latest magazines, attend
cool discussion groups and seminars - oh yeah, and books.
Movies: Worldwide Theatre
has all the latest movies, but a
couple of months behind the
release dates, for like $Sor $5.
And Bryant Park shows classics
all summer on Monday nights for
free. Worldwide Theater: 50th
Street between 8th/9th Avenues.
Bryant Park: 6th Avenue at 34th
Street.
Free live venues: There are lots
of bars in Manhattan that are
free to get into and occasionally
have a great band playing. Luna
Lounge at Ludlow & Stanton
Streets, The Living Room and
Arlene Grocery are both at
Stanton & Allen (Living Room
has a one-drink-minimum policy),
and Lakeside Lounge is on
Avenue Bat I Ith Street.
Gallery Openings: There are
tonnes of these every weekend;
just check The Village Voice
(www.villagevoice.com). Free art,
and if you're really lucky, free
food and drink.
3
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www.matadorrec
ma ry ti mony •
15 song Ip & cell
RANDOM
Photos by Arny Schroeder
TOP LEM': Three women shopping in Chinatown outside a duck seller. TOP RIGHT: Me inside a sandwich shop with a view of a family in Manhattan and a guy on the phone. THE OTHER ONE: A lingerie merchant table in Chinatown.
14
airmail interview
MAKING
NOISE
NEW ZEALANDER
KIM PIETERS USES
IMPROVISED FREE FORM AS
A FORM OF SEXISM-FREE
LANGUAGE FOR WOMEN
BY PETE NOLAN
K
im Pieters has carved a significant
mark as an active player in the New
Zealand noise scene. She's coldkicked it with quite a few winning ensembles, from dinghy surrealist drone-scrapers
Dadamah, to the proto-feminist, longbang-and-clang-alien-landscape clatter of
Doramaar, to continuing collaborations
with Stapleton and Bruce Russell (of the
prototypical New Zealand noise band Dead
C), to haunting the chapel with her latest
spooky cave-drone band, Sleep, which just
released its first CD, Erifolded in Luxury on
the Metonymic label. Even though it took
quite a run-on sentence to list her resume,
that was just the edited version.
Although Pieters has played with a number of groups, a similar unifying sound
connects each of them: rudimentary
sketches and untamed scree of guitars
buoyed by primitive and way-loose poundings of the drums, thickly intoned bass
notes and occasional ghostly or alien-like
vocals. Like yogis levitating and moving
heavy rocks with the greatest of ease, an
aboriginal telekinetic vibe permeates the
sound of Pieters' work.
Over the last decade, Pieter's noise
ensembles have consistently created an
interesting din with the primitive tools
they employ. I recently air-mailed Pieters
to talk about her work with the nowdefunct all-female group Dorramaar. We
also discussed her feelings about playing
free-form music and the possibilities of
escaping the patriarchal power structures
inherent in Western musical tradition. She
talks about the constrictive roles allowed
women in contemporary pop music (read:
Britney Spears), achieving an autonomous
and healthy form of musical dialogue. One
of Pieters' most important achievements is
the invention of a new language for
women somewhere inside this realm of
17
free sound and surrealism. Real academic
term paper-type stuff Here's what she had
to say:
What are the links between patriarchal societal structure and structured
(non free-form) music? My reading of
the patriarchy and structured music
revolves around speech. Both are languages that already have an invested position. This is an investment that doesn't
necessarily include me (since I'm a woman)
in any civil dialogue - that places me and
my actual experience outside of its concern. If I move there, its idea of me - not
my idea of me - is its main reflection. I
move in its margins, its gaps only.
Dadamah was a mix of structured
songs and improvisation - sort of like
the Velvet Underground. Do you play
structured music at all any more? No I
don't.
Why is improvised music a good
forum for the development of a new language for women? Improvised music is
open; it allows a rearrangement of meaning - at least that is how I view it. It allows
the opportunity for new speech and therefore the possibility of a language that
engages me in a civil dialogue. That places
me autonomously.
Do you feel that you have started to
achieve this goal? I achieve a reasonable
degree of autonomy in my personal
exchanges (not without troubled mind!) I
am very interested in these ideas, these
possibilities, but I am not an island. I live in
the real world, and the real world still has
much difficulty in getting past the woman
thing in both public and private spaces.
Do you hope that this new language
will catch on in a mainstream sense, or
does the nature of the music force you
to always be working from the outside?
I take mainstream as being a majority
audience, and I am uncomfortable with that
idea. I don't believe the audience is so
homogenous. I think that this is a manufactured thing. Possibly the Internet might
impact on what musics are finally generally available to people and change our listening experiences. Improvised music is
often quite difficult. I don't imagine it
appealing to vast numbers, but it could easily, I think, have a wider audience. It's a
matter of information and access.
What happened to Doramaar?
Complicated
sexual
politics
split
Doramaar. Ah, the dangers of collaboration.
What new projects are you working
on? Musically, I am involved with a few
improvisational ensembles. Sleep has been
playing the last two-and-a-half years, and
we just released the debut CD, Enfolded in
Luxury. I also play occasionally with Flies
Inside the Sun when Brian Crook comes up
of
course,
the
hill,
and,
Pieters/ Russel/Stapleto~ play every now
and again. The CDs Cactus Sky by FI.T.S &
Sex/ Machine by P.R.S. have also just
recently been released. We live just outside
of Dunedin on a hill looking down a small
valley to the huge, wide sea. The music studio is here, and people come over and play.
We always record the sessions and then we
have a cup of tea. I am also, and perhaps
mostly, a painter (improvised abstraction,
of course!) I'm currently working on a
series that revolves around the loss of
archive.
The
graphics
for
the
Metomymic/ Medication labels are also my
responsibility, and it's a great outlet for my
interest in photography. I'm also thinking
about another series of films - possibly in
collaboration with the Sleep music.
Doramaar was primarily instrumental.
Have you ever considered adding vocals
to your music? I am a vocalist, and a lot of
the music I've released features my vocals - often quite vaguely but not always. I love
using the voice and especially enjoy the
more surreal/ abstract lyrics if I am using
words at all.
What does Doramaar mean? Doramaar
is named after Dora Maar, a Spanish surrealist photographer of the I9SOs and '40s.
What music do you most enjoy? What
kinds of music don't you like? I enjoy
free-form music the most, but I do have to
be in the mood for possibilities. I really dislike music that portrays exploitative sexuality.
How old are you? Where'd you grow
up? Did you go to university and if so,
what did you study? January 2000 saw me
at 41 - YAHOO. I grew up on the south
edge of Auckland City in a place called
Bombay Hills, which is a volcanic market
gardening area in the North island of New
Zealand. I've never studied at university,
but I did pick up, at some time, an interest
in books. Around 25, I started with the
Russian and French literary classics, then
classical history, philosophy and religion.
Then I lept to Jungian psychology, passed
by much of the first wave '70s feminist
stuff and became very interested in the
feminist/ psychological/ philosophical theory that became generally available in the
'80s and '90s - and I'm still into this stuff.
It's disturbing but inspiring at the same
time.
S
eattle's Jen Wood both
draws and departs from
the plethora of women
singer-songwriters who
have become so popular
to date. Wood comes at folk music
from a different angle - a long-time
appreciation for riot grrrl and lo-fi
indie bands that torques the quiet
strumming of acoustic tradition. What
she maintains and perfects is an incisive honesty that cuts through her
sonorous vocals and bare-boned
lyrics.
Wood doesn't shy away from talking about herself, either. From her
Seattle apartment - amid the rollicking of her cat - she speaks candidly
about her career.
When she was 15, Jen Wood met
a woman named Madigan. The two
recorded as Tattle Tale, including a
cassette for the Kill Rock Stars label.
Tattle Tale's instrumental and spoken-word songs covered topics such
as sexism and racism in brazen,
brash strokes of confrontation. One
of these, called "Heart Failure Due to
Demand," dealt with the life of Karen
Carpenter.
After some conflict, Tattle Tale
called it quits, and Wood moved to
Santa Cruz to start her solo career.
This was a difficult time for Wood
when she was forced to re-evaluate
her goals and priorities. "I didn't actually know whether I would continue
to play music. It basically boiled
down to that I didn't have the confidence to keep on going."
At age 19, Wood hit a crossroads
that most people hit much later in life
- which is nothing too surprising
since Wood is clearly mature beyond
her age.
After a year of some searching,
Wood recorded a cassette, No More
Wading, which has since been
released by Tree Records. In the doit-yourself aesthetic of Ani DiFranco,
Wood released it on her own label,
Radar Light Records. Wood said it
was DiFranco who inspired her during this difficult period. "She rocks.
She kicks ass. If there was no Ani
DiFranco, there would probably be
no Jen Wood ."
Soon thereafter Wood was contacted by Tom Grimley, who had
I
THINK JOURNALISTS MAY NOT
DECIPHER A WOMAN'S
PERSPECTIVE VERY WELL.
THEY'VE BEEN SO TAINTED BY
WATERED-DOWN, LUKE-WARM
SINGER-SONGWRITERS.
recorded Tattle Tale for W.I.N. Records. "He called me
right at the height of me trying to put out this cassette,
and I was like, 'Screw this, this music biz is for phonies."'
Fortunately, though, Grimley convinced Wood to stick
with it. Wood went to L.A. to record her second album,
Getting Past the Static, with help from Petra Haden of
That Dog and The Rentals.
At 23, Wood is already a seasoned musician. Of
course, this is a fact that journalists eat up. "For me it's
flattering because I forget, and I honestly feel like I could
do so much better. Being young, I do have an advantage because when you're in your mid-twenties, it's the
time to take risks. I'm viewed as an artist who is pro-
gressing and a guitarist who's going
to be growing and getting better."
Wood's latest EP is on Tree
Records.
Besides music, Wood has other
projects on her plate. She is a fulltime college student, studying computer graphic design. She works at
a cafe. She has recently contributed
vocals to The Black Heart
Procession and Juno albums. She
books local shows for herself and
other singer-songwriters. She also
has plans to work on her label again
- once she makes enough money
to put out other artists. She volunteers at women's organizations and
plays at Take Back The Night
marches. She also plans to start a
non-profit community resource center. You might call Jen Wood an
over-achiever.
Wood's passion , her incredible
drive to succeed is a deeply personal one. When she was 15, Wood
was date-raped. At the time, filled
with frustration and rage, she took
public revenge on her attacker. "I did
illegal things. I basically fucked up
his car. Twice. I got one of those fat
magic markers, and I covered the
whole thing with obscenities. He
lived at home, so he had to deal
with that." Wood then followed up
this incredible act with a subtler
albeit powerful means of retaliation - her song "Bullet Box" on No More
Wading. Haunting and coolly deploring, "Bullet Box" is Wood's hate ballad. "It's how you can't run away
from the truth . Every man who's a
rapist knows the truth. That's your
weapon that you can use - your
truth, you know, point blank."
Ironically, though, journalists have
celebrated what they perceive as an
apoliticism in Wood's lyrics. "I think
journalists may not decipher a
woman's perspective very well.
They've been so tainted by watereddown, luke-warm singer-songwriters. They listen to me and they think
that's cool because 'we're sick of
chicks who always have to preach'
but obviously they don't listen to my
music well enough."
You can contact Jen Wood by
mailing her a letter: P. 0. Box 20502
Seattle, WA. 98102.
18
M
19
adonna once said something along the
lines of: "I've always been really good at
getting people's attention, but once I got
it, what was I going to say?"
Now don't go getting me wrong: I love Madonna;
she's done a world of difference for freedom of
expression, especially when it comes to sexuality. But
Le Tigre has more to say on their debut self-titled
album than Madonna's said in her entire career.
Although the trio has released only one CD so far,
Le Tigre already has a signature sound: a combination of punk, unpolished pop rock, garage and oldskoo electronic. The messages that go along with this
sound are what make their signature stand out.
They're one of only a handful of popular bands who
aren't afraid to say, "We're strong, independent and
very opinionated woman and, no, we're not afraid to
say that we're feminists."
The songs get right to the point, and although
they deal sometimes with complicated subjects such
as sexism or New York politics, Le Tigre is able to
simplify their topics. For instance, on the song
"What's Yr Take On Cassavetes?" Le Tigre sings a
chorus that's the same as the title because they want
to know what the consensus is of the late American
filmmaker John Cassavetes, who's known for a slew
of films, including A Woman Under the Influence,
Husbands and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. After
asking the question "What's Yr Take?" several times,
Benning and Fateman reply: "Misogynist?" "Genius?"
"Alcoholic?" "Messiah?" The song inspires the listener to find out more about this guy's work, especially
since the majority of Le Tigre's listeners are under
SO and Cassavetes produced the majority of his work
in the '60s and '70s.
The fact that Le Tigre's songs encourage their listeners to do some work - instead of just accepting
them for their rockable, danceable face value - is
what makes this band so important. Le Tigre are
movers and shakers in both the literal and actionary
sense of the tattered phrase.
I've only been able to find a few reviews of Le
Tigre's album, and they all praise "Hot Topic," a
song that lists almost 60 names. All the names, with
the exception of David Wojnarowicz, are women
who've made a name for themselves as the movers
and shakers of the latter half of the 20th century.
The songs starts with Kathleen Hanna singing,
"Carol Rama and Eleanor Antin, Yoko Ono and
Carolee Schneeman. You're getting old, that's what
they'll say, but don't give a damn. I'm
listening anyway." It then transitions
into a chorus: "Stop, don't you stop; I
can't live if you stop" before continuing
the list, which includes Angela Davis,
Gertrude Stein, Joan Jett and Aretha
Franklin.
Although they might not realize it,
the Tigrettes deserve to be on this list
as well: each member is an accomplished
thinker, artist and punk/ riot grrl
activist.
Besides being known in her own
right, Kathleen Hanna is known as the
former leader of Bikini Kill as well as
for her experimental solo music project,
Julie Ruin.
Sadie Benning is a respected filmmaker. Although she's only 26, she's been
making short films about her life and her
identity as a lesbian since her early
teens. You may have seen The Judy Spots,
her five short films starring a papier-
on different songs. Kathleen does most
of the singing. Sadie and Johanna do the
programming (beats and samplesequencing). Johanna plays keyboards,
and Sadie punches in some samples live.
Sadie did the turntable stuff on the
record. Since we use recording processes
and programming to experiment with
ideas, sounds, and structures, the way we
play the music live doesn't necessarily
reflect who made up which part, etc. We
all collect samples, make tapes, write
down ideas to talk about when we get
together. The process is also sort of
strange because Sadie lives in Chicago
while Kathleen and Johanna are in New
York City.
How did you meet each other? We met
at some point in the earl '90s when there
were a lot of incredible things happening in the world of underground and
punk feminism. There were a lot of really incredible girl bands forming and
me about both these publications what they're about, when they were
published, etc. Also, do you still publish zines? I did a fanzine with my closest friend from high school for three or
four years called Snarla. I think we did
about six issues. It circulated mainly
through girls in the West Coast punk
scene. In terms of content, it would
probably be grouped into a confessional
genre associated with Riot Grrrl Press
in the early to mid- '90s, although we
tended to deal with stuff in a slightly
more aloof and abstract way. When I
moved to New York to go to art school,
the terms of my work shifted away from
the identity-politic issues of a punk
scene to more theory-driven projects. I
was fascinated by the sexual politics of
conceptual art's recent history and the
social structure of art school and the
gallery system. The opposite, Part I, was
my first attempt to deal with disparate
MY MOM TOOK M:E TO SEE BELLA ABZUG SPEAK
WHEN I WAS, LIKE, 9, AND I STARTED CRYING BECAUSE THERE WERE
ALL THESE WOMEN THERE AND IT FELT FANTASTIC. THE THING IS,
MY MOM WAS IN NO WAY A LEFTY ACTIVIST TYPE; SHEWAS/lS AN RN
WHO LIVES IN THE SUBURBS. KA'l'llIJm-ON TIANNA
mache teenager named Judy that were
shown on MTV in 1998. One of her
other coolest films is 1998's Flat Is
Beautiful. The not-quite-an-hour-long
film was shot partly in Pixelvision and
partly in Super 8. The story traces the
life of a latchkey kid, a 12-year-old girl
living with her mother and a gay roommate. A 1990 issue of The Advocate features an interview with her along with
my favorite quote from Benning. About
her father, also a filmmaker, she said,
"My dad said to me, 'You know, I'm really worried that all your work is just
going to be on one subject.' And I was
like, 'Yeah, my life.' He makes (experimental) films. What are his films about?
They're about his life. It just so happens
that his sexuality isn't something that
people are going to label or talk about or
say, 'He's the heterosexual artist."'
Johanna Fateman is a well-known
fanzine maker and musician.
It doesn't say in the CD cover who
plays which instruments. Could you
fill me in? We all sing and play guitar
touring, new fanzines starting, intense
penpal alliances were forged. Kathleen
was touring with Bikini Kill, Sadie was
touring with her videos, and Johanna
was writing fanzines. Our paths
inevitably crossed.
Why did you decide to form Le
Tigre? We started working together
after Kathleen's Julie Ruin record came
out. Since it was made as a recording
project, the idea was to rework the songs
so that we could play them live and go
on tour. Johanna would help with performing the music, and Sadie would
make visuals - slides or video projections. But when we started working
together, we realized we really wanted to
write new material and have a collaborative relationship with more fluid roles.
We ended up as Le Tigre (although we
plan to play a couple of Julie Ruin songs
in our set too).
Johanna, I've heard quite a bit about
your zines, ArtaudMania! and My Need
to Speak on the Subject ofJackson Pollock.
Unfortunately, I haven't seen either of
them. I'm wondering if you could tell
areas of culture, for example, modernist
painting and feminist underground punk
music with the same language.
ArtaudMania! !! the Diary of a Fan was
along the same lines but a more specific
project. I chose a figure (Antonin
Artaud) that punks and academics
shared an interest in so that a collision
of their discourses made sense. My Need
to Speak on the Sulject of Jackson Pollock
is actually the transcript, in zine form, of
a semi-facetious lecture I gave to accompany two paintings I made. It was my
final semester of art school, and in a lot
of ways, the lecture was a final "fuck
you." It was intended to ridicule the retrogressive values of a couple of the
teachers in the painting program I was
in and continued valorization of
Abstract Expressionist art and ideology
among fellow students. I am working on
a new fanzine that will hopefully be done
before Le Tigre starts touring extensively.
How did your teachers and other students react to your lecture? I was
pretty much ignored by anyone who
might represent the opposing ideology you know, a lot of times art that is
meant as a fuck-you is really made so
that your friends/ allies can vicariously
enjoy your articulation of a shared sentiment. Also, I was doing something that
was outside the framework of "painting."
So in the context of the program I was
in, I'm not sure it even registered on the
conservative art radar as something to
be considered at all - critically or otherwise. I'm currently working on The
Opposite, Part II. The first half will be
about feminism and electronic music
with some interviews with female techno
producers and DJs; the second part is fiction.
Sadie, after reading about your films,
I am very impressed with your work
on identity construction and the experience of growing up lesbian in a
homophobic world. What's it like to
be both a filmmaker and a musician?
What are the non-obvious differences
between film and music - in terms of
expression and communicating political/ social/personal messages? As an
artist, I have been concerned with how
sound and picture create meaning. For
me, Le Tigre is an opportunity to experiment with combining these elements
while working with friends and learning
about technology. When I make videos, I
do everything alone; the editing process
is very solitaire. With Le Tigre, we can
work independently, but ultimately we
are collaborating; the process is completely different. Technology can be so
frustrating and expensive. It's really
amazing to be able to call Jo and ask her
how to do something and not have to
figure it out alone.
Kathleen, you seem like a bottomless
pit of ideas (this is definitely a good
thing). What inspires your music?
What has inspired you to take risks in
your music-making - to try things
that other people never would be
gutsy enough to do? One of my
favorite movies is Poison by Todd
Haynes. I guess it's because everything
these days looks like a strip mall or an
episode of Matlock, and this movie is
gorgeous. I saw it at a time when everyone around me was criticizing everyone
else and making out like art was just a
luxury for the rich and powerful. Poison
was so visually imaginative; it reminded
me how important art is and how freeing
it can be if only for an instant. The next
Todd Haynes movie I saw was Safe. At
the time I was really depressed because I
couldn't really write or create about the
stuff I was going through because it was
too painful, but I couldn't think or create
about anything else. Safe reminded me
what a great story is about; you can be
telling a story about one thing but really
you are just using the story to talk about
something else. Also Safe was so different from Poison but still really incredible
which inspired me to do what I want as
well, as opposed to keep doing the same
thing as I'd done before. What I am trying to say is that Todd Haynes' films and
his career in general are hugely inspiring
to me and affects how I express myself
musically.
In the song "My My Metrocard," you
sing "Fuck Giuliani; he's such a fucking jerk; shut down all the strip bars."
Do you think the mayor has heard the
song? Would you like him to hear it?
A lot of people complain about his
politics but don't really do much
about it. You may be the first to sing
about Giuliani! Way to go! KATHLEEN: I seriously doubt Giuliani has
heard it, and I couldn't care less either
way.
JOHANNA: Just for the record,
Blackstar (Mos Def and Talib Kweli)
definitely wrote a song dissing Giuliani
before we did.
What projects are you all working on
at the moment? JOHANNA: Besides my
zine, I'm working on my solo techno
project, Swim With the Dolphins. We
are also working on a remix for Hanin
Elias' new record, In Flames.
KATHLEEN: I'm trying to book a
three-week Le Tigre tour for April 2000.
I'm also trying to finish an essay I've
been working on about the intersection
where personal psychology and political
activism meet.
SADIE BENNING: I'm working on a
video for The Need and a solo DJ project
under the name GHOSTY JR, which will
include a picture book and slide show.
How did you all becoiµe interested in
feminism? KATHLEEN: My mom took
me to see Bella Abzug speak when I was,
like, 9, and I started crying because there
were all these women there, and it felt
fantastic. My mom also volunteered at a
makeshift battered women's crisis line
that was run out of a church basement.
The thing is, my mom was in no way a
lefty activist type; she was/is an RN who
lives in the suburbs. This means that all
those women who did Redstockings and
all that feminist stuff in New York and
other big cities did have an effect on an
enormous amount of people (like me and
my mom).
In the song "Hot Topic," you list a
great bunch of influential female
thinkers and artists. How did you construct this list? We wanted to make a
song that was about community and history. Notions like community can seem
so totalizing and problematic that we
retreat to irony or oppositional self-definitions, and we wanted to say fuck that.
Instead, let's be sincere and take risks
and just talk about who we are and who
gives us strength as feminists and as
artists. The idea of making a list song
with the names of artists and thinkers
that are really important to us was
daunting because we knew it would be
impossible to include everyone, and of
course, not all of us would agree on each
name. The song is partial, unfinished, a
snapshot of recurring conversations,
books on our nightstands, records on our
turntables. We didn't want to be elitist
or obscure; we wanted to get the word
out about stuff that not everyone knows
about - i.e. "I fucking love Yoko Ono and
Angela Davis; maybe I should look up
Carolee Schneeman and Mab Segrest
next time I'm at the library."
And even though "Hot Topic" is recorded now and exists in a finished form, we
hoped that it would be understood as
having an open structure for other voices
to shout out their own list of names.
Will there be more Le Tigre albums?
KATHLEEN HANNA: I hope so.
Me too.
- A~ Schroeder
"WE'RE HUMAN BEINGS, AND I BELIEVE THE
DIVISION OF THE SEXES, CONSCIOUSLY OR
UNCONSCIOUSLY, PROPAGATES SEXISM."
JEJ
_,__ _ ext time VH1 updates
their standings of the
Top Billion
Women of
Rock, don't
expect to see
Royal Trux's
Jennifer Herrema sharing screen time
with Spice Girls and or Paula Abdul.
"Making that kind of distinction, in and of
itself, is a negative," Herrema said. "It's
somewhat patronizing. How often do you
see a magazine of the Hundred Men of
Rock's Last JO Years, you know?"
But then, Herrema has long considered
herself equal to any gonad-bearing rock
god and has the albums to prove it. She
and long-time musical/personal partner
Neil Hagerty have belted out eight recordings under the
moniker Royal Trux, their work running the schizophrenic
gamut from all-out, Stones-inspired classic rock to atonal, freeform avant-noise slop. Their latest album, Veterans of
Disorder, finds the band primarily in the former category,
injecting anthems like "Stop" and "Waterpark" with enough
ragged energy to fill a week's worth of arena shows -- even if
Royal Trux is only sporadically touring the nation's seediest
watering holes.
It hasn't always been that way, of course. On the coattails of
the grunge movement, the band crashed the major-label shindig
a few years back with Thank You, a collection of bluesy rockers recorded for Geffen records with Neil Young's long-time
producer. When Herrema felt as if their
manager and label were beginning to
whore them out to a larger audience -- trying to soften her up and making her stage
presence Jess intimidating -- they made a
break, took the cash, bought a ranch and
built their own studio.
As for their old manager? Herrema
reports that he moved on to another, more
impressionable bunch of proteges -- babyfaced hipsters No Doubt. "They fell for it
hook, line and sinker," she says of her colleagues.
Even though she's earned a unique status as a sort of Marianne Faithfull for the
trailer park set -- she's even appeared in a
Calvin Klein ad -- Herrema refuses to
chalk any of it up to her feminine wiles,
and deflects any questions that credit her
extra x-chromosome. "If it has to be
asked, then it's completely invalid. That's my take on the whole
gender difference. We're human beings, and I believe that the
division of the sexes, consciously or unconsciously, propagates
sexism. I would just feel more comfortable not propagating
that myth. What we're talking about here is music. Not to be
high and mighty, but really it is -- it is music we're talking
about."
True to her credo, Herrema isn't going to be working and
playing in a world that offers her any concessions just because
she happens to own a pair of mammaries. "It says something to
me that there has to be something set aside for the so-called
'fairer sex.' It inadvertently breeds mediocrity."
-- Mike Hastings
22
[of rachel's
[for some
people, a
particular
song
might be
really sad
and tragic.
and then
we get a
response
from
different
people
who think
it's the
happiest
thing
they've
ever
heard.]
fl were to try to describe the Rachel's music
with words, I may just be talcing on a silly
and impossible endeavor, strife with failure.
I can, however, tell you this: The band
crafts a product saturated with the strength of
conviction, colorful, emotional content and
musical phrases that can weep at your feet or
grab you by the collar. This doesn't change
with Selenography -- the Rachel's fourth and
most recent release.
Selenography is an album composed of
songs that have been given the opportunity to
grow with the band on the road before they
re.❖J)Ut,to tape. Aside from utilizing their
core instrumentation of piano, violas, cello,
drums, guitar and bass, the latest album also
features harpsichord, decipherable speaking
and electronic elements.
Venus spoke with Rachel Grimes, the
ensemble's pianist and co-songwriter. (Oh,
by the way, the band already had its name
before she joined.) She talked to us from her
home in Louisville, Kentucky -- the city
she's called home for just about all her 29
years.
BY ROB KOWALCZYK
FROM LEFI' ARE JASON GRIMES, JASON NOBLE, CHRISTIAN
FREDERICKSON Al\"'D RACHEL GRIMES.
much Yo-Yo Ma and a lot of string players. I mean, there's just so many -especially string and piano players who are living today as well as people
who have made a lot of wonderful recordings in the past. It's really hard to
say.
Do you have any musical influences other than those fitting into the classical genre? Well, I could go on all day. I listen to all kinds of music. I have
influences from Nina Soloan to Asther Piasola. Like I've said before, Steve
Wise, early music of Chofscan and Arcadelt and renaissance music. It really
sort of blends over the last 500 years. Contemporary music, pop groups, contemporary chamber music or ensembles. Music written for what I guess you
would call contemporary concert music. So (laughs) might I be more specific
I feel like it's sort of everywhere. I love Stereolab and Gavin Brier. I guess
there's music I don't particularly listen to. I listen to all kinds of things, especially Oriental music and just now I've discovered a lot of Chinese music.
What or who are your classical music
Music of the Gamalon Orchestra is an Asian influence.
influences? What do you borrow from
Do you think you appropriate any of these musics you like into the
these influences? Music from Saint Column Rachel's? I think that most every creative person appropriates something of
to Bach -- they are some of my favorite
what they like. I feel like what I gather from music that I like is technique,
things to play. Bach or Claude Debussy. He
colors, different moments that really grab me, and I might try to analyze
made a lot of wonderful music for piano.
what's going on there and get an idea of what makes that special, what makes
And I think in that way what I really draw
it pop out, such as a rhythmic trick, a certain way of voicing or overall strucfrom his music is technical ideas and ways to ture of the musical work. So, sure, there are influences.
present color that I usually don't think of
Would you say Rachel's is a rock band? No, I wouldn't.
until I hear his music performed or until I
Would you be willing to give Rachel's a certain description? No, not realeventually get inside the music and hear
ly.
what he is doing. Those are the major influAre you in any other bands, groups, ensembles, orchestras or side proences. I also love string quartets -- also
jects? Well, I have been. I used to be in a pop rock group called Hula Hoop Ravel, Bartok, Shaustochovic, Phillip Glass. - played bass for years. Then I've been in a couple of different medieval and
They have wonderful coloristic writing,
renaissance singing ensembles where it was just voices -- a capella music. I
beautiful counterpoint, harmony -- the slight just left one of those groups. So right now I'm not in any other official group,
unpredictability of a lot of that music.
but I do write music for other people to play, that's not necessarily the
Are there any particular players of this
Rachel's, and I certainly play music by myself and with tons of other folks,
music you enjoy? Oh, I enjoy a lot of peojust for fun. I'm not in any other performing groups right now.
ple. I don't have any people whom I always
Was the piano your first instrument? Yes.
buy just their recordings, but I have some
Could you describe or tell about your upbringing or training on the
favorites. Especially keyboard people such as piano?
Ander Shift and Glenn Gould. I enjoy very
My father was a pianist. And my grandmother (his mother) was a pianist.
And her mother was also one. It was always in
the family. In general, I think concerning my
family, everybody used to play music sometimes, especially when friends came over. I
don't remember when it started, but I was
probably 2 or 3. I would sit down with my dad
while he was playing at the piano and I would
watch him play and eventually I learned to
kick out melodies and tunes with him. You
know then it became four hands, and on from
there. My grandmother had a set of pianos -- a
pair that matched. So that enabled at least four
people to sit down at once. And sometimes
people would play other instruments too -clarinet, drums, or some people would sing.
There's always been music in my family. I
started piano lessons when I was six. That's the
basic story. I went to the University of
Louisville Music School when I was 18 to get
a degree in composition.
Do you remember the first performance? I
remember it pretty vividly. It was at my nursery school, and I played "Mary Had a Little
Lamb" (laughs) for everybody at the nursery
school. I remember I had on a little green dress
with strawberries. I guess I was a little nervous, but I did OK.
Do you still get nervous performing today?
Not much, no. It depends on the situation. It
depends on how prepared I am. If I feel pretty
prepared, I usually just get really excited, and I
look forward to it -- that kind of nervousness.
Ifl'm worried about whether I'm going to even
get something, then I get pretty nervous. But
usually it's not a debilitating kind of thing. I
feel like I do pretty well on stage, and usually
I enjoy it. There's a great energy, especially in
playing with other people, which I really prefer. You get up there and there's sort of a group
excitement that propels things.
When you're not touring or recording, do
you have a day job? Yes. I'll be going there
when I get off the phone with you.
Do you wish you could spend more time
making music? It seems as if you already
spend a lot of time making music. But do
you wish you could spend more time at it?
Sure. If you have absolutely no structure it
could be pretty frustrating. But I wish I didn't
have to do work and relate it to music in order
to make a living. But I'm also not willing to
necessarily do just any kind of music for a living, so that's why I chose a day job in advertising and I have to do bookkeeping. It's totally
different and gratifying in its own way. It
keeps a structure for me to work around, and I
just have to be disciplined about my time. I
feel like when I really sit down and am
inspired to spend time on music I could fill up
week after week, and it wouldn't be any problem. Between reading and listening, looking at
scores, writing, practicing, there's those things.
Is your employer good about giving you
time off to tour? Yeah, it's great. I've been
there six years or more, and when I went to the
job interview -- it's a very small company so
there's really just one other guy -- I told him
then that I was in a band and we tour a lot -this was with a different band -- and I just told
him what the deal was, and I also told him I'll
work hard for you and do a great job but this
isn't what I want to do full-time. I said it up
front and that was good for me because I've
never felt too guilty about it. And we've usually worked it out fine. I just have to do things
before I go out of town.
Could you describe the song-writing and
song-making processes for Rachel's? And
when do you write? We generally write a ton
of it in spurts. As far as the way the band operates, truly anything goes. That's one reason
why I don't really like to think about assigning
a musical style or label to us. We never know
what's next. Anything's really possible according to the ideas that are brought to the table.
Generally, Christian (Frederickson), Jason
Noble and I are the ones who bring music
ideas to the table. We look at what somebody's
brought. It can be anything from a couple of
phrases that are complex to a fully written-out
piece of music, and we just take it from there.
If it's fully written out, we give it a go. We
find the people we need to play it, and
rehearse it in sort of a traditional manner. If it's
working all right, then we leave it as it is.
Sometimes we've taken music that's already
written and we've added things to it or lengthened sections. We always edit as we go. I think
there's a general understanding between all of
us to make suggestions for other people's
music. A lot of times what happens is, say,
Christian writes a piece and he has a piano in
mind or he may present me with a piece or a
part, but he always says you're free to make
something else up if you like. So, there's
always sort of an opportunity for anybody to
create their own personalized version of a different section or part of the song that they're
playing. So, it gives people their own individual creativity.
Are there stories behind the music you
make? There are sometimes contexts or
images, even sometimes a story. Generally, I
think people just have a vague idea of what a
song might be about, even just from the title.
There are some songs that are inspired by stories. Generally, though, our songs aren't really
programatic, in terms of telling a story from
start to finish. Certainly our records have had
thematic qualities, and some songs are definitely supposed to present a general mood.
Aside from images, does your music concern any emotions in either the song writing
process or the end product? (laughs)
What I mean is: Do you try to convey a certain emotion in the end product through the
song writing process? Well, that takes about
the same answer. I've never played music in
my life that didn't have some emotion to it.
Music is just expression. It's often a complex
web of expressions, feelings -- maybe not
something deliberately sad or happy, but I
think we may have something in mind. We
have a general feel for the mood of the piece.
But beyond what we've done with it, or put on
a record, it's really up to the person listening to
make out ofit what they will. For some people, a particular song might be really sad and
tragic for them. And then we get a response
from different people who think it's the happiest thing they've ever heard -- that it's full of
joy. I think it's possible to have both of those
things. It just depends on the listener and what
state they're in or what their expectations are.
How does Selenography differ from the others, insomuch as Rachel's approach to
music? Well, it doesn't really. It's consistent
with the other records in that it's music that a
particular group of people have brought
together for others to play. This is more of a
collection over a longer period of time. So it
may have more variety, instrumentation. But
it's still musical moments and ideas that we
have brought together, put together, in what
we felt would be a pleasant order and collection. There were one or two songs that were
not put on the record because we felt they didn't really belong. And we wanted to try again,
as far as recording. So, it's very explicitly put
together in the way that we did as far as the
order and the selection and overall quality of
sound.
How did having a studio in your home help
or change your approach to making an
album? Will future endeavors for the band
be changed or aided since more members of
Rachel's live in Louisville now? Yes, it's
already helped. You know, that really happened more than a year ago. It's already helped
us have a feeling of more steady progress
rather than periodic bursts. I think we can
work on a weekly basis. A lot of times what
we work on has nothing really to do with practicing music. A good deal of what we spend
our time on are management issues, planning
tours, dealing with a lot of other business
things. It certainly helps with just getting that
stuff taken care of -- having people on hand to
make decisions. As far as having a studio at
home, it definitely frees us up as far as the
pacing. We can take our time writing music
and recording. We can try a lot of different
things without feeling like we're under pressure, either time-wise or financially. It's very
liberating because it frees us up both with our
time and energy and our budget.
How and why did you decide to have elements of electronic music on the album
Selenography? It's just been part of the way
we've been hearing things for a while now.
There were electronic things -- quite a bit -- on
The Sea and the Bells. Jason has initiated that
more than anyone and got the rest of us to
open our ears to the possibilities of what we
can add to pieces or even generate pieces from
electronic sources and samples or more electronically based instruments. It just seemed
natural to us.
This is just an excerpt from the interview.
For the extended version, please visit our web
site at: www.shemadethis.com/venus.
show up at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room recording studio with quite a few things unplanned,
leaving her spontaneity and blank-filling intuition to do the rest of the work.
But like I said earlier, O'Neil played just about
everything on the album, which means she
owes a bit of the improvisationai success to the
help of her friends, including Ida's Dan Littleton
on guitar and The Hall of Fame Band's Samara
Lubelski on violin. The results? Subtle-yet-powerful poetic non-rock ballads with an emphasis on
guitar weavings and bitter-sweet melody.
What inspired you to do a solo album? It was
time.
Did you enjoy the challenge of learning how to
use recording machines? Yes, it equals freedom.
What are the major differences in the ways that
you recorded Peregrine and the stuff you did in
Rodan, Retsin and The Sonora Pine? I did it in my
apartment, at my own pace, which allowed for
experimentation and revision. I sat with the stuff
as it evolved and made my own decisions
about where it should go next.
In your press release it says that with Peregrine,
you followed through on your own notions only
-- an entirely different experience. "She left
many musical questions unanswered until the
day was set to record the parts. It was almost
like improvising with the other parts of herself."
Do you prefer this method of song-writing? I
enjoy it, and I usually do write songs with many
different parts and sounds. I'll do it again, but I
also love collaborating with other people and
want some more of that.
What is/are your favorite instruments? I really
'
INTERVIEW BY AMY SCHROEDER
You should know Tara Jane O'Neil as one of the most accomplished women in independent rock -- namely, for her work in
Rodan, Retsin and The Sonora Pine. You should now also know her
as Tara Jane O'Neil of, well, Tara Jane O'Neil.
On her first solo release, Peregrine, TJ displays her multi-instrumental talent as she did in the aforementioned bands, playing
just about everything on the 10-song record, including guitar,
bass, keyboards, banjo and piano.
Although she made a commitment last summer to her New
York apartment to concentrate on the craftwork of Peregrine, the
sound is decidedly less structured compared to some of her previous band work. This is a good thing -- it was her plan all along to
25
wish I could play the bass clarinet, but I'm not
good with wind instruments. I like the instruments I play. Any instrument is good for something.
How will it be challenging when you tour -since you'll have to figure out who will play what
and on what songs? I have to teach the people
the songs and change arrangements for the
trio that will be the band. That's a lot of work,
but it's also like giving the stuff new life, like I'm
covering it or something. I'm taking it slowly and
trusting in Miggie, and Noel and myself. Miggie
used to play in Ida; he can play everything and
~
)
is a good time. Noel lives in Louisville,
is very young and went on both of
the Sonora Pine tours; he, too, plays
everything and is a good time.
How do you think your solo album is
different or similar to your previous
work -- say, in Rodan, Retsin or The
Sonora Pine? Well, it isn't a rock
record; it isn't totally upsetting. I'm
harmonizing with myself. It is me the way I sing, the notes I hear.
How would you describe Peregrine? I
don't know; it's quiet; I like it.
I really like Peregrine's cover art -- a
simple painting of a woman. It doesn't say in the credits who the artist is.
I did it. I've been doing visual art for
a while. I've illustrated two books of
poetry by Cynthia Nelson. I do paintings and such, and I did the Retsin
covers. The lady on the cover is
made of a lot of different stuff and is
a lot of different people.
If there's one thing that you'd like
people to know about you and your
work or this solo album -- that fans
wouldn't know unless you told them - what would it be? I want to play
fuzz bass in a psychedelic rock band.
Do you plan to continue to record as
a solo artist? Yes.
Do you have plans to record with
Retsin soon? Yes, we're gonna work
on a new record this year.
Other bands? I sure hope so.
I read about Retsin somewhere that
you and Cynthia Nelson used to
"sleep and breathe music. Twelve
hours a day, 7 days a week; out of
bed and straight to the guitar." Is this
how it is for you still? Now that we live
in New York City, a lot of time is wasted on getting around, doing jobs,
things I don't even realize I do, but
they take my time anyway. It's a real
pain in the ass to live here, but we do
work on the music and the art and
the poetry when we're not occupied
with other bullshit. This is something I
regret. In Louisville, things move more
slowly, so there was more uninterrupted time to work through projects.
How'd you get started in music?
Have you always been involved? I
haven't always been involved, but I
have always been interested. I started by figuring out songs on the guitar, then quietly writing my own, and
then I ended up in a hard-rock band
(Rodan).
At what age did you realize that
music is what you wanted to do with
your life?
Probably around 17. I moved out of
my folks' house and quit showing up
at school so that I could play my guitar. I didn't really - and probably still
don't -- understand the concept of
doing something with my life. It's
what I do in my life.
Were you encouraged to make
music when you were growing up? I
was given violin and piano lessons -neither lasted more than a year or
two, and I really don't remember any
of it. I guess my folks were supportive
of anything that made me happy, if
not money-wise, but they didn't
point me in the direction of this
whole thing, and I wonder how they
feel about it.
How/why were the names created
for Retsin, Rodan and Sonora Pine?
Ask Cynthia, Jason or Sean. I'm not
very good at naming things.
What were your favorite bands to
work in and why? They were all pretty different and served different purposes. I definitely needed them all.
Is music your full-time job? It's labor
intensive, and I spend most of my
days working on it somehow, but it
certainly isn't a job. I don't think I
would want to think of it that way -then it would become like any job
you had to show up for. I do it
mopolitan falcon which dates to the
14th century. It's medieval Latin and
can also mean "like a pilgrim -- having a tendency to wander." How did
you come up with the title Peregrine
for the album? My friend Greta gave
me a book, the first book about
babies all over the world. One of the
babies' names was Peregrine. I
thought it was beautiful and did the
research you did, and even though
I've been in New York for two years, I
still consider myself to possess a
migratory spirit.
How old are you? 27
Where were you born? Chicago
Did you go to college? For three
semesters.
Where'd you go and what'd you
study? University of Louisville; confusion and heartache.
Where do you consider yourself to
be from? I moved around a lot as a
kid, but I feel like I'm from Louisville.
If you could change something
about the world, what would it be?
Pain .
Who are the most inspiring people in
your life? My friends.
Who are/have been the most inspiring people to your music? Oh god, I
wouldn't know where to start - mostly people who do their thing with
persistence and fearlessness despite
peers and lack of cash. Also, Joni
Mitchell.
What are your favorite 10 songs of all
I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE
CONCEPT OF DOING SOMETHING WITH MY LIFE. IT'S
WHAT I DO /#MY LIFE.
because that's what I do. I make
money in various ways: painting, janitorial duties, film work, etc. I guess I
really don't want a job -- just some
tasks that make me money -- and
time to spend on my projects.
I looked up "peregrine" in the dictionary, and it has interesting definitions. I found that the noun dates to
1555 and means "a swift, nearly cos-
time? Impossible. All year I've been
really into a song called "Aguas de
Marco (Waters of March)" by A.C.
Jobim and Elis Regina. I think that
song about the midway by Joni
Mitchell is perfect. "Some Weird Sin"
by Iggy Pop is a good song. 'The Rue
of Ruby Whores" by Michael Hurley is
beautiful. I don't know.
26
H
annah
Sawtell's
voice carries over
the crowd in the
Irish tea room.
People grow quiet
as they listen to her
speech, attuned to her
British accent. Her voice is
deep, resonant and selfassured, unmasking the
strength that lies behind
her slight physique and
fine features. Her energy
and resolve are infectious
as she speaks of the things
she cares for: music, art,
her husband, friends, family and homeland.
People are staring -maybe because they aren't
accustomed to seeing a
striking young English
woman sitting in the middle of a Detroit eatery, but
Hannah pays no mind and
takes a sip of her juice. She
confesses to being a bit ill
at ease, though her manner
is in no way suspicious.
She says she doesn't like to
be under a microscope
because she is not seeking
any limelight.
At age 27, Hannah has
created a life that is compelling. She has earned a
reputation as a soughtafter soul and funk DJ in
Detroit and far beyond -not an easily earned mark
in Motown for a woman of
her stature. In her other
roles, Sawtell has been a
catalyst in reshaping one
of Detroit's legendary
dance music labels, Planet
E. She lives and works in
Detroit with the man who
created the label, Carl
Craig, her husband. "He
doesn't follow the whole
romantic view of what an
artist should be," she says,
laughing. "He calls me
quality control."
Her relationship may
have given her confidence
and a sense of security, but
it takes a certain kind of
strength to have left
London, friends and family
to move to Detroit -- and to
r
make it here.
"I did not want to leave
England. When I got here, I
didn't have anything to do;
I didn't have any friends,"
she says, remembering the . ,_
move she made three years ago to Craig's
hometown. "We believed in each other so
much that we were willing to give up things,"
she says with a casual shrug of a trip many
people would never consider.
She reverts back to 1995 when she met
and married Craig after being acquainted
with him for only a short time. The two
became engaged after a five-day interlude - a last-minute rendezvous in Australia. When
she first met Craig, Hannah hadn't predicted
the rapid courses her life would take. She
was dee-jaying in London clubs and battling
male stereotypes in record shops. "My real
love was jazz and soul; that was my thing,"
she says.
She was not a Detroit techno fan and had
no patience for this foreign music the first time
she heard Craig deejay.
"What the fuck is this
crap? I just don't get it. It's
totally not me at all," she
says of her first reactions
to techno. "I knew maybe
three records, but I didn't think of them as
techno. I owned The Art of Stalking by
Suburban Knight, which is still one of my
favorite records, Nude Photo or one of
Derrick (May)'s other records and Mad
Mike's Galaxy to Galaxy, a fucking jazz
record."
The daughter of artists, Hannah had her
own artistic streak to pursue. "We're both
very fiery, passionate people," she says of
her father. "I've managed to dampen my fire
over the years with Carl. After you turn 25,
you settle down."
Sawtell was always involved with the arts
one way or another. As a child, she studied
contemporary dance. She also had an affinity
for theater but wasn't after stardom. "I played
the ugly stepsister in Cinderella because I
could be mean to everybody. Everyone
wanted to be Cinderella, but I wanted to be
the stepsister, because I thought it would be
more fun."
Hannah had talent as a visual artist, but
music became another artistic avenue for
her to pursue. She played the saxophone and
sang in the choir but became engaged when
she discovered her love for vinyl, listening to
late '80s pirate radio. "I used to listen to early
hip-hop, funk, soul, disco, R&B. It was always
around me, as well as being into indie rock. I
was into a bit of everything."
She got her start in the business side of
music, working on promotions for Creation,
an indie-rock label. She decided she wanted
a more grassroots involvement in the business and went to work for Black Market
Records, a well-known London record shop.
She was one of two women working in the
store.
However, Hannah was stuck at Black
Market, working in merchandising. "I wanted
to work behind the record counter. The
owner wouldn't let me work there -- basically
because I was a woman."
Hannah moved on to another shop called
Honest John's, where she was actually selling
behind the counter. This store specialized in
the style of records she preferred -- funk,
disco, reggae and hip-hop. Ironically, Carl
saw Hannah deejay first, before the two
became friendly. "With a crowd that was 90
percent black, there I was, a white female
DJ," she says. "The last song I played was
Jackson's record. People went crazy. It was
the best night I had there - imagine 800 people gigging to soul, funk and hip-hop -- Carl
was totally freaked out," she says with a
chuckle. "The next day he showed up at my
work. On our first date we went to Wendy's
and the arcade. After only being acquainted
"It's so hard to run a company and do
other things," she says with a bit of regret.
Sawtell has hopes of pursuing her abandoned artistic career. "I draw a lot. There's
going to come a day when I don't want to do
this anymore. I'm not sure I've found myself - whether it's being involved as a DJ or something else."
As a woman in business, Sawtell has overcome stereotypes and defiantly stuck out
criticism. "Men are scared of me," she says.
"I'm not a bitch. I'm sick of it. So many women
are conditioned at an early age. I was
brought up to think, 'Do what you want to
do."'
Hannah admits to culture shock living in
the harsh reality of Detroit and the lack of a
Men are scared of me. I'm not abitch. So many
women are conditioned at an early age. I was
brought up to think, 'Do what you want to do.'
for two months, he called me said and I want
to get to you know properly," she says of her
delirious courtship. "I'm going to Australia to
deejay next week. It's your birthday; I want
you to come." At first she said no but
changed her mind after reprimands from
friends. "It was like as soon as I got off the
plane. It really was like something out of
movie: I saw him and he saw me; we got in
the cab and just started snogging. After five
days I fell in love."
So how did Hannah decide to make the
move to Detroit? Sacrifice and compromise.
"He was willing to give up living in Detroit for
six months to be with me in London. It was an
exciting time. You could do all this stuff with
someone and have fun together."
Even after marrying, Hannah had no intention of working for Craig's label. "I didn't
really like anything he did until I got to know
his music. I'd never heard it. I really felt quite
ashamed that I 'd never heard it before."
They decided to return to Detroit for Carl's
music career. "Then when I moved here I
stopped deejaying. When I moved, pretty
much everything stopped." At first Hannah
says she felt small and a bit isolated by the
spacious American lifestyle and the constriction of not having a driver's license.
She accompanied Carl to the Planet E
office a few times. "I noticed things they didn't have -- a proper mailing list or databases," she says. Drawing from her record label
background, Hannah started to make lists of
what she thought the label needed.
"We decided to relaunch Planet E." Now,
with her own project, a brand-new jazz label
called Community Projects, international
buzz over Carl's revamped Innerzone
Orchestra project and his recent performance in Central Park, Planet E seems to be
doing quite well under Sawtell's contributions. She's also scored a driver's license.
social state in American society. She has
retained her English citizenship and is a permanent resident alien. But as she pauses to
reflect on her role in this city, she is a bit
more positive. "When my mother visited, she
said, 'Hannah you're doing your part. Look at
what you're doing at Planet E."'
She thinks for a moment about the business of putting out records in the independent sector. "I'm working with young producers who are trying to make something with
their hearts. Everyone has their part to play,
and everyone has their part to play in different ways," she says. "That's me making my
statement against all the run-of-the-mill commercial crap. Even in the world of techno,
there are people who are trying to do something different and people trying to do the
same old crap."
Hannah decided she missed deejaying
and playing the soul music she loved best.
"I realized, 'Fuck it, I'm going to do what I
want. At the end of the day, people sense
when you're genuine and if you're a music
lover -- whatever kind of music it is." At first
she was tentative about playing out in
Detroit, but to her surprise, she was wellreceived and now is frequently booked for
gigs.
"That's my solution to the problem of musical play: to play randomly across music that
is soulful and spiritual. That's the description
of the music that moves me."
Hannah faces future challenges -- whether
to establish herself in America, to raise a
family here or to return to England, to focus
on the collective business of Planet E or to
concentrate on her own artistic pursuits. But,
in the interlude, as a woman who has quietly
earned her own twist of success in a maledominated arena on two continents -- in
record stores, promotions, as a DJ and artist,
her place is not in the shadows.
WE REALLY WISH PAPER COULD TALK. OR, AT LEAST THESE TWO PAGES. WE WISH THESE TWO
PAGES COULD TALK BECAUSE DANIELLE HOWLE SOUNDS SO MUCH LIKE JANIS JOPLIN WHEN SHE
SPEAKS. MAYBE ITS THE SOUTHERN ACCENT OR THE RASPINESS. MAYBE ITS HER HONESTY OR
THE FACT THAT SHE'S ONE OF THE NICEST PEOPLE YOU'LL EVER MER. ALOT OF HER PERSONALITY
COMES OUT IN HER MUSIC. HER SONGS ARE BITTER-SWER AND THEY MAKE YOU THINK. THE
SOUND IS SIMPLE -- JUST DANIELLE AND HER GUITAR. INTERVIEW BY AMYS.
Before I interviewed Danielle Howle, I'd read that
she's uncomfortable being labeled as an acoustic
artist or "songwriter." Instead, she thinks of herself as
someone who captures bits of time. "I'm not trying to
shock people with bad language and weirdness," she
said. "I'm trying to tell whatever truth is there. I do
not need electricity to make a big noise."
On her album, Catalog, she tells stories about her
everyday experiences (topics ranging from climbing
trees to picking stuff out of a catalog to the death of
her grandpa) with just the right amount of detail,
allowing the listener to picture the scene. For the
most part, it's just Danielle and her acoustic guitar;
however, a few other notable musicians contribute to
the record, including Dan Littleton, Elizabeth
Mitchell and Jenny Toomey.
Discography: The South Carolina singer first
emerged as the frontwoman for the group Lay Quiet
Awhile, which debuted in 1993 with the album
Delicate Wire; a year later, she issued her first solo
single called "Frog," on Simple Machines. Live at
McKissick Museum followed in mid-1995; Then she
recorded About to Burst, another full-length, this time
with her band the Tantrums. A 7-inch called High
School Dance was next, then came Do A Two Sable
with the Tantrums on Daemon Records in 1997. I
interviewed Ms. Howle to talk about her latest record,
Catalog, her first for Kill Rock Stars. Her most recent
recorded work can be found on the latter label's sampler CD called Jackson's Jukebox.
How do you like to describe your music? Man, I
wish I knew. I really can't, and it's a problem because
it might annoy some people.
Why is that? Because people in passing ask polite
questions like, "Hey, how would you describe your
music?" and I'm like, like, well, I don't know. I feel
like I might be annoying them now.
So there are no particular words that you'd like to
use when describing your music? Snapshots of
time, perhaps. Songs are snapshots of time to me.
Are you always writing songs? Yeah, yeah, it's fun.
Do you keep them in your head, or do you write
29
them down? I keep them all in a
tape deck, and I keep them ... where
else? I keep them just in my brain
and on cassette tapes and stuff like
that.
Do you write songs every day? Oh
yes. Sometimes I just write songs in
my brain when I don't have time to
write them down. They come out,
and sometimes ifl forget 'em, they
come out in a different way later on,
you know what I mean?
When do you find yourself being
most inspired to write songs?
When I'm sittin' in my living room
and I don't have nothin' to do and
it's turnin' to be dusk outside, you
know? That's usually the time.
How did growing up in South Carolina influence your music?
I'm sure more than I'll ever know. My dad was an Army man, so I
also grew up in Southern Mississippi and in Germany -- the southern half of Germany -- so I'm an interesting Southerner.
I really like the song on Catalog called "From The Tops of
Trees." (She sings, "I was strong and brave and longed to see the
world just work itself from way up in the trees. So many years I
climbed up to their tops. The wind would tell me stories when
the wind would stop. I would watch them play below. They did
not see me." Do you climb trees? Yes, it's very important.
Where did you get the inspiration for the song? When you sing
about liking to see the world from atop trees?
When I was little, I was shy, and I used to watch people play, and I
would watch them from the tops of the trees. I just remember many
times growin' up just sittin' there for hours and, not sayin' anything.
So you still do that now? Sometimes, but not as much.
Where do you live now? I live in Columbia, South Carolina.
What was the most interesting experience while recording this
album? Just getting to hang out with some ofmy friends who were
there and checking out how the Pro-Tools works, which is the
method that they used to record it, computers, and it's just kinda
cool.
Do you like computers? Yeah, but they scare me. I don't know
much about them. I feel really behind and like a dinosaur even
though I'm not old enough to be a dinosaur yet, you know what I
mean?
How old are you? I'm 31. I turned 31 on March 29, 1999.
Have you always want to be a musician? No, I didn't know that's
what I was for a long time. I was in theatre and training to be an
actor and all that sorta stuff, and then one day I just went, "I'm
gonna sing." Then I did. But my momma told me I'd been singin'
my whole life.
Do you still want to be an actress? I probably will some day, just
because something will happen. I'll just do it. It's something I know
I can do, but music's more challenging to me. More important. I
mean, it would have to be The Role, you know. I'm not a real
actress. It would have to be about finding the greatest role in the
world that I liked. And there's plenty of other people who could kick
my butt, so I'll probably just stick with music.
What were you encouraged to be when you were growing up?
Me.
You hand-wrote your own press release, which I think is the
dope shit. You say in it that you were "fired" a lot from different
bands because nobody wanted a girl songwriter who only played
a Casio to get her ideas across. That was like a long time ago. That
was in sort of the late '80s.
Did that make you upset at the time? At the time, yeah, but I'm so
glad now because all those people were losers, and they don't even
play in bands anymore anyway.
All right! So it's just sort of like providence, I guess, taking care of
the Danielle Unit. You know, keeping you away from strange, bad
energy.
Is that what inspired you to keep on keepin on and to do more
music projects? I guess "fired" is the wrong word cause it was just
a bunch of punk rockers, hanging out, rocking out, having a good
time. But I get too dramatic, and I say it's like "fired," but, yeah, of
course. You can get pissed off from bein' "fired" but like you can
see a beautiful tree -- and what really matters in life -- that's what
keeps you going.
•
STORY BY MACKENZIE WILSON
PHOTO BY JULIE J. PANTS SHOWERS
31
Rock stars have it easy,
right? I wanted to be Cyndi
Lauper when I was six. I
wanted to be Kate Bush in
later years, and who didn't
want to be Madonna? And
which little boy didn't want
to be Robert Plant, Bono or
even Motley Crue's Tommy
Lee? Rock stars seem to have
so much fun.
Superstardom seems like
the ideal thing for a perfect
life, but honestly, it's all cliche
nowadays. The lusting daydreams of touring, the power
of money and the freedom to
shag anyone you please is
what makes us all wanna pee
our pants with excitement.
But remember what your
mom always told you. Life
isn't fair. Even if you're in a
rock band. "It's a hard thing
to do," laughs Cake Like
vocalist/bassist
Kerri
Kenney. "We handle it with a
lot of pills - pills and thera-
py."
The women of Cake Like - Kenney, guitarist Nina
Hellman and drummer Jody
Seifert - work damn hard.
It's been nearly six years
since they first burst onto the
New York music scene with
their
punky-fun
debut,
Delicious. 1997's collectively
cool Bruiser Queen brought
the band's name more to the
forefront , but Cake Like
struggled with balancing
their golden rockstar lives
and successful career paths.
All have serious day jobs.
Goodbye, So What marks the
trio's most defining rock
effort since mastering their
double working roles. "There
are months where we are just
focused on the band, but
there are months where we
don't even touch our instruments,"
says
guitarist
Hellman, SI , who is currently gearing up for her summer gig in "Sex, a.k.a. Wieners and Boobs," an off-off
Broadway show that will be running its second performance leg in Los Angeles.
Kenney, 29, who is most recognized for her footstompingly funny comic stints on Comedy Central's Viva
Variety and MTV's The State, is currently working with
her former State castmates on a pilot sketch/ sitcom for
FOX. Seifert, who is SI , is presently working with a
design team that's launching a menswear snowboarding
line for Ocean Pacific as well as creating her own line of
hand bags.
Kenney says it's kinda funny being in a band because
of the occasional freak-outs at drastic changes. "I just
moved out to Los Angeles and some bands would be like,
'Oh no, what is gonna happen now,' but it's just the same.
We have to set aside time, no matter if you have to get
on a five-hour plane ride to get somewhere. It's a
headache, but it sort of teaches you a lot because you
learn not to worry about it. You realize that you have no
control over the situation."
The women of Cake Like aren't worried. Writing this
record was the first time the band really sat down and
focused on making an album. Kenney says she struggled
vocally and noticed that the band's overall playing style
changed. But change is a good thing. "We all work well
under pressure,'' Kenney says. "We set out to do this, to
get together and concentrate on writing. We had never
done that before."
"Plus I found myself not wanting to fall into patterns,'' Hellman adds. "When working closely every day,
it's hard to see anything growing. But looking back at
the first record, it's like shit, what was that?"
Album opener "Lucky One" creepily wains with
straining Wurlitzer loops, finding its way to Kenney's
brooding vocals. "My Guy" is the anthem for the independent woman, an intelligent bitch queen who knows
in her heart why she's in love, but her head tries to steer
her away from such a fantasy. "Don't Tell" is sneaky;
Hellman's angelically soft-spoken backing vocals intertwine with Kenney's deep whispering plea: "Help me to
sleep, I breathe, but don't sink; let sleep drug me; oh
please, oh please, oh, take me home."
"Dead to Me" and the Sonic Youth-esque "Getaway"
maintain a keen sense of rock originality found in artists
such as Liz Phair and the Pixies. There's a spunky,
inspiring spark long forgotten in the present teenybop
mediocrity (thanks Britney Spears and the Backstreet
Boys). Now I remember why I like music so much. Cake
Like makes it fun like Kim Deal did when I was 15 years
old.
This is not a riot grrrl group trying to get noticed.
With all the Lilith hype, Cake Like isn't out to be the
femme fatal supergroup, screaming and kicking to get
respect and props. These women know how to get someone's attention without Courtney Love attitude or Nina
Hagen obscurity. "People always associate us with that
stuff," laughs Hellman. "And Jody has a penis," chimes
Kenney, "So ya know, we're not really into that."
I
That's a picture taken by my friend Ill Ease band? Well, Andy is my
Alex Holden, whom I mention by full . friend from way back (the same
name only because he's coinciden- Andy mentioned earlier) . Caleb is a
tally a great comic book maker, and friend I knew in Massachusetts, and
his roommate is Caleb Seavey, who we reunited in New York. I met
not-so-coincidentally plays guitar in Naomi here a couple years ago, and
the band. He has a guitar case that I we've been friends for a while. We
guess has a sticker of Spider Man on all thought it'd be fun to be stuck
it. You must have a high-voltage inside a tiny, sweaty van for a while.
magnifying glass there, or a really We all like music and we all enjoy
keen spider sense. Since you asked, the same recreational activities, if
though, my favorite comic, hands you know what I mean.
down, is Krazy Kat. Second runner- Your songs, especially "Sick
up: McKay's Little Nemo in Groove," remind me of being on
Slurnberland or Dream of the Welsh one of those rides at the carnival
that spin a lot, except maybe not
Rarebit Fiend.
What instrument do you enjoy as fast. Do you like these kinds of
rides? A little. But if I'm at Coney
playing most? Drums.
When and how did you decide to Island or something like that I'd
create Ill Ease? When I moved rather play whack-a-mole or skeeback to New York City, I started ball. And I never go to those protosharing a practice space with my fascist amusement parks like Disney
friend Andy Monteleone who had an World because that's where they
eight-track tape machine and we stick the pro-government chips in
happened to luck into a great, cheap your brain. Not to mention they have
mixing board. I started writing inhumane labor practices, colosongs by myself all the time nial/imperialistic worker relations
because I wasn't working much, and are part of the world's stinkiest
occasionally lived at the practice media monopoly. But, anyway, I
space and have this nervous disor- think the music sounds that way
der I referred to earlier. I realized I because most of the songs are in a
really liked playing and recording weird time. I like the songs to sound
by myself and not having to deal like they're tripping over themwith all the stuff that always comes selves but they still have a good
up when recording and writing groove. Maybe I like it because I
music with other people. Time goes can't dance.
by and the first record comes out Do you think living in New York
and I decided to, you know, "get the City is like being in a big rat
band together," so I asked a couple race? It's for the big rats that want
of friends if they wanted to tour, and the big cheese.
Did you grow up there? No. I grew
lo and behold they did.
A lot of people know you as the up in Maryland.
dope drummer of New Radiant Do you have any advice for young
Storm King. Did you enjoy play- people -- particularly artists and
ing in that band?
musicians -- who want to move to
I definitely enjoyed it a lot, but you New York? It's all right. I guess the
know, to everything there is a sea- editor of this fine magazine is moving here, so it must not be that bad.
son -- turn, turn, turn.
What are the challenges and My advice would be to avoid living
advantages of creating music in Manhattan because you probably
can't afford it anyway. Try Queens or
alone instead of with a band?
The big advantages would be that the Boogie Down, the Island of
you don't have to schedule prac- Staten, the B.K., etc. Oh, and read
tices. And I'm always right (joke). The Power Broker first; it's the best
There aren't too many challenges I book I've read in years. It's way too
can think of. Not to sound like a jerk, heavy, but it's about Robert Moses,
but I've definitely spent time play- who designed the highways, the
ing with different people and I real- parks and a lot of city housing from
ly enjoy it, but at some point, it the '30s to the '70s. It's basically
always starts to feel like a relation- about what a playa he was - and
ship or a marriage or some type of about all the big-time players in city
commitment thing. It has its good politics for the last SO years.
points and its bad points, but it's just If you were to make a mixed tape
not where I'm at right now. When I titled "Music For People Who Are
Never At Ease," what 10 songs by
get a therapist, I'll ask her/him why.
Bow did you recruit the musi- what bands would you put on it?
cians you play with live with the They're not at ease and they don't
l
E. SHARP'S GOT THE SHAKES
BY PETE NOLAN
Elizabeth Sharp is a real sickie. She claims to suffer from a
neurological disorder in which the right sort of aural input
stimulates an endorphin rush to the pleasure centers of her
brain. The result: dope records. Her new album Circle Line
Tours on Swarnpy/Srnilex is testament to that. Like a trip to
New York's Coney Island, it's got plenty of fun rides if you
can put up with feeling nauseous and dirty. This album
swings - smooth grooves permeated with plenty of New
York cool. One of the most amazing things about E. Sharp is
that she is a one-woman band. She plays all the instruments
herself. Hopefully, you're wondering how the hell she manages to play all those instruments when she tours. Well,
when she's on the road, she employs a band, so in other
words, she's a one-woman band in the recording studio.
Why and when did you start playing music? I started
playing drums when I was 14. I started playing bass when I
was about 17. I don't know when I started playing guitar and
other stuff. I play music because I have a nervous disorder,
so my brain senses music as pleasure.
Do you like to travel and tour? I love to travel and tour. I
like to travel because my sun is in Sagittarius and so is my
Mercury, so I like to travel, but I'm not a good communicator. In fact, I'm sort of astrologically doomed to a life of wandering. I like to tour because I like playing music every
night, drinking free beer, seeing bands for free, and
because it's a good way to see a place and meet cooler people than you would otherwise. Plus, our van has a good
stereo.
I noticed in your press photo that you have a sticker of
Spider Man on your guitar case. Do you like Spider Man
or any other comics? I didn't know I had a press photo or
a guitar case or a photo of Spider Man on the guitar case.
Oh, OK, now I know, sorry for the confusion - my mistake.
want to be, or they do? Or they're not at ease l the record just because I think samplers are
and they'll just like these 10 songs because l the cheap way out a lot of the time. And anythey'll feel so cosmically in tune with the I way, it's always more interesting to play
never-at-ease universe? See, I dunno l some repetitive riff for six and a half minutes
because I'm pretty into the art of mix tapes - than to just loop it because if you're actually
- it's not just about slapping together any ol' l playing it the whole time, there's subtle vari10 great songs. You have to allow some j ation and you start to hear different things in
breathing room, peaks and valleys, time to 1 it.
come down etc., etc. What if I just named the i Are some of the sounds on the record
ten tapes I have that I'd never leave home ; taken from a radio? There's radio stuff
without if I were planning on going on a
never-at-ease road trip. Let's see, not in any ;
order: 1. CCR "Cosmos Factory" / Memphis (
Minnie "Travellin Blues" (with some Blind !
Willie McTell at the end); 2.The Fall i
''Dragnet' I X-Ray Spex "Oh Bondage Up
Yours"; 3. Harvey Milk ''The Pleaser"/ Jucifer l
"Calling All Cars"; 4. LL's ''Walking with a
Panther"/ Jay Z "Hard Knock Life Vol. 2"; 5. l
Stooges "Fun House" I Stiff Little Fingers l
"Inflammable Material"; 6.Marvin Gaye
"Trouble Man" / Little Stevie "I Was Made to j
Love Her"; 7. ZZ Top's first album / Husker Du i between songs. Mostly short wave, my
"Zen Arcade"; 8. L. Cohen "Songs From a I favorite of the major wave types.
Room" I Cars "Candy-O" (with live Cheap l Turntables? No, I tried scratching a couple
Trick/Cars in '79 at the end of both sides); 9. ! of times and succeeded in fucking up a
A Sun Records homemade best-of; 10. The l bunch of my favorite records.
best tape of all, which I'm listening to as we What else? Mostly just regular instruments,
e-speak is a best-of Specialty Records tape i plus a lot of piano. The only kind of weird
that I taped from their five-CD set "The •· instrument is a toyxylophone I've had forevSpecialty Story." It was a '40s Califboogie- er. Plus the car horn and the jacket scratchwoogie record label with Lloyd Price, Lou ing - that's what sounds like scratching.
Rawls etc. on it. Five stars: has A/C, indoor Then there's just a whole mess of vibrato and
swimming and free champagne with every l a healthy splash of natural reverb 'cause the
honeymoon suite.
! old practice space was huge and I've never
I read in an interview on the Drummer been very impressed by pedals and pedal
Girl site that your favorite record is the l pushers. There's some backward stuff too.
Plastic Ono Band. That is quite a frantic i What sound is playing in the background
and more spastic type of record than the at the end of the song "False Start, Night
cool sort of grooves that you create. l Driver?" It's a chewed-up old four-track
Actually, I'm quite a spaz myself. I'm always i tape with the sound of a pot filling up with
spilling things on people. But I love that i water played at fast speed, my favorite of the
record mostly because it's all about the bass ; two major speed types. There's some pot
and drums. Then there's some cool piano banging going on too. I'm definitely into
thrown on too, and I like the spazzy grooves, l found sounds instead of just "Sounds Made
like on "Well, Well, Well." Plus the whole ; From Instruments In An Eight Octave Scale."
record just seems really honest and naked in l Do you have a day job? A bunch of random
a totally unique way. The production is killer l stuff. My best recent job was working for
and it flows in a really nice way too.
1 Michael Moore's production team for his
Would you ever want to make a record 1 new cable show ''The Awful Truth," which is,
like that? Storm King's first record is pretty by the way, really, really funny. I wasn't doing
goddamn spazzy, I think. But sure, I'd love to l anything especially cool or anything, I was
make a really, really spazzy record. I kind of l just running around doing stupid shit. That's
grew up on hardcore.
' mostly what I do. The thing is that in New
Bow old are you? I was born December 14, j York you can get paid $125 a day to run
1971 at 7:15 p.m. (CST) in St. Louis. But I've • around and do stupid shit for different peosaved all my hair and fingernail clippings in • ple. Which is great because I happen to be
a Ziploc bag, so voodoo is out of the ques- ! great at running around doing stupid shit for
different people.
tion.
Bow did you get the name m Ease? It's Bow long have you been into photografrom a song on the first record that has 'ill j phy? Fo-ever.
ease' in the lyrics, and my initials are E.A.S. I i I read that you have some stuff on display
wish there were a good story about it, but 1 at the Museum of Modern Art. Bow did
there isn't.
' you get hooked up with that? Well, it's not
There are lots of interesting sounds on ; on display but it's in their library, which is
Circle Line Tours. It says on the record i also online. I'd brought some photo books I
that you don't use samplers. I put that on ; made with color Xeroxes to Printed Matter to
I
!
a SoHo art store that's pretty cool for SoHo. I
guess a woman from MOMA came in and
bought them because I got a letter saying I
was in the collection of emerging artists or
something like that, and asking a bunch of
questions about my influences and what-not.
Do you have a favorite camera? I only use
Polaroids because I don't got no teknikal nohow.
What sorts of things do you like to take
l
l
I
I
!
!
!
l
!
l
!
!
!
pictures of? Like the stuff on the covers.
Things that don't have any scale around them
but have a lot of color (usually taken close to
sunset). The books in MOMA are called "27
silos of the rich and famous," which are all
photos of silos, some of which are rich and
famous; "the tragic rise and fall of the number 32," which are pictures of the number 32
on parking lots and in different places (kind
of about O.J. and what not); "the disappearing act," which is a sort of story about this little metal object; "nothing short of monumental," and one other I can't remember the title
of right now.
Bow do you describe your music? Crisp
and clean and no caffeine. Taste great, less
filling. Built to stay that way. Engineered to
destroy. All the fine tuning you'll ever need.
On Circle Line Tours, you write about
places and not feeling well. Where do you
get inspiration to write your songs?
I've lived in a lot of places. I don't think that I
don't feel well too much of the time, but I
guess maybe so. A lot of the songs are stories with characters in them just told in the
first person. My favorite lyricists are Slick
Rick and Mark E. Smith, but I don't think I
have as good a sense of humor of either of
them unfortunately.
If there's anything else you'd like to add,
feel free. Since you asked, let's see ... I think
the world is becoming one huge corporate
monopoly. In the next 100 years, governments will disappear and there will only be
multi-national corporations like AT&T,
Seagram's, and Time/Warner controlling all
means of communication and transportation.
MTV is a corporate monopoly just by itself,
not to mention Viacom. The U.S. government
has given up on regulating companies, and
decided to become part of the showbiz
spectacle. Our biggest commodity is culture,
the entertainment industry is the new imperialism. Stand up and be part of the spectacle. Yeah.
THE ATARI TEENAGE RIOTER
IS AS HARDCORE ABOUT
HER FEMINIST IDEAS AS SHE
IS HER MUSIC
BY AMY SCHROEDER
I
like the concept of Rolling Stone dot
"Artists A to Z" biography section, bu
screwed up big time when they wrote At
Teenage Riot's profile.
Actually, it starts off good, saying that ATR is a
Germ~ punk/ rock/jungle band that released a
track called "Hunting for Nazis." But then it says:
"This controversial, politically inflammatory song
garnered international attention and proved to be
a launching pad for Alec Empire, Hanin Elias and
Carl Crack, the three men who started the band in
rebellion of the trite direction in which techno
was heading."
In the words of Cibo Matto, it's time to get your
shit straight. Maybe the writer wasn't aware that a
woman was capable of being as musically powerful
and hardcore as Hanin Elias. So, without taking a
few extra seconds to check facts, the Rolling Stone
writer renders Elias a man.
"The music business is a man's world, and I'm
sick of the fact that so many are taking it as it is,"
Elias says on ATR's site. "It's not my idea to be
sexy to sell something. I have my own ideas; I
have my own opinions - it's not just Alec who's
the head of ATR (as usually stated in the press!)
It's the whole band. We are a monster with three
heads and now there's one more head growing out
of it. Her name is Nie (Endo), and she's the new
member of ATR."
To make her opinion even clearer, Elias recently
formed a sub-label on Digital Hardcore Records
called Fatal. "It's for girls who are sick of the
whole system. Nothing has really changed for girls
and women's rights. And we don't need rights to
be allowed by men because we are right. I have
~~;~
i ;~ra,: ~~~Tl
GIRLS WHERE WE HAVE OUR
OWN LANGUAGE AND DUR OWN MUSIC."
always been an anarchist, always had a different personality, and I had to fight more
than most men to receive respect for my
music. I've had enough of people who still
think in cliches - that girls don't do as
much as boys."
In this interview, Elias talks a bit about
Atari Teenage Riot's latest album, 60 Second
Wipe Out, which includes a number of
impressive contributing musicians - namely
Kathleen Hanna and the Arsonists. She
talks even more about what it means to be a
woman in the music industry and the
importance of all-female record labels.
What are the differences between 60
Second WipeOut and previous releases? I
think, of course, we develop from album to
album. Nie does all the noise parts on the
record, and it's different because it's a new
influence. We also stopped using breakbeats,
and we used more rock 'n' roll. It's also better mixed because we had a mixer in New
York - Andy Wallace. He mixed Nirvana
and people like them, and one track was
mixed by Dave Satie, who mixed Slayer
before.
What are some of the messages on
this album? I think our messages are
not hard to understand. We see ourselves as anarchists, and on this album
we wanted to use the word revolution
very often because we think revolution
had a very bad meaning from the past,
and we wanted to give this word new
meaning. By revolution, I mean mostly
about changing the system - to
change everything.
How do you give new meaning to
the word revolution? I think when we
stand up for it with our music, it gets a
new meaning - and if we use it for
anarchist longings. Is that the correct
word to use in English? In the past it
was used for, like, hippie reasons and
for guitar music and acoustic stuff, and
without violence. The messages surrounding revolution were different in
the past than we want to use it.
do something together. I also want to record
some other bands from New York. Do you
know Bedroom Productions? It's a guy and a
than boys. I want to open up more opportunities for girls.
What countries are Fatal records available in? I think Fatal records are available
chedelic trash-metal punk. But the music
wasn't very good. Then I met Alec Empire,
girl, and she's a rapper and she raps really
different, so I'm going to do something with
her. They did a track called "Socialism in
in the U.S., but I hear there's only one out Nic's EP - because we just started. There
and we decided to make a band together, and
at first it was Alec and me. Then we chose
New York City," which is really good. I think
that will work out very well because it's on
will be more and more available in months
to come; it's hard for us because we have to
Carl Crack as an MC, and three years ago
an electronic level, and it's not this rock
tour with Atari and finish Atari stuff, and I
we met Nie and decided to take her in the
band as a fourth member. I've been in Atari
thing - it's something different, and actually
it's much easier to do electronic stuff for
girls. We react much faster to situations and
would like to have girls to send over some
tapes. That would be great.
When did you get started in music?
When I was 15. I played in a band with a
guy called Kevin Spacek. We did very
strange music, which was almost like psy-
Teenage Riot since 1991.
How old are you know? I'm 26.
Did you always want to be a musician?
create much faster music and records than,
you know, going to the rehearsal room and
How can people contact you? On the
backs of DHR CDs the address of the
London office is printed. If girls or people
always wanted to be an artist. I wanted to do
creative work. Like everything that has to do
doing like drums and guitars and everything.
want to send tapes, they can do it. (You can
also find out more on the web site: www.dig-
with writing and painting, playing, acting,
singing. I always was scared of having a job
- sitting somewhere eight hours a day and I didn't like that, so I always tried to go
How do you find the bands that you want
to put on Fatal? It has to have a certain
energy, of course, and it should have state-
italhardcore.com.)
What's the biggest challenge of running
a record label? I don't run the record label
with this direction and it worked.
I'm very interested in your new record
label, Fatal. When did you start the label?
The idea was born very early, actually, but I
didn't have any possibilities to form my own
label because at first I was the only girl on
Digital Hardcore Records. Then they came
"WOMEN HAVE ADIFFERENT WAY OF DOING
MUSIC, TALKING TD EACH OTHER AND
COMMUNICATING THAN BOYS. IWANT TD
OPEN UP MORE OPPORTUNITIES FDR GIRLS."
more and more. But they didn't have the
same statements or opinions that I have. So I
was always really disturbed by this hardcore
ments that agree with the Fatal manifest. I
don't want to have bubble-gum girl bands
who dress up in pink and are really nice and
so I don't have to sit behind the computer
boy thing that was going on at DHR: "No
stuff.
eight hours a day.
my record is harder and faster and more
powerful than yours!" And all these record
nerd stories - I couldn't take it anymore. I
How did you come up with the name
Fatal? I think Fatal is a great name because
it reminds me of the 1920s, and internation-
What advice do you have for women who
want to start their own businesses? They
shouldn't care so much about reading
always dreamed about a label only for girls
where we have our own language and our
ally - in many languages - it means the
same thing. It's just written with an "e"
instructions from a computer and about the
rules of music equipment and stuff; they
own music. I wanted to create a balance on
sometimes at the end and sometimes not. I
should ignore all the technicalities. It's writ-
DHR. I met Nie, and I met so many other
girls. I can finally practice what I thought of,
think it will be fatal for the music industry
and for the man's world in the future.
but I don't want it to be that I'm the leader
What are the responses so far for Fatal -
ten in a difficult language. It's easier to work
things out by yourself and just try it. If
they need any boys to explain them any-
of Fatal. I'm the creator of Fatal. I don't
want to do it with hierarchy at all. So all the
from people you know and from musicians? Are they supportive? Yes, some are
thing, they need lots of attention because
the boys will treat them like babies. They
girls who join can do whatever they want,
and I don't want to censor anything. It's better for me because I haven't got as much
supportive, but some ask themselves or ask
me why it's exclusively for girls because
shouldn't give up at any point; they should
just go ahead and do everything they want. I
think women-owned businesses will be very
time to control everything. I think it just
some boys want to do something on it too,
but I think it's not a good idea. There are so
controls itself I just released Nie Endo's EP.
It's only noise, and my next EP comes out
soon. I don't know when exactly. Then we
many possibilities to do some stuff on DHR,
and I just wanted to try to separate it
because we have a different language.
are just about to work with Kathleen Hanna
Women have a different way of doing music,
and her friend Johanna Fateman. We want to
talking to each other and communicating
alone. Lots of people are helping me. My job
is as the communicator with the musicians,
•
big in the future. It's especially hard in the
music business for women. It's still dominated by men. I can't accept this fact. The more
girls who get involved in making music especially electronic music - the more these
cliches will change.
36
YUKAHON■&MIHO-RI
STORY BY AMY SCHROEDER • PHOTOS BY JULIE SHOWERS
The first time I saw Cibo Matto perform was at Chicago's Metro Theater. I
wish I could remember who they were
sharing the stage with that night (I
think it was Boss Hog), but Cibo Matto
really stole the show.
The duo's equipment consisted of
one keyboard, one small hand-held
tape recorder and two microphones.
Miho Hatori stood at the forefront of
31
the stage, smiling, looking directly at
the audience, while she energized the
crowd with her pop rhymes. Yuka
Honda stood only a few feet behind
Hatori, concentrating on her keyboard.
When a song required a recorded
sample or two, Honda simply hoisted
her small tape player up to the microphone.
Their live performances were about
American bands, such as Shonen Knife and
as lo-fi as you can go for a poppy hip-hop-inspired
Pizzicato Five. In my opinion, the latter-mentioned
duo. Their way with words, their renditions of jazz,
bands' styles are significantly unlike Cibo Matte's;
rock and rap along with their take on the art of
more time should have been invested into comparmixing and sampling (ranging from Public Enemy
isons of the band's
to Duke Ellington)
influences, such as
is what made many
Beastie Boys and
of their songs easijazz musicians.
er to remember
The second
than your best
time I saw Cibo
friend's phone numMatto perform was
ber.
in New York City,
It was 1996, and
at a taping of the
the duo's first
PBS television
album, Viva! La
show Sessions at
Woman, had just
West 54th Street.
been released. A
The best part of
growing number of
this experience is
people were beginthat the audience
ning to find out
is so small and the
about the
sound quality is so
Japanese-raisedincredible, espeNew Yorkers whose
cially since the
name in Italian
audience sat only
meant "Food
Crazy." Cibo Matto ALL PHOTOS WERE TAKEN ON CIBO MATTO'S MANAGER'S ROOF. IT'S HIS a few feet away
was so crazy about DOG TOO (IN THE PHOTO AT LEFT).
from the stage.
Cibo Matto had
food, in fact, that
recently released its second album, Stereo-Type A,
all 11 of the album's songs, in one way or another,
and performed many of new songs along with a
were about food.
few from Viva! The difference between the first
I cannot think of another group that's managed
show and this one is that Cibo Matto now had a
to pull off -- or even attempted -- to dedicate an
full band performing with them, as well as on t~eir
entire album to a simple theme, much less avocanational tour. Miho Hatori once again stood at the
dos, chicken and beef jerkey.
front of the stage, singing beautifully. Behind her
It's difficult to single out the album's standouts
since Hatori and Honda invested equal amounts of were Yuka Honda on keyboards, along with Sean
Lennon, Timo Ellis and Marc Ribot.
energy to all their songs. On "Birthday Cake,"
Stereo-Type A takes on more challenging subHatori does her own kind of rap, singing, "Extra
sugar! Extra salt! Extra oil and MSGeeeeee!" On
jects, such as Asian stereotypes, racism and capitalism. Along with their meaningful messages,
"Sugar Water," Honda slows down the tempo, creating a dreamy landscape for Hatori's equally la-la- Honda decided to produce the album herself, a
completely new experience. "There are people who
ing vocals.
think that women can't operate studio equipment,"
Needless to say, Cibo Matto made a huge
the 39-year-old says in the band's press release.
impact on both its listeners and music critics. Viva!
La Woman garnered high praise and topped many
"Stereo is also what tells you where you are locatpublications' top-10 lists, including Spin magaed . Dolphins can see what is happening with their
sense of hearing. In a philosophical way, if you liszine's "100 best albums of the '90s."
ten, you can also tell where you are, or more
The only problem I saw with the media's coverage of Cibo Matto is the fact that many of the inter- importantly, where you're at. We have to learn to
listen for ourselves with both our left and right
views tended .to focus on the reviewers' words and
not always on the band itself. A lot of descriptive
ears, and not just believe everything we're told."
On the next three pages, we decided to print a
work was invested in the duo's cuteness, fashion
straight-up Q&A interview with Cibo Matto.
sense and how they compare to other Japanese-
What are your goals?
Yuka Honda: I'm not a goal person. I never think in
terms of goals. I don't want to make things so desperate. For Stereo-Type A, I wanted to make a record in
terms of what I like to do.
How'd you come up with the title for the album?
It's something we want people to think about. It's obviously a mixture of "stereotype"
and "type A." We were also
thinking stereo -- more in
breaking down stereo and type.
You produced the album for
the first time. What kind of
feedback did you receive? I
lacked
some
positivity.
Because I have very little experience, and an album costs a
lot of money to make, and
many people are involved. The
reluctance came from those
things, but a lot of people
thought I probably could do it.
And and I'm really glad that
they trusted me to do it.
What are your favorite songs
on Stereo-Type A? They're all
like my children, and I love all
my children in different ways.
How did you get involved
with music? I was wondering
about that because I remember
my first incident with music was
when my mom asked me if I wanted to take a piano
lesson -- I was 6. I remember thinking, "What is a
piano?" I remember that I sort of knew what it was, but
I couldn't remember how I knew it. I knew I had never
seen it before. I ended up taking lessons for not as
long as I should have -- three or four years. Then I
started to slack, and she kind of fired me. It's hard to
say. I didn't learn the pleasure of piano then, but I love
the piano now. I appreciate what I learned. I had a military-like teacher who hated me and didn't think I
should be playing.
When you were growing up in Japan, did you want
to be a musician? Did anyone encourage you to
be a musician? I didn't always want to be a musician.
No one encouraged me to be a musician. My mother
wanted me to do whatever I wanted to do. My father
wanted me to be an independent person. My father
was very feminist when it came to me. He was very
encouraging for me to take an independent path . I
wanted to be a writer. I write little poems now. I used
to write for a magazine in Japan. I interviewed people
and it was really fun.
What do you think are some of the differences
between this album and Viva! La Woman? This
album feels a lot more complete, and it's a lot more my
record. We had to start from scratch and decide what
kind of vision we would have. We had to encounter the
problems on our own about the delivery times, and we
did pretty much all the production work ourselves, so
it's much more our record than the first.
What are your musical influences? Our influences
are sooo wide. I'm influenced by every kind of music.
I don't think of music in genre. I think of it in a hedonistic way. I really think of it in terms of whether I like
it or not. From pop to heavy
metal to traditional Indian music
to bossa nova to classical -anything that makes me feel
good. Depending on my mood, I
like really like loud music, rap,
salsa, jazz and hip-hop very
much. I also like avante garde. I
go see avante garde a lot. I'm
all over the place.
Are there any kinds of music
that don't make you feel
good?
I don't like boring music.
What
are
your favorite
bands? Sonic Youth. They're
my favorite band. Beastie Boys,
Beck's band, jazz groups, Rufus
Wainwright. I'm probably not
supposed to say this because
I'm a part of it, but I really love
Sean (Lennon)'s band .
Is it difficult to work on other
; projects, such as Sean's
band? It's not hard to work on
other projects. It's mentally the best thing. I think I
would suffer a lot if I was doing one thing over and
over. Mentally, I am much happier doing a lot of things.
It's harder physically. It's hard for people who work
with me, and I'm really grateful for people who let me
do it. I think my music develops by doing a lot of
things. I learn the best when I jump into another water
and have to do a new thing. And I learn about what I
was doing wrong before, so it's important for me to
constantly put myself in a new water and swim in a
new water.
Are you working on any other projects? I am working on a solo record, which should be coming out
sometime in 2000. It's going to be a jazz, avantegarde crazy thing . I want to do some crazy things. I'll
probably do some remixes, but I'll probably concentrate mainly on Cibo Matto in 1999 because we waited for this year so long.
How long did it take you to produce Stereo-Type
A? It took almost a year and a half from the talking
stage. We recorded in a New York; we spent two or
three months all together. We did it in a sporadic matter. I'm happy about the way this album came together because we wanted something spontaneous, and
it's nice to go home and think about it for a month or
so. I wanted to make a record that many people can
listen to on different occasions, and it's nice to check
your music on a sunny day and on a rainy day and see
how it sounds.
What was the best experience about recording
Stereo-Type A?
The greatest thing that happened during the recording
process is that our relationship became so beautiful.
It's corny to say, but I don't know how else to say it. We
had to go through so much shit
in trying to make this record.
There were a lot of personal
issues coming out; we had
some relationship crises and
friendship crises. A lot of people
in the band were having problems. We spent every day
together -- 16 hours in the studio, and we all had strong opinions and are strong-minded
people. There was a lot of "how
bout
this?"
"ohmygod,"
"dddddddd" -- that was the most
beautiful thing. I love the people
in my band so much. It feels like
a family that's worked through a
lot of shit.
I heard somewhere that
there's going to be a Cibo
Matto cartoon. Hopefully it will
be out as soon as possible. I
don't know if I'll be involved.
In the song "Sci-fi Wasabi,"
you sing (not in this order): "New York never had
equality, it's reality, economic duality; Ain't no
analogy for individuality, I got immunity from multiplicity; Where's your identity? Our name is
stereotype with an 'A'; I got to get the shit straight;
There is a hole on Broadway, no control, it's in my
way." Can you tell me what this song means to
you?
Miho Hatori: I love hip-hop, and I wanted to do something fun. I got the words for the title somehow. In the
summer of '98, I was into bike-riding and Nintendo. I
spent time with the two new hobbies, and I created a
story. It's not just about bike-riding and the games,
though. When I sing that there's a hole on Broadway - there are a lot of holes on Broadway, and it's pretty
dangerous for bike riders. But it's also about the holes
and fears in our lives. We can avoid those kind of
holes or situations in our lives, and I kind of mixed
everything together. There are a lot of problems in my
life that I can't avoid. Everybody has this. Some problems you can't avoid. We can't let these holes get in
our way. We have to deal with everything.
What does the title of the album mean to you?
There's no one meaning. It's a mixture of stereo
sound, type-A typical personality -- so many things.
We love the title. It's very meaningful for us. We are
Japanese, so stereotypes are what we have to live
with.
How do you come up with ideas for songs? Yuka
and I write songs together. We talk about songs musically and lyrically. Sometimes Yuka will say, "You
should see the cover of Science magazine ... blah,
blah, blah." The songs come from conversations and
experience from our lives -- everything, really.
How'd you get started in
music? When I came here from
Japan, I was hanging out with
kids in the street, and we were
in a punk band.
Have you also wanted to
make music? When I was in
Tokyo, I always wanted to create something, but it wasn't necessarily music. I was young,
and I didn't know what I wanted
to do. I studied art and graphics
in school. I still design for Cibo
T-shirts.
Were you encouraged to be a
musician when you were a
kid? I listened to a lot of music
when I was a kid . When I was a
teenager, I was pissed off. I was
a normal teenager. When I
heard Beastie Boys' Check Yo'
Head, it felt so good. Music like
that is like medicine for me.
What's the best part about
making music?
It feels great. When we have a great show, I feel so
great. Everyone's so happy. It's so amazing that we
can create this chemical.
What are the biggest challenges of making music?
Starting from a tiny, tiny sound or word and being able,
in the end, after production, to make it one big song. It
all comes together because of people's support or
someone's idea. Basically, writing songs is a collaboration of a lot of people. It's amazing . The amazing
thing about music is that you can't see it, which is pretty special to me. Making a building is obvious. You can
see it anytime. With music you have to listen -- you
have to use your ears and your mind.
Do you think it's more difficult to be a woman than
a man in the music business? Yes and no.
Sometimes it's more difficult. It's pretty much like how
men in society have it easier. It can be tougher for
women, but it's getting better. The industry is slowly
getting wider for women and younger people. Yuka
and I are pretty picky about food, and it's pretty hard to
eat cheeseburgers every day. Nothing to compare,
otherwise.
Any particularly interesting stories about recording Stereo-Type A? We were so into a snowboarding
Nintendo game, and every time we didn't have anything to do, we played .
Any side projects? I worked on the Automator.
40
IN SHORT WITH YUKI HONDA
Favorite slang word?
Slow
What do you do best?
That's the hardest question I've been asked in an interview. There's nothing I do
exceptionally well.
How about music?
I'd hate to say I do that well. I drive well. And I'm a really good cook.
What do you cook?
There are a lot of dishes I cook really well, but I'm also good at improvisation.
Who's the most inspiring woman in your life?
Right now it's Susie Ibarra. She's a jazz drummer who plays in downtown New
York a lot. She's the best thing in this city. Her music is really amazing. I recommend highly that everyone see her because it's the best thing you can do for yourself. It's very inspirational, and it changes your life to see her play.
If you could change something about the world, what would you change?
If I could change that people think before they get mad, we'd have much less
stressful lives.
IN SHORT WITH MIND HATORI
41
Favorite slang word?
Babaganush. It's so unique sounding. When my friends started to use it, I was like, "What
are you talking about? They would say, 'I'm eating babaganush!"' It's very special to me.
What do you do best?
Washing dishes. (laughs)
Who are some of the most influential women in your life?
My friends and Yuka. My mother. Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, a lot of great
artists.
If you could change something about the world, what would you change?
No violence.
What are your favorite bands?
There are a thousand. Hip-hop to Fateh Ali Khan or blues or jazz or Latin. There are thousands.
Any kinds of music you don't like?
Anything too deep.
ISSUE OF THE ISSUE
TWO SHORT ESSAYS ON
WOMEN'S IMAGES
IN THE MEDIA
The waif, heroine chic, the return
of the voluptuous woman, the lollipop heads, the pear-shaped
woman,
the
inverted-pyramid
woman, the woman whose booty is
as big as Jennifer Lopez's. I feel like
I've heard it all when it comes to
categories, fashion "movements,"
and just about any "women's magazine"'s latest "story" on how to buy
clothes that'll diminish your particular fruit of a body shape.
When I started laying out the
pages for this article, I was thinking
about cutting out a load of pictures
from fashion magazines, newspapers and advertisements to make a
collage. I was going to find examples of how women's bodies are
obsessed about in the media. It's
probably one of the most popular
subjects in popular culture.
But what's the point of showing
even more images? It's not as if people don't know how women are portrayed in popular media. It's not as
if women don't already realize that
our "average and ideal sizes" have
been argued about since ... hell,
when haven't they been headline
news?
Size six was the ideal size for the
American woman in the early '80s,
then size eight in the early '90s.
Now the media tells me that the size
to be in Hollywood is zero. Or is it
really size zero since many fashion
designers are altering their sizes to
make us feel better, and hence, buy
more? Then there's all the talk of
what the "real" average woman is:
something like a size 12.
What happ·ened to the "real"
Barbie? I heard all about her a few
years ago, but I've yet to actually see
her for sale at Toys R Us. Now
McDonald's is distributing mini
models of vintage Barbie in its
42
I HAVEN1 TALKED TO
ANYONE YET WHOSE
THOUGHTS ON WHO
WANTS TO MARRY A
MILLIONAIRE' WAS
ANYTHING BUT DEROGATORY TO WOMEN. BUT
WE STILL WATCHED IT?
WHY? BECAUSE WE
COULDN1 BELIEVE IT.
Happy Meals -- for girls only, of
course; boys get Hot Wheels.
Point is, as much as the media
enjoys defining and redefining
what's "normal" and what's "perfect" for women, I don't recall ever
reading a story about the ideal size
for a man -- much less the average
size for a man. What up with this?
So, in getting back to my original
point, it's not as if we're not already
bombarded with billboards and
photographs of idealistic beauty
images. The world's got enough of
them; in fact, the world has too
many of them. It's also not the case
that the subject of women's beauty
images isn't written about enough.
It's been written about time and
time again since the '?Os era of feminism.
I also haven't talked to anyone yet
whose thoughts on Who Wants To
Marry A Millionaire was anything
but derogatory to women -- not to
mention reminiscent of 1950s values. Yet Fox's ratings (ratings for TV
shows obviously aren't like movie
ratings; the TV rating is a word for
advertisers) sky-rocked with the airing of the show. Why? Because we
couldn't believe it. I know I couldn't.
I watched it, all along thinking,
"This is exactly what the network
wants: more viewers, thus more
expensive ads, thus, more money
for them." Yet, I watched it.
And although many feminists and
non-feminists alike have made their
points successfully, I argue to say
that nowadays we see just as many
exposes, snippets and features in
the newspapers, magazines and on
TV shows that aid in the definition
of femininity in the Western world. I
read recently in a fashion magazine
that the "real woman" is back -- as
in the voluptuous image is currently
hot and gone are the days of the
waif. This is bullshit. It's just another example of how the beauty and
fashion industries are able to decide
what the ideal woman is supposed
to look like.
So why reiterate the point, you
may be thinking. I'll tell you why.
It's because no matter how many
times women talk about how they're
not going to worry about their
weight, their hair and how it directly relates to their happiness, they
always do.
Someone recently said that all
women are concerned about their
appearance, and I thought to
myself, "I'm proud to say that I'm
not." But when really thinking about
it, that's not quite true. Do I have a
solution? Not yet.
The issue of the issue is women's
images in the media. On the following pages, you'll find two essays
written by former college roommates who've spent more than a few
hours talking about this issue over
the years.
-- A.S.
Feminism is not a hobby (Or what I might have said)
BY AMY BEVEVINO
Disclaimer: The intention of this article is to address a specific situation to
which I did not receive an adequate
opportunity to reply. You will find
some of my bantor specifically directed toward men. Although this direction holds an amount of appropriateness, I don't mean to suggest that all
men fall on the opposite side from
myself regarding this issue, nor that
all women stand with me.
The situation: Tonight on HBO:
Strippers Exposed
Women dance on stage, around
poles, on laps for men who sometimes (usually) chant and cheer. A 23year-old woman receives her second
set of silicon implants to increase the
size of her breasts as well as extensive liposuction for her butt and hips.
My friends, all men, look toward
me. "You look pissed. Why does it
make you so mad? It's their choice."
No answer.
A woman sitting in an oversized
champagne glass simulates sex,
splashing suds. Women spank themselves, shoot ping-pong balls from
their vaginas, dress as naughty school
girls, grim reapers, police officers.
One woman is photographed with a
male fan. She says, "Look, you got
some tit and a little ass in there." He
hands her money, which for the first
time, she accepts with her hands. An
aging stripper is restricted to working
Monday afternoons because she's
considered too old, her butt and
thighs too big to work the moneymaking shifts. She auditions at several strip joints, stripping for one man
who usually owns the club, only to
receive rejection after rejection. She
walks outside and breaks down.
"Oooh, that must make you mad,"
they say.
No answer.
After having some time to absorb the
extent of my disgust found while
watching Strippers Exposed, I have
decided to answer their question:
"Why does it make you so mad?"
Where do I begin? First of all, I'm
noticing a trend among my peers to
relentlessly single me out whenever
the conversation, television show,
etc., involves feminism or women -period. This singling out, however, is
43
WHEN ACHOICE IS
MADE Tl BUILD AN
ESTABLISHMENT
WHERE WOMAN EQUALS
PUSSY ON ASTICK, THIS
FUNCTIONS TO
PERPETUATE THE IMAGE
OF MAN-PLEASING,
BRAINLESS, INTATILIZED
SEX KITTEN.
rarely an act of respect or true inquisition into my feelings. I am The
Feminist. It's my bag, my hobby. It's
assumed I find interest in the subject
in the same way that someone may
have a likeness toward, say, techno
music or modern art.
Let's clarify. A hobby is something
you do when you're bored or when
you're done doing what you need to
do. I recognize how music or art preferences can be all-consuming, but I
would hardly compare them to feminism. Feminism is a life choice. You
must be a feminist consciously. Gloria
Steinem once explained: "You are
either a feminist or a machoist." It is
not something that is allowed to
flourish naturally, but must be seeked
out. So, in that sense, it is akin to a
hobby. That, however, is its only semblance. It's not like, "Yeah, she's one.
You can tell by her Ani Difrancoshaved head and long skirts." It's not
on a T-shirt or poster. Feminism is
always crawling just beneath the skin.
Sometimes I think people wish feminism were a hobby, that we would
just hang our feminist caps in our
lockers and settle down for a night of
popcorn and Strippers Exposed. Well,
sometimes I don't feel like letting
things slide, or even smiling for that
matter. Sometimes I get sick of fighting and explaining. Oftentimes I find
it intimidating to say things in a room
full of people who may be ready to
resist me, who I'm almost sure will
trivialize what I have to say.
Let's reflect: I'm not a feminist for
the sake of male enlightenment
(although that's a great thing that can
happen.) It's not about men. It's not to
make them angry or happy, satisfied
or turned on. For me, it's about feeling whole without the validation of
men.
So, I may be squelching my anger
through shows like Strippers Exposed.
And, sometimes I do feel like keeping
to myself that I'm mad because we all
have to pay for these choices. Or, that
I'm mad because it doesn't end with
one woman's choice to strip, or one
man's choice to pay for it. It doesn't
end with one spectator or one ad.
When a choice is made to build an
establishment where woman equals
pussy on a stick, this functions to perpetuate the image of man-pleasing,
brainless, intatilized sex kitten. And
when this image serves to discredit
my opinion or her education. Or
makes one woman feel less or three
million women feel ugly. When it
makes her stay because she's too
afraid and because she doesn't think
she's worth it to leave, you damn well
better believe it makes me mad.
It's even further aggravating that
sometimes I'm the only person in the
room who's getting mad. Granted, I'm
often the only woman in the room,
but these are intelligent, even socalled enlightened, men. They're men
who care about "the issues." Or so
they say. I fail to believe that they
would sit here with the same dispassion had this been a clear example of
racism or homophobia.
I believe, to some extent, that even
these intelligent men believe that
these women bring this upon themselves -- that they choose to be strippers with the same willingness that
one would choose any occupation.
And, hey, I'm not mad specifically
by their choice. If everyone could
walk out of a strip club and enjoy the
same privileges, having been virtually
unaffected by the image of a woman
exposing herself to strangers, then
fine, "take it all off!" This, however, is
hardly the case. This is an industry
that pays women more money to rub
their breasts into waiting faces than
they could earn in almost any other
field. This is an industry that actively
enforces the objectification of
women, thereby increasing violence
against women and young girls.
I'm angered by the ignorance with
which we view these women, often
themselves victims of abuse and
poverty. These job are uninsured,
without retirement plans, and only
last as long as the women are considered "beautiful" -- with little hope or
few perceived options. When I watch
their documentary, that is what I see.
I look beyond Juicy Julie and Topless
Tamara. They're not why I'm mad.
The fact that they exist and will
inevitably continue to exist as the
ultimate commercial products is why
I'm mad.
Do not be mistaken: I'm not angrier
because of feminism. Feminism only
provides the vocabulary for which to
speak about injustices that have
always existed. It's not less of a fight
without feminism. Women would still
be hurt and angry but would understand it as their fault. Removing the
patriarchal blinders isn't a pleasant
experience. It means seeing things for
what they are when it may be easier
to go along or look away. Ignorance
isn't the bliss that is promised. The
only thing promised by ignorance is
fear.
Feminism gives us the courage to
speak up in a room full of nonsympathizers when you're outnumbered,
when the atmosphere is hostile and
your opinion is likely to be misunderstood or miscounstrued. Or it allows
the confidence to keep quiet, formulating ideas, working introspectively.
Without a need to explain. Feminism
doesn't dictate that we think, react or
feel the same; it only and, most
importantly, let's us make peace with
ourselves.
I've had enough of tattered roles on tube, silver screen
BY MEGHAN BUSLEPP
I have to vent. One thing that has
been driving me up the wall recently
is the way mass media portray
women. While the common perception is that women are finally able to
have it all, I remain more cynical. For
evidence, I point to television and
big-budget blockbuster movies. From
what I can tell, the women seen
onscreen can be placed in one of
three main categories.
FIRST IS THE STUPID SEXPOT. The stupid sexpot is the woman who has
spent too much time on her appearance and really doesn't seem too concerned with much else. She can be
seen on any prime-time television
show or as the woman men drool
over in movies. The message her
character seems to be sending is that
appearance -- and little else -- makes
a woman appealing to the opposite
sex. This woman can do one thing
particularly well: attract men. She is
usually treated as an object or as a
sex toy and oftentimes she is a stripper or some girl in a bikini hanging
on a slimy mobsteresque man.
THE NEXT WOMAN IS THE MOTHER. This
woman is caring, unintimidating and
bizarrely fulfilled. She spends most
of her days worrying about soap
scum, her children's diets and the
ever-dreaded ring around the collar.
The new twist on this theme is the
working woman who loves a lot but
has very little time. She still does all
the housework and childcare but is
looking to find the fastest approach
possible. Strangely absent from this
TV and movie world is the man.
Often, when the motherly woman
appears on TV or in movies, I can
barely contain myself. I want to
THE UNATTRACTIVE OR
OVERWEIGHT MAN IS
USUALLY JUST ACHUBBY
TEDDY BEAR WITH A
HEART OF GOLD. THINK
JOHN GOODMAN. IT
DOESN'T WORK THIS
WAY FOR WOMEN.
scream, "Where is the damn husband? Does he ever do laundry or
make dinner?" These idealized gender stereotypes have a way of seeping into cultural expectations and
norms.
Why do you think that women, who
in many cases work the same amount
of hours as the men around them,
still have to come home and do
more? This is the double-day trend in
most families. When they can't keep
up, women end up feeling like they've
failed in the quest to be everything to
everyone.
The next female portrayal, and certainly the most repulsive, is the UNATTRACTIVE WOMAN. This is the woman
who goes home to her cats at night,
who lives a lonely existence merely
because she isn't perfect. She may be
mousy and bookish or loud and overweight, but regardless, she is the
woman everyone pities, but no one
loves. Most may be less familiar with
this woman, because she is not
always present. An imperfect woman
does not make for good male-oriented TV.
Not surprisingly, there is no such
male counterpart to this woman. The
unattractive or overweight man is
usually just a chubby teddy bear with
a heart of gold. Think John Goodman.
He's such a sweet guy, and no one
seems to care about his appearance.
I'm not saying they should. It just
doesn't work this way for women.
What I am saying is that this perfected beautiful woman whom we all
see on television sends a message. TV
and movies tell women they can
never be thin enough, that they can
never be pretty enough and that they
damn well better try to improve the
way they look if they don't want to
spend their lives alone. This is the
real message that women receive.
Forget about your mind; focus on
your abs and your manicure.
Unfortunately, my observations tell
me that women are listening to these
unrealistic messages. Who can blame
them? When you are told constantly
that you have to be thin and pretty to
be successful (read: desired), after a
while you begin to believe it. Most
friends tell me that their mothers
were more concerned with their
weight than their academic performances.
I have no trouble believing this.
Women may argue that they have
overcome past discrimination and
stereotypes, but media portrayals tell
a different story. What women need
to do is organize and reject unfair
and harmful expectations. Maybe our
best hope is to work with young
women to convince them that they
are important and that the best thing
they can possibly do is cultivate their
minds and illustrate the falsities in
popular culture.
44
0
khakis swing
above: On the
back cover of
Stay Free! No. 16
is a fake youknow-w hat ad.
right: If this
photo of Stay
Free! s cover did
justice for its fullcolor glory, you'd
be able to see that
the guns are the
same colors as
the !Macs in
Ji
their own ads.
,..... .
I
Cover of
Moxie magazine, a quarterly glossy
pro-feminist
publication
that helps
young
women make
important
decisions.
45
n the back page of the latest issue of Stay Free!, you'll find one of
our decade's hippest ad campaign by the clothing store that's guaranteed to be in every mall in America. You have to be a "Kill TV"
campaigner not to know it. It's the Gap's swing-dance-influenced "everyone in
khakis" pitch.
But something's a little off No, something's a lot off
The major difference between this ad and every other Gap khakis ad you see
on the boob toob and in major magazines is that the guy wearing the pants is
being hanged.
Although it seems a bit sick, these kinds of ad spoofs represent the intelligence of Stay Free!, a nonprofit magazine examining commercialism and
American culture. It's published about every 10 months by Carrie McLaren, a
New Yorker who by day works for Matador Records' advertising department.
On the Sta:xfree! site, you'll find many of the print version's stories, which
include articles on "How Advertising Can Wreck Your Health" and the "Top Six
Uses for a Cell Phone" (for example, a beer coaster, self-defense weapon and a
dog's chew toy), plus more ad spoofs (Panexa: Ask Your Doctor For a Reason To
Take It.)
StayFree!'s wit, criticism and freedom to say whateva they hell it wants epitomizes the beauty of the fanzine, and a growing number of women are getting
in on the action. "I'm a control freak, and doing my own mag is the only way to
make sure I can stuff everything in - as opposed to freelance writing," says
McLaren. "Also, Stay Free! focuses on consumer culture, and it doesn't make
sense to criticize commercialism without trying to forge some sort of alternative. The best part is probably having an excuse to talk to other writers and
authors; it's like getting a top-notch education without paying tuition or dealing with institutional bullshit."
PR INT POWER
"Do you really want to know my age? I'm probably old enough to be your
mother."
Though Emily Hancock won't reveal her age and she may be old enough to
be my mother, she's making waves for the thousands who read Moxie, her quarterly, glossy feminist issues and women's arts magazine.
Moxie (check out www.moxie.com) is just one of a growing number of web
sites, fanzines and glossy publications dedicated to the empowerment of young
women. "Moxies goal is to provide a rudder for young women who are finding
their way in 'the real world' - to provide them a recurrent reminder of what a
real woman is and what real women can do while they're being bombarded by
airbrushed female facsimiles on billboards and TV," said Hancock.
Hancock launched Moxie in 1995, five years after she wrote The Girl Within,
a book that traces women's identity back to the sense of self that crystalizes at
ages 8, 9 and 10 - confirming national research that girls' self-esteem peaks at
9 and soon plunges downhill. The book piqued her interest in conducting independent research on college women's self-esteem, which laid the groundwork
for Moxie's content and target audience.
"I found that many students confront the dilemmas they face on leaving college - what sort of job to take, whether to follow a sweetie to another part of
the country, set up on their own, move back with parents, live with a roommate,
whether and when to get married, whether to go to graduate school - in isola-
"I FOUND THAT MANY STUDENTS CONFRONT
THE DILEMMAS THEY FACE ON LEAVING COLLEGE IN ISOLATION. INCREASINGLY, THEY TOLD
ME, THEY TURN TO THE MEDIA FOR ANSWERS.
WHAT DO THEY GET THERE? FASHION, SEX AND
BEAUTY." EMILY HANCOCK 1 MOXIE EDITOR
tion. Increasingly, they told me, they turn to the media for answers. What do
they get there? Fashion, sex and beauty."
Hancock says because media are so important in shaping women's lives,
Moxies role is to "fight media with media" by offering an alternative to mainstream publications.
WEB POWER
Less than SO minutes from Moxie's headquarters in Berkeley, California, is
Feminista!, a San Francisco-based monthly-updated web site zine whose stories focus on radical feminism, critiques of mainstream women's beauty
images and political issues that affect women globally.
Had the website's ss-year-old editor, Juliette Cutler Page, not been criticized years earlier for her "too feminist" writings by the editors of an online
zine called RiotGrrl, Feminista! may never have been born. In Feminista!s
debut issue in May 1997, she wrote: "I want to see articles that startle people with their degree of feminism. I want to see this without seeing men
degraded and called names. I want to see a multi-cultural emphasis - where
are black women on the web? I want to see articles about women in physics,
not someone's crush on Bill Gates."
Since its start, Feminista!s monthly hit rate has increased from about 4,000
to 25,000 with an audience between the ages of 12 and 80 of various economic classes and educational levels - its core audience being women
between so and 50. "Feminista! has ended up on a lot of university course
lists, which is thrilling for me."
BITCH . .
....
. . ·.·. > r .·.
> •WlNW,bJ\r;l'l'l'agaxine.com
r The makers tit Jhis\prinf :zlrief(and ! Js rnatchlng
site) have an excellent responseto its o~enquestioned tJtle:. "When it's being used as an
Insult; }bitch' ls most ofte9 hurled ·. at wqrnen
who speak thelrrninds, who have opinions and
don't soy away.from expressing them. lf being
an outspoken woman 1neans being a bitch,
we'll take that as a compliment, thanks." Be
sure<hotto .search.for- bitch.com or even bltchmag,com because those are both pom sites.
:.. .. .
.-BRILLO
-www.virago;net~com/br111o/
. i As lf graphics offlying tampons w~ren't
enough to. get you thinking; the web site-.only
m~.gazine contain~ insightful essays §n ebonies; sexismjn technology1 artistlc actiylsm and
whether feminists hat-e ·men, Brillo hasn't been
butthe old stuff is •definiteupdated in .a
vt9rth ·• read Ing.
BUST
·www.bust,com
Yoq must,.:. YOU mUst, yOt.nmustknow about
Bust. Itis probably the .most.accomplished,
hjghest"dlstrlputedpriqt.zine ofall women's
zines. They've got a r-eal knack for theme
Jss1.1es~ $l.l(:Q as th!:? sexJssUe,<the aody.iSSJ.!e,ii•
and thebpcorning tfravellssUe ..AlthoGgh It's
site doesnftcontain rtjuch ofthe print version's
content, itdoesfiature tl'le Girl Wide Web, the
mostextehsiy~Hst of women's sites, partlcu••••
••
larly personal sites.
:.. /. i>
•• ....
:·
STILL SOME PROBLEMS
• DRUMMER GIRL
If you do an online subject search for feminist magazines, you're likely to
www.drummerglrl.com
find at least 50 sites that meet your request. Or do they? As Cutler Page
This is a site for women who drum and conexplains, many of the new publications boasting a pro-woman perspective
• talns interviews with some ofthe dopest
aren't all they're cracked up to be. "So far I've determined that there is no
drummers lp the businessrincludlng .Sleatertruly wonderful feminist webzine. I want a webzine that tackles things that
<Kinney(sJanet Weiss, '(o La Tengo's Georgia
are difficult, that discusses everything - all with reference to feminism.
Hubley, luscious Jackson's KateSchellenbach
Women are 5S percent of the world's population, after all." Although the
and f'J!agnetlc Field's Claudia<Gonson. Drummer
number of zines made by women are growing, in the eyes of many fellow
Gir/was createcfas a re$PQnse totheJaclfof
females profiled in largef drummef" publlcazinesters and feminists, there's still a few problems. Behind many of the "protions
.. DrummerGirfls an el(cellentnetwork for
woman" pitches there sometime lurks the occasional story on "how to score
meeting
otl'lerfemale dajmmers around .the
boys" "what makeup to buy," etc. There's also the issue of what the sites try
•
·
country;postingyourown
gigs and keeping up
to sell, such as clothes and cosmetics.
••••
with drur.;nming news.
Although feminism isn't exactly the easiest word to define, when you visit
the sites Cutler-Page critiques, many of which have riot or grrl in their titles,
FABULA
you realize she has a well-researched point. After reviewing dozens of web
<. > >. <> W\111""1:fabulamag.ec>m
sites, she concludes that many sites like the association with feminism, but
this Sari Francisco-based quarterly print
that's about it. Some of her examples of anti-feminist material include fluffy
magazine, you'Hflnd a .load of interesting stofashion and cosmetics stories, and the writing off of violence issues. "What
·•·•· ries jts latest issue fr<?J:n lntefVi.ews with
Martha p1jmptqq a11d ~h~ ~µnacplcks to comthey seemed to want was entertainment masquerading as feminism."
mentaries on the>meatheadedness of
The point Cutler Page makes is not an attempt to destroy the credibility of
Woodstock
Parle III. Although lt;s distributed
women's magazines. Instead, she's concerned about the publications' claims of
heavilyjn Galifot:nia, it rpay ..be a challenge to
women's empowerment masqueraded by the very teeny-bopper material the
find Fabu]a iO otper states, so be sure to check
sites proclaim to be against. Many of the critiqued sites feel as though you're
• •.•.·.·.· •••• • • • • • • I outthe site for.information.
scrolling through a Delia's fashion catalog than a site that proclaims slogans
and about
othedsites mentioned
hundreds fuore, •
HUES .
.............. /.
>
.
www.hues.net ·.•· .... • <
< \?
Hues stahds for Hear Us effiergll"lg sr~t:ers and
is a glossy magazine that boasts the slogan
"it's not your motherls feministmaga:zlne;"
Hues focuses on women of color, women in
sports; women In activism; artists and feminist
humor.
ROCKRGRL
I
www;roc~rgrl;com / •·•·
.. \
2
• • Rockrt;;rl is a glossy bi-monthly about~orpen in
musiCwitt) the slogan ?No beauty tips qr guilt
trips. TThe magazirie i~ for readets ! nterested in
starting their own record labels and>bands;
cover stories·. haveincluded interviews with Aoi
DIFrancq; ?Sleat~t.7Kifl!J!W c!fl9 YRK9 Qnoi
SISTER />··
www.xanthoria.com
Sister "i~ aJ>lace f9rferpale.tDls ttj ~Et gigs
Without bias, pr<?)ti[ding · a supportive ~latfo~m •
tor any female DJ,yMCor Hve peqgrmerto
enjoy thefrtn.usicwllere ge11derfs ·Oofa.fl
.
issue( ]he site. lists eve~~, rese>!JJPEl$ cJpd alsp }
•· 1ncludesi hterviewsv,Jltfj fesiqeotan~gijes DJs, .
lncludiq~ ~mber, Dazy and Afod~votj P~
such as "girl power" and "the new voice."
Jamae Wilson explained in her article "The Politics of E-Zines"
(Feminista! vol. 1, issue 10) that many women's sites compromise feminist
viewpoints for fear of funding loss. "The truth is, the majority of the
webzines online are in it for one thing: publicity. This means if they have
somehow managed to gain publicity - for example, by ·being recognized for
their discussions on sex - they feel compelled to keep doing the same thing,
the same way, in order to maintain their place in the spotlight. Few zines confront hard-hitting issues, except about sex, and that approach gets annoying
and quite boring in a very short time. Frank discussion on racism and feminism is nearly nonexistent because the editors are afraid they'll lose a couple
of readers or, in some cases, sponsors."
The numbers appear to back her up in the sponsorship debate. A recent
study by America Online, the nation's largest on-line service, showed that counter to the popularly held belief that the Internet is a male sphere - the
majority of its approximately lS million subscribers are female. Similarly,
Time magazine reported in January that women now make up 49 percent of
the online population, a significant increase from SS percent four years ago.
"The fact that women also account for 80 percent of U.S. household spending could add up to an E-commerce gold mine. Small wonder, then, that sites
aimed at women are proliferating like Amazonian colonies all over the Web,"
wrote Time reporter Sara Hammel.
The real feminist zines are left lagging behind the money-makers, which is
fine with them, for the most part, since they're the majority of them don't
make a profit.
FUND ING AND THE LABOR Of' LOVE
When Hancock decided last year to expand Moxie's readership with a print
version, she put just about everything on the line, including her home.
"Moxie has no backers. I financed it first by refinancing my house, and
through credit cards. We really need to find the powerful women out there
who want young women to have something more than what the mainstream
media purvey."
Hancock runs both the print and online formats out her home and says
VAGABUND.A
that
although Moxie staff members are part-time editors with other day jobs,
www~vagabunda:com
the
magazine
pays $25 for contributing articles. "Moxie is my most important
The theme of this
sJte take
back the world and is written by.a tearrt of •
job, but three days a week I work as a counselor in courts, helping parents
youhg w~tj:leri whd are very interested.in trav., and judges develop parenting plans for children of divorcing spouses." To
eling the lJ;S. and the \Norld/The site contains . make ends meet, Moxie uses pro-women advertisements, including trade ads
interesting first-person accounts and adylce for • with other pro-feminist magazines, such as Bitch and Fabula.
••• • •
traveling ~p.particulaf s,ties,
Hancock stresses the fact that like most fanzines, Moxie is a labor of love
Feminista! can relate to, since it's just one of Cutler-Page's sevsomething
WOMAN ROCK
eral
side
projects,
including a book on "feminist-friendly graduate programs
www.womanrock.com
and
internships
in
psychology and a potential book on "anti-psychology for
·This Js·•· an excel lent .slteforwomen<in music
"My
full-time day job is unrelated to Feminista!, but it pays the
psychologists."
with reviews, well:Written feature stones; ev~11t
rent."
listings and .music resources, youm also find
loads of interesting interviews, such qs ..with
Like Moxie, Cutler Page runs the Feminista! website out of her home in San
Mary ·Lou<Lord, Kristin Hersh apd lnd!~f!lmmak: Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. "We have a desk and several file cabi•••• •
•
erTina Mascara.
nets, but that's about it. The biggest challenge of Feminista! is getting the
damn thing out on time every month. I fail to live up to my expectations on
W.I.G/ MAGAZlNE
this point more often than I care to admit. I'd like to apologize to the world
www.wlgmag.comr \...
.... ·•·•·•.
for that." To meet a goal of breaking even on the costs of site maintenance,
ThisprintmagazineJs publish¢d in Ut~h and
Feminista! sells T-shirts stamped with its motto and is funded by a few adverstands for •· WomenlryGene:rat Publish~ctJn
tisers. All Feminista! editors and contributing writers are non-paid volunUtah. Oontalns stuff.ijboutsports, musiG; art
and culture:. n,'lggers ¥'ill
at:>e>4t ey~rythlng teers.
from rnusicto art to $Ports. > ··• · • .•.• · • •. •.•.
"Feminista! is less a business than a calling for me. I suggest that all women
do what they love. What could be more fulfilling than spending most of your
Tell u: w:~: ::her zirtes and
:~Uicl
time doing what means the most to you, whatever that may be? If you can
know about. \...
{\.. .
I
--Amy Schroeder
make a business out of it, you're doubly blessed."
Send ~.-ma!tto: Vettu1m'lag@ao1.eof1!
i•
rea9
:.ii: :i
ro
An old release now on CD:
ONE LAST WISH
($10 postpaid in the U.S., $9 for LP)
TO PLACE YOUR WORDS IN THE MAY
2000
SLANT 6, BLUETIP, MAKE-UP, LUNGFISH,
MINOR THREAT and more.
In the U.S., send one stamp for a list OR four
stamps (overseas: four IRCs) for a
fully illustrated catalogue of what we sell.
VENUSMAG@AOL.COM
THAT WOMEN SHOULD BE PICTURESQUE
• SPONIC •
From Dayton with Love, and covering all of
your favorite lo-fi, post-rock, new-pop, and
other manner of indie foolishness. We feature
tons of reviews & non-traditional interviews
with
indie luminaries.
To get a copy, e-mail: jhnwenzel@yahoo.com
Also check out www.sponic.com
-- Julie Burchill and Tony Parson in
TOPICS AND TARGETS OF SONGS."
Venus seeks at-home interns. Yep, seems like
the perfect job. Only you don't get paid. The
good part is that you can work in your pajamas,
and there are definitely lots of perks that we
cannot discuss in print. The other good part is
that you'll get the opportunity to work on projects that get your writing, photographs, art
work and/or ideas published. It's also a good
thing to add to your resume. Venus is flexible.
Very flexible. Internships are not limited to the
straight-up editorial department. If you're into
copy editing, advertising, research or web
design, we're down witcha. We'll even consider
giving you a different title if you're not into the
word intern. By at-home, we mean doing work
through the mail and e-mail. If this sounds like
something you'd like to get more information
about, please send e-mail to
The Boy Looked at Johnny: the Obituary of
Rock and Roll (London: Pluto Press, 1978)
Join TYPICAL GIRLS, an e-mail discussion list devoted to the women in punk from
the late 1970s to the early '80s. It's free.
Discover the Ghosts in the Hit Machine.
www.gurlpages.com/music l /typicalgirls
THE SHE-DEVIL
of Spelunk Recordings NYC
DISCHORD RECORDS
Department AP
3819 Beecher Street NW
Washington, DC 20007-1802
www. sou th ern. com /disc ho rd/
FIRST
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ALSO:
FUGAZI FILM ON VIDEO
($18 postpaid in the U.S., and The Soundtrack
of the film on CD is $10 postpaid in the U.S.)
We also have CDs and LPs from these
D.C. bands:
"PUNK ROCK IN 1976 WAS THE
ISSUE OF VENUS, PLEASE E-MAIL
FIERCE FEMALE
cence Mission,
• ce Billy, Low,
se Painters,
·on. Compiled by Mark Kozelek
DJ
house • electro • techno • ambient
Event coordinators should call/e-mail
for demos. (212) 924-3501
spelunk@brainlink.com
YOUNG WRITER with lots of creative
juice to squeeze. Order a cup of consulting
for your writing project flavor: freelance,
publicity, treatments, resumes, copy editing
and project development. Contact
Tamarawarren@hotmail.com. Or send
requests to 1130 Parker #509
Detroit, MI 48214.
ENTICE YOU EARS WITH SOME INDIVIDUALISM
The Fuzz is a band that combines simplicity
with technology to mold the perfect balance.
Echoeing influences of The Verve, Ween, Hum
and Spiritualized are pleasantly evident!
Visit www.thefuzz.net
to download The Fuzz in MP3 format.
VENUSMAG@AOL.COM.
we want you, we need you
One of Venus' biggest goals is to act as a forum for our readers. The best way to do that, we think, is to
ask Venus readers to contribute to the magazine. The following is a list of the special features sections
that will appear in the May 2000 issue. We're looking for shortish writing pieces. You don't have to
worry about writing all fancy (unless you really want to). Just write what you think -- write how you
speak. You can e-mail your pieces to: Venusmag@aol.com.
1. We want to know what you'd invent. It can be absolutely anything: a scientific concoction, a new form of . . .
dance, a new form of communication, a new social movement -- anything. If you want, you can fill us in on all
the tiny details of how you'd go about creating your invention. But it's not required.
2. We also want to know your worst job, your absolute dream-it-up job (use your imagination to the max here). Or if
you have a super-dope job right now (or know someone who does and want to write a profile on her), we want to
hear all about it.
3. We're not done asking for your help yet, because Venus always wants to know who we need to know about. We're
starting a special section where readers submit a profile of a woman who deserves recognition. She could be a
musician, artist, political activist, yourself, your mother, whomever. When answering any of these questions, be sure
to tell us your name, age, address, phone number and any other biographical information about yourself, such as
your current job. We're also planning to start a section that features the music scene -- and the women who contribute to it -- in your town. We'd like to know what bands are out there, what venues they play at, etc. Photos are
always good too.
RANDOM
I've always been kind of curious as to whether
rainbow-colored cereals are individually flavored or if all the hoop- and stone-shaped tidbits are the same. They don't really taste like
oranges or blueberries, like they promise in the
ads. I guess I'd like to think that each color is
representative of an actual fruit, but I always
figured that the cereal companies wouldn't bother to come up with separate recipes for each
color. But why always wonder when you can just
call the 1-800 number on the back of the cereal
box and speak to a trained cereal professional?
That's what we did, and, wouldn't you know,
Kellogg's (no advertising intended) Froot Loops
are individually flavored.
In any event, we also wanted to ask other people what they think about this really important
issue. We hit the streets of East Lansing,
Michigan, home of Michigan State University.
Three women were willing to take our taste test,
in which they were asked to close their eyes
while they tasted the five different colors o cereal.
KELLY STURGILL, 22, Studio Art
Senior at MSU; originally from
Canton, Michigan
Eyes Wide Open: She guessed correctly when we asked her whether
the rings are individually flavored.
"Blue tastes just like orange, though."
Blindfolded (well, not really): With
her eyes shut, she was able to identify
the yellow and red rings and that's it.
"I just guessed; I couldn't tell the difference."
Comment: "I don't really like this
kinda cereal. I usually eat Cheerios or
Grape Nuts."
SHANNON TUGGLE, 24; Education grad
student; originally from Battle Creek,
Michigan (whata coincidence; this is where
Froot Loops are made.)
Eyes Wide Open: In the pre-test round
with her eyes open, she agreed that the colors tasted as they should. "Orange tastes like
orange; yellow tastes like lemon; blue has a
tart taste; red tastes like lime; purple is really sweet."
Guess with eyes closed: She correctly identified blue and yellow.
Favorite cereal: frosted flakes
ANN LACOMBE, 24; MSU alumna with
a zoology degree. Lives in Livonia,
Michigan, and works in a chemistry lab in
the Detroit area.
Eyes Wide Open: 'Tm allergic to this
kind of cereal - along with about 2 zillion
other things - but I guess I'll do the test
anyway."
Blind-folded: Guessed only red correctly
but came pretty close to guessing orange
and yellow correctly as well.
Comment: "It's been years since I've eaten
this stuff Have I broken into hives yet?
A DTHEN SOME
Nope, we don't do the
last-page-look-at-thefancy-pants-party-wewent-to-an d-all-thecelebrities-who-werethere-col!age thing, but
we do have lots of photos. 1. Hanna Sawtell
photo by Detroit photographer Nicola Kuperus.
2. It's like this and like
that and like Cake Like
and uh. 3. Cibo Matto 4.
I bugged the hell out of
editorial assistant Pete
Nolan to take photos
while he was in Iceland
in the summer of 1999
and send one to print in
Venus. I figured, "Who
doesn't' want to see
photos of Iceland?"
5. The Rachel's
(
rnusic is b
(l
VIJl!O
u
Part of Venus Zine : no.6