February 2010 Archives

SOUL PONIES QUEERCORE BLOG + FLEDGLING RECORD DISTRO Because independent record labels are dying off and are being sold to megacorporations more and more often; Because queer independent record labels, by their "niche" nature, are especially susceptible to closing; Because we often lose the work of amazing LGBTQ artists to the dollar discount bin of the used record store when queer record labels go under; Because we wish to preserve the legacies of important riot grrrl and queercore musicians for present and future generations to appreciate their work; Because fucking kids these days think that "gay music" is Lady fucking Gaga and the Scissor Sisters, and because they've never heard of Erase Errata or Limp Wrist; For all of these reasons, we are SOUL PONIES. [[[[[RIDE ON!!!!!!!]]]]]

at the record store I work at, I get to hang out with a lot of old dudes.  old dudes who love nothing more than talking to me about Who rarities and stuff.  there's a couple of weirder ones, the ones who apparently have no social skills and either a: only grunt, or b: pontificate at length; although most are totally rad nerdy men who have been loving and collecting music for decades.

I love those guys.  they are great.  they tell me about Beatles butcher covers and what it was like going to high school with Iggy Pop.

but the weird ones- I can't be rude, exactly, because (duh) I am working in retail.  what do I do when they want to get into long rambling tirades about "music today" or girl pop stars or whatever the subject-of-the-day happens to be?  I tried to fight fire with fire, answering in barely-civil monosyllables; but you know, when some old man is going to talk to you for 15 minutes, unprompted, without letting you get a word in edgewise, they probably also lack the appreciation of other subtle social cues that would clue them into my disinterest or discomfort.

so now I speak to them in their own language.  dude wants to talk to me about rare Duran Duran album art?  old man wants to tell me about every single Jeff Beck concert he's ever been to?  GREAT.  just hold on a second while I put on Crass' "PENIS ENVY."  no, that's fine, keep talking- yeah, yeah, totally, Cream, Clapton, the greatest, I know.

because Eve and Joy muttering, "what the FUCK are you thinking.  what the FUCK are you seeing" in the background makes any gross customer service experience more manageable.

a] LOVE Lindy West,
b] move over, Rock Camp for Girls, and:
c] Hey, my childhood! Thanks for SUCKING! When I was ages 9 to 19, we didn't have "activities" or "female empowerment" or "stuff to do."

for months I have been totally crushed out on the stuff Elisha Lim makes, most recently this, the claymation trials of a butch-lovin-butch.

her book 100 BUTCHES comes out in April, and I am holding my breath until then.


from an old interview:

EL: Actually "100 Butches" hasn't truly been about butches, I've just been drawing who I'm attracted to. People I'm attracted to as lovers, friends or role models, are often described as butches. So I often take whoever I find sexy and try to jam them into the panels. I hope it helps stretch definitions/ lets me ramble about my crushes.

AT: Where does your fascination with butch identity come from?

EL: Ever since my first crush punched me. There was some definitely some early butch-lust there. This is a question that I hope the comic helps me answer. Maybe if I can line up 100 personal stories, at the end of the day I'll figure out why I let her punch me.

how did I forget to mention these guys months ago?!  they are from San Jose.  they sound like lost 90's twee that got forgotten under the covers.  this is one of those videos that seems like it should be boring, because nothing much happens; but the charm of the band and the song is so great that I have to watch it all the way through each time.

Sourpatch - i want you either way from Richard Gutierrez on Vimeo.

I am writing a song every day for Lent.  well, no full songs yet, because I'm really good at writing first verses and then I usually get stuck.  but I am trying to make the editor in my head shut up by overwhelming it with sheer quantity of song-words; every single day for 40 days will be so many different songs, bits of songs, that I will finally overpower my own harsh self-editing instinct. 

good, bad, it doesn't matter; I just want to put my head in that space of song-making every day, so I stop thinking that every single musical idea that I wring out of my skull is rare and precious and must be molded into a song, because who knows when the next decent one will come along. I want to document so many different musical thoughts that I will actually have enough to sort out the worthwhile ones from the less-so.  then maybe writing a song will become something that is less torturous of a process, because I don't think that's how it's supposed to be.

also, Riley made some boob pictures for her class.  I like them a lot.  I would hang one of them on my wall, totally.

Sometime in the course of your unpredictable life, you've probably loved a crazy person. There are just so many of them out there. How could anyone avoid it? And before you get started on me, yes, I know I'm using a politically incorrect term here. I should say "bipolar," or "coping with OCD" or "just really very moody." But I'll stick to the old-fashioned word, because it's short and sharp and etymologically linked to the infinitive "to shatter," which pretty well describes what happens when a crazy person, whether it's your boyfriend or sister or some sad new version of yourself, takes over your life. That's what craziness does. It draws us in, especially those of us who love the magnified realities of art. The energy of craziness can be sexy and wondrous -- before its relentlessness shuts everything down.

Ann Powers in a 2005 piece on rock + roll, mental health, and boy genius.

How is it that, after like 45 years or something, Fleetwood Mac is still totally great?  I feel like most old-person bands (see: STONES, WHO, everybody) just keep going on Greatest Hits Farewell Tours with Hip-Replacements and living off of the royalties they get from that one car commercial or whatever.

But I would like to nominate Fleetwood Mac as one of the most underappreciated bands of the classic rock canon.  I mean, they're not exactly underdogs, seeing as how RUMOURS sold more copies than pretty much anything except the Bible until MJ came along.  And yes, there have been the occasional missteps in their decades-long career- mostly occurring from 1988-1992 (the band breaks up; Stevie releases "Street Angel" and goes into rehab again; Lindsey marries some lady who is significantly younger but who strongly resembles Stevie).  Even during this period, though, Lindsey is tooling around in the studio and releasing weirdly-good albums- like, that guy can write some dazzling songs, smug asshole as he may be.    Also, he may favor really elaborate production that sometimes distracts you from the heart of a song; but if you can get past his sometimes-wanky solos and dated production sounds, it is totally worth it.

And then there was the whole Clinton campaign "don't stop thinking about tomorrow" that kicked off all sorts of reunions, but even then, they were still writing new stuff.  And THE DANCE?  On "Silver Springs" when Stevie stares down Lindsey howling, "you'll never get away from the sound of a woman who loves you" and it looks like she really is a witch, casting spells on Lindsey and all of his future happiness with his wife-who-looks-like-Stevie- YIKES!  so intense! 

and to think that Lindsay Lohan imagined taking on the role of Stevie Nicks.  Ha.  Stevie at 60-something still brings more brimstone and crazy than Lindsay ever will, no matter how much coke she does.  (That was mean.  I hope Lindsay Lohan gets her shit figured out, because she is a total babe and her dad is a huge dick, and she deserves better. and I love that she is hella queer.)

So anyway.  Stevie = still incredible.  Then she goes and collaborates with Sheryl Crow and instead of getting normal with age, she stays weird and is as witchy and mystical as ever.  A SORCERESS.  [Embedding is disabled, but you can watch the video in question here.]  And even though Christine McVie has such bad stage-fright that she has to retire from the band, everybody else keeps trucking on, and still releases albums of new material. 


"Say You Will" is no Rumours, obvs, but it shows a band that has not exhausted their idiom, even after all of these years.  Using the same bells and whistles that make them instantly recognizable as Fleetwood Mac, they are still writing new songs that are instantly good- songs that will stick with you and grow on you, not disposable late-life grabs for radio play.

(And I have not even addressed the enduring awesomeoness of Mick Fleetwood, despite his ongoing preference for wearing dangling felt balls and breeches; he rolls his eyes and waggles his eyebrows and has grown from a gangly charming young man to a gangly charming old man.  Also, the classic classic bass player vibe of John McVie- shy and retiring but totally anchoring the band with his monstrous riffs.  "The Chain," anyone?  These guys are totally the reason why Fleetwood Mac has persisted, because anyone who has ever watched Mick Fleetwood play drums can tell that he is having the absolute time of his life.)


Fleetwood Mac: truly, a band for the ages.

rhombu$$$$$

the interviewer seems like kind of a square, but Kathleen Hanna is so great.  talks like a valley girl and then drops terms like "horizontal oppression."  she introduced me to a freaky weird beautiful feminist alternative universe populated with the likes of Murray Hill and Dorothy Allison.

"If I am a role model, I wanna be a really three-dimensional role model."

and here's the classic Deceptacon video.

you guys, AMP (the all-ages movement project) only has to finish in the top 10 in order to win SO MUCH MONEY from Pepsi.  but today they just slid down to 10th!  please vote, tell everyone you know to vote, it is so easy, just do it every day between now and the end of the month.

VOTE VOTE VOTE

"...reportedly picks up where Gaga's "Paparazzi" video left off, with Gaga in jail, and Beyonce coming to her rescue."

"and the occasional bad sets, particularly in the later films, as if Dracula lived in a branch of the Angus Steak House..."

The Only Three Female Musicians, According to Many Male Music Critics: Tori Amos, Björk and Kate Bush.

after years of hiding in exile, my femme side is apparently making a reappearance, thanks to Stevie Nicks.  and LIGHTS reminding me of the deep glory of Stevie's vibe.  also has made me realize how little of the following I have in my closet: silk, lace, feathers, turquoise, top hats, crystals, divination bones.

also they give credit to one WIZARD SMOKE for the band's a/v elements.  this is definitely a vision they are committed to.

sometimes I am feeling nostalgic.

me + my roommates spend a lot of time talking about our vags.  I mean, we have the giant household menstrual calendar hanging on the living room wall; several painting of vulvas around the house; a giant felt vagina that I think someone adopted from the Women's Center.  yeast infections, diva cups, lunar cycles- we've got it covered.  however, there are some things that don't come across our radar much.  douches, for example.  or bejewelling our down-there.  thankfully, AlterNet is filling the, uh, hole with this: The 6 Weirdest Things Women Do to Their (why "their"?  why not "our"?) Vaginas, "a list of the strangest ways to make your genitals meet the demands of the beauty industry."  this will provide my household with hours of kitchen conversation.

Problem: Your Vagina is Too Loose 
Solution: Vaginal Rejuvenation 
Let's face it. Nature really screwed up when it made the vagina. Never mind that that it accommodates the birth of a child or that it's fundamentally better designed than male genitalia. (Who wants to carry their most sensitive reproductive organs on the outside?) While nature was busy dishing out things like multiple orgasms, it forgot to make vaginas vice-tight. Luckily, plastic surgeons have stepped in to put an end to womankind's collective suffering. 

this is another thing I am working on.  Cristina has summed it up real nicely, "what the eff it is to 'grow up' 'punk rock.'

HOW TO BE A GROWN-UP: a research endeavor

"The dominant notion of adulthood is all tied up with the concept of settling: fixing your position in life and then making do with it. Most people naturally resist that compromise; that's why growing up is generally viewed as a necessary evil. Our culture fetishizes youth ... partly because WE HAVE NEVER COME UP WITH A PROCESS OF MATURING THAT ISN'T STEEPED IN SOUL-CONSTRICTING CONCESSION AND DENIAL." - Ann Powers [emphasis mine]

possible interested parties:

A] you seem to be living in a way that is NOT "soul-constricting concession and denial" - aka you are still making music, or art, or going on tour, or doing activism, or in general turning what your grandma thought was a "phase" into your lifestyle/happiness/livelihood.

help support all-ages music.  it is easy!

AMP (all-ages movement project) is in the running to receive $50,000*.  THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY.  especially when you are a young struggling not-for-profit.  all you have to do is vote for them- and you can vote every single day in February HERE.  as of today, AMP is in 4th place- and I guess they were higher up than that a few days ago- so this is totally do-able, and not just another meaningless "Facebook Causes" application.

please vote.  please tell everyone you know to vote.  if you have ever loved places like the Old Redmond Firehouse, the VERA Project, the DoS (RIP), Ground Zero, WhAAM- AMP exists to advocate for them.  they want to bring all-ages music to ever town.  it is so easy, just do it, and do it again tomorrow, and do it again every day after that until Feb. 28th, which is when the contest ends.

*from Pepsi, which is weird, but, as AMP says: "We hope you don't take this as us endorsing their products, or saying that corporate sponsorship is a-ok. We know that different communities have widely varying perspectives on this issue. We just want your help taking their money and using it for something good."

Katie and I are putting on an event on the 13th at WhAAM.  PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD.

What is Girls' Music Workshop?

Girls' Music Workshop is a FREE day-long event to encourage girls to make music. It's an effort to get girls involved with music who might not, under normal circumstances and through typical avenues, play music. You don't have to play music or be in a band at all to come! We want all girls who are interested in music and maybe making music to come- whether you've been playing drums since age five or dream about someday being in a band. It will be happening at WhAAM on Saturday, February 13th at 3pm; and at 8pm that evening, there will be a showcase of girl-centered bands for $5.

Why do you feel this is important?

So many girls think that making music and being in bands is much harder than it actually is. We hope that this event will show girls what's actually involved in making music- that they can do it and it's worth the effort. Also, at ANY age, there are far less girls who play music than boys, and it can be really hard to meet other girls who play music. We want this to be an opportunity for girls who are interested in playing music and being in bands to meet other like-minded folks, share ideas, maybe form bands, and ask questions of women who have been doing this for awhile.

Do girls need extra encouragement to play music? Why?

Yes! We both feel like it's impossible to talk about this subject without invoking personal experience. We spent years fumbling with guitars in our bedrooms, but didn't ever think we were good enough to be in bands, much less play in front of people- even friends. Showing the things you create to other people can be intimidating for anyone, regardless of gender or background; but there are especial barriers that get in the way of girls doing this.

When we walk into music stories, we encounter dudes who try to sell us pink guitars- if we go up to those same guys and ask them, "so, what does this knob do?," that would just confirm stereotypes about girl musicians. We want to make a space where girls can ask those questions without being self-conscious. We want to help them get to the business of making music sooner than we were able to- because it took both of us years and years to get over our hang-ups.

It takes a lot of encouragement and positive peer pressure to get over these barriers. Learning to play music (and learning to do anything, for that matter) is a messy process. We want to give girls a space to be messy and to discover, to make things that aren't perfect- to have fun!

We want things to be better for the next generation of girls and for ladies, women, and girls of all ages.

What is planned for the day?

The event will get underway at 3pm. We'll have time for people to meet each other (maybe bond over a shared love of Rihanna and Bikini Kill and share ideas about music?). There will be a question-and-answer panel of knowledgeable female musicians and ladies involved in the music scene- they'll be there to share their experiences and create a dialogue about how to get involved with music. There will be lots of time for participants to ask questions. We will have a resource list of female music instructors in Whatcom County. There will also be a workshop on what to expect when you play a show (stage set-up, microphones, amplifiers, sound engineers)- all the intimidating stuff, so that when you do play a show, you will be ready to go! Then, at 8pm, a bunch of really really awesome bands with girls in them, including Thimble vs. Needle, Party Thighs, RHOMBUS, Chamber Maids, and maybe some others, too.

Why is this something that you care about/what is your personal vested interest in this?

We both love love love music and it took us years to do this. Being in a band was always a wish, for both of us; but it seemed impossible to make it happen. We both were on the planning committee for the first Ladyfest Bellingham, and the creative female energy around us was a huge catalyst. Once we got started playing music, we realized how easy it was to play music- and how much fun it is- and everything else just kind of fell into place. Both of us feel like being in bands has been the best decision we have made in a long time. We really want other girls to discover that joy, too, and not feel intimidated. We want them to have as much fun as we're having, and not have to wait as long as we did to figure that out (or longer)!

What is your dream for the Bellingham music community?

Way more spaces for people to be messy in. Art and music doesn't usually come out of people's heads fully-formed; it takes lots of mistakes and second and third and fourth tries and weird accidents. But usually all that we see in public is the finished product. If there were more spaces and opportunities to be weird and messy and not perfect, it might make things seem a lot more accessible.

Let's talk about the total explosion of girls making music in Bellingham right now.

Oh my god, there are so many good bands it's AWESOME! There are ladies who have been making music for a while who are trying new things, there are gals who have never played instruments before who are learning them. There are more active girl-centered bands right now in Bellingham than we have ever seen before- Femme Uke, Hoot Hoot, Cumulus, Rhombus, Party Thighs, Cora Anne Glass, Council of Lions, Chelsey Weber-Smith, Allison Vincler, Golden Hair, Chamber Maids- holy cow, so many! And we are probably totally forgetting some, too. There are new girl projects starting up every month, it seems like! IT IS SO EXCITING. But we are greedy, so we want even more!

To quote the Ladyfest B'ham 2009 manifesta:

"We believe that expertise is too often a male-defined concept. We believe that if the rules surrounding the production of art are preventing you from creating it then you have the right to disregard them. We believe in the necessity of fostering spaces where people can create and share their art without needing to evaluate it. Don't be afraid to try. Don't be afraid to not judge someone else. Your neighbor's noise could also be their liberation."

"I couldn't really play guitar and I didn't care, I just wanted to make noises and get something truthful and real out there."

-viv albertine