Mimi Schippers is quite the expert in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies. She first came to my attention when I was in the graduate program at University of Cincinnati for WGSS. I was researching gender and music and her book, Rockin’ Out of the Box; Gender Maneuvering in Hard Rock, came to my attention. It was a fabulous read and prompted me to reach out to her. Today, she is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Gender and Sexuality Studies at Tulane University with a specific focus on polyamory. Schippers’ new book, The Poly Gaze, will be out this year. Izzi Krombholz: When I was naming Women in Rock I…
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Girlschool–The Real Queens of Noise
The late 1970’s was a bleak time economically in England. Working class youth were unemployed, living off of the dole with no sense of a future. Out of this frustration and boredom, came punk rock to save the day (or so the story goes). Most of you know that story. What you may not know is that these same conditions gave birth to another musical renaissance known as The New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Inspired by Motorhead’s stripped down no holds barred approach, a new crop of bands rose up that were heavier, louder and more straightforward than the likes of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. The bands didn’t…
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Rockabilly Royalty: An Interview with Rosie Flores
Rosie Flores, a lifetime musician, deserves way more attention than she’s getting. In fact, Rosie has put in so much work, not only for herself, that she’s created important spaces in history time and time again. Rosie started playing in her first band (an all girl band) in San Diego when she was 16 called Penelope’s Children. The band started touring when they were 18. After that, Rosie went on to start Rosie and the Screamers. “That band was phenomenal, they were amazing musicians. The excitement of playing with the other two guitar players really set me off on wanting to play, they encouraged me to keep playing lead.” Rosie…
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Them Are Us Too’s Kennedy Ashlyn Speaks on Bringing Amends to Light
Them Are Us Too’s Bandcamp bio reads “femme 4 femme, sad 2 sad”, a description that summarizes the dreampop band’s sound perfectly. Their first Dais Records album, Remain, came out on March 24th, 2015, and the cult of TAUT formed around them. With Kennedy Ashlyn’s soaring, Kate Bush-esque vocals and Cash Askew’s reverb-drenched shoegaze guitar, they gifted endless femme energy to the indie rock world. Their music feels like unfolding a note from a high school friend about her deepest, darkest secrets—each emotion blown to cinematic proportions, inviting the listener to feel in ways they may have forgotten how. Tragically, Cash Askew passed away in December 2016 in the Oakland…
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An Interview with Ruby Boots
Australian songstress, Ruby Boots (Bex Chilcott) released her sophomore album, Don’t Talk About It, this February on Bloodshot Records. The path she’s taken as a musician has been one of dedication and patience. The now Nashville based musician was kind enough to chat on the phone with me about growing up in Australia and her music career. Izzi Krombholz: Tell me about life growing up in Australia and how you got turned on to music. Ruby Boots (Bex): I didn’t really play music until I was 22 and I grew up with two brothers and I left home I was 14 and I was living in Perth and by the…
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The Resurgence of L7: An Interview with Donita Sparks
Getting to see L7 live this spring was a long awaited dream come true. Honestly, I’d always hoped there would be a reunion but was doubtful. Then, when news of their documentary got announced I held my breath. And it happened, L7 is back at it! When I spoke with Donita Sparks on the phone, of course I had to gush about how cool it was to finally see them live and I admitted that I smiled through the entire show. Donita was cool about it and said, “there’s a lot of shock and awe and joy going on in our audiences.” I mean, how could you not be in…
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A Candid Conversation with Hilary Woods About the Journey to Colt
There’s something about Hilary Woods’ music that stops you in your tracks, as if you were walking outside a bar late at night and only heard the faintest noises of the velvet-voiced performer within. The music is darkly atmospheric and expertly barren—until, all of a sudden, it’s not. I first reached out to the Irish musician when Colt, her debut album released June 8th by Sacred Bones, only had a few songs available online. Once a member of the alt-rock band JJ72, Woods’ inimitable talent now flows into her solo work. There’s raw emotion pulsing beneath the surface of Colt, with each song churning ocean-like back onto itself until the 37-minute…
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The Magic Behind Muddy Ruckus: An Interview with Drummer, Erika Stahl
Muddy Ruckus are a Southern Blues infused rock duo from New England and today they are dropping their third album, Bellows to Mend. The band, Ryan Flaherty and Erika Stahl, spent a year working on Bellows to Mend with the goal of capturing their live show sound on recording. They also have their friend, Daisy Castro, joining them on the album adding violin to a few songs. Erika Stahl was kind enough to tell us about her start in Muddy Ruckus and how she became the heartbeat of the band. Izzi Krombholz: Tell me about your background in music. Where are you from and when did you first start playing? Erika…
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A Question and Answer with Chelsea Wolfe
Chelsea Wolfe, the modern day Queen of Goth, was kind enough to answer some questions for me. She recently played Bogart’s when she was on tour opening for Ministry and I was beyond impressed with the show. Wolfe’s iconic look and dark music style will only continue to make her a legend in the music world. Izzi Krombholz: Growing up, what were your musical influences? What pulled you towards darker music? Chelsea Wolfe: I was just drawn to music that felt honest. I was drawn to storytellers like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn. I was also drawn to androgynous voices, like Nina Simone, Brian Molko, Lindsey Buckingham. My dad…
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Interview with sludgegaze band WIPEOUT’s Cassie Tucker
Wipeout – Optic Nerve (Official Video) from Cassie Tucker on Vimeo. Take a bag of glitter, your favorite sugary cereal, and cavernous pedals–crunch it by hand all together in a mixing bowl, and you have the Baltimore band Wipeout. The sludgegaze music of Cassie Tucker and Kayla Goldstein walks a line between hauntingly cinematic and playful glee. And with one single and an album out–the 2017 ripper titled Milkbird recorded by Alex Zhu–Wipeout shows no chance of stopping. I found the band through tattooist Tucker’s visual art on Instagram (@sllackula), which instantly drew me in: neon colors everywhere, psychedelic creatures and humans, and childhood nostalgia tinted with cheeky evil. I…
