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Kathleen Hanna: the riot grrrl returns Kathleen Hanna: the riot grrrl returns
(about 5 hours later)
When Kathleen Hanna was 13, she and her best friend Angela Cheever got followed by a man on the way home from the video arcade. “Nothing was open but we saw a light on at a funeral home so we ran up the stairs and started pounding on the doors screaming.” The man left them alone. She sometimes wonders what would've happened if they hadn’t run.When Kathleen Hanna was 13, she and her best friend Angela Cheever got followed by a man on the way home from the video arcade. “Nothing was open but we saw a light on at a funeral home so we ran up the stairs and started pounding on the doors screaming.” The man left them alone. She sometimes wonders what would've happened if they hadn’t run.
“From puberty on,” she says, “I felt like me and my friends were always running. From abusive dads, men on the streets, or even from mean things people would say to us that got stuck in our heads. But running meant we thought we were worth saving."“From puberty on,” she says, “I felt like me and my friends were always running. From abusive dads, men on the streets, or even from mean things people would say to us that got stuck in our heads. But running meant we thought we were worth saving."
This is prime Hanna. She is a storyteller. And her stories have a sting in the tail. If you take one thing home from the recent documentary made about her life and music – The Punk Singer: A Film About Kathleen Hann – you should understand that. She can transform experiences and confront feelings head-on, with no fear for the end result. Forget the reverential tone of the documentary (it’s a love letter to Hanna, albeita very revealing one) and concentrate on the music instead: the way she has of exploding on stage, her stories and her ability to inspire other women by being herself. This is prime Hanna. She is a storyteller. And her stories have a sting in the tail. If you take one thing home from the recent documentary made about her life and music – The Punk Singer: A Film About Kathleen Hanna – you should understand that. She can transform experiences and confront feelings head-on, with no fear for the end result. Forget the reverential tone of the documentary (it’s a love letter to Hanna, albeita very revealing one) and concentrate on the music instead: the way she has of exploding on stage, her stories and her ability to inspire other women by being herself.
“There are a lot of ‘beauty shots’ in the film,” she says, “which is embarrassing.” Does she recognises herself within it – as a person or an icon? “No, not at all. It feels like I'm watching someone else. I don't feel like an icon at all, more like a singing social worker, or a person with a bizarre back story. I'm kind of like the Forrest Gump of indie rock.”“There are a lot of ‘beauty shots’ in the film,” she says, “which is embarrassing.” Does she recognises herself within it – as a person or an icon? “No, not at all. It feels like I'm watching someone else. I don't feel like an icon at all, more like a singing social worker, or a person with a bizarre back story. I'm kind of like the Forrest Gump of indie rock.”
Famously, Hanna was the singer with Bikini Kill – the fiery Olympia WA feminist punk band that spearheaded the initial Riot Grrrl movement, and inspiration for generations of women (and a fair few men).Famously, Hanna was the singer with Bikini Kill – the fiery Olympia WA feminist punk band that spearheaded the initial Riot Grrrl movement, and inspiration for generations of women (and a fair few men).
In the early 90s, a group of female musicians in Olympia WA and Washington DC – many in ramshackle punk bands influenced by DIY pioneers such as Beat Happening and Fugazi; female performers such as Joan Jett and the Raincoats; and of course the first two waves of feminism – got fed up with the gender imbalance in independent music, and society’s attitudes towards creative women generally, and decided to do something about it – through homemade fanzines and their music. (Bikini Kill’s drummer Tobi Vail produced a fanzine, Jigsaw, that many credit as formulating some of the key concepts behind Riot Grrrl.)In the early 90s, a group of female musicians in Olympia WA and Washington DC – many in ramshackle punk bands influenced by DIY pioneers such as Beat Happening and Fugazi; female performers such as Joan Jett and the Raincoats; and of course the first two waves of feminism – got fed up with the gender imbalance in independent music, and society’s attitudes towards creative women generally, and decided to do something about it – through homemade fanzines and their music. (Bikini Kill’s drummer Tobi Vail produced a fanzine, Jigsaw, that many credit as formulating some of the key concepts behind Riot Grrrl.)
They confronted patriarchal attitudes head-on, mixing in hardcore punk (lifestyle) attitude with feminist understanding of society. First and foremost, Riot Grrrl was about female empowerment. Bikini Kill – and their cohorts across the Atlantic in Brighton/London, Huggy Bear – were the prime movers.They confronted patriarchal attitudes head-on, mixing in hardcore punk (lifestyle) attitude with feminist understanding of society. First and foremost, Riot Grrrl was about female empowerment. Bikini Kill – and their cohorts across the Atlantic in Brighton/London, Huggy Bear – were the prime movers.
Since then, Riot Grrrl has come in for criticism, for being exclusionary – particularly towards non-white, non-middle class females. Hanna says that some of the difficult things she had to say regarding Riot Grrrl regarding these criticisms didn’t make the final cut of The Punk Singer but its producer Tamra Davis told her that, “this film isn't about Riot Grrrl, it's about you.”Since then, Riot Grrrl has come in for criticism, for being exclusionary – particularly towards non-white, non-middle class females. Hanna says that some of the difficult things she had to say regarding Riot Grrrl regarding these criticisms didn’t make the final cut of The Punk Singer but its producer Tamra Davis told her that, “this film isn't about Riot Grrrl, it's about you.”
“That made sense,” Hanna says. “There's a film being made about Riot Grrrl right now, so hopefully the ideas I wanted out in the world will get out there.”“That made sense,” Hanna says. “There's a film being made about Riot Grrrl right now, so hopefully the ideas I wanted out in the world will get out there.”
The insurgent Russian feminist collective Pussy Riot are one of the most obvious examples of the impact Riot Grrrl still has on society in 2014. (Beth Ditto’s the Gossip is another.) Pussy Riot have cited Bikini Kill – alongside Sonic Youth – as a key influence. Pussy Riot is part of a wider collective of activists. Riot Grrrl was always intended to be a collective (designed to support a wider community) rather than a movement.The insurgent Russian feminist collective Pussy Riot are one of the most obvious examples of the impact Riot Grrrl still has on society in 2014. (Beth Ditto’s the Gossip is another.) Pussy Riot have cited Bikini Kill – alongside Sonic Youth – as a key influence. Pussy Riot is part of a wider collective of activists. Riot Grrrl was always intended to be a collective (designed to support a wider community) rather than a movement.
Pussy Riot are known for wearing balaclavas, similar to the one Hanna wore in No Alternative Girls, a 1994 short film by Davis. Hanna has stated, “We’re all Pussy Riot” – indicating an awareness that Pussy Riot could replace Riot Grrrl as the popular phrase to describe a certain feminist attitude when it comes to music and society. Does she see parallels between the bands?Pussy Riot are known for wearing balaclavas, similar to the one Hanna wore in No Alternative Girls, a 1994 short film by Davis. Hanna has stated, “We’re all Pussy Riot” – indicating an awareness that Pussy Riot could replace Riot Grrrl as the popular phrase to describe a certain feminist attitude when it comes to music and society. Does she see parallels between the bands?
“They've said they were influenced by us,” she says, “which is totally flattering but I have a hard time drawing a direct link. They're more performance art than we were and what they have done thus far is way more dangerous because of the political climate they live in. I was afraid of shit getting thrown at my head or guys beating me up, not being thrown in jail.”“They've said they were influenced by us,” she says, “which is totally flattering but I have a hard time drawing a direct link. They're more performance art than we were and what they have done thus far is way more dangerous because of the political climate they live in. I was afraid of shit getting thrown at my head or guys beating me up, not being thrown in jail.”
Running, confrontation, identity – these are all themes on Run Fast, the debut album from Hanna’s new band the Julie Ruin (featuring Kathi Wilcox, bassist with Bikini Kill, among the occasional male vocal), who play three dates in Australia this week. Their skipping rope dance/punk is rowdier and more low-rent (not an insult) then her previous project – the synth-pop trio Le Tigre. The band was named after a solo album she put out in 1998, following Bikini Kill’s break-up.Running, confrontation, identity – these are all themes on Run Fast, the debut album from Hanna’s new band the Julie Ruin (featuring Kathi Wilcox, bassist with Bikini Kill, among the occasional male vocal), who play three dates in Australia this week. Their skipping rope dance/punk is rowdier and more low-rent (not an insult) then her previous project – the synth-pop trio Le Tigre. The band was named after a solo album she put out in 1998, following Bikini Kill’s break-up.
“The biggest thing in common between both projects is that I was really messed up emotionally when I began making each of them,” she explains. “The first record was made as Bikini Kill was in breaking up, a guy who worked across the street from my apartment building was stalking me and I was being treated, in my own community, like a historical oddity. The solo record helped me remember that I was just a fucking person who liked being creative."“The biggest thing in common between both projects is that I was really messed up emotionally when I began making each of them,” she explains. “The first record was made as Bikini Kill was in breaking up, a guy who worked across the street from my apartment building was stalking me and I was being treated, in my own community, like a historical oddity. The solo record helped me remember that I was just a fucking person who liked being creative."
At the same time, Hanna was starting to suffer from regular bouts of chronic fatigue, which in 2005 was diagnosed as being part of the later stages of Lyme disease – something that makes her press agent’s concern about a recent bout of flu very real. She eventually returned to the stage in December 2010 at an event that also featured Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth reading excerpts from Hanna’s Riot Grrrl Manifesto: “We are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak".At the same time, Hanna was starting to suffer from regular bouts of chronic fatigue, which in 2005 was diagnosed as being part of the later stages of Lyme disease – something that makes her press agent’s concern about a recent bout of flu very real. She eventually returned to the stage in December 2010 at an event that also featured Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth reading excerpts from Hanna’s Riot Grrrl Manifesto: “We are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak".
“With the new record it was mostly about the emotional fallout from having a long-term, debilitating illness that reached into every second of my life and just robbed me of my life force in such a big way. Writing songs again brought me in touch with core parts of my personality again, and feeling anything separate from my illness was like manna from heaven.“With the new record it was mostly about the emotional fallout from having a long-term, debilitating illness that reached into every second of my life and just robbed me of my life force in such a big way. Writing songs again brought me in touch with core parts of my personality again, and feeling anything separate from my illness was like manna from heaven.
"Run Fast also started with me making loops and singing over them like the first record did, but this time I didn't do it alone, I brought in people I really liked and asked them to help." Her band comprises Wilcox, guitarist Sandra Landeau and Kenny Melman, the keyboard-player from cabaret act Kiki and Herb. "That was something I had to learn from being sick, how to ask for help. Thank god I did.”"Run Fast also started with me making loops and singing over them like the first record did, but this time I didn't do it alone, I brought in people I really liked and asked them to help." Her band comprises Wilcox, guitarist Sandra Landeau and Kenny Melman, the keyboard-player from cabaret act Kiki and Herb. "That was something I had to learn from being sick, how to ask for help. Thank god I did.”
Run Fast is raucous and pulsating. Songs like the call-to-arms single Oh Come On and Cookie Rd. have fire and irritation and anger and hope. “I really wanted to get in touch with the energetic part of myself again,” she explains. When she did, “it was like meeting up with an old friend. When I felt well enough I just wanted to write fast songs and jump around.”Run Fast is raucous and pulsating. Songs like the call-to-arms single Oh Come On and Cookie Rd. have fire and irritation and anger and hope. “I really wanted to get in touch with the energetic part of myself again,” she explains. When she did, “it was like meeting up with an old friend. When I felt well enough I just wanted to write fast songs and jump around.”
She says her love of dance music stems from: “One word. Yaz" – early 80s British synth-pop duo Yazoo. "No seriously, besides that, I used to make up dances in my room a lot as a kid. My favourite thing to dance to was always the Jackson Five, but I also had a weird dance I used to do to Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman. I wanted to write stuff that other kids would dance to in their rooms. It was funny years later trying to write a danceable song about street harassment in Le Tigre [On Guard] when it all started with me dancing to a song about a dude staring down a woman on the street!”She says her love of dance music stems from: “One word. Yaz" – early 80s British synth-pop duo Yazoo. "No seriously, besides that, I used to make up dances in my room a lot as a kid. My favourite thing to dance to was always the Jackson Five, but I also had a weird dance I used to do to Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman. I wanted to write stuff that other kids would dance to in their rooms. It was funny years later trying to write a danceable song about street harassment in Le Tigre [On Guard] when it all started with me dancing to a song about a dude staring down a woman on the street!”
I ask what Hanna makes of the transgressively sexual performance of Miley Cyrus at the VMAs last year. Something about the resultant furore vaguely reminded me of the early days of Bikini Kill – how Hanna would scrawl slogans in marker pen on bare flesh, and male commentators would immediately focus on the fact she was once briefly a stripper.I ask what Hanna makes of the transgressively sexual performance of Miley Cyrus at the VMAs last year. Something about the resultant furore vaguely reminded me of the early days of Bikini Kill – how Hanna would scrawl slogans in marker pen on bare flesh, and male commentators would immediately focus on the fact she was once briefly a stripper.
“Twerking, to me, is a stripper move, it's been done forever. I used to do it onstage at punk shows when I was asking myself the question, ‘What is the difference between stripping and being a singer in a feminist punk band? Are men looking at me the same?’ When some customers from my stripping job started coming to Bikini Kill shows I began angry twerking onstage – but I never knew it was called twerking.”“Twerking, to me, is a stripper move, it's been done forever. I used to do it onstage at punk shows when I was asking myself the question, ‘What is the difference between stripping and being a singer in a feminist punk band? Are men looking at me the same?’ When some customers from my stripping job started coming to Bikini Kill shows I began angry twerking onstage – but I never knew it was called twerking.”
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