GREETINGS, BADASSES

Hello! If you've arrived here from Kathleen Hanna + Sini Anderson's killer interview with Badass Digest, thanks for visiting!

Discussing IGGU at a recent presentation in Sheffield, UK

The zine that Ms. Hanna mentioned is International Girl Gang Underground, a collection of stories, artwork, and critical work about DIY feminist cultural production and punk rock today, twenty years after the riot grrrl movement, and in the wake of its legacy. "Today" meaning 2011, when the zine was published.

International Girl Gang Underground (or IGGU) can be found and purchased here:
USA, via Stranger Danger Distro
UK, via Vampire Sushi Distro (not on website but available soon!)
Japan, via Lilmag

Or, you can get it from me in person from me, while meeting up for coffee/delicious treats, or tabling with feminist collective and distro, For the Birds! We're currently in the process of renewing our domain, girlgangunderground.org, but for now you can find us on Tumblr at girlgangunderground.tumblr.com + girlganggigvolume.tumblr.com. We post on Facebook most frequently, and we're on Twitter too.

I've worked with Hanna since 2010 in various capacities, mostly on the Le Tigre tour documentary film, and with Sini Anderson, too, on The Punk Singer.* So humbled to be mentioned by these fantastic feminist artists, and so thrilled with their work on this new film, which just debuted at SXSW.

Feel free to contact me with any questions! I've been doing some talks on zines lately, like the one pictured above at Showroom Cinema in Sheffield--so I'm always seeking collaborators and like-minded peeps in other places.

*(Hanna also exhibited in BIG MOUTH: contemporary feminist voices in art + illustration, a show I co-curated with Lauren Denitzio, in 2011).

ZINES + PRESS

BRAIN WAVES is the current cover photo on the Recession Art website, an unexpected surprise! And news to us is that one of our zines (Caroline Paquita's Womanimalistic) is featured as a feminist lit pick for the upcoming show at Recession Art CultureFix, Still Figuring it Out: a feminist coming of age, curated by RAC's own Ana Cecilia Alvarez. Which is exciting.

Additionally, The Wall Street Journal interviewed me about zine culture, as well as the Brooklyn College Library Zine Collection's grand unveiling last Tuesday, with the debut of Fold, Staple, Share. My comments didn't make it into the article, but For the Birds' zine So You Want to Start a Feminist Collective... did grace the cover of the Greater New York section.

At the Fold, Staple, Share opening, I read a newly edited version of "This is a Thank You Song," which originated as a piece on this blog. I plan on sharing the new version of that article here soon, as it focuses even more on the idea of creating safer spaces.

OLD BANDS, NEW NEWS

Cover art by Amos Pitsch

TWO THINGS OUT OF THE PROVERBIAL BLUE:

1. Cheeky's long-promised (and I thought potentially never to exist) split 7" with everyone's favorite Appleton, WI trio, Tenement, is now available as a co-release from Rally Records and No Breaks Records.

There are only 400 copies available so get your copy here, quick. We recorded this song during the What the Heck sessions back in 2009. I'm happy that we not only get to do a release with Tenement, but with Amos' cover art.

A lower point of 2011 was leaving my latter band, Very Okay. After graduating Sarah Lawrence and beginning an internship at Hyperallergic (while also working two other jobs) I just couldn't fit music into my schedule. Some of us have moved on to new bands, to new cities, and others of us just hope to get a dog (ahem), but people are still kind enough to give us a holler every now and then.

2. One of those people is author Tao Lin, who gave us a shout-out in his interview with friend and music comrade Jeff Rosenstock this week at Vice Magazine. Someone also made us fan art.

Another exciting post I found was from "Leftovers & Reruns" on tumblr, who uploads scans of his record collection. He scanned Cheeky's Choke on a Cheeseburger EP, which I did the art for in 2007.

ZINE NEWS

Since we have surpassed the end it just feels right to tell you that 2011 was a year of being totally on my hustle all the time. I'll post something about my year's highlights as well as favorite music and art picks soon, but for now here's a recap of some zine news from most recent to least.

I will be tabling at the first-ever NYC Feminist Zinefest (co-organized by Kate Angell and Elvis Bakaitis) on Saturday, February 25th, 2012 with International Girl Gang Underground and with For the Birds. The 'fest will be held at the Brooklyn Commons, 388 Atlantic Avenue (between Hoyt St. and Bond St. in Brooklyn).

The lovely and inspiring Tommy Pico interviewed me for a birdsong "Five on It" along with some super fab people, including my dear friend and collaborator Kathleen McIntyre. The interviews are printed in birdsong 16.

I also contributed to Hoax issue 5, "Feminisms and Community" about my experience organizing the IGGU zine release party in March, about community and utilizing a safer space policy.

Stay tuned for more ZINE NEWS as we plan the future of BRAIN WAVES in 2012!

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A NEW YORKER

Marc Landas has made it his goal to photograph every working artist in New York in a project entitled Portrait of the Artist as a New Yorker. He visited my "studio" a few weeks ago on one of the last super humid days in the early fall. Here's the result.

Coincidentally, my photo ended up immediately following my friend Meredith's from Artist & Craftsman. Spot the dusty cymbal behind me that Dave wrote "HELLO" on, like, months ago. Thanks Marc!



portraitoftheartistasanewyorker:

Artist #235

BIG MOUTH OPENS TONIGHT

BIG MOUTH: contemporary feminist voices in art + illustration, a show I've been working on with Lauren Denitzio, opens tonight. All of the info is available here.

Some notable press mentions so far:

Ms. Magazine

New York: Ever notice how “feminist movements have historically grown out of interventions within radical communities in the face of silence, anger, and often, violence”? BIG MOUTH: contemporary voices in feminist art + illustration showcases artists who seek to break those silences. Check out the exhibit at Brooklyn Fire Proof. Tuesday-Friday, Aug. 9-12, located at 119 Ingraham St, Brooklyn, N.Y.

On-Verge

Keep on your radar . . .

BRAIN WAVES IN NEW YORK MAG

Brain Waves, my first long-term curatorial project, is mentioned in this week's New York magazine. Check out Ashlea Halpern's article "The Analog Underground" on newsstands now.

Plus! Kind of neat that the Brooklyn Art Library's "Sketchbook Project" collection is the feature photo for this article. As you may remember, I contributed to the Sketchbook Project back when Art House Co-op was based in Atlanta. You can see most of the images from my submission on my website.

CREATIVE EYE

The lovely folks at Scoutmob profiled me on their "Creative Eye" section today. It was pretty neat because they asked a lot of questions and gave me free reign to answer! I disclose all my favorite sweet spots, artists, bands, and the like.

So, you're tired of the standard museum and Chelsea gallery routine, and you want to soak up the raw energy of the Brooklyn art world—but you don't have any clue where to start? We feel your pain, so we sought out Kate Wadkins, a gallery manager, visual artist and writer with her ear to the ground of the North Brooklyn scene. We caught up with Kate recently to find out about her latest work, her most abiding influences, and her recommendations for where we should all go next.

Read the full story here.

AltDaily: Riot Grrrl Revisited: Kathleen Hanna Speaks at ODU

She shares a recently received zine with us, from The International Girl Gang Underground and praises them as the next wave of the movement she’s been so dedicated to and recognized for that I’m bummed to later find out she only has one copy. She explains she doesn’t even mind when their criticism of Riot Grrrl (which is, to teens and twentysomethings, actually history instead of memory) turns on her. It’s more important they’re critiquing and learning from and moving forward with the best of the old scene while taking advantage of new technologies to advance the new wave.

Read the full article at AltDaily.

TRES BIEN

I am super honored to be featured on my feminist-librarian-hero-riot-grrrl-enthusiast-colleague-and-dear-friend Kate Angell's blog today:

This is only the second time I’ve written a post for this particular category, but it’s about time that I write more, as I’m lucky to be surrounded by many people deserving recognition for their accomplishments.

Today I want to write about a person with whom I share a name, neighborhood, college, and favorite band- Kate Wadkins. I met Kate last summer through Kathleen Hanna, as we both worked for her on various projects at different times. Over time Kate has become my research collaborator, close friend, and feminist inspiration.

Read the full article here.

Needless to say, the feelings are mutual, as I am consistently inspired by Kate's work, which involves radical librarianship and feminist community activism of all sorts. Please check out the rest of her blog for insightful posts and feminist/women's history resources abound!

UPDATE! JUST TODAY Kate's new article, "Feminist Archives: Archiving Grrrl Style Now," was published in the new issue of Feminist Collections! Congrats, Kate!

BRAIN WAVES COVER STORY

Jesse Sposato's article on BRAIN WAVES just happens to be the cover of the Greenpoint Gazette this week. So, yes, that's me, giving bunny ears on the cover of my local paper. Again, hi Mom!

"RIDING THE BRAIN WAVES"

Jesse Sposato wrote a really great review of the newly-debuted print + zine collection at Storefront, BRAIN WAVES. You can check it out at the Greenpoint Gazette.

Kate Wadkins, Storefront gallery manager and now Brain Waves curator, has been involved in zine culture since she was a teenager, and she continued to celebrate this pastime last Friday, January 28 with the opening of Brain Waves, Storefront’s zine and print collection. Storefront, which just celebrated its one-year-anniversary, was a triple threat on Friday. In conjunction with the Brain Waves opening, there was also Mary Judge’s solo show, Pop-Oculus that took place in the front room, and Wavelength, a group show in the back featuring works by Judith Braun, Maureen McQuillan and Susanna Starr. “[Wavelength] was kind of part of the impetus of having Brain Waves open at the same time. We just thought it was too much of a coincidence to have Wavelength and Brain Waves [open simultaneously],” Wadkins said.

Wadkins, along with Storefront founders and directors Jason Andrew and Deborah Brown, is using Brain Waves as yet another platform for artists within the space. “It [is] a really good opportunity for me to be able to tap into all the things that I [see] going on and give people just one other way to get their work out there,” Wadkins said. The collection is going to be rotating and the goal, as of now, is to have a new zine every month with a corresponding opening.

read the full article here!

RE/VISIONIST HAPPENINGS

We just launched the December issue of RE/VISIONIST, featuring a review of Made in Dagenham by Roz and I. Over the holiday weekend, Elevate Difference posted an interview we did with Lizzy Shramko this summer. If you ever had a question for us R/V-ers, it's probably answered here.

JHOPPS HEARTSTOPS

"Not to floss," but one of my fav feminist music writers just gave my conference review a legit shout-out on her blog, which I am an avid follower of. Psyched.

BIG TIME

RE/VISIONIST got a shout-out on Feministing yesterday, which made us feel pretty big time.

Austin Thomas shout-out

The lovely Austin Thomas (whose solo show is up at STOREFRONT until October 17th) gave me a little shout-out on her blog today, among many great people, places, and things.

Thanks, Austin!

I ♥ SOUL PONIES

AND SOUL PONIES ♥S ME!

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...


[excerpt from SOUL PONIES manifesta]

▶▶ WWW.SOULPONIES.COM ▶▶
▶▶ WWW.SOULPONIES.COM ▶▶
▶▶ WWW.SOULPONIES.COM ▶▶

If you don't know, now you know!

THE PARTY IS OVER

[photo by Ben Pier]

Okay folks, this is it: CHEEKY'S LAST SHOW EVER IS TONIGHT.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH, 2009
7PM
A Benefit for the Walk for PKD
$6-$10 sliding scale

CHEEKY
SHELLSHAG
SLINGSHOT DAKOTA
STUPID PARTY
ZOMBIE DOGS

@ DEATH BY AUDIO
49 S. 2nd Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Here is what some other people had to say about the end of Cheeky*, since I don't really know what to say yet:

Punknews
Death by Audio/Entertainment4Every1
Exploding Penguin
Screaming Females
THE FMLY
Star Beat
Rock and the Single Girl
Planet Chocko Zine
Just A Visual / At the Movies

[* 12/6/2009: I'll be adding more as they come up]

TOM TOM MAGAZINE SHOUT-OUT

[flier by Cynthia]

The rad, rad ladies over at Tom Tom Magazine wrote up a little article about For the Birds & our upcoming show Saturday! We're so stoked.

Here's a snippet of the article:

This weekend a scene of a different sort is worth supporting: the For the Birds Collective show at the 1087 Broadway loft.

For the Birds is a Brooklyn collective supporting women in music that’s been around for a couple of years now with members from the ashes of the beloved feminist Jane Doe books out on Montrose avenue. You might have seen them tabling at the Tom Tom benefit at Death by Audio and they put out zines, comps, and a yearly all-ages all-day event called The Big She-Bang (8/15) with “workshops, panel discussions, visual art, and music by and for women and women-identified artists & community members.” click here to read more!

Resistance Behind Bars review online

Vikki Law posted the review I did of Resistance Behind Bars on her website. She even uploaded a PDF. Sweet! Thanks Vikki!