The Punk Singer Page #7

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...template, the foundation stone.

And then Le Tigre was the

beginning of a whole new world.

I decided I wanted to move to.

Portland 'cause I had to get out.

...of Olympia 'cause it

was driving me crazy.

I gave Kathleen my 'zine.

I mean, I don't know if you'd

call that, like, meeting her.

I just, like, said hi and gave.

...it to her at a show at the

X- Ray caf in Portland.

I read Jo's fanzine, and I

was like, "this is the best.

...fanzine I've read ever.

She has to be my

new best friend. "

Basically, I spent a whole day...

...like, just driving

around, looking for her.

She was like, "you're

gonna be my friend.

We're gonna be in a band.

And that's that. "

And I was like, "okay. "

My original idea was to try.

...and make the "Julie ruin"

record into a stage show.

I never would have been in a.

...band again in my whole life, I'm.

...convinced of it, if it wasn't.

...for my friendship with johanna...

'cause I was really

burnt out and sad.

I was really depressed.

I remember sitting in my car,

and it was raining, with Jo.

And I just, like, looked

at her and started crying.

And I just told her everything.

I want you to stay

I started realizing that I

should move to New York.

We didn't really have a

place to stay, exactly.

We were both really broke.

I mean, really broke.

I just moved to New

York with $400.

There's no way I could have

afforded rent, so I was really.

...fortunate that I had a boyfriend.

who had an apartment and

would let me stay with him.

You know, I was psyched about

everything... Psyched about.

...riding the subway, going to.

...museums, being near

johanna, being with Adam.

Everything was

good again for me.

And then the Woodstock

thing happened.

Woodstock '99.

This is a very

dangerous situation.

It was disgusting.

I was molested.

I was stomping around

the apartment, pissed off.

And he was stomping around

the apartment, pissed off.

Eight rapes and sexual.

...assaults during the

festival reported.

I was, like, "why don't you.

...say something at your

acceptance speech?"

And then we sat down, and we.

worked on writing something,

and then he did it.

Also known for

the flintstone flop

Tammy "d" gets

biz on the crops

Beastie Boys know to let

the beat mmm... Drop

now when I wrote graffiti,

my name was slop

if I rap soup, my

beats is stock

I read in the news and heard.

...from my friends all about the

sexual assaults and the rapes.

...that went down at Woodstock '99.

It made me feel really

sad and angry, okay?

When he started talking about.

...something real amongst all of

this completely superficial.

...bullshit, the room

just... it was like...

Like, everything changed.

The whole room, it

felt so "who farted?"

Like, beyond "who farted?"

Are you all there?

Okay.

Y'all remember that, Woodstock?

It definitely sucked the party.

...out of the room, that's

for sure, for a minute.

But I'm sure somebody got up.

I'm sure Uncle cracker got up

and played some awesome song...

...and the audience was back.

Who took the bomp?

Kathleen had a bass, and she

really wanted to play drums.

I had bought a sampler.

I was interested in making

sample-based electronic music.

Jo believed in me, so much.

...that she went down in this dingy.

...basement and wrote with

me every single day.

Things shifted with J.D.

Joining Le Tigre.

I remember getting

a call from Kathleen.

She was like, "we're practicing...

...and we want to know if you

want to do our slides. "

We went on, like, a two-week

tour of the east coast, and she.

was, like, "you're a performer.

You really need to be on stage. "

During that tour, Kathleen was.

...like, "will you be in our band?"

And I was like, "yeah. "

The second she was on stage...

...she just had such a

great stage presence.

We were, like, the

feminist party band.

Our whole ethic was about making.

...something that had politically.

...radical content that

you could dance to.

Kathleen's voice was beautiful.

She's, like, at that perfect age.

...at that point to have, like...

...this full, resonant,

amazing, powerful voice.

Le Tigre seemed like it was much.

...more sophisticated and mature.

It understood what people needed

at that time, in terms of.

...danceability, still maintaining.

...a really interesting message, a.

...message of noncompetition,

of a culture of praise, but.

...sophisticated and understanding

what a good pop song is.

Bikini kill understood song

structure, too, but le Tigre.

...just, like, f***ing nailed it.

Come on

oh, oh, oh, oh

We did, like, a really long

tour after "this island" was.

...released, and it was like a

world tour, a year and a half.

We went to Australia.

We went to Japan.

We did the U.S. And

Europe and everything.

Take a good look

take a photo

write about it in

your tiny notebook

don't you know?

You're out co-o-Id

don't you know?

It's our dance floor

T.K.O.

Hear it on the radio

T.K.O.

Play it on the stereo

T.K.O.

Watch a live video

T.K.O.

Hear it on the radio

T.K.O.

Play it on the stereo

T.K.O.

Watch a live video

T.K.O.

T.K.O.O.

Le Tigre moved out into, like,

bigger and bigger circles...

...embraced more and more of

humanity and all the issues.

And what does it really

mean to be a feminist?

It means that you pay attention

to all different kinds of.

...oppression, and you stand up for.

...all those people that don't have.

...a voice, whether they're trans

or people of color or class...

...race, gender,

sexuality, everything.

She did that.

And then, the next challenge is...

...like, how do you do that

on a personal level?

The ocean calls

us away from...

All the sudden, in north

Carolina, I lost my voice...

...and at sound check,

I lost pitch.

I always think of it as a.

...bullet, kind of, like,

my voice is a bullet.

And there's, like, a note that

I want to hit that's here or.

...that's here or here or whatever...

...and then the breath is like the.

...bullet coming out of my mouth.

And it's going to

hit the target?

Well, I was like... I could get.

...the breath, but then the

bullet would just go "waahhh. "

Like, I couldn't hit the target.

I was terrified.

I couldn't believe it.

So, we canceled the show in

north Carolina, and I went back.

...to New York and found

a throat specialist.

It's actually really traumatic.

when I think about it, because.

...it was like singing is my life,

like, it's everything to me.

... if I would

say that, too

I don't know about that

When you have a sore throat, you.

...have a sore throat, but once the.

...adrenaline would kick in for a.

...show, I didn't ever

feel any pain.

I never felt pain onstage, ever.

No matter how bad I felt, once I

was onstage and the lights

hit me, I was fine.

When I'm playing music, I

don't feel anything bad.

I don't know about that

I don't know about that

you are...

We were so enmeshed in our

band that that's all we did.

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