IPU Scene Report
from Bikini Kill: Girl Power (Issue #2)
_________ news, this is the scene report __________. I've avoided writing this for a couple weeks cuz scene reports can be so dumb and the one I wrote last time sucked BUT I really want to tell people about stuff that we are doing and tell you about stuff my friends are doing aka networking..scary. So we went on tour this summer w/ THE NATION OF ULYSSES and boy do their feet smell bad. They are an all-boy band from DC and they are our Brothers in Struggle for real. The two best things about touring, for me, was playing shows and meeting this girl named Stacie from San Francisco (more later)
Cuz see at shows I got to see my new favorite band every night for free..cuz, THE NATION plays this music that's been somewhere in my brain forever and it feels like I know everything that's gonna happen before it does but I am still being surprised. And NOU's TIM GREEN is the guitar boy who puts the "H" in Heaven so when we got to D.C. and settled in for the summer (Bikini Kill hung out in DC till almost fall), I knew I had to work w/ him. And so our powers activated and THE WONDERTWINS were born. Also since BK couldn't practice all summer on account of Kathi "Nappy" Wilcox was in Europe (she really liked Prague, Czechoslovakia), I got in this other band called SUTURE w/ Sharon Cheslow and Dug E. Bird...coolness. Which brings me to the next thing.
Okay, so the IPU rocked; but, hard, okay? If you don't know what IPU stands for, it was THE INTERNATIONAL POP UNDERGROUND CONVENTION and was sort of like punk rock summer camp. It was put on by Candice + Calvin of K Label in Olympia, WA. The BRATMOBILE/KICKING GIANT show was my fave. Especially because Allison (Brat) made this white banner that had red bloody letters on it that said "GIRL" and it hung behind both bands. Pretty.
And also there was spoken word at the Smithfield Cafe and JULIANA LUECKING from DC got on the "bill" at the last minute and blew everyone away. Truth. Sincerity. Real control. If you ever get a chance to see her perform, do. She is on a SIMPLE MACHINES (hi! Jenny + Kristin) release called WHEEL. Check it out, dudette.
So, also, GIRL DAY was the first day, and all these girls like JEAN SMITH from MECCA NORMAL + JENNY OLAY + ROSE from Oakland + CINDY WOLFE + I SCREAM TRUCK + TOBI VAIL + SUTURE + WONDERTWINS + BRATMOBILE OLYMPIA + TRANS AM + 7 YEAR BITCH + KREVISS (like 9 girls w/ guitars and a boy drummer, okay?) + LOIS from COURTNEY ♥ + HEAVENS TO BETSY came and saw and did and screamed. NIKKI McCLURE did this cool spoken/sung word thing about twisted up love, lies, truth, lies, truth and MARGARET-STELLA- and MAUREEN challenged the boundaries of 'acceptable' undergroundness by doing a thing w/ two voices and drum. Uh, HEAVENS TO BETSY are CORIN and TRACY from Oly and they are soooooo cool. Corin can play drums and sing at the same time - she has the voice. They do a song called "My Red Self" that's about period-blood politics. Way cool.
Okay okay okay and so......all these records + tapes were made during the IPU too. Everyone was super creative, excited. Me and some friends made a tape called A WONDERFUL TREAT that has people from a lot of bands I've mentioned already + also a cool color xerox cover. We did it all by ourselves and Calvin gave us some money so we could make a bunch (at first we were gonna make only 50) and he's selling them thru K so you can write him if you want one. And also he sells BIKINI KILL demo tapes and NATION OF ULYSSES albums and the new AUTOCLAVE single which rocks so hard + is so amazing. Write K at PO Box 7154, Oly WA 98507. Also the KILL ROCK STARS lp came out + it features a bunch of people who played at the IPU. TINUVIEL made the covers for the first batch of records by hand + they are gorgeous. So then we went to San Francisco to see N.O.U + FUGAZI play and hang out w/ our friends at the FOSM house, etc...We got to play with N.O.U, FUGAZI + TRIBE 8 at the Gilman St. Club in Berkeley and it was so fun. Sweaty punk kids rule. I hung out w/ the coolest punk girls ever. My friend STACIE gave me a homemade tattoo on my leg, it looks like this→ ★ also I got to "jam" w/ KAT from TRIBE 8 (drummer queen w/ dbl kick drum, yeah.) and she wore headphones and played along w/ the new Judas Priest tape + I managed to follow her. Heavy metal rules. And also I got to hang out + see history in the making at a TRIBE 8 practice. Changed my life, okay? And AMY from SEX KITCHEN was also on the scene, as was DEKE (Comrades in Arms, fagcore gods) and JULIANA and MARIA (formerly de HOLY ROLLERS) and DONNA DRESCH (2 many cool bands to mention....right on girl w/ heart of gold...best bass player in the world, Amy Carter fetish) and SHARON and DUG and ______ and FUGAZI boys.....gawd.
So we are moving to D.C. BIKINI KILL, I mean. We've decided it's THE NEW YOUTH MECCA for real. We're playing a show on the way there w/ our pals in the all-boy band UNWOUND, I think that'll be a party in Chicago, and also we're gonna hang w/ them on the East Coast and witness part of their first American Tour before, we, ourselves embark on our second tour w/ THE NOU.
So what else? NIRVANA is on MTV and I don't care if it's gross or _____, I like the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit, esp. when Kurdt does the 'I'm a monkey' dance. BIKINI KILL drove to Seattle to see NIRVANA play at a record store and it was so weird. Dave G. (Nirvana drummer boy) got so tired of signing autographs that he had to use a rubber stamp that he got out of a Fruity Pebbles box instead of signing his full name. Ahhhh, the life of a rockstar! Several dignitaries were present at this event including DYLAN CARLSON + DAVE from the Seattle band EARTH. JOE PRESTON used to be in EARTH but now he's in the MELVINS + he wasn't there.
The only other thing I have to say is all girls need to start bands ______ or make zines or something cuz the shit is really happening right now and we've just gotta gotta gotta take over. ____ just n___ all towns. ♥ X ♥ O ♥ X ♥ O ♥
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