She suggests that this was perhaps a welcomed attribute, “people get tired of a polished thing, maybe it’s the search for authenticity or something that really speaks to them.” We definitely weren’t like we have to practice for a year before we play a show”. “We didn’t value virtuosity, that wasn’t what we were interested in” Wilcox contends, “I didn’t know how to play guitar. They were willing to make themselves vulnerable, they were willing to fail and they were willing to let you watch. OK, we’re starting now.”īikini Kill favoured immediacy over mastery. We spoke to Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox about Bikini Kill’s immediacy and relevance, punk lineage and feminist legacy all (rather helpfully) encapsulated in the opening seconds of that first release. In the run up to their 25 th anniversary, Bikini Kill are preparing to self-release their entire back-catalogue – alongside archive footage, images and articles – starting with the aforementioned EP. Two decades later, their cultural call to arms still resonates perhaps most prominently in the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot, who cite Bikini Kill as an influence. Through thoroughly anti-establishment means – a media black-out, basement shows and hand-printed zines – they harnessed independent media to weave underground networks of creative, engendered women. Formed in Olympia in 1990 by vocalist Kathleen Hanna, drummer Tobi Vail, guitarist Billy Karren and bassist Kathi Wilcox, they spent the next seven years fostering a feminist community via the punk scene. For many Bikini Kill were, are and will continue to be the quintessential feminist punk band credited with instigating the Riot Grrrl movement in a crash of confrontation, agitation and pro-active discourse. So begins Bikini Kill’s debut EP, produced by Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye and released by Kill Rock Stars, 20 years ago this October. A slight pause before a striking, self-assured holler: “We’re Bikini Kill and we want revolution, girl style, now.” Ok we’re starting now” quips a female voice, through hiss, fuzz and the screech of feedback. The interview was published in Stool Pigeon, here. Two decades on, Bikini Kill’s cultural call to arms still resonates. Facinating women, this article could easily have been five times the length. I interviewed Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox over a series of Skype calls and emails.
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