SASSY APRONS

CALCULATED ZINE GIVE AWAY

akvavit:

girlsgetbusyzine:

Katie Hare has given me a bunch of zines from the Heavens To Betsy - Calculated exhibition she curated which took place at The Old Police Station (which is this amazing diy art centre) in Deptford, London this weekend.

I have 25 copies that are totally free - so if you’d like one then just reblog this post! I’m afraid I can’t cover the cost of postage this time though, but we’ll work it out when I contact you <3

i’d like one!

me! <3

Interview with ANDROIDS OF MU

“As the people from No Class landed in Shepherds Bush, London W12, the keys to the flat were thrown out of the window to us, ready to let an interview with Bess and Corrina from the Androids of Mu take place, which went like this:

 (interview taken from No Class Fanzine)

NC: Why was the LP called Blood Robots?
C: By calling it Blood Robots we threw more light on what our name is about. I don’t wanna be too precise about that, because I wanna leave a bit more to the imagination. A lot of our stuff at the same time was about everyday people and situations, but through our minds, from a completely different point of view.
NC: So are your songs protest songs?
B: Yes, most of them.
C: We would like to change things if we could. Generally we are supporting change, of attitudes and for the better. But on the other hand, sometimes what we do is just observation. It’s more like making people think, rather than opinionating and asking for people to accept our opinions.
NC: So you do benefit gigs?
C: Yeah, loads, cos we’re not playing for money. We aren’t making any money and even when we play ordinary commercial gigs we only get our expenses and when we play benefits we get our expenses, so from that point of view it’s not much different. It’s better that we’re actually supporting something that is worthwhile if we play a benefit, so we do.
NC: Did you lose money on the free tours?
C: Yes we did, because it cost us a lot to set it up in the first place, like posters and getting a vehicle in condition, so that we could do it. Our actual expenses on the road had been met but not the expenses that it cost us to prepare the whole thing. Everyone involved lost about £70. If you put all that together, there was three bands, it cost a lot of money.
B:Doing about two tours, free tours, made us realise that we didn’t wanna do it again cos…
C: We can’t do it, we can’t afford to.
B: As well as that, we realise that people want to pay. I really think so. They wanna pay to get in and enjoy themselves.
C: It was all part of an attempt to change existing attitudes, in the sense that if a person comes into a venue and they pay because they realise that by paying they support the whole idea, and at the same time they give opportunity to people who have got nothing to come in, That’s good but it just doesn’t work like that, because people’s attitudes were that if it’s free it’s not worth anything.
B: But another idea why we started doing free tours was because we thought music is something so nice there shouldn’t be a packaged price on it. You get gigs at Rainbow, £3 or whatever, depends on the seats if you’re at the front or the back, but we thought music should be left to people: what they think it’s worth.  Some people at the time thought it was 10p, others 50p. I think that’s great because people paid money what they think; they don’t feel ripped off.
NC: I think it’s a good idea.
B: But it doesn’t work that way. There’s not many people thinking that. Maybe more down in London, they’re more open minded about things, but in North of England… It’s being conditioned, isn’t it? Most young people they work 9 till 5 and they go out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. And if they pay money to get into a gig they enjoy themselves. It’s like a routine.
NC: Didn’t you get people going along to try it out, because it was free?
B: Yeah, half of it was like that, they were really supporting us, but not other half.
C: Another thing was that usually they spent all their money on drinks, so that even if they wanted to give, they didn’t have any money left.
B: No, but we sussed that out didn’t we? We were doing a gig with three bands. By the time the second band came on we would go round with the hat and collect money.
NC: Could you tell us how Girlfriend Records came about?
C: It just sprung out of the fact that I’m a sound engineer and I’ve been working at Street Level studios. All the time I’ve been working in there there’s been about one percent of the people that come to the studio were women. Because of that I knew a lot of female musicians. They used to say we really wanna come into record something but we can’t afford to or we don’t know where to start or …. things like that. I realised that there was a need to do something and I was just in the right place at the right time. It wasn’t that we decided it was gonna be Girlfriend Records, it just came out of the events leading up to it that I started recording all these women bands and it grew into an LP (Making Waves various artists compilation). Everyone thought it was a good idea that it came out on an independent label and we thought ‘Why not start a label?’ but in a way it’s a separate thing from the Androids, although the rest of the Androids had helped out on Girlfriend Records and supported it.
B: It involved all twelve bands, they all helped out in some way. It’s very difficult to be a record company by yourself.
C: I found out through doing that LP that I like producing. It just ended up with myself and another lady called Druscilla, from one of the other bands, taking the responsibility for keeping the thing going, and we decided that we’ll do more records. We’re in the middle of recording a single with The Gymslips, and there’ll be follow up, possibly Androids, and other people as well.
NC: Who did the artwork for the Making Waves LP?
C: It was done by two people. The front side was done by a lady called Domino, and the other side was done by an art student called Heidi. It was done more or less simultaneously.
NC: And what about Blood Robots?
C: Suzy who was with us at the time, she found this poster…
B: There was a big gallery, posters and poetry done by women. We saw this painting on a wall and she said that could be the cover, and we all went Wow! What a good idea. We did a coloured printing, but the colours didn’t come out right. It was too much contrast, black and brown.
NC: Is it the original that was used, the one in the gallery?
B: Yes, the woman who done that (Monica Sjoo), we wrote to her. We haven’t met her. She said of course you can use it.
NC: Can you tell us about your deal with Crass?
B: Two years ago, when they wanted to do a single with us, they didn’t want our drummer to play on it cos she was playing out of time. They wanted their own drummer, and we all thought it would sound like Crass again, so we refused it straight away.
C: Actually, they left the offer open, so we can do a single with Crass whenever we want to.
NC: Do you still have an involvement with them?
C: Well, the thing is we don’t wanna be produced by Crass, because of the sound.
NC: Won’t they let you produce yourselves?
C: If they did then we’d do it, but even then I don’t think there’s any point in us being on the Crass label because we got our own label.
NC: Being on the Crass label would mean you sell loads of copies, to their fans.
C: Yeah, and it’s not quite right, is it?
NC: You mean that people buy the stuff just for the name?
C: Yeah.
B: We all support Crass, what they are doing, it’s just that we’re not the right sort of band to do a single with Crass. As well as that, we’ve got our own label , so why not do it on our own label, rather than do it with Crass?
NC: What class background is the band from?
C: You can’t really tell because we’re not English, so we come from a totally different thing. Everyone of us is a different nationality. The class structure from societies is totally different.
B: No, no, I think we are working class, because it doesn’t matter what we come from.
C: I don’t know, Bess. I come from communist country. It’s a classless society. We can’t say what class. I was born into communism.
B: That’s really a difficult question to answer. We don’t want to put people into classes. 
NC: No class! What are your opinions on fanzines?
C: We love fanzines! I think it’s a really good idea because when you read a normal magazine you just get the editor, the writers and their normal correspondents writing in, you keep getting the same kind of opinions because they come from the same kind of people The other good thing about fanzines is a lot of the stuff you read in them is written by ordinary people, so it’s more of a forum for exchanging ideas. Sometimes you get interesting information as well and sometimes the poetry in fanzines is really good. I really get off on it.
I think that the most important thing about the Androids is that we wanna break down barriers, particularly between nationalities andf this sort of tribalism that really separates young people. We wanna get at more of the things that we all share rather than the differences. We wanna accent the things we all share and the grounds upon which people can relate, rather than reinforce the differences, and the separatism. I feel it’s one of the most political things that this band is putting out. That is our main point.
NC: How did the gigs with Poison Girls go regarding breaking down barriers?
C: Great. It really was good cos in the beginning we used to feel a bit alioen cos walking into the gig there was all the punks with mohican hair and everything. ‘Are they gonna relate to us?’ or ‘How can we possibly talk to them?’ and at the end of the gig we’re talking to all these people and they’re talking to us and we’re feeling much more a part of that scene than we would’ve done when we just walked in. It’s like that every time.
B: It seemed that when they came and talked to us they said they really liked our music and they meant it, cos we were something different. The same applies with heavy metal freaks, the same applies with a lot of people.
NC: Is Subtitles, on Blood Robots, in French?
B: Yes, that is actually stereo. One side is French, other side is English. It’s not very well mixed so you hear the French side more than the English.
C: Suzy wanted the French side louder because it’s such a personal song. The actual lyrics are very personal to her I think cos it’s reflecting a time in her life when she was feeling really, really depressed, and I think she was slightly self conscious about it being in English.
NC: She’s French, I take it.
C: She’s English.
NC: But why did she choose French?
C: Cos she speaks very good French.
B: No, that wasn’t a very good reason.
C: What’s the difference? She’s not here, she can’t say.
B: She thought it was interesting because the whole album was English so she thought might as well do one in French, and if people don’t understand it they can listen from the other side, cos it’s stereo, one side is French, other side is English.
C: But I wanted the English version up in the mix cos it’s so much better. She talks in this really deep voice.
NC: The track after that, Jean Dreams, what’s that all about?
C: That is about the lady who did our logo. Her name is Jean. It just came out of a fairly silly, girlie conversation.
B: We almost got that song together while we were in the studio, because we didn’t have enough songs for the album. That was done about three years ago, at the very beginning of Androids. It was a good experience but if we ever do anything again, I’d really like the Androids to produce it.
NC: Is there another LP on the way?
C: Well, we’re hoping to, yes.
NC: With yourselves producing it, so it’ll be a lot different to the first one?
C: Definitely. The thing is we’ve got more going for us than most bands because the fact that I’m a sound engineer, you’re half way there, cos even the producers rely on a sound engineers. Very often they work in a team. The actual sounds are got by the engineer, so I think we could really turn out something good. The band could put their ideas in and I could probably engineer quite a lot of it, when they want a particular sound. I think we could turn out a really good LP by ourselves, probably a lot better than somebody coming in from outside trying to interpret what we are. We only need someone from the outside to do the vocals.
NC: Were you against Kif Kif producing the first album?
C: Well, it was at the beginning of the studio and I think it was an experiment for Kif Kif and for us. Kif Kif’s got much better since.
B: But I think at the time Kif Kif was into really bad music, he didn’t like music played tight.
NC: Do you like your gigs to be organised?
C: Yes, because then a lot more people come. If we do a gig and it’s not advertised, no one comes except our personal friends. When there’s posters up anfd it goes in the gig guides then people come. It’s much nicer when there’s quite a few people, you get a much better vibe than if just a few people arrive.
(Talking about heavy metal)
NC: Aren’t Rock Goddess, included on the Making Waves LP, a heavy metal band?
B: Yeah, they came on tour with us.
C: I like some heavy metal music. At the time I liked them: I thought they were good. I like that song (Make My Night), I chose that song from other songs, they were pretty similar but … (laughter). I really enjoyed mixing that cos obviously they weren’t playing too loud and you don’t get the same sort of thing in the studio as you do live. Live they are extremely loud, but in the studio you can control the situation. What I don’t like about heavy metal is the posing.
NC: Would you like to do a gig with fancy lights, dry ice, the works?
C: Fancy lights, not dry ice.
B: Well, it depends on what we’re gonna do. If we had a song that dry ice will fit in it, we wouldn’t mind doing it, but if you’re singing a song about, say a love song… If it suits the song it’s all right.
C: I like lights. Sometimes we do some gigs with lights cos the guy who does our sound, Judge, he’s got a lighting rig.
NC: Are your audiences mixed?
C: Very.
NC: More female than male?
C: No, about thirty per cent female, which I think is more than most bands get, cos they usually get largely male audiences. Usually we get quite a few punks, a bit of everything really.
NC: Have you done any women only gigs?
C: A few. We can’t any more cos we’ve got a male drummer.  
B: I really don’t mind at all because once, we started as an all girl band and a lot of people misunderstood us. They said ‘Do you like working with men?’ We said we do because we made this length so far because of our men friends. They helped us out.
NC: Have you ever played abroad?
C: We did a tour in Holland and we may be doing a tour in Turkey.
NC: You’d probably get a really good reaction there.
B: We’re gonna blow their minds. Turkey is about two hundred years back from where we’re at, at the moment. In Turkey they haven’t accepted what women can do. Women are very old fashioned. Get married, have kids, look after the husband. They don’t accept them as artists and creative people. The woman’s place is in the kitchen. It’s one of the reasons I left Turkey. That’s why I’d love to go to Turkey and do a tour and show what we can do.”

 (No Class Fanzine)

Sassy Aprons Mix #3

This mix is the fruit of my torpidity. I’ve been sitting in the same spot for three hours. Actually, four. Good news, though: it’s a pretty sweet mix. Link for download is below the track listing. The last track is always my favorite. You’re welcome, ya fools.

(from Tammy Rae Carland’s Lesbian Beds series…thanks jas!)

1. Fatal Microbes - Violence Grows
2. Aunt Sally - To Frank
3. Destroy All Monsters - Bored
4. The Petticoats - I’m Free
5. Castration Squad - The X Girlfriend
6. Cristina The Hun - Kitty Kat
7. Dog Faced Hermans - How We Connect
8. 戸川純 - Next Indian
9. Sara Goes Pop - Arab O Habab of Arabia
10. Nina Hagen - Born in Xixax
11. Delicate Vomit - Moomin Baby
12. Lindy Lane - Low Grades and High Fever
13. The Sanshers - Gonna Git That Man
14. Twelve Cubic Feet - Mary’s Got The Bug
15. Pink Section - Francine’s List
16. Prag VEC - Wolf
17. Kreviss - Going to Hell

[download]

Sexual Violence Sux, pt. 452

       I’m so fucking beside myself and I just need to spill this. About three weeks ago, a girl at my school was sexually assaulted in the science building bathroom at night (she ended up fighting him off before he scurried away). He hasn’t been caught. Not only did this completely break my heart, but naturally, made me feel a little more unsafe on campus. I couldn’t even look up any further details about the incident because it was too upsetting to me.
        Then, tonight, I was in my Theories of Personality class and our teacher received a text message that said another girl in the same building we were sitting in was touched inappropriately in the bathroom upstairs about an hour before. Meanwhile, I’m sitting in my seat - nauseous. I feel the tears start to come and my stomach start to twist into a pile of shit and I expect some sort of similar reaction out of my classmates, at least the females. The announcement was met with little regard. It was evident a few minutes later that the news was, for the most part, forgotten, as the class roared with laughter at corny remarks made by the teacher about the lecture. I was sitting in the back corner completely fucking astonished. I think the room would have been a little more pensive had somebody been stabbed. I think it would have really resonated then. That’s what I’m incessantly taking issue with - sexual assault is fucking extreme. Butchering someone’s spirit is extreme. Being touched by some fuck while you’re going to take a fucking piss in between classes is extreme. It is the absolute pinnacle of having your personal space violated. As I’m writing this I’m thinking, “Do I really even have to go into detail about the gravity of rape?” But I do, and it’s so heartbreaking that I do, and I HATE that I do.
         What’s most upsetting to me is feeling overwhelmingly hopeless. Sitting in my car pissed off in tears is so fucking fruitless, but additionally, it’s all I feel like I really have to offer this poor girl. Then I think about how silly some of the things I put energy into are - publishing a fucking post about sexual violence on the fucking internet is so not helping somebody being assaulted on their college campus. I don’t know what to do. I have absolutely no clue what to do. Or what I even can do. How do you change the cultural perception of women of…millions of people that are bred this way. I can’t figure it out. 

Subversive Pleasure

           I want to spill this out for my own documentation. I started a feminist book club out of Long Beach a couple months ago. I was pretty nervous to do so, but it has turned out to be really spectacular, and coincidentally has also turned into the sort of group I’ve been trying to find solace in for a very long time (I’ll explain further.)
           We had the discussion for our first book about a week ago. Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman. I was about 40 minutes late because I had a mandatory work meeting, but once I got there, I was pleased to find a solid group of about 15 (about 20 less than our last meeting, but the intimate feeling was well worth the loss of bodies) discussing the book. I just sat and listened for the first few minutes, until one of the older women was talking about physical expectations past/present and explained how she quit shaving her legs when she was a teacher some years ago. Naturally, I felt I could identify with this struggle, especially with having a new job for a school district and feeling pretty limited in my ability to express myself beyond a conservative mold that I can’t seem to shake from my mind. She explained how she was simply just indulging her feelings of self - she didn’t want to shave her legs. The dean of the school spoke with her, suggested she quit teaching, etc. I told her I’ve gone through similar things the last few years, because it’s not always easy to be yourself (quite literally —- i can feel very comfortable in places that won’t necessarily accept leaps outside of gender norms [the elementary school i work at, for instance]) but it’s not about me feeling uncomfortable in those places - it’s about others feeling uncomfortable with me, so somewhere along the line you have to mute yourself. I’ve had to do this plenty of times over the years - triy to choose my battles - “Do I want to wear shorts to work more than I do not want to address the questions of 150 elementary school students?” The latter usually winds up being the case. Unfortunately, at such an impressionable age, maybe the tolerance level of these grade school kids could benefit from seeing “Ms. Angela” who is a smart, capable, friendly, “normal”, adult who chooses not shave her legs.
             What I really want to say, though, is when I began to explain my predicament working with the children, and the sadness and self conflict that comes with having to essentially fake who you really are (the nature of life? maybe.) this woman just looked at me, nodded her head, and said “It feels so lonely, doesn’t it?” At that moment, tears filled my eyes, because for so many years, I have desperately longed for somebody who I felt truly understood exactly what that struggle felt like, and I knew that she did. I didn’t let myself get past glossed eyes, but the way I felt is completely ineffable. I’ve had plenty of friends to confide in or share my feelings with, who could alway sympathize with me, but never empathize with me. It was a moment I have confidence I won’t ever forget. That is what it’s about. Community is so beautiful. I’m so grateful for this group. 

If anyone just happens to be reading this brain vomit and is interested in the group, we meet monthly at Gatsby Books in Long Beach, CA. Our facebook page is: www.facebook.com/lbfeministbookclub or send e-mails to Lbfeminists@gmail.com


Kiki Smith, “Home”