Music: Girl Style Now | tigerlilyclub

GIRL STYLE NOW:THE SECRET WORLD OF FEMINIST PUNK

Outside a trendy looking pub people gather, drink, talk and head upstairs to take in some live music. But forget the usual pub singer belting out Van Morrison and Kings of Leon.This event is called Revolution Girl Style Now and features female performers and Riot Grrl bands.

The Riot Grrl movement is a genre of music that started in the early 90s in the USA. It was made famous by musicians like Kathleen Hanna and her band Bikini Kill. The bands often deal with difficult subject matter such a sexism, homophobia and sexual abuse. Part of the Riot Grrl ethos is a Do it Yourself attitude and the belief that anyone and everyone has a voice and an ability to play music. The movement also saw the creation and explosion of Zine culture, handmade magazines that allowed members of the community to connect and share ideas in the days before social media.

Some twenty five years later, Riot Grrl is still going strong. Tigerlily caught up with newly formed Riot Grrl band, Agony Aunt to talk feminism and punk before their performance. Eve, Doska, Emma and Claire were happy to oblige.

Sitting round a small table I ask the band to explain in layman terms what Riot Grrl is. Eve says without hesitation:"I would say it always has an element of punk to it, but it’s more about empowerment of women. There’s a lot of feminist undertones to the music and it’s generally quite full of energy and quite angry.”

Emma, the band’s vocalist, also mentions the emotive nature of Riot Grrl music:“It’s a good way of expressing how you feel in an appealing way, even if it’s quite strong views you have.”

The emotive issues prevalent in the original incarnation of the genre in the early 90s are still relevant today. Emma explains that her band write songs cathartically, and never write a song just for the sake of singing something.

Of course a little humour goes a long way, Eve says as she remarks that the band have some fun with their songs and don’t take themselves too seriously. During the band's set they start to play a song about a "carbohydrate substance" and when the chorus kicks the band sing with conviction,'Piece of bread..and it's coming out the toaster.' This account of a banale daily event is humourous and reminiscent of the playfulness of the Vaselines and Shonen Knife.

Grrls Rock

Agony Aunt were formed after three of their members took part in Girls Rock School, a group run to encourage girls and young women to pick up instruments and perform. I asked the band how they got together and they spoke about how the Girls Rock School developed them as performers and musicians.

“Riot grrl is so important because girls are taught to supress their anger from a young age because it’s not lady like. But Riot Grrl gives you that platform to be really angry about things. To express how you feel around other girls who feel the same way."

Eve King, Agony Aunt

Agony Aunt’s drummer Claire says that it was a “really safe and encouraging environment where it’s alright to just get up and perform in front of people. I was quite worried and nervous about performing. It’s just awesome, you just have a laugh with other girls.”

Doska, the bass player, says: “Everyone at the start doesn’t have much experience and they are all in the same boat."

Of course no band interview would be complete without asking musicians about their primarily influences and inspiration. Emma confidently cites Riot Grrl’s most famous daughter as her biggest influence.

“I take a lot of inspiration from Kathleen Hanna, especially as lead singer. Her songs can be so upbeat but when you dissect them there’s some really deep stuff that she is talking about. She’s probably my biggest inspiration.”

Eve, the band’s axe woman, agrees but also draws influence from the late 1980s:

“Bikini Kill 100%. They were at the forefront of that movement but my initial inspiration was pre Riot Grrl, what Riot Grrl would have been influenced by. A band called the Lunachicks who were a late 80s American band. My Mum loved them so I grew up listening to them. They are just so angry and so loud and make so much noise. I’d never seen girls be as crazy as that and they would deliberately make themselves looks really ugly and it was just so cool.”

When Agony Aunt play it’s really clear to see that Riot Grrl is still alive and well, more than twenty years after the movement’s inception on the other side of the world. Their sluggish baselines, punk beats, power chords and raw vocals pay homage their inspirations and influences.

Eve also performed a spoken word piece before their set dealing with society’s representation of women as objects by cleverly referencing pop culture power houses such as Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda and Kelis’ Milkshake.

Even if feminist punk isn’t really your thing, it’s a very welcome sight to see young women having the confidence to perform on stage as musicians. Especially in a society that doesn’t always make that easy.