I wouldn't know either of these first two women if it weren't for my ex-partner, who introduced me to both of them. He and I have been going back and forth between DC and Kansas since August of 2006, as many of you know. During these trips...

2/24/07 Columbia Missouri:
Yesterday I arrived in Columbia after a two hour drive from Kansas), and met everyone at the Diva House. I was thoroughly impressed. Every city needs a house like this. Nine radical women from different backgrounds all sharing one roof, how fucking rad is that? The house was very crafty and decoupage was prevalent - they had a huge table with all kinds of fruits and veggies stuck to it, and some really rad mailboxes that were made out of coffee cans. Also, there was a sewing room and a room for crazy dress-up clothes. Again, stoked. All the ladies there were super nice, and we shot the shit until the show started at the No Coast. The No-Coast is a collective space that some of the Diva House women help run. They essentially found an old warehouse and needed a show space, so they started having benefits to raise the first month's rent, and once they leased it, they started painting and constructing and stuff. Now it's a show space and an info-shop, and it's totally c ollectively run. Super DIY and a great space. As long as all these descriptions are, they seem relevant to the interview I did with Laura, as she's a member of both the Diva House, and the No Coast Collective. We discussed both projects, as well as several others. I was not surprised to hear that her interest in feminism and gender roles at an early age stemmed partially from her involvement in sports. However, she's currently involved in race and Afro-American studies, which I find really cool, especially since she's white. The interview was pretty relaxed - a lot of times I feel like I'm just having a conversation with someone when I do these - and we talked about a bunch of different stuff. I shot some footage around the house, and packed up my gear to head back to Kansas.

2/26/07 Lawrence, Kansas:
Renata is from New Mexico, but she moved to Lawrence a few years ago. She just got her own apartment, so I went there to interview her. Nata has this southwest air about her, but I never seriously noticed it until we sat down to do this. She apparently helped out with some venue collective space(s) down there before moving to KS, and seems okay with the change of pace. We talked about the sludge band she's in - Samothrace - as well as the proggy band Black Christmas, that she plays keyboard for. She shreds on guitar, and a really rad woman with a fucked-up sense of humor. Not to mention that she lives across the street from some pretty stocky horses. Oh yeah, I'm leaving Kansas tomorrow - it gets harder to go every time.

I've had friends in Richmond for a few years now...

3/23/07 Richmond, VA:
I first met Donna while she was collecting data for her thesis on sexism in the punk scene. She came to DC to interview me (that's how she was getting her data), and we became friends after that. Also, we've been organizing the C.L.I.T. fest together, so we know each other pretty well. As I expected, her interview was one of the heavier ones I've done for this project. We sat on her back porch in the sunshine and talked about the different kinds of sexism that exist in the punk community. She has this down better than I do, but basically there's blatant, latent, and subtle, and there might be one or two more. She's in the middle of compiling all her data for the thesis right now, so she's a little mired in everything, but she's got the cause and effect scheme pretty down. Donna's 40 and she's still heavily involved in the DIY scene in Richmond, which is something I find impressive in itself. I'm so glad that there are going to be a range of ages represented in this film, because it's important for women to understand that they don't have to come and go in the scene at specific times in their lives. The interview ended with a surprisingly optimistic note (for Donna), where she explained that things are getting better, and that women shouldn't be afraid to start being heard. I couldn't agree more.


Chris Boarts-Larson has been doing the Slug and Lettuce fanzine for 20 years. I'd never met her before the interview, but was really amped to sit down with her. Her and her husband have a baby that was born in December, and are on the verge of a move, but despite her claims that the house was going to be a sha mbles it looked fine to me. We talked a lot about her photography (almost all of the S&L photos are hers), and I was really interested to hear about the shift in the zine over the years - apparently she used to run lots and lots of classified ads (she said a primary thing for her in the punk community is encouraging other people to network with one another). However the ads have dwindled over the years, replaced by reviews and columns. The zine essentially pays for itself, which is another thing I found really awesome, that she's got it to this mathematically functional machine - the logistics seem scary but apparently are fairly straightforward. That having been said, she told me about why she started writing Christine instead of Chris on the zine - because she wanted people to know and respect the fact that a woman was capable of making it, which I totally understand. She told me a story about Mike Ness hitting on her when she was 15 and had just started writing, and how she stopped sending pictures into other zines for interviews. She did it the first time anyone ever asked her and was inundated by a wealth of letters from punk boys wanting to express how hot they thought she was/is. How fucking disappointing. They didn't give a shit about what she had to say, and these are PUNK men, who are SUPPOSED to be above this kind of shit. Anyway, she said it wasn't until recently that she decided to send a few pictures for some articles about her. Also, overall she seemed pretty positive about motherhood. She's not planning on stopping S&L, or going to shows, or anything like that. I wonder how she'll feel about it a few years from now. There's this constant argument in the feminist community about motherhood and fulfillment. Being guilty about working and not spending enough time with your kids, or being a stay at home mom, and feeling like you gave up your life. Not to say that punk is work, but for sure, it takes up SIGNIFICANT amounts of our time. That having been said, I'm interested to learn more about different punk mothers and their attitudes towards their ch ildren and their scene participation, and how they balance the two. Chris seems to have a pretty good sense of balance, and a pretty good check on herself - she was talking about her conscious check on her own ambitions, which I find myself doing a lot - saying "oh I'd really like to take on that project, that sounds interesting", and then realizing that there's no way I can fit more shit into my schedule. After the interview, she took us back into her shed, where all the back issues of S&L are stored. I left her house with an armload of zines, a couple copies of Profane Existence, and really awesome benefit tape that someone made for S&L years ago. She even gave us a copy of issue number 20, which was the first Slug and Lettuce on newsprint. It has some really awesome pictures from ABC No Rio in 1990 (Oi Pollio, Destroy, and other bands), as well as a ton of classified ads.

The trip to the Northern Midwest was the result of our first big push for overhead.  Benefits, blah blah…

Chicago I have to admit I didn't know much about the Rock N Roll Girls camps going into this interview. I know about the camp in Portland, which does sleep away I believe, and that's the biggest one. What I didn't know is that there are chapters popping up all across the states. It was really impressive that t hese girls (girl e and girl b) managed to do something which requires so much financially, and still keep it totally DIY. They took donated instruments, used a (free, I think) school space, and utilized the talents and knowledge of female musicians from across their area. They still flyer for donations and support, and are expecting a large turnout this summer. They filed for tax status, and with the help of girls from other camps, sorted through all the paperwork. This idea is so valuable. I've been thinking a lot in the past year about role models. About how I had none growing up in the scene, and about how I fit in to the grand scheme of women who are present now. It's weird to see myself as a role model, but more and more I'm coming around to the idea - I see it in the ways that younger women approach me, and shit, that's a lot of responsibility. Honestly, I have to say I kind of dig the idea that

Grand Rapids

Wisconsin

Minneapolis                                      Chicago