SO i never really write anything on this blog of any real substance but other day i recieved an email on the band myspace page - it is probably th ebest email i've ever recieved, no exaggeration - so i felt inspired to write something.
(click on it to make it a bit bigger)
it's from Osa Atoe who was in the New Bloods (totally amazing band who i sadly never saw play) and writes a zine called Shotgun Seamstress which if you know me i have probably told you about and if you have interviewed trash kit you definitely will have heard of cus i bang on about how we would never have started a band had we not read it - maybe that's not true but y'know when things just happen at the right time? you read something it reminds you of how you always wanted to start that band and learn guitar?? well that happened when i read this zine - and being in communication with Osa now is so cool because it makes me feel as if we've achieved something totally real, that has nothing to do with good reviews or play counts - something like communication - which has to be the whole point of making music or art right??- and that a sense of community can exist between like-minded people who are living really far a way from each other.
Reading SS really changed the way i looked at the music scene and culture around me and helped me realize that even though i've had a really culturally rich up bringing and education etc, i still have been growing up in a situation where weirdo black/queer/mixed race punks were just not part of my world in any way. It was not just an empowering experience - hearing people talking about not feeling represented and the lack of visibility of a 'brown underground' - Rachel H and i also read about US bands like Finally Punk, Magic Johnson, Younger Lovers, Hornet Leg and Purple Rhinestone Eagle for the first time which was so exciting creatively.
We also got our name from an article in the zine about street drummers in Washington and i drew Ru Paul from the cover picture (above) for the cover of our album.
i feel really glad Osa contacted me because i probably would never have myself for fear of sounding like a total gross fan girl and now i'm so inspired to continue making things and make more of these amazing connections!!
yeh UP THE BROWN PUNX!! D.I.Y or D.I.E !!
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check out the zine here:
also this is AWESOME:
Osa lives in New Orleans now, plays in this new part-time punk band called DENY IT and puts on shows that sound really cool - i hope we can go there one day and hang out!!
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