During the late eighties and early nineties, you probably noticed the early rumblings of DIY culture fused with practical feminism that eventually turned into what would come to be known as Riot grrrl. Back then, any number of bands took credit for or claimed association with the movement but after the smoke had cleared, there wasn't much doubt left about who was left standing in the shelled-out remains of the initial explosion: the seminal Bikini Kill.
They were the first across a dangerous musical threshold and lay down on a few punk landmines so that other women could follow suit and walk through a little less frightened. Over the years, band members and friends collaborated, stayed active, played under different monikers, and lived their lives fully and artistically.
Recently, longtime friends and Bikini Kill bandmates Kathi Wilcox and Kathleen Hanna reformed the once experimental The Julie Ruin (a side project that originated with Hanna some years ago), recorded the soon-to-be-released album Run Fast, and got ready to go on a national tour. We spoke with Kathi recently about things past and a future that looks more than rosy.
Hey Kathi, how are you today?
Good how are you?
We are here in Washington DC, and you all were on NPR this morning!
Yeah, I know! They put it up last night. We just got finished watching the VMAs and I was just checking online and Kenny from my band was like, "Oh my god, they put it up early." Because we knew they were going to put it up but they went and did it early. Yeah, super exciting.
So you guys have the new full length release planned for September 3rd, Run Fast, and the first ever national tour with The Julie Ruin with a stop here in DC at our beloved Black Cat on September 7th. There are a lot of people really looking forward to this, longtime Bikini Kill fans . I've heard the single and the album and while the old songs you did in Bikini Kill still really hold up after all this time, the new material is fresh and packs a great punch. It's great. Did you think the impact of the older stuff would remain so fresh in the minds of the people who were around for Bikini Kill and that the new material would keep attracting so many new young fans?
I have to tell you that I'm totally surprised. We have only played two full-length shows so far and it has been a lot of young people, but more surprisingly it's just when I do interviews or when I go out and people come up and they say, you know, not that they're necessarily Julie Ruin fans but that they're Bikini Kill fans and they're fourteen and they're kind of like "We just found out about it." Kathleen keeps saying this in interviews but I'm experiencing the same thing. It's like they age through it and there's always a new generation of people that find out about it. And I don't know if it's Rock Camp For Girls or maybe it just fills a void that girls kind of need or something, but I am surprised. Also, I'm happy. I'm happy that girls are finding it and feeling it and relating to it that strongly. And while I'm happy, I'm also kind of bummed because maybe that means things haven't changed very much in this other way, that girls are still experiencing all the same stuff that we were when we were girls, so that might be one reason that they are relating to it.
