Where is your next show? In Honolulu.

I first heard Bikini Kill back in 1994 when I was in the 8th grade in
Hawaii. Back then, I was just starting to get into punk rock, mostly
punk bands from the 70’s and early 80’s. I had a cousin who was into
the punk scene and she made me a mix tape that had a couple of Bikini
Kill songs on it. “Blood One” and “Double Dare Ya/Lair” were on the
tape and they were the very first Bikini Kill songs I ever heard.
There are no words that could describe and give justice to what Bikini
Kill did for me as an angry and confused adolescent girl growing up.
Their music gave me a sense of empowerment and made me question the
close minded environment which I was exposed to as a child.

I was fortunate enough to see Bikini Kill play live twice in 1996 when
they played two nights in Honolulu, each at different venues. These
were the first punk shows I ever went to. If memory serves correct,
the first night was at a place called The Groove. I remember The
Groove as being sort of an abandoned warehouse in an industrial part
of town. The main thing I remember about this show was that Bikini
Kill was the opening band for NOFX. Strange band to be playing a show
with and the crowd seemed to be all NOFX fans (which was a band I
wasn’t really crazy for). The mosh pit was filled with drunken army
guys and I remember a small fight broke out. I remember Fat Mike, the
singer for NOFX, and Kathleen had a few unfriendly words. At one
point during NOFX’s set, Fat Mike sarcastically dedicated a song to
her. I don’t recall the name of the song, however.

The second night I remember much more vividly. The show was at a
place called The Fast Zone and Bikini Kill was the featured band.
This venue was much smaller than the previous one and the atmosphere
was much more intimate. When Bikini Kill took the stage, Kathleen
advised all the boys in the front row to move back so the girls could
get up to the front of the stage and get a better view. My friends
and I got to the front and rock out hard! I smiled at Kathleen and
she smiled back. To a 15/16 year old girl, having one of your idols
acknowledging you like that means the world! I’ll never forget that
moment. And I’ll never forget what Bikini Kill did and how much they
meant for me in my life!

I surprisingly came across these pictures that were taken at both shows:

<a href="https://bikinikillarchive.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/bk-012796i_700.jpg”>

You cannot fix what is made to be broken

I saw Bikini Kill play in Missoula, Montana on October 8th, 1994, during their tour with Fitz of Depression. I was 15 years old and in the closet. Growing up in Montana in the 80’s and early 90’s was sometimes downright terrifying. To be queer, feminist, black, female, or engaged in radical politics, meant a life of threats and constant ridicule. Violent rape attacks and queer bashing was a daily event. Bigotry was predominate in every facet of life, including punk shows, which were always ruined by jocks and rednecks showing up and starting fights. This ocassion was no different. But, Bikini Kill brought with them a war that could not be fucked with. It was like someone had finally turned on a light in a room with no windows. They were the first people I had ever seen stand up on stage and tell those fuckers to their faces that they weren’t going to get away with this shit anymore. Totally fearless. Jocks were trying to fight them while they played and they didn’t even care. It was as if they knew that because they were strong enough to stand up to those pricks, so were we. They understood better than anyone that you cannot fix what is made to be broken, you must smash it and rebuild something better. And that one show had an undeniable impact on the social atmosphere of Missoula. Queer youth finally walked with their heads high. At the school I went to (Hellgate Highschool – a very fitting name), I saw more and more that the kids who were always getting fucked with, myself included, had reached this sort of realization that they could rise above and fight back. Women at the University of Montana formed a night watch organization and successfully stopped numerous rape attempts on campus. This amazing band was my inspiration to start playing in punk bands and I’ve been doing it ever since. I can’t even begin to imagine how different my life would be if it weren’t for Bikini Kill and I can’t thank them enough.
-Matt Svendsen.

a far cry from Salt Lake City

Like many-I discovered Bikini Kill a few years after their last record. After dropping out of collage I found myself in Seattle, a far cry from Salt Lake City, Utah! Somehow I ended up in Olympia and this is where I discovered Bikini Kill and the whole host of bands that took off that time-some still playing some not. I had never heard of punk rock bands comprised of girls-and I do think that BK and others were critical in finding out what was important to me. Back in my home town this is who I listened to while feeling completely alienated and not knowing what the hell was going on with my life. A few years later I wrote an essay on “Star Bellied Boy” in a gender/sexuality class. I included a mix tape with it-I think I got a B! Le Tigre came around I had the chance to see them play something like four times in Salt Lake City. I was thrilled to see them play-as I had never seen Bikini Kill.I guess the point is that I now live on The West Coast, free of my hometown-and I still listen to Bikini Kill-and it reminds me what is important and what I love. And sometimes I still scream along to songs-which is always fun and cathartic.
Liz B Jones

BK Grafitti

Allison trumps Kathleen in secret niceness category

I first became interested in punk rock music at the age of 11. My favorite bands at the time were Green Day, Blink-182, and The Offspring. Since I just got access to the internet at the time (around 1997-1998), I didn’t know of any punk music in the underground and certainly not any women punk rockers. By the time I was 13 (around 1999) and with maturity (and help of the internet and mix tapes of course), I discovered a whole new world of punk rock. I loved Fugazi, The Misfits, NOFX, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys and a couple of others that really ignited my interest for the scene. Still, I couldn’t believe that no one was mentioning any women in punk bands. I got fed up with this and started searching any types of real rock music that were female fronted. The same year, I finally found out about Hole and Joan Jett (Jett, whom now I still listen to her music on a daily basis). Once I found those two, I couldn’t stop. Now, I have a record store close to me that sells and is knowledgeable about underground rock music. When I told the owner there what I had been listening to lately, he said “First of all, Joan Jett is awesome. Stick with her, but Hole, forget about them, let me show you some real female rock music”. Finally, the answer I had been looking for. He handed me quite a number of CD’s including Babes In Toyalnd’s Fontanelle, L7’s Smell The Magic, and 7 Year Bitch’s Viva Zapata. Not knowing any of these bands at the time, I decided to purchase them because they looked awesome and the song titles sounded killer. The guy goes to me “oh yeah, I almost forgot, here’s a band I think you’ll love more than the rest”. He then hands me a copy of Bikini Kill’s CD Version Of The First Two Records. I get home and put the disc into my CD player. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Real punk music from a radical female fronted band! From “Double Dare Ya” all the way to “Outta Me”, I was hooked. Even though I am a heterosexual male and couldn’t relate to the lyrics a lot, I still cherished the words that Kathleen was singing/screaming because for me it was a complete wake-up call and I could not deny anything that she was saying to be false. Oh yeah, the music was sweet as well, but those lyrics had me. Anyway, I go back to the record store the next week and purchase the rest of the Bikini Kill discs (Pussy Whipped, (which is now one of my favorite punk albums of all-time), Reject All American, and The Singles). I did get a chance to speak with Kathleen recently on Zinecoreradio and she was just the nicest, coolest woman I have ever talked to outside of Tairrie B of heavy metal band My Ruin and Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile. In conclusion, I am still a Bikini Kill junkie and love other riot grrrl bands such as Bratmobile and Sleater-Kinney as well. They will remain one of my favorite bands and Kathleen and company will always be a part of me for the rest of my life.

Rebel Elle

I dont really have a submission, but just a Thank You. What you girls did really opened up alot of doors for a girl like me. It’s because of women like you, I am able to get on stage every weekend and play music I truly love. Riot Grrrl is very much alive in Dallas, TX and it’s because of bands like yours, that inspired me to play music that has a real meaning and we keep everything DIY, we screen our own shirts, press our own cds, record our own music and give it all away for free. I also recently stared a riot grrrl collective group to help other female musicians do the same and give them an outlet to come and share ideas. Since then we have had 2 more grrrl bands emerge and we couldnt have done it without you!

“The Loosies” love you!
We end everyshow w/ Rebel Girl.

Rebel Elle
http://www.myspace.com/theloosies

Tales of Terror

I have a story that was printed in the Spring 2008 Issue of Venus Zine. It was printed in the hard copy and online.

Thank you:)
Tina

“I like Fucking”

i remember exactly when i first heard bikini kill. I was a junior in High school, 16 years old at my best friends, Monica’s house. She was actually downloading some songs off of napster and saw the title, “I like fucking.” We downloaded it and listened. We couldn’t fucking believe it. It was awesome. I was in love. I never heard something so powerful. We listened to it over and over again, and started to look for more songs. I walked to Barns & Noble and bought “Reject All American” I felt like i existed. I love to sing, and been singing since forever. I would sing along as loud as I could, everywhere. I love Bikini Kill. I admire Kathleen Hanna for not being quite….for singing, telling her story….helped me tell my story. If she ever reads this, know that your music, your words saved me. I was a quite dorky girl, and now I found my voice. Oh god, alien she….fucking love it. Pussy Whipped and The Singles are my favorites. I love it all. I play a CD, sing with you, strap on my guitar and jump in the fucking air because I feel free for a good 30 minutes.
Oh- Back in Austin, Texas i saw Le Tigre. Fucking awesome. It was so damn hot and I was so nervous. I danced my ass off. I actually got heat deprived and puked all over outside Emo’s, but I didn’t get to say, “Hi, you , the band, are fucking awesome. I love you, and my best friend Monica, loves you too.”

yours Truly,
Kristen

a psychic break

I first saw Bikini Kill in 1995 or 1996 in San Francisco when the band
was touring with Sonic Youth. Looking back now, I am not even sure if
what I am about to describe happened at the SF show at all, or if I
read about it, or what, but I (think I saw) Kathleen turn around and
show her cellulite, and say something like “this isn’t television. I
have cellulite.” For some reason that gesture and comment created what
can only be called…. a psychic break. I was an Ivy League educated
girl with a masters who had been exposed to a lot of critical theory
and oppositional ideas, but I never really got them in a way until
then. It’s hard to explain…. It was painful. But I realized then
about the oppressive forces acting on me…. All of a sudden, I
realized my own vulnerability and strength…. the powers that be, the
categories I live in… and somehere in there also my own defiance and
ability to have other reality. What a great performer, artist…. what
a great and special mind! I think that is my most special BK memory,
though it may in some sense be apocryphal since I don’t know if I just
read about the cellulite presentation, or if it was at that San
Fran…. show. Thank you Bikini Kill! Thank you Kathleen!

what you mean to me

1st: you’re one of my 2 absolute favourite bands – the other one is Nirvana.

I am 20 now. My youth consisted of humiliation, mental health problems and suicidal thoughts.
I am still struggling a bit to come back to normal. Your music and lifestories help me to live on. Also, the hope of someone understanding me and loving me for what I am. Your music enlightens me in many creative ways and supports me in making my own music and expressing myself. Also, it’s fun and just sounds soooo cool and is good to sing/scream/dance/freak out to and stuff.
When my time of depression was about to end – 1 year ago, Bikini Kill and their thoughts of feminism helped me to rise again, it gave me new hope and something to believe in. It filled my days (I was having one year off) with new constructive ideas and positive anger (on the system and society). Riot grrrl, especially, showed me in those times that I WAS SOMEONE. that I had a right to live and to be happy and that fucking no one had the right to just shit on my head. (I think riot grrrl and part of feminism is about gaining self esteem – DIY is such a fucking perfect way of expressing oneself- I read some zines (not many, cause I only had the opportunity to search some on the internet – cause we don’t have things like that in Austria much.) and always got the massage of support, to be oneself, to celebrate oneself, to be strong – and a feeling that someone understands… feminism and riot grrrl, and being left-wing, is for me not only about getting free from the boy’s, the state’s, the society’s opression, but also about getting free from all kinds of powers that affect you in a negative way – like real hatred, humiliation, feeling not worth anything/inferior… all the things that affect us on a daily basis and appear in human interaction. That’s why politics for me begins not only in the private, like homes and stuff, but also inside of a human being.)
Kathleen, you and co. brought those thoughts to me. I wouldn’t even think about something like this, when I hadn’t listened to Bikini Kill.
At the moment, my “radical” ideas on feminism (that means, that I was FULL of anger) have faided a little, cause I realized that feminism is a difficult and complicated thing, cause the discrimination of women is often so subtle and it’s hard to find the right words if another boy, or girl, asks you “why do you think girls are discriminated? Do you feel discriminated?”…
I sometimes don’t know who I fight against… Sometimes I even believe that we’re all one and all is ok and we’re all happy together… But I always get this feeling that there’s still something wrong.
Whatever, I decided not to think about feminism and gender and boys/girls and justifying myself when I call myself “feminist” so much anymore cause I don’t come to any solution and just to focus on the real important things: Like working against men who beat up their wifes and stuff.

What I wanted to say… You gave me visions of my future – and for a long time I didn’t have those… I just had people in my mind, people torturing me… with what they might think of me and stuff. Now I want to become a psychotherapist and also study “Gender Studies” and do something for women and girls, to support their self esteem, and I also want to go to the Rock n Roll Camp for Girls sometime and be a drums/bass or guitar teacher or be a girl that forms a band myself wooooo-a : D
yeah. thanks for listening- would be GLAD if you wrote back [:

ps: cause I read on your blog, kathleen: … no, most of the people don’t think feminism is cool – at least not in my area. They think it sucks and is annoying and they think of feminists as girls that like to make themselves important…
I guess I’m a bit trough it myself, cause I feel not so concerned by feminist issues anymore (although I still can get really pissed off because of such things at times…), but whatever happens and wherever I end up, I know that I fucking love bikini kill and all riot grrls and boyz (which means for me: just the cool kids with a cool attitude [: )

You also inspired SO SO many bands, like my own!!!! First we wanted to be just like you until we came to a point that that’s just not possible ^^… well……. Now we talk alot about bikini kill and your songs, and love to sing and cover all songs by you [:

well well well, love you guys! lovely cheers, anna

PS check out my band, if you like
not a good site, but we’re working on it… (or at least we have in mind to work on it) and tell me what you think bout it.

MUCH grungy love, cheers and queers,

anna mollie aka mansikka

oh and here’s a video of me and my bandmate wutzi covering suck my left one in the morning after a veeery drunk night
:

Seattle 1991

Lions and tigers and bears

I blogged about BK today and it occurred to me that maybe I should send my thoughts through to add to the bunch. I never saw BK live – wrong time and place! In the mid-90s I was a kid growing up in New Zealand :-p I didn’t hear BK till I was in my late teens – in the early 00s!

Bikini Kill revealed a world to me that my life is so much the better for.

Nineteen years old, I was confused and depressed and bewildered and pouring half of the attention I was supposed to be giving studying into listening to music and losing myself in thoughts (a familiar story, no doubt!). One day, flicking through discs at one of my favourite stores, I picked up an album by a band I’d heard a little about and been meaning to check out.

My mind was blown the first time I heard Pussywhipped. It was like this incredible, heart-soaring piece of aural evidence that empowering alternatives can and do exist.

I was still a confused, depressed, bewildered nineteen year old, but one that had forever had a part of herself strengthened by the knowledge that it is possible for women and girls to live creative, unapologetic lives despite the shit society gives them.

Just wanted to add my $0.02 🙂

Lions and tigers and bears,
Lissa

=====================

lissaorelse.blogspot.com

Underneath my Anne Taylor Attire

My friend/beloved roommie Jess in college got me hooked on Demirep. She’s an anti-hipster hipster, and I’m a normie. I first heard the song when she prank called this horrible boy I had a crush on; hearing her shrill, angsty voice was the perfect antidote to the boy’s douchery. I made her play the song fo realz and Kathleen Hanna sang it beautifully and perfectly. The song expresses everything that dudes can’t understand about women; it’s raw and powerful and I’ve unleashed it on other unknowing mecs. Mainly a tool in discovering myself freshman year, Jess and I would blast it on a boombox or laptop, subjecting the all-boys dorm down the hall to our feminist chaos. It was wonderful. Thank you, Kathleen Hanna, for giving me this tool in channeling my female rage. I may work in finance, but I am a Bikini Kill devotee and will always have that layer of explosiveness underneath my lame Anne Taylor attire.

~Rachie