We are happy to release the fifth issue of
grapefruits, presenting seven female*-led bands and artists – and their understanding of Punk.
Starting with an introduction on Punk, Feminism and Archives
this issue contains an article about
Bärchen und die Milchbubis,
featuring Annette Simons, their lyricist and singer, and sheds
light on her influences and networks with other female band
members. On the premise that their album is a milestone of
BRAVO-Punk, the text also briefly attempts to address
the negotiation of gender roles in music magazines and fanzines
in the early 1980s.
A game, but a serious one: Despite the difficult political circumstances,
Burka Band express themselves
musically, without giving up on their humor.
Gudrun Gut, founder of the Berlin-based label
Monika Enterprise and the collective
Monika Werkstatt, has just released M_Dokumente
together with Bettina Köster and Beate Bartel, including a book,
a record and a fanzine on their bands
Mania D., Malaria! and
Matador.
Poetry rapper
Haru Nemuri, who calls herself a singing lethal weapon and
Riot Grrrl, creates multi-faceted sound-worlds from Post-Hardcore to J-Pop.
Östro 430, formed in 1979,
captivated the Düsseldorf’s Punk scene with their provocative
attitude and tough lyrics about sex and self-determination, but
they never let themselves be pigeon-holed as certain movements,
such as
Neue Deutsche Welle or as a feminist band, as they
simply couldn’t care less.
Radamel is a Colombian band from
Bogotá formed in 2018. The relatively clean and – mostly – very
danceable grooves accompany the vocal interplay between the two
singers. By screaming, they humorously deal with themes like
drugs, murder, football, police brutality and partying.
Alex Freiheit’s feminist lyrics for her Punk duo
SIKSA are breaking boundaries. Her
music is a mashup of spoken word, heavy distortion and
potty-mouth language, and the result is poetic provocation.
›FLINTA to the front‹ is currently (2021) being called for by a
movement forming around the hashtag #punktoo. It appropriates
the ›Grrrls to the front‹ call of the Riot Grrrl movement, which
demanded more visible participation of women in the Punk scene
in the early 1990s.
[…]
Photo: Bärchen und die Milchbubis, Annette Simons.
Sometime in the mid-2000s: I downloaded the single Jung Kaputt
Spart Altersheime by Bärchen und die Milchbubis on Limewire or
Bearshare: The song was probably on some MySpace list of
essential Punk songs. Either that, or it was used in a
documentary about the APPD2, I don’t know anymore.
[…] artist website
Who and how many are Nargis is not known. The name Nargis is
open to interpretation. The anonymity serves to protect the
performer*, but also the idea of interpreting the burka band as
a community, movement and empowerment. Less interpretation is
offered by the music. It is clear, simple and mischievous. Three
singles have been released by The Burka Band so far.
[…] artist website
Apart from her solo project and numerous cooperations, Gudrun
Gut has played in several bands in the Berlin music scene,
among them Mania D., Malaria!, Matador and Einstürzende Neubauten. She ran the Ocean
Club Radio with Thomas Fehlmann on Radio Eins Berlin, founded the labels Moabit Musik and Monika
Enterprise, as well as the collective Monika Werkstatt.
[…] artist website
Haru Nemuri is a songwriter, composer, singer, rapper, and
performer from Japan. Punk may be one genre one could associate
with her both hypnotic and explosive music, but it is just one
of many. Her music is usually denoted as somewhere between Noise
Pop, Art Rock, spoken word, Post-Hardcore, J-Pop, electronic
music, and, well, Punk.
[…] artist website
In 1979, the female Punk band Östro 430 formed in Düsseldorf. I
(AB) met founding member Bettina Flörchinger (BF), who plays
keyboards, and talked about Punk, German Spiesser and how the
band members met each other.
[…] artist website
The band was initially formed by Gatito Puente on the drums,
Alvatrón on the bass, and Princesar on keyboards and vocals,
with Ambiente Familiar and Volkata joining shortly thereafter on
lead vocals. The background that the instrumental trio provides
is almost clean in its sound, providing ample space to be filled
by the two vocalists’ screeches, which sound like a mixture of
Punk screams, cats fighting and drunken brawls and roars, all
boiled together with toxic chemicals at a coven.
[…] artist website
The female body, sexual violence, right-wing politics,
precarious family relationships. These are the heavyweight
themes that SIKSA shouts out loudly with a slightly scratchy,
deep female voice, accompanied by a distorted bass line. This
Polish Punk duo, consisting of Alex Freiheit and Buri (Piotr
Buratyński), transforms trauma into a musical-artistic form and
breaks many taboos of a conservative Polish society with
heartfelt pleasure.
[…] artist website
