Who were your biggest musical influences growing up?
Good question, because I grew up in the NYHC scene, and I had a LOT of them. I started going down and hanging out on the Lower East Side of NYC starting when I was about 10 or 11, catching shows by local hardcore bands, and I was either so high or drunk (or both) that I think I loved every band I saw. I can still practically taste the music. I can’t even remember how many times I broke my arm, wrist, collarbone, ocular cavity down there. I think I got my first pelvic exam in the mosh pit. And that was a pretty active scene – I’m 25 now so this would have been around 2010 – Cockholster was pretty big, Fucktornado, Intestine Boy was big on the scene, I saw Thundercunt play a lot. These bands never really went anywhere, but they showed me the direction I wanted to go in. Rumpbender out of Queens, I think Jizzmopper was out of Brooklyn, Silly Sausage and Holestuffer from my own neighborhood in the Bronx. Oh, Cumcannon, they were from Jersey. All very influential. Without having seen all those bands, I probably would have picked up the tuba or something.
Who would be your dream artist or band to collaborate with?
Oh, that’s easy – I love the band Fire Good, they’re on Insurrectionary Records NYC. The guitar player told me I was hot once, and I grabbed him down low and was like “let’s go”, but I think that was a little much for him. But these guys are really awesome, and the thematically they are right up my alley. They run the gamut lyrically - they do hilarious songs about genocide and then serious songs about running around in loincloths beating random people with spiked clubs. They of course already have a bass player, young clean cut guy, but I think we can double our lines – if I’m not mistaken, I believe Poison had two bass players, which really filled out their sound when they played live. I think the Geto Boys had two bass players also briefly, I’d have to go back and check.
Also I think I mentioned this in an earlier interview, but it’s always been my dream to work with Bowzer from Sha Na Na. We reached out a while back, and it’s going to happen, it’s just down to scheduling conflicts right now. But my singing style, stage presence, guttural growls, are all pretty much patterned after him.
Can you share a memorable performance experience—good or bad?
Sure. We played at a small club down in the Bowery a few years ago, this when I was in Fentanyl Testers. I had forgotten that we had to play that night so I was up at 9 AM doing shots of Jager. I was blackout drunk by 4 PM. We had a show at 9. I do not remember the show, and I’m scared to watch the clips that were filmed, but apparently I went on a 5 minute rant about Bulgarians, took off my shirt for like three songs, and I went after my brother Matt (he was the drummer) with a boxcutter.
So I guess that would fall under bad.
What genre do you identify with the most, and why?
I like everything, although I admit to being a bit of a musical snob, but I’m working to be a little more respectful of the tastes of others. So if I’m in the mood for metal, I’d say bands like Underkill, Microaggression, Death From A Thousand Cunts, MyPillow, the underground stuff that nobody knows about, which is what makes it so special. Same for pretty much every genre. If I feel like listening to salsa (my uncle Cigarette Steve was in a salsa band), Yoenis Cespedes is probably my go to. I head out to Billar de Morristown in Jersey, they have live salsa performances nightly, just the top acts out of Cuba, Mexico, Laos, etc. I saw Cerebro de Mantequilla there last week. But I really listen to everything. Not hip-hop. Fuck that shit.
What's your favorite part of performing live?
My favorite part of playing live is being able to just let go. So, like most punk musicians, I work a hump job during the day. I work for a managed service provider, I answer help desk tickets – something comes in, I call the client and tell them to read the fucking manual. Very exciting stuff. When I’m on stage, it’s extremely liberating, it’s like I’m flying naked over Europe, it just feels free. Least favorite thing – grabby hands venue owners. They’ll stare at your chest while counting out grimy twenties that smell like an Albanian’s feet, it is not the most fun part of playing live. But, you gotta do what you gotta do. I’d like to own a club someday, hold MolestFest 2026 or something and get all the top bands to play, like an all day festival, as long as I could hire someone else to clean up the blood afterwards.
What challenges have you faced in the music industry?
I would say being young, female and blonde, especially in a male dominated genre. People see me on stage and expect I’m going to start singing about cotton candy and kitty cats, and when I start singing about bestiality or drunk driving, people are thrown for a loop. But I have to write what I know, it would be disingenuous to write about summer raspberries or the earth being flat or stuff that other pop singers have already covered ad naseum. A lot of people also assume I got where I am on my looks – they don’t realize the hard work that goes into being a trained singer, especially one in a punk band where I’m crooning like Sinatra one minute and screaming like Sammy Davis Jr. the next, all at 90 miles an hour. If you think it’s so easy, you try it.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
I have three words of advice: practice, practice, practice. It’s a lot like driving drunk. You won’t learn to properly drive hammered if you only do it once a month. You have to put the work in, get your mistakes out of the way, keep doing it until muscle memory can take over when you’re texting or forget where you’re going. Get out there and play as many shows as you can. If you pee in your pants playing the first time in front of a crowd, pretend you meant to do it. I did. Someone throws a bottle at you, throw it back. Someone pulls out a piece and takes a shot at you (as happened to me at L’Armando in Brooklyn), stand there and yell “you missed, try again”. Don’t be intimidated. Just be yourself, and everything will fall into place. Probably.
Any final thoughts?
Not really
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