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31-587: Allison Wolfe (from Olympia, Washington ) and Molly Neuman (from Washington, D.C. ) met during fall 1989 while living next door to each other in dorms at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon . The two had been raised in activist families: Wolfe had been raised by a lesbian activist mother, and Neuman's father worked for the Democratic National Committee and had introduced his daughter to leaders of

62-448: A safe space , thereby "[stopping] the show for a span of time at least as long as [the band] eventually played", according to Spin journalist Ann Powers . Wolfe said: "All of a sudden not only was I supposed to serve as talent that night, I was also supposed to serve as club manager and security! [...] everybody was screaming at each other. It was like slapstick comedy or some kind of crazy performance art, and we just broke up". After

93-675: A low-key show in Oakland's Stork Club and the band was relaunched to go on tour with Sleater-Kinney . In 2000, Bratmobile released their second full-length studio album, Ladies, Women and Girls . The album was well-received by critics and earned Bratmobile new fans as they toured with Sleater-Kinney , The Donnas , The Locust , among others. Ladies, Women and Girls was released on Neuman's Lookout! Records and produced by Tim Green of Nation of Ulysses and The Fucking Champs . Jon Nikki ( Prima Donnas , Gene Defcon, Mocket , Sarah Dougher , Sir , Puce Moment ) added guitar, bass and keyboard parts to

124-562: A show with them. This lineup with Billotte and Jen Smith released a cassette tape entitled Bratmobile DC . Thereafter, Bratmobile became a trio with Wolfe, Neuman, and Erin Smith. Bikini Kill toured with Nation of Ulysses in May & June 1991, converging in D.C. with Bratmobile that summer. In July 1991, Bratmobile played their first show as a 3-piece with Neuman on drums, Wolfe on vocals, and Erin Smith on guitar. Bratmobile were just in time to play at

155-627: The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Their shared musical influences included punk , hip hop , and the Olympia band Beat Happening . Neuman was influenced by the writings of Eldridge Cleaver . Together, Neuman and Wolfe took classes in women's studies and music, traveled to Olympia on the weekends, and started collaborating on influential feminist fanzine Girl Germs in 1990. Neuman's and Wolfe's friend Calvin Johnson , an indie musician in

186-605: The Christmas holiday in December, 1990 at a Nation of Ulysses show in D.C. Erin Smith was co-author, with her brother, of the much-revered TV pop culture fanzine Teenage Gang Debs when Neuman and Wolfe asked her to jam with them. They rehearsed at the Embassy, a group house in D.C. that served as headquarters for the Nation of Ulysses. When Beat Happening, Nation of Ulysses, and Autoclave toured

217-754: The Convention also fostered an eclectic variety of arts-related activities ranging from poetry readings to cakewalk dances and even a Planet of the Apes movie marathon. The festival's first night was a set of shows officially titled Love Rock Revolution Girl Style Now . A long list of female punk and queercore bands played, including Bratmobile, Tobi Vail solo, Jean Smith of Mecca Normal , Kicking Giant , Heavens to Betsy , 7 Year Bitch , Nikki McClure , Suture ( Kathleen Hanna , Sharon Cheslow , Dug E. Bird ), Rose Melberg , The Spinanes , and Lois Maffeo 's early band, "Courtney Love". The concept for

248-643: The Convention itself was released by K Records in 1992. Produced by veteran Olympia engineer Patrick Maley, the album International Pop Underground Convention includes performances by twenty-one participant bands. Most of the music was captured live by the YoYo Recording Studio located inside the Capitol, while some of the tracks were recorded at two of the Convention's associated venues, the North Shore Surf Club and Capital Lake Park. While Nirvana

279-481: The Convention. The most visible performances took place at the Capitol Theater but other local venues participated as well, and many shows arose as impromptu performances at record stores, house parties, and other spaces. Among the players were Fugazi ; Bikini Kill ; Fastbacks ; Built to Spill ; Some Velvet Sidewalk ; Melvins ; Unwound ; L7 ; and Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet . Beyond musical performances,

310-825: The Donnas and the Locust, and as co-owner of Lookout! Records . Erin is also working full time at Lookout! Records. I've been living across the country in Washington DC, working 2 part-time jobs, and now doing other musical things. I'm now in Hawnay Troof , Baby Truth, and also a new girl band in DC called Partyline . In 2018, Kill Rock Stars produced a podcast series about Bratmobile titled Girl Germs . In 2019, Bratmobile's original lineup reunited to perform at Tobi Vail 's birthday party. In 2023, Wolfe and Neuman reformed Bratmobile again to perform at

341-806: The Mosswood Meltdown festival in Oakland, California, where they were joined by Tiger Trap’s Rose Melberg on guitar, Marrs on keyboards, and Marty Key on bass. Erin was unable to join the band for this reunion due to "other commitments". Olympia, Washington Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 754504918 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:33:21 GMT International Pop Underground Convention The International Pop Underground Convention (or IPU )

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372-473: The Olympia scene in The Go Team and Beat Happening who also co-owned K Records , asked them to play a show in Olympia on Valentine's Day in 1991 with Bikini Kill and Some Velvet Sidewalk . At first, Wolfe admitted that they were "a fake band" because they did not play instruments, but they had written some songs which they performed a cappella . After an attempt to get out of the gig, they agreed and sought

403-603: The Surf Club on May 16, 1991. Initially, Wolfe and Neuman thought of Bratmobile as a loose organization that would have different branches in different cities. During spring break 1991, Neuman and Wolfe went to Washington, D.C., to work on this new form of Bratmobile that, at that time, included different musicians Erin Smith on guitar, Christina Billotte of Autoclave on drums and bass, and artist Jen Smith (no relation to Erin). Johnson had previously introduced Neuman to nascent guitarist Erin Smith from Bethesda, Maryland , during

434-593: The backdrop of intense media scrutiny and inner pressures within the riot grrrl movement, Bratmobile infamously broke up onstage at the Thread Waxing Space in New York City . With the members of Bratmobile already stressed from a lack of practice and having to perform in front of several high-profile individuals, several women in the audience stole the band's microphone to accuse a male audience member of assault whilst also criticizing Bratmobile's failure to provide

465-576: The band didn't formally break up, Allison Wolfe did post a message on January 30, 2004, in the Bratmobile message board concerning the status of the band: Yeah, sorry to say i think Bratmobile is through. We never had a certain incident where anyone said "I quit" or whatever, so it's been vague and drawn out. Sorry if that's been confusing to people. I think all 3 of us just have different ways of doing things and different things we want to do now, in and outside of music. Molly has just been so busy with managing

496-453: The band played its first show as a two-woman act at Olympia's North Shore Surf Club on February 14, 1991, with Neuman and Wolfe sharing duties on guitar, drums, and vocals. They recorded the next day for the first Kill Rock Stars compilation, which was released later that year. Briefly, they were joined by a bass player Michelle Noel . They played only a couple shows with this line-up, including one with The Melvins and Beat Happening, also at

527-537: The break-up, Molly Neuman moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and began working at East Bay punk record label Lookout! Records . She also played in The PeeChees and The Frumpies . Allison Wolfe moved to Washington, D.C., and she and Maryland-based Erin Smith started a new band together called Cold Cold Hearts . Wolfe has also been active in feminism and activism . In 1999, the band decided to reunite for

558-507: The community's resolve for self-sufficiency". It has continued to influence the Pacific Northwest music scene ever since, serving as a model for future independent music festivals like Ladyfest and YoYo A Go Go . It had a particularly galvanizing effect on the riot grrrl movement and helped bring it to public prominence. The IPU Convention and its participating artists figured heavily in A Revolution You Can Dance To: Indie Music in

589-458: The east coast that spring, Bratmobile DC had its first performance at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey . The newly minted Bratmobile DC lineup of Neuman, Wolfe, Erin Smith, and Billotte spontaneously got on stage. Back in D.C., they recorded with Tim Green of Nation of Ulysses in the Embassy's basement studio. Around this time, Jen Smith, who lived at the Embassy, recorded with Bratmobile DC and played

620-507: The first public appearance of their careers. Recordmaker Slim Moon , who had just recently founded his own record label Kill Rock Stars , brought copies of one of his earliest records, the original Kill Rock Stars compilation which included tracks by Bikini Kill and Bratmobile. After the festival, the CD release was revised and expanded to showcase artists from the Convention. The festival achieved respectable success in its goal of "fortifying

651-573: The help of Some Velvet Sidewalk member Robert Christie. Christie let Bratmobile borrow rehearsal space and equipment and advised them to listen to the Ramones for inspiration. In response to that advice, Wolfe said, "Something in me clicked. Like, okay, if most boy punk rock bands just listen to the Ramones and that's how they write their songs, then we'll do the opposite and I won't listen to any Ramones and that way we'll sound different." With five original songs,

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682-583: The historic International Pop Underground Convention in Olympia in August 1991, becoming the only band to appear twice. They played the opening show "Girl Night". They also played a show at Capitol Lake Park on a bill with Melvins, Mecca Normal , Girl Trouble , Beat Happening, and Fugazi . During the summer of 1992, Bratmobile toured with Heavens to Betsy . Bratmobile released the album Pottymouth (1993) and The Real Janelle EP (1994) on Kill Rock Stars , as well as The Peel Session . On May 7, 1994, under

713-515: The local record label K Records . The Convention was organized largely by musician and K Records owners Calvin Johnson and Candice Pedersen . An active participant in the local music scene, Johnson also performed at the event as part of the group Beat Happening . The concept of the festival grew from more modest K Records events like all-night dance parties and barbecues at Pedersen's home on Steamboat Island . Few people expected it to succeed, or achieve much recognition: as Johnson explains, "It

744-429: The minimal Brat sound. On May 7, 2002, Bratmobile released their third album, Girls Get Busy . On Girls Get Busy , Audrey Marrs , ( Mocket , Gene Defcon) added keyboards that gave the album its distinctive new sound. Marty Violence (Young Pioneers) also contributed bass. After dedicating most of 2002 and 2003 to promoting Girls Get Busy via touring, each of the principal members went back to do other things. While

775-464: The opening night was designed and promoted by a group of volunteers led by Maffeo, KAOS disc jockey Michelle Noel, and local entrepreneur Margaret Doherty. The event provided an energetic kickoff to the proceedings and achieved a near-legendary status among riot grrrls , becoming known simply as "Girl Night". The Convention inherited its name from a long-running series of 7-inch EP releases by K entitled International Pop Underground . This series

806-419: The pseudo-business stuff.... We tried to keep passes as low as possible, thirty-five dollars for five days, just enough to make sure the bands and venues got paid. It was really very community oriented.... A lot of people came and didn't pay and just hung out. And that was totally encouraged; if you wanted to be there, you were part of the community." Approximately fifty different bands played stage shows during

837-430: Was DIY, create it yourself, taking over the means of production for ourselves, and creating something ourselves." One of the festivals' prime tenets was "No lackeys to the corporate ogre allowed." Stylistically the Convention resembled more of a public party than a commercial concert series. As festival organizer and K Records co-founder Candice Pedersen said, "It was a way to combine music and dancing and fun without all

868-523: Was a 1991 punk and alternative rock music festival in Olympia, Washington . The six-day convention centered on a series of performances at the Capitol Theater . Throughout August 20–25, 1991, an exceptionally large number of independent bands played, mingled and collaborated at the Capitol and other venues within the Olympia music scene . A compilation of live music from the event was released later by

899-569: Was a forum for independent and DIY bands, exposing Pacific-Northwest-area favorites like The Softies , Chromatics , and Tiger Trap , while also including divergent musical contributions by Make-Up , Built to Spill , The Rondelles , Thatcher on Acid , Thee Headcoats , and many others. The series began in 1987 and continued long after the Convention itself, ultimately issuing over 130 different editions. Of these, K has released two separate compilations: International Hip Swing (1993) and Project Echo (1996). A retrospective of live music from

930-464: Was away on tour, Kurt Cobain expressed his deep disappointment over being unable to attend the Convention where many of the bands developed important new friendships and found unexpected inspirations. The shows were a proving ground for many of the nascent artists of the time, and gave some of them – like Rose Melberg (on the cusp of forming Tiger Trap), Nikki McClure, and Heavens to Betsy's Corin Tucker –

961-519: Was sort of an audacious idea of doing something like that. We had hardly sold any records ever, and no one had ever cared much about anything that we did. It just seemed like if just the people who made the music showed up, that would be a success." The theme of the festival focused on the artists' independence, self-sufficiency, and DIY ethic : the entire affair manifested a "fierce resistance to corporate takeover." As described by Bratmobile singer Allison Wolfe , "The whole point of what we were doing

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