Allison Wolfe

Allison Wolfe

Wolfe attending the EMP Pop Conference in Los Angeles, 2011.
Background information
Birth name Allison Wolfe
Also known as Baby Donut
Born (1969-11-09) November 9, 1969
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1991–present
Labels Kill Rock Stars
Lookout! Records
Retard Disco
Associated acts Bratmobile
Cold Cold Hearts
Hawnay Troof
Partyline
Website myspace.com/babydonut

Allison Wolfe (born November 9, 1969) is a Washington, DC-based singer, songwriter, and zine writer who has been the lead vocalist for several punk rock groups including Bratmobile and Partyline.

Background

Allison Wolfe and her sister Cindy were born identical twins in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 9, 1969. Together with their sister Molly, they grew up in Olympia, Washington. Their parents divorced when they were all still young children, and they were raised by their mother, Pat Shively. A radical feminist and self-described lesbian,[1] Shively founded Olympia's Eastside Women's Health Clinic in 1981.[2] It was the first women's clinic in Thurston County,[1] and throughout Shively's two decades of work it was the target of relentless anti-abortion demonstrations.[2] The protests could be harrowing: Wolfe's mother endured verbal and physical abuse, and death threats forced her to go to the clinic armed and wearing a bulletproof vest.[2] (The EWHC was razed in a fire in 2005, set by a still-unidentified arsonist.)[2] Pat Shively died of ovarian cancer in February, 2000,[2] and Wolfe credits her as being a lifelong influence, a feminist role model "almost too big to live up to."[1]

In 1988, Wolfe spent time as an exchange student in Thailand's Krathum Baen District. She returned to attend Evergreen State College in Olympia, and later the University of Oregon at Eugene.

Career

Zines

At the University of Oregon, Allison met Molly Neuman and together they pieced together essays, photos, drawings, and other creations into a single digest. The resulting Girl Germs was self-published through several issues in 1991 amid a flowering of Olympia zines, many of them produced by Wolfe's friends and companions. Contributors to Girl Germs included Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail who authored their own zines, Jigsaw and Bikini Kill. Despite amateur production and scarcity, these zines quickly achieved a near-legendary status among their audience. They were deeply representative of the growing community of feminist punk rockers which has often been termed by the title of another Wolfe-Neuman zine, a weekly compendium they called Riot Grrrl.[3]

In 2015, Allison contributed to a zine called 'After Grrrl' (Small Stories From Big Lives) The zine walked the line between confrontation, expression, and exploitation. The zine includes stories from many influential female artists, icons, and taste makers including Camille Rose Garcia, Tara McPherson, Kelly Osbourne, Bonnie Burton, Remy Holwick, Lori Barbero, Jessica Origliasso, Janine Jarman, Jessicka Addams and editor Carrie Tucker as well as many others. [4] [5]

Bratmobile

Main article: Bratmobile

Wolfe and Neuman took the themes of their zines to music. Like Hanna and Vail who reappropriated the name Bikini Kill for their own band, Wolfe and Neuman joined with guitarist Erin Smith to form their own, Bratmobile, in 1991.[3] Both bands recorded for Kill Rock Stars, an Olympia-based independent label. Bratmobile released their first full-length album, Pottymouth, in 1992.

After Bratmobile ended in a disturbing onstage breakup in New York City in 1994,[1] Wolfe and Smith eventually reunited to form Cold Cold Hearts with an expanded rhythm section provided by drummer Katherine Brown and bassist "Nattles". The band toured extensively and released one self-titled album in 1997. Wolfe later sang with Deep Lust, her first band with male musicians which she lightheartedly describes as "my boy band".[1] Deep Lust also toured and released one self-titled album on Kill Rock Stars in 2000.

Bratmobile reformed in 1999 and released two more albums, Ladies, Women and Girls (2000) and Girls Get Busy (2002).

Partyline

Wolfe started a Washington D.C. based band, Partyline, in 2004. The band released two full-length albums, Girls With Glasses (2005) and Zombie Terrorist (2006).

Recent

Wolfe remains involved in what she terms "cultural activism", not only with Partyline, but also with the bands Dig Yr Grave, Deep Lust, Hawnay Troof and its offshoot, Baby Truth. She also initiated Ladyfest and has been involved in Bands Against Bush. Allison did the English adaption for Nana, a punk rock-themed manga series.[6] She also occasionally writes cultural arts pieces for the Washington Post.[7] Allison currently lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles, and sings for two bands respectively called Cool Moms and Sex Stains.

With Bratmobile

Studio albums

EPs

Live albums

Singles

Split 7"

Compilation appearances

[8]

With Cold Cold Hearts

Studio albums

Singles

With Partyline

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Allison Wolfe interview". Dissonance. Washington, DC. 10 October 2006. Radio CPR. 97.5 FM.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Feds Lead Investigation Because of Abortion Issue". The Olympian. Olympia, WA. 11 January 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  3. 1 2 Butler, Cornelia H.; Schwartz, Alexandra; Adler, Esther (2010). Modern Women: women artists at the Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-87070-771-1. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  4. ↑ After Grrrl June 09, 2016 in CULTURE, ROUGE
  5. ↑ LUSTIG. HANNA Grrrl, You Need A Copy Of Jack Off Jill's New Fan Zine Bust (magazine)
  6. ↑ From Bratmobile to Manga Grrrl: Indie Icon Allison Wolfe on Nana
  7. ↑ SPIN.com: Partyline
  8. ↑ Bratmobile

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Allison Wolfe.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.