Frightwig is an all-female punk rock band from

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, formed in 1982 by Deanna Ashley and Mia Levin. After many line-up changes, Frightwig retired in 1994. Frightwig reformed in 2012 with Rebecca Sevrin and Rachel Thoele. Frightwig's current line-up is Deanna Mitchell, Mia d'Bruzzi, and

Eric Drew Feldman Eric Drew Feldman (born April 16, 1955) is an American musician. Feldman has worked with Captain Beefheart, Fear, Snakefinger, The Residents, Pere Ubu, Pixies, dEUS, Katell Keineg, Frank Black, The Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy, Reid Paley ...

. In September, 2014, the band did a US east coast tour with Jane Lee Hooker.

History

Deanna Ashley was raised by a "

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

" mother who introduced her to

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. When Ashley was 16 years old, she moved to San Francisco. She met Mia Levin at a

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

in the city. Ashley later described, "It was just one of those magic things when you meet your soul mate. But we also had a lot of angry shows. That’s like a lot of relationships: you get mad at each other, you go through all of everything. And that’s what makes a relationship." Ashley and Levin, who had grown tired of rock music, formed Frightwig in 1983; the pair went through two drummers prior to the addition of Cecilia Kuhn. The band began playing local shows, eventually earning a record deal with local label Subterranean Records. They received a certain amount of attention for being female, including catcalls that made them feel it necessary to defend their "right" to be on stage with the men. On "A Man's Gotta Do, What A Man's Gotta Do", Frightwig invited men onto the stage to strip as "a sexist turnaround." The bandmates worked

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

jobs to support themselves. As Ashley recalled, "In the 80s we could work our crappy little jobs and get minimum wage, which was, I remember, $3.25 an hour at the Egyptian and the Strand on

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

. Our studio was opposite the Sound of Music; we had to carry our equipment at three a.m. downstairs in spiked heel shoes and really blotto drunk." In San Francisco, Frightwig played the Valencia Tool & Die,

The Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...

Mabuhay Gardens The Mabuhay Gardens, also known as The Fab Mab or The Mab, was a former San Francisco nightclub, located at 443 Broadway Street, in North Beach on the Broadway strip area best known for its striptease clubs. It closed in 1987. History The Mabu ...

, the On Broadway, and The Farm. They recorded their debut album ''Cat Farm Faboo'' over 72 hours with producers Steve D'Martis and Philip Lithman in 1984. Prior to its release, Susan Miller becaming the band's second guitarist; following the rlease, they toured across the United States and Canada. In 1985, on the eve of a European tour with

D.O.A. DOA may refer to: * Dead on arrival * Dead or Alive (disambiguation) Film * ''D.O.A.'' (1949 film), a ''film noir'' * ''D.O.A.'' (1988 film), a remake of the 1949 film * '' D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage'' (1980 film), a documentary on the gene ...

, Levin became pregnant and had to leave the band. Rebecca Sevrin joined as a guitarist in 1986; that same year, they recorded their second album ''Faster, Frightwig, Kill! Kill!'' for Caroline Records. As with their debut, it was recorded in 72 hours and was produced by

. They received attention from a variety of publications, such as ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' and ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'', and went on another tour of the US. Around this time, Miller also became pregnant and left the band. In 1987, Kuhn also left and was replaced by Robert Castenada, who in turned was replaced by another. In 1989, they recorded the ''Phone Sexy'' EP for Boner Records; Lynn Perko, formerly of Sister Double Happiness, filled in on drums and almost joined Frightwig until her band reformed. After another drummer, Ashley and Sevrin decided to disband the group. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, they often performed at 8BC, which "became one of our homes." The band gained momentary fame after

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

was seen at

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

concert wearing a Frightwig T-shirt. Frightwig also toured with Flipper, Funkyard, the

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...

Snakefinger Philip Charles Lithman (17 June 1949 – 1 July 1987), who performed under the stage name Snakefinger, was an English musician, singer and songwriter. A multi-instrumentalist, he was best known for his guitar and violin work and his collab ...

, GBH,

Redd Kross Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the additio ...

and No Means No, and played with

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

, L7, SWA and

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...

. Bands and performers who list Frightwig as influential include

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

, L7, Bikini Kill, and

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

. On May 4, 2017, band member Cecilia Kuhn died of cancer. In 2019, Frightwig played a May show at Oasis in San Francisco to benefit

RAICES The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a nonprofit organization based in Texas that aims to provide legal services for immigrants. , it was the largest legal aid group of its kind in Texas. RAICES also runs ...

and a September show at PRF West in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

Most recent line-up

*Deanna Ashley (Vocals/Bass) *Mia Levin (aka Mia d’Bruzzi) (Vocals/Guitar) *Cecilia Kuhn (1955–2017) (Vocals/Drums) *

(Synthesizer) *Rebecca Sevrin (additional Vocals/Guitar on latest single)

Former members

*Rachel Thoele *Susan Miller *Tanya *

Paula Frazer Paula Frazer is an American singer-songwriter. She grew up in Georgia and Arkansas and moved to San Francisco in 1981. Her music is frequently described as melancholic alternative country, but with an eclectic mix of folk, blues and pop, among ...

*Lynn Perko *Bambi Nonymous *Alistair Shanks *Anne Harney *Robert Castenada *Dana Ross

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Cat Farm Faboo'' (1984;

Subterranean Records Subterranean Records is an independent record label based in San Francisco, California. Founded by Steve Tupper and a then partner, Michael Fox in 1979, it focused on that city's underground punk and industrial music scene. Subterranean and fell ...

) * ''Faster, Frightwig, Kill! Kill!'' (1986;

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...

)

Singles/EPs

* ''Phonesexy'' EP (1990;

Boner Records Boner Records is an American independent record label in Berkeley, California owned by Tom Flynn. It has released recordings by Fang (Flynn's band), Verbal Abuse, MDC, Boneless Ones, Duh, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Melvins, The Warlock Pinchers, ...

) * ''Hit Return'' EP (2013, self-released) * ''War On Women'' 7" Single (2014, self-released)

Compilations

* ''Teriyaki Asthma Volume III'' (V/A compilation) (1990;

C/Z Records C/Z Records was a Seattle-based punk rock record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale. It started with the release of '' Deep Six'' which collected the earliest recordings of what later came to be known as ...

) * ''Teriyaki Asthma Volumes I-V'' (V/A compilation) (1992;

) * ''Wild Women Never Die...'' (compilation of first two albums) (1993;

Southern Records Founded 1992 by John Loder, Southern Records is an independent record label (Loder also ran the recording facility Southern Studios). It is based in London and until 2008 had offices in the United States, France and Berlin. The label is closel ...

)

References

External links

* * * http://www.mamamiadbruzzi.com {{Authority control All-female punk bands Punk rock groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco Feminist musicians Proto-riot grrrl bands Boner Records artists