Julia Cafritz (born May 5, 1965) is an American musician and guitarist who was a member of Pussy Galore and Free Kitten. She is regarded as a

cult figure A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

from the New York City

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...

scene of the 1990s.

Early life

Cafritz was born in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...

, the daughter of Jennifer (née Stats) and Conrad Cafritz, a real estate developer with a personal fortune of over $100 million. She has a younger sister named Daisy von Furth, and two brothers, Eric and Matthew Cafritz. Her grandfather was the multimillionaire real estate developer and philanthropist

Morris Cafritz Morris Cafritz ( - June 13, 1964) was a Washington, D.C. real estate developer, and philanthropist. As CEO of the Cafritz Company, he was Washington, D.C.'s largest private developer from the late 1920's to the early 1960's. Early life and educat ...

. Cafritz has a B.A. and M.A. from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, having dropped out of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

after forming Pussy Galore.

Pussy Galore

In 1985, guitarist Julia Cafritz and fellow

classmate,

Jon Spencer Jon Spencer (born February 5, 1965) is an American singer, composer and guitarist. He has been involved in multiple musical acts, such as Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, Heavy Trash and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. History Jon Spencer was bo ...

on vocals and guitar, and John Hammill on drums, formed the punk

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

band Pussy Galore. In May 1986 they moved to

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 ...

STP

In 1989, Cafritz left Pussy Galore and formed the short-lived all-girl group STP. STP released one single and toured with

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

and

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 t ...

. Cafritz joined fellow CBGBs Record Canteen clerk Ned Hayden's group, the

Action Swingers Action Swingers were an indie rock/ garage punk band formed in the late 1980s in New York City, fronted by singer/guitarist Ned Hayden, who was the only constant member. During its history the band featured members of several other bands, both as f ...

Free Kitten

In 1992, she formed Free Kitten, a musical collaboration with Sonic Youth's

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

, drummer Yoshimi from the

Boredoms Boredoms () (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan’s noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved towar ...

and Pavement bassist, Mark Ibold. They released records and toured on and off through 1997. In 2008, Cafritz, Gordon and Yoshimi recorded and released ''Inherit'' on

Ecstatic Peace Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 in music, 1981 by American musician Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. The label name is borrowed from a line in Tom Wolfe's 1968 nonf ...

Records after a ten-year hiatus.

Free Kitten discography

Albums: * 1994: ''Unboxed'' (

Wiiija Wiiija was a British independent record label founded in 1988 by staff from the Rough Trade Shop in Notting Hill, London. The name Wiiija is a corruption of W11 1JA, the postcode of the Rough Trade Shop in Talbot Street. The label was notable fo ...

) * 1995: ''Nice Ass'' (

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally kn ...

) * 1997: ''Sentimental Education'' (

) * 2008: ''Inherit'' (

) EPs * 1992: ''Call Now'' (

) * 1996: ''Punks Suing Punks'' (

) Singles * 1992: "Yoshimi Vs. Mascis" split ( Time Bomb) * 1993: "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" ( Sympathy for the Record Industry) * 1993: "Lick!" (In The Red) * 1993: "Special Groupie" (SOS) * 1994: "Sex Boy" (Radiation) * 1994: "Harvest Spoon" (

) * 1997: "Chinatown Express" (

) * 2008: "Seasick" (

)

Solo work

In 2012, Cafritz released a track called "dash dash dash" on a

Thick Syrup Records Thick Syrup Records is an independent record label from Little Rock, Arkansas. Founded by Travis McElroy in 2006, it specializes in indie rock and underground music. It has released the work of known acts such as Matt Cameron, Jad Fair from Half J ...

Comp Called '78 LTD.

Julie Cafritz solo discography

* 2012:
dash dash dash
on ''Album '78 LTD'' (

)

Personal life

Cafritz is married to Bob Lawton of Labor Board and Twin Towers Touring, who was a booking agent to bands like

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...

and

Superchunk Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of ...

, among others. In 2000, Cafritz and Lawton relocated to

Florence, Massachusetts Florence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. During the 19th century, Florence was a thriving manufacturing village shaped by progressive ideas on religion, abolitionism, and educa ...

, where they ran a furniture store called Artifacts 20th Century. They have two children, daughter Alice and son Ollie. While still playing music, Cafritz has taught English at

Holyoke Community College Holyoke Community College (HCC) is a public community college in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It offers associate degrees and certificate programs, as well as a transfer program for students to earn credits for transfer to other colleges. It was the ...

Notes and references

External links

Julia Cafritz
at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafritz, Julia 1965 births American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Cafritz family Living people Singers from Washington, D.C. Brown University alumni Pussy Galore (band) members Noise rock musicians 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Women rock singers American rock guitarists 21st-century American women singers Free Kitten members 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers