Lois Maffeo (professionally known for much of her career as Lois) is an American musician and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. She has been closely involved with and influenced many independent musicians, especially in the 1990s-era Olympia,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

and Washington, D.C. music scenes.

Early life

Maffeo was raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

and graduated in 1981 from

Xavier College Preparatory Xavier College Preparatory is a Catholic, all-female private high school in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, drawing students from 120 local schools. History Xavier High School was found ...

, an all-female private Catholic high school. She moved to Olympia, Washington to attend

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

Discography

As Lois Maffeo

;albums *''The Union Themes'' (with

Brendan Canty Brendan John Canty (born March 9, 1966, in Teaneck, New Jersey) is an American musician, composer, producer and film maker, best known as the drummer for the band Fugazi. In 2007, ''Stylus Magazine'' ranked Canty at #29 on the list of "50 Gre ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their sty ...

), 2000,

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 ...

(Japanese release contains five bonus tracks) ;compilations and other collaborations/appearances * ntitled a cappella track ''Dangerous Business International cassette'', 1985,

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music ...

*"My Head Hurts" (with The Go Team), ''Archer Come Sparrow cassette'', 1988/1989,

*"Cup to the Wall" (with

Satisfact Satisfact is an American post-punk band formed in 1996 in Washington State, abridging the post-hardcore movement with the nascent post-punk revival Post-punk revival (also known as garage rock revival,J. Stuessy and S. D. Lipscomb, ''Rock and ...

), ''Life Abroad 7" single'', 1996,

*"Thick with the Paint Swaying" (with

Red Stars Theory Red Stars Theory is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. History The band was formed in early-1995 when James Bertram was looking for someone to play guitar with and found Tonie Palmasani (guitar/vocals), Jeremiah Green (drums/per ...

), ''But Sleep Came Slowly'', 1997, Rx. Remedy *"Cat Fight" (with Georgia Hubley), ''2 Days in the Valley OST'', 1997, Edel *"Switch Shower Go!", ''Go! Olympia cassette'', 1997, Yoyo Recordings *"A Sailor's Warning" (with

), ''Life in a Bubble Can Be Beautiful'', 1999,

Touch & Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. Tou ...

*"Pathways" (with The Evil Tambourines), ''Library Nation'', 1999,

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

*"On Mars And Venus" (with The Evil Tambourines), ''Library Nation'', 1999,

*"Shame The Bells", ''Projector: Another Studio Compilation'', 1999, Yoyo Recordings *"Hope" (with Internal/External), ''Featuring...'', 2000,

*"The Same As Being in Love" (with

Harvey Danger Harvey Danger was an American alternative rock band that was formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1992 by journalism students at the University of Washington. The band rose to prominence in 1997 with the single " Flagpole Sitta", which was later u ...

), ''King James Version'', 2000, Sire *"Spray on the Fixative" (with Mark Robinson), ''Origami And Urbanism'', 2003,

Tomlab Tomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final F ...

With Cradle Robbers (with Rebecca Gates of the Spinanes)

;compilations *"Sotto Voce", ''Red Hot + Bothered/Indie Rock Guide To Dating'', 1995, Kinetic/Reprise

With Lumihoops

;compilations *"Roman Holiday", ''Throw: The Yoyo Studio Compilation'', 1992, Yoyo Recordings

With Courtney Love (the band)

;singles and EPs *''Uncrushworthy 7" EP'', 1990,

*''Highlights 7" EP'', 1991,

*''Hey! Antoinette 7" EP'', 1991, Feel Good All Over ;compilations *"Don't Mix The Colors", ''Kill Rock Stars'', 1991,

*"Spray", ''Throw: The Yoyo Studio Compilation'', 1992, Yoyo Recordings *"Baseball Bat", ''One Last Kiss'', 1992,

spinART Records SpinART Records was a New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Frank Black, and Michael Penn. The label was started by Joel Morowitz and Jeff Price in 1991. SpinART filed for ban ...

*"Shaniko", ''TeenBeat Fifty'', 1993, TeenBeat Records *"Motorcycle Boy", ''

International Pop Underground Convention The International Pop Underground Convention (or IPU) 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, ...

'', 1995,

As Lois

;albums *''Butterfly Kiss'', 1992,

*''Strumpet'', 1993,

*''

Bet the Sky ''Bet the Sky'' is an album by the American indie rock band Lois, released in 1995. Lois supported the album by touring with Fugazi. Production Brendan Canty and Heather Dunn joined Lois Maffeo for the making of ''Bet the Sky'', which was writte ...

'', 1995,

*''Infinity Plus'', 1996,

;Cassettes *''Lowrider cassette'', 1994, Slabco ; Compilations *''Butter Yellow: A Lois Collection'', 1996, Rebel Beat Factory ;Singles and EPs *''Press Play And Record 7" single'', 1992,

*''Trouble With Me 7" single'', 1993,

*''Shy Town EP'', 1995,

*''Snapshot Radio EP'', 1996,

*''Ship To Shore maxi-single/EP'' (with

Dub Narcotic Sound System Dub Narcotic Sound System (D.N.S.S.) is an Olympia, Washington based indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records. Origins The band was named after Calvin Johnson's basement recording studio, Dub Narcotic. The band and ...

), 1996,

*''...And His Baby Blue EP'' (with

Sean Na Na Sean Na Na is the guitar pop project of Sean Tillmann (who also performs as Har Mar Superstar). The project started as a solo outlet for Tillmann's songs that did not quite fit with his noise band Calvin Krime in 1993. Since then, the project ev ...

), 1998,

Polyvinyl Records In polymer chemistry, vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from substituted vinyl () monomers. Their backbone is an extended alkane chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Examples Vinyl polymers ar ...

;Appearances,

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

singles/EPs, and other collaborations *"Indie", ''July plit7" single'' (with Nothing Painted Blue), 1993,

Simple Machines A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term ref ...

*"Long Time Gone", ''

International Hip Swing ''International Hip Swing'' is a compilation CD released by the label K Records in 1993. It is centered on the alternative rock, indie pop and twee pop genres. ''International Hip Swing'' gathered together a selection of recordings previously rel ...

'', 1993,

*"Indie", ''

Working Holiday! ''Working Holiday!'' is a compilation album released on the Simple Machines label in 1994. It is a collection of tracks by American indie bands which were originally released on a series of 12 7" singles by Simple Machines as part of the Worki ...

'', 1994,

*"Strumpet", ''Yoyo A Go Go'', 1994, Yoyo Recordings *"St. What's-Her-Name", '' Free To Fight'' 2-CD/LP set, 1995,

Chainsaw Records Chainsaw Records is an independent record label run by Donna Dresch that is devoted to Queercore bands. The label is in Portland, Oregon. History ''Chainsaw'' began life as a zine published by Donna Dresch in the late 1980s. Musicians and writ ...

Candy Ass Records Candy Ass Records was an independent record label in Portland, Oregon that was run by Jody Bleyle, a member of the bands Team Dresch and Hazel and of the queercore bands Family Outing and Infinite Xs. The label is best known for the 1995 relea ...

(as "The Lois") *"Ship To Shore" (with

), ''Boot Party'', 1996,

*"A Summer Long", ''Paper plit7" EP'' (with Mad Planets, Low, and The Receptionists), 1997, Papercut *"Girls! Girls! Girls!", ''Southern/Tree/Polyvinyl Fall/Winter 1998 Compilation'' (with

), 1998 *"Davey", ''Yoyo A Go Go: Another Live Yoyo Compilation'', 1999, Yoyo Recordings *"Detour" (with Bis), ''Social Dancing'', 1999,

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

*"Detour" (with Bis), ''Detour EP'', 1999, Willija *"2-9476" (with

), ''Troubleman Mix-Tape'', 2001, Troubleman Unlimited

With Tommy

;compilations *"Go Sonics", ''Selector Dub Narcotic'', 1998,

With The Tentacles

;singles and EPs *''The Touch 7" single'', 1999,

With Owl & The Pussycat''Owl & The Pussycat'' on Discogs.com
/ref>

;albums *''Owl & The Pussycat'', 2003,

References

External links

*
Review
of 1993 Knitting Factory show by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
Profile
from Trouser Press
Owl & the Pussycat Review
from

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

Punkrockacademy interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maffeo, Lois Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women singer-songwriters American music critics American indie rock musicians K Records artists Riot grrrl musicians Musicians from Olympia, Washington Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona American women journalists American women music critics Women writers about music Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Dub Narcotic Sound System members 21st-century American women singers Kill Rock Stars artists Sub Pop artists Singer-songwriters from Arizona Singer-songwriters from Washington, D.C. Women punk rock singers