Tobi Vail (born July 20, 1969) is an independent musician, DIY zinester, and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington, best known as the drummer of the defunct punk band Bikini Kill. She formed one of her first bands as the drummer for The Go Team when she was 15,^[1] later collaborating in several other groups figuring in the Olympia music scene. Currently, she fronts Spider and the Webs and plays drums in Knife in the Eye.

The Go Team and Doris[link]

One of her first bands was The Go Team, an experimental punk project started with Calvin Johnson in 1985. The group released several cassettes and 9 singles on the independent label K Records, mostly on the 7" vinyl format - a practice Vail continues to this day. Billy "Boredom" Karren was one of the rotating musicians who played with The Go Team, and it was in this band that he and Vail played together for the first time, later collaborating in several other bands like Bikini Kill, The Frumpies, the upallnighters, and Spray Painted Love. Other guest musicians included Rich Jensen, David Nichols, and Donna Dresch. They toured the West Coast as a two piece, adding Billy Karren for two U.S. tours.

Vail was also working as a DJ for KAOS (FM) and playing in an all-teenage girl band called Doris with Cheryl Hooper, Heidi Keys and Tam Orhmund at this time (1986–1988), which played shows around the Northwest with Beat Happening, Spook and the Zombies, Rich Jensen, Oklahoma Scramble, and Snake Pit. They made a demo tape, which was recorded by Steve Ross (Cactus Love, the Briefs) but never released. After the demise of The Go Team, Vail played in various project bands and made a record as the drummer for Some Velvet Sidewalk.

Bikini Kill[link]

Vail is best known as the drummer of Bikini Kill, which lasted from 1990 to 1998. The band was often met with resistance and misunderstanding due to their chaotic live performances, controversial lyrics, and political zines which dealt with various activist-punk topics like anti-racism, vegetarianism, anti-corporatism, anti-capitalism, anti-heterosexism, and in particular feminist issues such as rape, incest, domestic violence, abortion, sexuality, body image and eating disorders, stalking, patriarchy, sexual assault, and sexism in general - all with a strong emphasis on community and DIY culture.

Vail recalls:

Despite frequent mainstream media misrepresentation^[4][5] and serious violence at shows,^[6] they continued for several years and today are largely credited (along with Bratmobile) with starting Riot Grrrl, a movement that merged Do It Yourself punk culture with feminism. The actual word 'grrrl' was coined in Vail's seminal journal, Jigsaw (1988–present), one of the first Northwestern punk zines to address gender issues explicitly. Prior to this, many influential female-centric bands like The Slits, Girlschool,^[7] and Bush Tetras^[8] had long resisted the notion of being thought of as "girl bands" and almost always avoided the word "feminism", with the occasional exceptions of bands like Poison Girls, Frightwig, and Au Pairs.

Bratmobile's Girl Germs and riot grrrl, Jigsaw and Bikini Kill (zine) are credited as the first manifestos of riot grrrl, reclaiming feminism for the punk scene in an attempt to disrupt the straight white male bias thereof, and rebelling against such annoyances as having the women at their shows fall victim to sexual assault when attempting to enter the mosh pits or even get closer to the stage, their bodies often groped, their clothes deliberately torn off. In response to such attacks, not only against the girls in the audience but often against themselves and their friends,^[6][10] Bikini Kill encouraged girls to stand at the front of the stage and start their own bands.^[11]

The general feeling of wanting to encourage more girls to start bands, zines, make their own culture and create their own homemade and fiercely independent media grew rapidly in popularity through a largely underground network of similar-feeling fans, artists, musicians and writers, and soon regular meetings started taking place, usually in punk houses like Positive Force. Bikini Kill had started working there with friends like Nation of Ulysses and Fugazi after moving to Washington DC in 1991.

Much like her influences Billy Childish^[12] and Moe Tucker,^[13] riot grrrl emphasized a strong advocacy for the DIY indie-punk philosophies and "you can do anything" attitude of amateurism.

The band itself released several LPs and singles on their friend Slim's then-new label Kill Rock Stars and toured extensively across the US, Europe, Japan, and Australia, which helped spread the word further.

The Frumpies[link]

In 1992 Tobi started The Frumpies in DC with bandmates Kathi Wilcox and Billy Karren, Molly Neuman of Bratmobile and The PeeChees, and later Michelle Mae. They wrote and recorded several 7" singles, most of which are compiled on the Kill Rock Stars release Frumpie One Piece, and many recorded on a cassette four track^[14] Distinctly less overtly political in nature than either BK or Bratmobile, and refining a much different sound (no bass player, 3 guitar players), they toured the U.S. with Huggy Bear in 1993 and Italy with "yes wave"-electro-avant-punk-noise band Dada Swing in 2000.

Bands Against Bush, Ladyfest, and FAB[link]

Vail still keeps with her DIY efforts to encourage more women into the independent punk scene as a founding member of Ladyfest, a volunteer-based music and arts festival for female independent musicians, performance artists, spoken word poets, visual artists, and authors, for which most of the proceeds are donated directly to non-profit organisations. The festival also holds workshops for girls on everything from music lessons, to how to make a zine, to self defense courses.^[15]

She is also one of the founders of Bands Against Bush, an international resistance network of artists and musicians dedicated to promoting and organizing activism and direct action against George W. Bush, his administration and the rest of the PNAC. It was inspired by the very first show she ever attended: a Rock Against Reagan benefit in 1983.^[16] A recent New York Times article claimed BAB was under surveillance by the U.S. government.^[17]

She also founded FAB (Feminist Action Brigade), a feminist book club based in Olympia that attempted to start an activist network using zines and the internet.

Personal[link]

Vail grew up in Naselle and Olympia Washington.^[18] She began working in the mail order department of Kill Rock Stars prior to the breakup of her band Bikini Kill in 1997.^[19] She was laid off in 2011 when her job was outsourced. Vail also maintains a blog, in which she discusses feminism and reviews music.^[20]

Discography[link]

The Go Team[link]

Singles[link]

• "Sand/Jigsaw" (January 1989)
• "Outside/Stay Ready" (February 1989) with Billy Karren, Louise Olsen, Dave Nichols
• "Breakfast In Bed/Safe Little Circles" (March 1989) with The Legend!
• "Milquetoast Brigade/She Was Sad" (April 1989) with Jeffery Kennedy
• "Ribeye/935 Patterson" (May 1989)
• "Go Team Call/Three Ways To Sunday" (June 1989) with Quang H., Billy Karren, Brad Clemmons
• "Scratch It Out/Bikini Twilight" (July 1989) with Tamra Ohrmund, Louise Olsen, Donna Dresch, Kurt Cobain
• "Tummy Hop/Maverick Summer" (August 1989) with Brad Clemmons
• "The Pines Of Rome" (September 1989) with Brad Clemmons

Cassettes[link]

• Recorded Live At The Washington Center For The Performing Arts
• Your Pretty Guitar with Steve Peters
• Archer Come Sparrow
• Donna Parker Pop

Bikini Kill[link]

Albums[link]

• Revolution Girl Style Now! self-released cassette (1991)
• Bikini Kill (EP) on Kill Rock Stars (1991)
• Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah split LP with Huggy Bear on Catcall Records in the UK, Kill Rock Stars in the US (1993)
• The C.D. Version of the First Two Records, compilation (1993)
• Pussy Whipped on Kill Rock Stars (1994)
• Reject All American on Kill Rock Stars (1996)

Singles[link]

• New Radio/Rebel Girl 7" single on Kill Rock Stars (1993)
• The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation Single on Kill Rock Stars (1994)
• I Like Fucking/I Hate Danger 7" single on Kill Rock Stars (1995)

Compilations[link]

• Kill Rock Stars on Kill Rock Stars LP/CD (1991)
• Throw: The Yoyo Studio Compilation on Yoyo Records (1991)
• "Daddy's Lil' Girl" on Give Me Back LP, Ebullition Records (1991)
• "Suck My Left One" on There's A Dyke In The Pit, Outpunk Records (1992)
• Bikini Kill: The Singles (1998)

The Frumpies[link]

Singles[link]

• Alien Summer
• Babies & Bunnies
• Safety First
• Tommy Slich
• Eunuch Nights
• Frumpies Forever

Albums[link]

• Frumpie One-Piece

Spider and the Webs[link]

• Self-Titled demo on Bumpidee
• Split 7" w/ Partyline on Local Kid
• Spider Magic on Bumpidee
• Frozen Roses EP" on K

The Old Haunts[link]

• Poisonous Times on Kill Rock Stars

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground by Maria Raha
• Girls Make Media by Mary Celeste Kearney (Routledge, 2006)
• Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop and Rap Ed. by Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers

External links[link]

• Spider and the Webs Myspace
• Tobi Vail's zine Jigsaw at ZineWiki
• Tobi Vail's zine Bikini Kill at ZineWiki

Bikini Kill was an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in October 1990. The group consisted of vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band is widely considered to be the pioneer of the riot grrrl movement, and was notorious for its radical feminist lyrics and fiery performances. Their music is characteristically abrasive and hardcore-influenced. After two full-length albums, several EPs and two compilations, they disbanded in 1998.

While occasionally collaborating with high-profile acts such as Nirvana and Joan Jett, Bikini Kill was well known for shunning major labels and the mainstream rock press.

Biography[link]

The band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990, by Kathleen Hanna (vocals), Billy Karren (guitar), Kathi Wilcox (bass), and Tobi Vail (drums). They began working together on a fanzine called Bikini Kill and, with the addition of former Go Team guitarist Billy Karren, formed a band of the same name. The band wrote songs together and encouraged a female-centric environment at their shows, urging women to come to the front of the stage and handing out lyric sheets to them.

After an independent demo cassette, Revolution Girl Style Now!, Bikini Kill released the Bikini Kill EP on the indie label Kill Rock Stars. Produced by Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, the album began to establish the band's audience. The band's debut album, Pussy Whipped, was released in September 1993. Bikini Kill toured in London, England to begin working with Huggy Bear, releasing a joint recording together and touring the UK. The tour was the subject of a documentary film by Lucy Thane entitled It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill In The U.K. Upon their return to the United States, the band began working with Joan Jett of The Runaways, whose music Hanna described as an early example of the Riot Grrrl aesthetic. Jett produced the single "New Radio"/"Rebel Girl" for the band.

By the following year, Riot Grrrl was receiving constant attention in the media, and Bikini Kill were increasingly referred to as pioneers of the movement. Hanna called for a "media blackout" amongst Riot Grrrls, as they felt the band and the movement were being misrepresented by the media.^{[citation needed]}

The band's final album was Reject All American (1996). Shortly before breaking up in 1998, a collection of singles were released only on vinyl between 1995 to 1996, titled The Singles.

Post-breakup[link]

During the summer of 1992, the band The Frumpies was formed by Karren, Wilcox, Vail, and Molly Neuman of Bratmobile, and toured as late as the early 2000s along with a similar Italian punk rock band Dada Swing.^[1][2]

Vail, notorious for her numerous side projects and being in several bands at a time, later resurfaced in a band called Spider and the Webs, and she is now^[when?] playing with the Old Haunts. Kathi Wilcox plays in the Casual Dots and Bill Karren is in GHOST MOM. Hanna first contributed to an LP^[which?] as a member of The Fakes, and then turned to more dance-based New Wave music (with similar feminist lyrical themes) on her solo debut, Julie Ruin. She then became a member of the political New Wave outfit Le Tigre.^[3]

Influence[link]

Bikini Kill is recognized as an influence by Sleater-Kinney, The Gossip, Jack Off Jill, Mika Miko, and many others. Mike Park (of Skankin' Pickle, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and founder of Asian Man Records) has a song about the band titled "Tobi Vail 4 President" on the album Beans & Toast from his acoustic solo project. J Church's album Prophylaxis features a song called "Why I Liked Bikini Kill", a response to criticisms of the band and their message. Music journalist Steve Palopoli has described the song as addressing an "unspecified critic of Kathleen Hanna".

NOFX has a song titled "Kill Rock Stars" on their album So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes, written as a response to Kathleen Hanna labeling the band as misogynists.^[4]

Bikini Kill's song "Rebel Girl" is number 445 in Blender's The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Revolution Girl Style Now! self released cassette (1991)
• Bikini Kill EP on Kill Rock Stars (1991)
• Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah split LP with Huggy Bear on Catcall Records in the UK, Kill Rock Stars in the US (1993)
• Pussy Whipped LP on Kill Rock Stars (1993)
• The C.D. Version of the First Two Records (1994)
• Reject All American LP on Kill Rock Stars (1996)

Singles[link]

• New Radio/Rebel Girl 7" single on Kill Rock Stars (1993)
• The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation Single on Kill Rock Stars (1995)
• I Like Fucking/I Hate Danger 7" single on Kill Rock Stars (1995)
• European Tour Single split 7" with Team Dresch on Banda Bonnot (1996)
• Peel Sessions 7"

Compilations[link]

• "Feels Blind" on Kill Rock Stars LP/CD (1991)
• "Candy" on Throw: The Yoyo Studio Compilation on Yoyo Records (1991)
• "Daddy's Li'l Girl" on Give Me Back LP Ebullition Records (1991)
• "Suck My Left One" on There's A Dyke In The Pit, Outpunk Records/Harp Records (1992)
• Bikini Kill:The Singles (1998)

See also[link]

• Ladyfest
• DIY ethic

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fact sheet
• Tigerbomb.net - a Bikini Kill archive site
• Kathleen Hanna's Bikini Kill Archive at Wordpress.com
• Bikini Kill at Rolling Stone

Mike Park
Live at Arts at Mark's Garage, Honolulu, HI
Background information
Genres	Ska, Punk rock, Indie
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Label Owner
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Saxophone
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Asian Man Dill Dr. Strange Simple Stereo Sub City Suburban Home
Associated acts	The Chinkees The Bruce Lee Band Skankin' Pickle Shaken 69 Rx Bandits Less Than Jake Psychiatric Disorder
Website	Official Site

Mike Park is a Korean American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and most recently an acoustic solo project under his own name. After his time with Skankin' Pickle he went on to found Asian Man Records, a label which he has run out of his garage in California since 1996 with only help from his parents and friends.^[1] Asian Man Records supports mostly ska and punk bands. Park will support any band as long as it is "anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-prejudice".^{[citation needed]} Park has used Asian Man Records to release his own music, in addition to providing a start for smaller bands to allow them to grow, including Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, and The Lawrence Arms. In 1999 he formed the Plea for Peace Foundation an organization whose aim is "to promote the ideas of peace through the power of music", something which Park has been trying to do with his own bands and with the help of other groups.^{[citation needed]}

Park was the impetus behind the Spring 1998 "Ska Against Racism" tour. The goal of the tour was to promote awareness about racism and raise money for anti-racism organisations such as the Museum of Tolerance. The national tour included The Toasters, Less Than Jake, the Blue Meanies, Mustard Plug, Five Iron Frenzy, MU330, Kemuri, and Mike Park himself.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Park majored in music in college.^[3]

Mike finished a European tour as of March 2008 and is currently^[when?] planning on a North American tour with Chris "Sundowner" McCaughan. His first child, Maggie Elizabeth, was born on November 17, 2006, weighing 6.46 lbs. He is a Minister of the Universal Life Church.^[4] His second child, Moses Young Park, was born on October 15, 2008 at 5:30 am.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Michael Park (Asian Man, 2001)
• For the Love of Music (Sub City, 2003)
• North Hangook Falling (Sub City, 2005)
• Mike Park 7 Inch and Art Print (Simple Stereo, 2008)
• Beans & Toast (2008)
• Mike Park/O Pioneers!!! split 7″ (Suburban Home, 2009)
• Smile (Asian Man, 2011)

With 'Skankin' Pickle'[link]

With 'The Chinkees'[link]

• The Chinkees Are Coming CD
• Karaoke with the Chinkees 7"
• Peace Through Music CD
• Present Day Memories Split CD with Lawrence Arms (out of print)
• Searching for a Brighter Future CD

With 'The Bruce Lee Band'[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Asian Man Records
• Secret Asian Man
• Official Site
• Simple Stereo Official Site – with information on the Mike Park 7 Inch
• Plea For Peace Official Site
• Interview by Sound Scene Revolution (Podcast)
• Interview by Tom Bastian of decapolis.com (2000)
• Interview by Josh Snider and Jonny Havoc on BigSmileMagazine.com
• Album Review of "North Hangook Falling" on BigSmileMagazine.com