Julia Cafritz (born May 5, 1965) is an American musician and guitarist[1] who was a member of Pussy Galore and Free Kitten. She is regarded as a cult figure from the New York City noise music scene of the 1990s.[2][3]
Cafritz was born in Washington, DC, the daughter of Jennifer (née Stats) and Conrad Cafritz, a real estate developer with a personal fortune of over $100 million.[4][5][6][7] She has a younger sister named Daisy von Furth, and two brothers, Eric and Matthew Cafritz.[7][8] Her grandfather was the multimillionaire real estate developer and philanthropist Morris Cafritz.[4]
In 1985, guitarist Julia Cafritz and fellow Brown University classmate, Jon Spencer on vocals and guitar, and John Hammill on drums, formed the punk noise band Pussy Galore. In May 1986 they moved to New York City.
Free Kitten with Kim Gordon, Julie Cafritz, Yoshimi P-We & Mark Ibold
STP
In 1989, Cafritz left Pussy Galore and formed the short-lived all-girl group STP. STP released one single and toured with Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Cafritz joined fellow CBGBs Record Canteen clerk Ned Hayden's group, the Action Swingers.
Cafritz is married to Bob Lawton[12][13] of Labor Board and Twin Towers Touring,[14] who was a booking agent to bands like Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and Superchunk, among others.[15] In 2000, Cafritz and Lawton relocated to Florence, Massachusetts, where they ran a furniture store called Artifacts 20th Century.[16] They have two children, daughter Alice and son Ollie.[16][17][18]
↑ Schoemer, Karen (January 31, 1992). "Sounds Around Town". New York Times. Retrieved 1 March 2014. Kitten is the side project of the Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon and the guitarist Julia Cafritz from the band Pussy Galore.
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moore was ranked 34th in Rolling Stone's 2004 edition of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Kim Althea Gordon 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, California, where her father was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from Los Angeles's Otis College of Art and Design, she moved to New York City to begin an art career. There, she formed Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore in 1981. She and Moore married in 1984, and the band released a total of six albums on independent labels before the end of the 1980s. They would subsequently release nine studio albums on the major label DGC Records, beginning with Goo in 1990. Gordon was also a founding member of the musical project Free Kitten, which she formed with Julia Cafritz in 1993.
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.
Huggy Bear were an English riot grrrl band, formed in 1991 and based in Brighton.
Robert Bertelli, better known as Bob Bert, is an American rock drummer.
OOIOO is a Japanese experimental rock band. The four-piece ensemble was founded by Yoshimi P-We, the drummer and occasional trumpeter for Boredoms. The band's origin lie in a photo shoot that Yoshimi was asked to do for a magazine. She invited a few of her friends to join her, and they created a fake band for the shoot, which they later decided to make real. The band quickly gained attention by being the opening act for Sonic Youth in 1997 on their Japan tour.
Free Kitten is an American alternative rock band formed by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz. Originally performing as Kitten, they changed their name after receiving threats of legal action by a heavy metal singer performing under the same name. Boredoms member Yoshimi P-We took up drums, and Pavement's Mark Ibold joined later on as bassist. They have released a handful of albums and singles, mainly on label Kill Rock Stars, including a remix 12-inch featuring DJ Spooky. They toured on 1993's Lollapalooza. A studio album, 2008's Inherit, on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label, is the group's most recently available.
Pussy Galore was an American garage rock band formed by students at Brown University in 1984. They had a constantly fluid line-up until their demise in 1990. They took their name from the character in the James Bond film Goldfinger, and their sound was inspired by The Rolling Stones and Einstürzende Neubauten.
Washing Machine is the ninth studio album by the American experimental rock band Sonic Youth, released on September 26, 1995, by DGC Records. It was recorded at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by the band and John Siket, who also engineered the band's previous two albums. The album features more open-ended pieces than its predecessors and contains some of the band's longest songs, including the 20-minute ballad "The Diamond Sea", which is the lengthiest track to feature on any of Sonic Youth's studio albums.
Mark Alan Ibold is an American musician. He is best known as the bass guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement, with whom he recorded four studio albums. Following Pavement's initial break-up in 1999, Ibold joined the alternative rock band Sonic Youth from 2006 until their end in 2011.
Guv'ner was an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1993 following a relationship between members Charles Gansa and Pumpkin Wentzel. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth discovered the band when he was handed a demo of theirs by Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore, who had known Wentzel since school. Moore put out Guv'ner's debut album Hard for Measy for You on his label, Ecstatic Peace.
Donald Gene Fleming is an American musician and producer. Besides fronting a number of his own bands, Fleming has produced Sonic Youth, Screaming Trees, Teenage Fanclub and Hole.
Unboxed is a compilation album of early singles and the EP Call Now by the band Free Kitten, released in 1994.
Nice Ass is the first studio album by the band Free Kitten, released in 1995 on Kill Rock Stars.
Sentimental Education is the second studio album by the band Free Kitten, released in 1997 on Kill Rock Stars. The album features a collaboration with DJ Spooky and a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Teenie Weenie Boppie". The album is named after the novel by French novelist Gustave Flaubert.
Bewitched was a noise rock musical project headed by American percussionist Bob Bert. It was founded in 1986 after Bert had left the band Sonic Youth the previous year. The project began as a solo effort but morphed to incorporate several other musicians, including violinist Donna Croughn of Tiny Lights. The music was noise rock influenced with an emphasis placed on Bert's drumming. It also incorporated turntables courtesy of DJ David Cream of Wheat P, which at the time was innovative.
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 Japanese, Bob Bert of Sonic Youth, Penn Jillette, Don Fleming and Velvet Monkeys. The label also releases compilation albums with multiple artists.
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 full members and guest musicians. The band split up in 1998.
Exile on Main St. is an album by American noise rock band Pussy Galore, released in December 1986 by Shove Records. The album itself is a cover album. The entire project was an attempt at re-interpreting The Rolling Stones' 1972 album Exile on Main St. in its entirety. Its only official release format was the cassette tape, in a limited run of only 550 hand-numbered copies.
1 Yr Live is a live performance album by American noise rock band Pussy Galore, released in 1986 by Shove Records.
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