Kira Roessler | |
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Background information | |
Born | New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. | June 12, 1961
Origin | Los Angeles, California |
Genres | Punk rock, hardcore punk, alternative rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, dialogue editor |
Instrument | Bass |
Years active | 1977–present |
Labels | SST, New Alliance, Kill Rock Stars |
Member of | Dos |
Formerly of | Black Flag |
Website | Dos' homepage at Mike Watt's Hoot Page |
Kira Roessler (born June 12, 1961) is an American musician who was the bass guitarist for the influential hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1983 to 1985. Since the mid-1980s, she has been a member of the rock duo Dos with her now ex-husband Mike Watt.
Roessler also works as a dialogue editor. She was on the sound editing team for Mad Max: Fury Road , which won a 2015 Oscar. She was also on the teams that won Emmy Awards for the John Adams episode "Don't Tread on Me" and on the series Game of Thrones .
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, [1] [2] Roessler lived there until age eight when her family moved to the Caribbean until she was eleven [2] and thereafter in California, mostly in Los Angeles. [2] Her brother is Paul Roessler, a keyboardist known for involvement in several Los Angeles–area bands including the Screamers.
Roessler began studying piano when she was six [1] but quit at age eleven. [2] At fourteen she picked up the bass guitar and committed to learning the instrument. [2] Her first band was called Waxx and she played her first gig at age sixteen at Whisky a Go Go. [1] Other early bands were Sexsick, The Visitors, and The Monsters. [1] She then joined with a post-Germs Pat Smear to form Twisted Roots. [3]
Members of Black Flag heard her playing while she was sitting in with L.A. punk group DC3. This led to her being asked to join Black Flag in 1983 to replace founding member Chuck Dukowski. [4] [5] Vocalist Henry Rollins later reported that Greg Ginn, Black Flag's leader, guitarist and primary songwriter, had grown frustrated with Dukowski's failure to progress as a musician beyond the band's hardcore punk roots and was drawn to Roessler's more nimble and sophisticated playing. [6] Roessler was majoring in applied engineering at UCLA, and Black Flag's subsequent tours were scheduled around her classes—a condition of her joining the band. Her bass playing was featured on five of Black Flag's studio albums and two officially released live albums. During her early live performances with the band she was sometimes mistaken as male due to her androgynous appearance, and she subsequently dressed in more feminine garb. [6] She remained in the band until completing touring behind their album In My Head in the autumn of 1985. She graduated from UCLA in 1986.
After Black Flag, she formed the twin-bass duo Dos with Mike Watt (to whom she was married between 1987 and 1994). [7] Dos' most recent album was released in 2011. She wrote or co-wrote songs for what would be the Minutemen's final album, 3-Way Tie , and contributed lyrics to Watt's post-Minutemen band Firehose. She later contributed artwork to Watt's first solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat? .
She appeared as a backing vocalist on the tribute album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three in 2003 along with other musical artists, including other Black Flag veterans. [8]
In December 2018, Roessler joined with Devin Hoff to form the twin-bass band AwkWard and released their first album In Progress. [9]
On August 13, 2021, on the Protonic Reversal podcast, [10] Kira revealed that an album of solo material would be released on October 19 on Kitten Robot records. [11] [12]
Roessler works as a dialogue editor on theatrical films in Los Angeles, sometimes credited under her full name, sometimes simply as kira. She has worked on productions including Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), and has also appeared onscreen in the documentaries We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen , American Hardcore and What Drives Us . She won Emmy Awards for her work on the John Adams episode "Don't Tread on Me" and on the series Game of Thrones . [5]
Roessler was on the sound editing team for Mad Max: Fury Road , which won an Oscar in 2016. [5] [13] [14]
Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Initially called Panic, the band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member, and singer Keith Morris. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019.
Slip It In is the fourth studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1984 by SST Records.
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo career with the 1995 album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, he has since released three additional solo albums, most recently in 2010 with Hyphenated-man. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder (2008–present), a member of the art rock group Banyan (1997–present) and is involved with several other musical projects. From 2003 until 2013, he was the bass guitarist for The Stooges.
Damaged is the debut studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released by SST Records in November 1981.
Family Man is the third studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. Released in 1984 through SST Records, it features spoken word tracks by vocalist Henry Rollins and jazz-indebted instrumental tracks. It is also the first album to feature bassist Kira Roessler. "Armageddon Man" is the only track on the album in which Rollins and the instruments are together.
Everything Went Black is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1982 through SST Records. The compilation comprises early songs recorded before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981, and was initially released without the group's name on its cover, due to their lawsuit with MCA/Unicorn. Instead, the names of the group members were listed on the first release.
Minuteflag was an experimental jam band collaboration between members of the American punk bands Minutemen and Black Flag. Their only release, an EP, consists entirely of instrumentals with the exception of "Fetch the Water" which features D. Boon on lead vocals.
Ball-Hog or Tugboat? is the 1995 debut solo album by American musician Mike Watt, previously known for his work as the bass guitarist and songwriter for the punk rock groups Minutemen and fIREHOSE.
dos is an American rock group composed of Mike Watt and Kira Roessler, who both sing and play bass guitar. Critic Greg Prato describes their unusual instrumentation as "a haunting yet intriguing and original sound."
"Ballot Result" is a posthumous live album by Minutemen, released in 1987 by SST Records.
3-Way Tie is the fourth and final full-length album by American punk band Minutemen, released in 1985 by SST Records. It features covers of songs by the Urinals, Meat Puppets, Blue Öyster Cult, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Roky Erickson. The last song, a cover of Erickson's "Bermuda", was sung over the phone by Mike Watt.
Lorna Doom was an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the punk rock band the Germs from 1976 to 1980, and again after they got back together from 2005 to 2009.
dos is the debut album recorded by the band dos. It is a double bass guitar side project for Mike Watt and his then-girlfriend, Kira Roessler. Formed as a vehicle to take the bass beyond its perceived background role and into the forefront of a band, Dos also became a therapeutic experience in the wake of Roessler's departure from Black Flag and the sudden death of Minutemen's D. Boon's on December 22, 1985. After exchanging demos for the better part of 1986, the duo reconvened to record their self-titled debut late in the year, subsequently releasing it on Watt's own New Alliance Records.
Minutemen were an American punk rock band formed in San Pedro, California, in 1980. Composed of guitarist/vocalist D. Boon, bassist/vocalist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley, Minutemen recorded four albums and eight EPs before Boon's death in an automobile accident in 1985; the band broke up shortly thereafter. They were noted in the California punk community for a philosophy of "jamming econo"—a sense of thriftiness reflected in their touring and short, tight songs, and for their eclectic style, drawing on hardcore punk, funk, jazz, and other sources.
The Nig-Heist was a punk-comedy-shock rock band led by Steve "Mugger" Corbin, a roadie and live sound engineer for Black Flag and employee of SST Records. The Nig-Heist featured a revolving-door roster of members of the bands who were on tour with Black Flag at the moment. The band used to open for Black Flag on tour and recorded a 7", an LP and had tracks on compilations. They were notorious for their risqué stage antics, including band members playing naked, Mugger wearing a long-haired wig and insulting the crowd. Their songs were overtly vulgar and explicit in a funny way. Their motto was: "The band that cums in your mouth, not in your hands".
Devra Hoff is an American bassist, composer and arranger. She has collaborated with Julia Holter, Nels Cline, Sharon Van Etten, Shannon Lay, Cibo Matto, Kira Roessler, Good for Cows, Xiu Xiu, and others.
dos y dos is an experimental indie album, the fourth by the band dos and the first release in fifteen years by the band. It is a double bass guitar side project for Mike Watt and Kira Roessler. The two were married from 1987–1994.
justamente tres is an experimental indie album, the third by the band dos featuring Mike Watt (Minutemen) and Kira Roessler.
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie: Reinterpreting Black Flag is a tribute album to the then-defunct American hardcore punk band Black Flag featuring ex-band members Dez Cadena, Keith Morris and Kira Roessler. They are joined by fellow SST label mates Joe Baiza and Mike Watt (Minutemen) as well as Jimmy Destri of Blondie, produced by Evan Taylor.