The Punk Singer

Last updated
The Punk Singer
The Punk Singer logo.jpg
Directed by Sini Anderson
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
  • Jennie Jeddry
  • Moira Morel
Edited by
  • Jessica Hernández
  • Bo Mehrad
Production
company
Release dates
  • March 10, 2013 (2013-03-10)(SXSW film festival)
  • November 29, 2013 (2013-11-29)(Limited theatrical and digital)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Punk Singer is a 2013 documentary film about feminist singer Kathleen Hanna who fronted the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and who was a central figure in the riot grrrl movement. Directed by filmmaker Sini Anderson and produced by Anderson and Tamra Davis, the film's title is taken from the Julie Ruin song "The Punk Singer", from Hanna's 1998 solo effort.

Contents

Synopsis

Using a combination of interviews and archival footage including live band performances, the film traces the life and career of Hanna from her troubled upbringing and her start in spoken word performance poetry, through her riot grrrl zines, her prominent punk and dance-punk bands, her coining of the phrase "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for Kurt Cobain, her solo career as Julie Ruin, her feminist activism, her marriage to Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz, and ending with Hanna's 2010 diagnosis of late-stage Lyme disease and the severe treatments she endures to combat it. [1]

Production

Anderson filmed Hanna off and on for a year starting in July 2010. [2] Hanna had already amassed a collection of archival footage and ephemera; these and further finds were worked into the documentary. [3] Horovitz appears as a strong, steadying supporter of his wife, and he filmed one of the more troubling scenes himself. [1] Co-producer Davis, the wife of Beastie Boy Mike D, came to the project near the end to help finish it. Anderson funded the film through various ways, initially with a benefit concert including Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon performing at the Knitting Factory and then through a Kickstarter campaign which raised $46,000. [4] [5] [6] The film, Anderson's first feature-length documentary, premiered in March 2013 at SXSW (South by Southwest) in Austin, Texas, where it was positively reviewed. [7] The film was picked up for distribution in North America by Sundance Selects. [8] [9] On November 29, 2013, its general theatrical release was initiated in New York and Los Angeles, as well as a digital release on iTunes. [10] [11]

The film was the first public announcement of Hanna's battle with Lyme disease. [2] [12] [13] Since 2005, Hanna had been struggling with symptoms of the disease without knowing the cause; this resulted in her telling her Le Tigre bandmates that she was finished as a singer/songwriter, that she had written all she ever intended to write. [14] In the film Hanna says that this explanation was not true, that instead she was suffering nervous system troubles and that she did not want to admit she was unable to perform on stage. [15] The film was also the first public revelation of certain details of Hanna's childhood and her marriage. [1]

Appearing

The film interviews many people who observed Hanna's career including: [16]

Hanna determined that the number of men interviewed should be minimal. She told Anderson not to feature Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, or Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening, even though she liked them and respected their opinions. She said, "I want women to be the experts. I don't want these male experts to come in to make it legitimate." [1] Hanna wanted Tobi Vail, zine writer and bandmember of Bikini Kill to be interviewed in the film, but Vail chose to keep her privacy. [10] In the film, Vail appears in archival footage to talk about Hanna and the punk scene.

Related Research Articles

Bikini Kill American punk rock band

Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the riot grrrl movement, with 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 1997. The band reunited for tours in 2019 and 2022, with Erica Dawn Lyle on guitar in place of Karren.

Kathleen Hanna American musician and feminist activist

Kathleen Hanna is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2010, she has recorded as the Julie Ruin.

Tobi Celeste Vail is an American independent musician, music critic and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington. She was a central figure in the riot grrl scene—she coined the spelling of "grrl"—and she started the zine Jigsaw. A drummer, guitarist and singer, she was a founding member of the band Bikini Kill. Vail has collaborated in several other bands figuring in the Olympia music scene. Vail writes for eMusic.

Le Tigre American electronic rock band

Le Tigre was an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest of the group's existence. Le Tigre are known for their left-wing sociopolitical lyrics that often dealt with issues of feminism and the LGBT community. They mixed punk's directness and politics with playful samples, eclectic pop, and lo-fi electronics. The group also added multimedia and performance art elements to their live shows, which often featured support from like-minded acts such as The Need.

Johanna Fateman American songwriter

Johanna Rachel Fateman is an American writer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is a member of the post-punk rock band Le Tigre and founded the band MEN with Le Tigre bandmate JD Samson.

<i>Julie Ruin</i> 1997 studio album by Julie Ruin (Kathleen Hanna)

Julie Ruin is the independent solo debut album by Kathleen Hanna under the name Julie Ruin in 1997, recorded while taking a break from Bikini Kill. Hanna recalled:

[It] was made as Bikini Kill was in breaking up, a guy who worked across the street from my apartment building was stalking me and I was being treated, in my own community, like a historical oddity. The solo record helped me remember that I was just a fucking person who liked being creative.

Ad-Rock American rapper, guitarist, and actor

Adam Keefe Horovitz, popularly known as Ad-Rock, is an American rapper, guitarist and actor. He was a member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. While the Beastie Boys were active, Horovitz performed with a side project, BS 2000. After the Beastie Boys broke up in 2012, Horovitz has participated in a number of Beastie Boys-related projects, worked as a remixer, producer, and guest musician for other artists, and has acted in a number of films.

Tammy Rae Carland

Tammy Rae Carland, is a photographer, video artist, zine editor, current provost at California College of the Arts (CCA), and former co-owner of the independent lesbian music label Mr. Lady Records and Videos. Her work has been published, screened, and exhibited around the world in galleries and museums in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, and Sydney.

<i>Le Tigre</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Le Tigre

Le Tigre is the debut studio album of American music trio Le Tigre. It was released October 25, 1999 on Mr. Lady Records. The album combined pop music with the band's feminist political lyrics. It received positive reviews from music critics.

<i>Reject All American</i> 1996 studio album by Bikini Kill

Reject All American is the second studio album by the American punk rock band Bikini Kill, released in 1996 by Kill Rock Stars.

Kathi Wilcox American musician

Kathi Lynn Wilcox is an American musician. She is the bass player in the Julie Ruin and has been in bands such as Bikini Kill, the Casual Dots, and the Frumpies.

Christina Billotte is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, known for her involvement in the punk music scene in Washington DC, as a performer and organizer. She is included in Venus Zine's list The Greatest Female Guitarists of All Time.

Lucy Thane is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK (1993) and She's Real (1997).

Viva Knievel was a short-lived punk rock and pre-riot grrrl band in Olympia, Washington that existed around 1989–1990. Viva Knievel was Kathleen Hanna's second band, and included Zeb Olsen on bass, her brother, Stu, on guitar, and Matt Zodrow on drums. Kathleen's first band had been called "Amy Carter". Zeb, Stu, and Matt started playing punk rock in the early 80's and were in multiple bands before VK. Four Viva Knievel songs recorded in 1990 were released as a 7" EP on Cindy Wolfe's record label Ultrasound Records.

Jen Smith

Jen Smith is an artist, musician, zine editor, and activist from the United States. Smith is credited with being the inspiration behind the term riot grrrl and being one of the architects of the movement.

Sini Anderson is an American film director, producer, performance artist, choreographer, dancer and poet, from Chicago, Illinois. Anderson is widely known for directing The Punk Singer (2013), a documentary about riot grrrl musician Kathleen Hanna's legacy and experience with late-stage Lyme disease.

Rebel Girl (Bikini Kill song) Single by Bikini Kill

"Rebel Girl" is a song by American punk rock band Bikini Kill. The song was released in three different recorded versions in 1993 – on an EP, an LP, and a 7-inch single. The single version was produced by Joan Jett and features her on guitar and background vocals. Widely considered a classic example of punk music, the song remains emblematic of the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s. In 2021, "Rebel Girl" was listed at number 296 on the updated list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Skinned Teen was a riot grrrl band from London, England, active in the early 1990s. They have been cited as an inspiration by Beth Ditto, Kathleen Hanna, Gina Birch and Josephine Olausson of Love Is All.

Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics. It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express themselves the same way men have been doing all along. To quote Liz Naylor, who would become the manager of riot grrrl band Huggy Bear:

There was a lot of anger and self-mutilation. In a symbolic sense, women were cutting and destroying the established image of femininity, aggressively tearing it down.

Ramdasha Bikceem is an American writer, singer, and musician. She published the pioneering riot grrrl zine GUNK in the early 1990s, which explored intersections of race and gender in punk and skateboarding.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Olsen, Mark (March 12, 2013). "SXSW 2013: Kathleen Hanna reemerges in 'The Punk Singer'". Los Angeles Times.
  2. 1 2 Valby, Karen (March 12, 2013). "Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna reveals illness, reconfirms awesomeness in 'The Punk Singer'". Entertainment Weekly.
  3. ↑ Schroeder, Audra (March 8, 2013). "Kathleen Hanna Kills It". The Austin Chronicle.
  4. ↑ Pompeo, Joe (October 4, 2011). "Kathleen Hanna documentary nears $44,000 Kickstarter goal". Capital New York. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  5. ↑ Bose, Lilledeshan (October 6, 2011). "Kathleen Hanna Documentary Fully Funded on Kickstarter". Orange County Weekly.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Sini (September 27 – October 27, 2011). "The Punk Singer: The Documentary about Kathleen Hanna". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  7. ↑ Hasty, Katie (March 26, 2013). "Interview: Kathleen Hanna talks 'The Punk Singer,' Beyonce and crying in public". Hit Fix. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  8. ↑ Olsen, Mark (June 24, 2013). "Kathleen Hanna doc 'The Punk Singer' lands with Sundance Selects". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ↑ Ryzik, Melena (September 1, 2013). "Riot Grrrl Back From the Brink – Kathleen Hanna Returns With the Julie Ruin". The New York Times.
  10. 1 2 Van Syckle, Katie (November 27, 2013). "Kathleen Hanna: 'I Didn't Want Men to Validate Me'". Rolling Stone.
  11. ↑ Wickman, Forrest (November 29, 2013). "'Girls to the Front': How Kathleen Hanna Helped Make Punk Safe for Women". Brow Beat. Slate.com. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  12. ↑ Macaulay, Scott (April 9, 2013). "Kathleen Hanna, Sini Anderson and Tamra Davis Discuss The Punk Singer at SXSW". Filmmaker.
  13. ↑ Shepherd, Julianne Escobedo (August 7, 2013). "Kathleen Hanna: Love Among the Ruin". Spin.
  14. ↑ Kohn, Eric (March 12, 2013). "SXSW Review: 'The Punk Singer' Demonstrates the Lasting Vitality of Feminist Rocker Kathleen Hanna". Indiewire. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ DeFore, John (March 13, 2013). "The Punk Singer: SXSW Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  16. ↑ Anderson, Sini. "Punk Singer Press Notes". Opening band films. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013. Zipped Microsoft Word file at http://www.thepunksinger.com/downloads/punk-singer-press-notes.docx Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.