Mothers Of Invention: Women In Rock Talk About Scents, Sensibilit And Sexism by Mim Udovitch
Rolling Stone
October 6, 1994
the following are quotes by Kate Schellenbach:
“Sometimes is almost like you should be ‘and don’t forget to write that we’re an all-female band!'”
“We get a lot of questions about the women-in-rock thing, whatever that thing is that everyone asks about, and I’m trying to think who they’re talking about. And then I’m thinking further back, and I’m thinking, ‘God, there were so many more bands when I was growing up.’ There were The Slits, The Raincoats, Delta 5, The Mo-Dettes, Kleenex. It’s a marketing ploy; the trend of women in rock is just a piece of shit.”
“Being gay – it’s the same as being a woman musician: You’ll always be tagged, and you are that and don’t want to deny it. But I would say it’s more of a challenge being a woman musician than being gay, so far. Yeah, we are four girls, but we don’t want to be models, whether you believe it or not. Some guy bands must enjoy getting dressed up, but I can’t see them telling Helmet to wear a Gianni Versace miniskirt.”
“We’ve had some bad experiences with female rock journalists, where the interviews have been really, you know, ‘Your keyboardist is a bimbo,’ which is a really odd thing to say, especially to another woman.”
“The only song that comes to mind is Billy Joel: ‘She’s Only a Woman to Me’ or ‘Always a Woman’ or whatever it is.”
“Every time I start PMS-ing, and my breasts start killing me. It’s a kick in the ass constantly, or a kick in the breasts – like a reminder: You are a woman. Maybe it’s a drummer thing because you’re always throwing yourself around.”
“I hate to say it’s coming from women, but it’s almost turning out that way, although we’ve also met so many cool women. But coming from women, it’s just that much more upsetting, because it’s like ‘My God, this is another woman who’s putting you down.'”
“I was terrified to go to Manny’s or Sam Ash. I resisted buying drumsticks for the first four years that I played. I would just find them on the stage or under the stage, or if somebody threw them in the audience, I’d make sure to get them because I just couldn’t deal. I think part of my fear was that they would find out that I didn’t know what I was doing, because, you know, you’re constantly feeling defensive as a woman about your craft, especially if it’s something male dominated. I taught myself to play drums, and all these guys could do, like, heavy-metal arpeggios for hours, and sometimes the worst thing you can get is ‘Oh, are you in a band? That’s cute.’ Plus I was 15, and it probably was pretty cute when I went up there to buy drumsticks.”
“I mean, I was talking about what an easy time I’ve had of it as a female musician, but I was kicked out of the Beastie Boys for being a woman because they changed from punk to rap, and Rick Rubin said he didn’t like the sound of female rappers. I mean it’s not like I was a great rapper, but neither were they.”
“Maybe it’s like ‘Well, we have to make it up to women for Anita Hill and Tailhook and William Kennedy Smith and all this crazy stuff. Let’s give them something. We’ll make Courtney Love the patron saint of rock.'”
“For a song like ‘Under My Thumb,’ even for people who really freak out about it, the reality is that in all relationships there are dynamics that would put somebody under somebody’s thumb. But what do I know? I’m just a drummer.”
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