DOOM! Magazine

So, was there a specific moment that inspired you to write about Girl Power in music and personal relationships with it?  Or was it an idea that sort of built up over time?
In the summer 2006, Sleater-Kinney broke up, and all of a sudden I felt like everything that had been so strong in the nineties was maybe going away without a fight. And I was turning 29, and all these popstars were ruling the charts and singing like they were going to OD or something like that. And I just thought, where is that angry political woman? So I just started revisiting that era, and even music that I had written off at the time as kind of insipid or inauthentic, like Alanis Morissette, with fifteen years of hindsight, I was kind of like, “this is not bad.” I even had to reevaluate some of my thinking about the Spice Girls. 

Were you shooting more for an audience of nostalgic ladies who grew up in the 90’s or for intrigued young women looking to find out more about something they completely missed?  Or a mixture of both and some ladies in between?
A little of both, I think. I wanted to try to balance writing it for an audience that had never really heard of, say, riot grrrl or foxcore before and also not bore fans who had lived through the music the first time. I knew that the primary audience would probably be women, like me, who were feeling nostalgic for that era, but I’ve been really pleased seeing that a lot of teenagers and guys have been reading it, too.

With girl fronted pop-punk group Paramore headlining a major corporate sponsored tour (and being supported by singer/songwriter sisters Tegan and Sarah) this year and all of the press surrounding the new biopic The Runaways, are we about to see girls become more common in punk rock?  Or are these just token nods to gender integration in the genre?
I definitely think being a girl in a band–or any kind of musician–has become so common as to be almost the norm. But all-girl bands are still seen as girl bands and the music they make is, I think, still seen as women’s music. That’s a hurdle I think we still need to get over.

What are your feelings about the “boys will be boys” mentality in music, mostly where male performers and bands can call their female fans “whores” or “sluts” and teenage girls cheer it on and excuse it?  Is there anything we can do about it besides just accept that it’s there?
I find it totally infuriating. Girls need to know that they don’t have to accept that, that their role in music doesn’t have to be as groupie, fan, or muse. They need to know that women can make music that’s not folky, you know? We too can make raunchy music or angry music or yearning music–the full spectrum of our lady experiences needs to be shown a little more, I think.

Near the end of Girl Power you mention how you hope music hasn’t moved away from the political sphere completely.  How do you think we can encourage politics and music to mesh without it seeming forced or disingenuous?
It’s important to show that political music doesn’t have to be explicit–it doesn’t have to look like Rage Against the Machine. Heavens to Betsy singing about periods in “My Red Self” was totally political and totally girly at the same time. Let’s reinvent political to fit our generation. Much in the same way our activism might not look like the placards and walkouts of our parents’ years, our political music doesn’t have to look or sound like theirs, either.

Okay, some non-political stuff here: Five songs you think should be on any Girl Power themed mix.  Go:

It changes all the time, but today…

Bikini Kill-”I Like Fucking”
The Breeders-”No Aloha”
Heavens to Betsy;-”Waitress Hell”
Taylor Swift-”White Horse”
Best Coast-”Make You Mine”

So, now that you’ve tackled the topic of women in music, any plans for what you’ve got coming up next?  Or are you just trying to ride and enjoy the Girl Power wave for the moment?
Now that I’ve written two books about the ’90s, I thought I was done with the era, but I know that’s a lie. I would definitely write another several books about my formative years if I had the right idea or opportunity. I have some little ideas, but mostly I’m enjoying a little time off of book writing and am writing for magazines and websites again. I am also doing a zine about first kisses with my friend Elizabeth that’s coming out in May, and then we’re going to do one about 90210 that will be released on 9/02/10. I want to have fun and keep working on things that I love. That might sound trite, but it’s true.

Want more? Pick up a copy of Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music.