Sharon Cheslow
Encyclopedia
Sharon Cheslow is an American musician, composer, and artist. In 1981, she formed Chalk Circle
, Washington, D.C.'s
first all-female punk band. She has since become an accomplished artist who works between different mediums, mostly sound-based.
. She listened to rock and roll
and was influenced by her parents' love of music, especially protest music. Her mother graduated from UCLA and was pro-civil rights. Her family moved to the Washington, D.C. suburbs in 1967 after Cheslow's father got a job with the U.S. Department of Transportation
. They first moved to Silver Spring, MD
and then to Bethesda, MD
where she experienced anti-semitism
.
and hardcore punk, she was influenced by the Beatles, Yoko Ono
, Patti Smith
, The Slits
, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and jazz
. Her first band Chalk Circle, as guitarist, grew out of her friendships with Anne Bonafede, Henry Garfield (later Henry Rollins
), and members of the Teen Idles and Untouchables around late 1979/early 1980. They shared a love of Bad Brains
and California punk. When the D.C. hardcore
scene became more macho Chalk Circle didn't fit in so well, but they got support from art punk bands such as Half Japanese
and Velvet Monkeys
. Cheslow attended University of Maryland
and first learned about feminist theory
through film studies
classes with Robert Kolker. These experiences led Cheslow to examine and write about the role of women in music.
Cheslow’s first fanzine
was If This Goes On, co-published with Colin Sears
from 1982-83. With Cynthia Connolly
and Leslie Clague, she compiled the photographic punk oral history
book Banned In DC in 1988. It was one of the first books to document a regional American hardcore scene. Her first issue of Interrobang?! was published in 1989 with a Nation of Ulysses
interview.
Cheslow was also in Bloody Mannequin Orchestra
in the early 1980s and their recordings came out on WGNS
. BMO combined hardcore punk
with noise rock
, no wave
, and improvisation
. She was also in a one-off project with Fugazi's Joe Lally.
and Bratmobile
. In the 1990s she was in indie rock
bands Suture (with Dug E. Bird of Beefeater
and Kathleen Hanna
), Red Eye (with Tim Green of Nation of Ulysses
), and The Electrolettes (with Julianna Bright, later of The Quails
). Her recordings came out on Dischord Records
, Kill Rock Stars
, and her label Decomposition. She played guitar and bass and was a singer and songwriter for all three bands, although Hanna was the main vocalist and lyricist for Suture.
. In 2000 Cheslow edited an anthology on music and transcendence as Interrobang? #4 which featured writings by Pauline Oliveros
, Maggi Payne
, Nicole Panter, Public Works
, Niko Wenner (of Oxbow
), and Allison Wolfe
.
She is a contributor to Thurston Moore's
book Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture
.
Cheslow edited and published the book Interrobang?! Anthology on Music and Family in 2008, with contributions by Cynthia Connolly
, Pauline Oliveros
, Ian MacKaye
, Alan Licht
, Jean Smith
, Anna Oxygen
, Bill Berkson
, Kevin Mattson
, and others.
arts at Mills College
in the music department, she began performing and exhibiting experimental music
, sound art
, and installations
. Her sound collage
s and explorations are documented on the CD, Lullabye from the Sky, released in 2002 on Decomposition under the name Sharon Cheslow and Coterie Exchange. It featured collaborations with Tim Green, Julianna Bright and members of Deerhoof
among others. The project was the audio component from sound installations she had been performing. In 2003 Fan Music: Winds of Change was featured at Lincoln Center Out of Doors
. Her videos
to the tracks Dream/Construct and September Son are on two Kill Rock Stars
video compilations. In 2004 she toured and collaborated with Yellow Swans
, Inca Ore, and Chuck Bettis.
Cheslow moved back to Los Angeles in 2005. Since then she has collaborated with Weasel Walter
, Christina Carter (Charalambides
), and Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers
). In L.A. her collaborators have included David Scott Stone
, Anna Oxygen
, and Steve Kim (Silver Daggers
). She performs with guitar, electronics, organ, digital audio, objects, and vocals.
In 2006 and 2007 she presented the Coterie Exchange sound event Sonic Triptych in Oakland, LA, and NY. The NY version was a collaboration with filmmaker/video artist James Schneider (who directed Blue is Beautiful
). Sonic Triptych first premiered in San Francisco in 2002 with nine women, including Blevin Blectum
and members of Erase Errata
.
EPs and Singles
Chalk Circle (band)
Chalk Circle were an American punk rock band formed in 1981 in Washington, DC. Their raw, rhythmic, minimal sound had more in common with post-punk or art punk than D.C. hardcore, a community they initially helped pioneer...
, Washington, D.C.'s
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
first all-female punk band. She has since become an accomplished artist who works between different mediums, mostly sound-based.
Early years
Born in Los Angeles, Sharon Cheslow grew up in the Jewish area near Wilshire and FairfaxFairfax District, Los Angeles, California
The Fairfax District is an area of neighborhoods in the Mid-City West area of Los Angeles, California.- Geography :It is roughly bordered by West Hollywood on the north, Highland Avenue on the east, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills on the west and Wilshire Boulevard on the south...
. She listened to rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and was influenced by her parents' love of music, especially protest music. Her mother graduated from UCLA and was pro-civil rights. Her family moved to the Washington, D.C. suburbs in 1967 after Cheslow's father got a job with the U.S. Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
. They first moved to Silver Spring, MD
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
and then to Bethesda, MD
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
where she experienced anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
.
D.C. bands and publications
Before getting into post-punkPost-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and hardcore punk, she was influenced by the Beatles, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, The Slits
The Slits
The Slits were a British punk rock band. The quartet was formed in 1976 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The members were Ari Up , who died of cancer in October 2010, and Palmolive , with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members, Kate Korus and...
, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. Her first band Chalk Circle, as guitarist, grew out of her friendships with Anne Bonafede, Henry Garfield (later Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
), and members of the Teen Idles and Untouchables around late 1979/early 1980. They shared a love of Bad Brains
Bad Brains
Bad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of...
and California punk. When the D.C. hardcore
Washington, D.C. hardcore
Washington, D.C. has had one of the first and most influential hardcore punk scenes in the United States since the early 1980s.Among the earliest DC punk bands were the Bad Brains, Slickee Boys, Teen Idles, Minor Threat, S.O.A., Chalk Circle, Velvet Monkeys, Void, The Faith, DC Youth Brigade,...
scene became more macho Chalk Circle didn't fit in so well, but they got support from art punk bands such as Half Japanese
Half Japanese
Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune guitar...
and Velvet Monkeys
Velvet Monkeys
Velvet Monkeys is an American rock band currently based in New York City, formed in 1980. The name "Velvet Monkeys" was a combination of The Velvet Underground and The Monkees.-Background:...
. Cheslow attended University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
and first learned about feminist theory
Feminist theory
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical discourse, it aims to understand the nature of gender inequality...
through film studies
Film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to films. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies...
classes with Robert Kolker. These experiences led Cheslow to examine and write about the role of women in music.
Cheslow’s first fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
was If This Goes On, co-published with Colin Sears
Colin Sears
Colin Sears is a punk drummer who has performed in Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, Dag Nasty, The Marshes, and currently Handgun Bravado and The Valley Floor...
from 1982-83. With Cynthia Connolly
Cynthia Connolly
Cynthia Connolly is an American photographer, graphic designer, and artist. She graduated from Corcoran College of Art and Design and worked for Dischord Records and d.c. space. In 1988 she published Banned in DC: Photos and Anecdotes From the DC Punk Underground through her small press Sun Dog...
and Leslie Clague, she compiled the photographic punk oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
book Banned In DC in 1988. It was one of the first books to document a regional American hardcore scene. Her first issue of Interrobang?! was published in 1989 with a Nation of Ulysses
Nation of Ulysses
The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply "Ulysses," the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kroner on guitar, Steve Gamboa on bass guitar, and James...
interview.
Cheslow was also in Bloody Mannequin Orchestra
Bloody Mannequin Orchestra
Bloody Mannequin Orchestra were an influential early 1980s punk band from Bethesda, MD. They formed around a small, but active, scene at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and were part of the larger D.C hardcore community. The band members were Colin Sears, Roger Marbury, Alex Mahoney, Sharon...
in the early 1980s and their recordings came out on WGNS
WGNS Recordings
-History:WGNS was initially started in the early 1980s as a cassette label. Initial recordings were mastered to a cassette and then dubbed from the master to cassettes which were numbered and sold...
. BMO combined hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
with noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
, no wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
, and improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
. She was also in a one-off project with Fugazi's Joe Lally.
Bands
Cheslow moved to San Francisco in 1990, continued to collaborate with musicians in D.C., and was an influence on Bikini KillBikini Kill
Bikini Kill was an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in October 1990. The group consisted of vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band is widely considered to be the pioneer of the riot grrrl movement,...
and Bratmobile
Bratmobile
Bratmobile was an American punk band. Bratmobile was a first-generation "riot grrrl" band, which grew from the Pacific Northwest and Washington, DC underground...
. In the 1990s she was in indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
bands Suture (with Dug E. Bird of Beefeater
Beefeater (band)
Beefeater was an American post-hardcore band from late 1984 until 1986. Formed by Tomas Squip, Fred "Freak" Smith, Dug E. Bird and Bruce Atchley Taylor, they were pioneers of the post-hardcore genre and the Revolution Summer which took place in the Washington D.C. hardcore in the mid-'80s with...
and Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. In the early- to mid-1990s she was the lead singer and songwriter of Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s...
), Red Eye (with Tim Green of Nation of Ulysses
Nation of Ulysses
The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply "Ulysses," the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kroner on guitar, Steve Gamboa on bass guitar, and James...
), and The Electrolettes (with Julianna Bright, later of The Quails
The Quails (US band)
The Quails was a punk band from San Francisco, California. The band was formed in 1999 by Seth Lorinczi, formerly of Circus Lupus, and have released three albums, the second of which, Atmosphere , was praised for its "strangeness" and "artistic value" by Kerry L...
). Her recordings came out on Dischord Records
Dischord Records
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in the independent punk music of the D.C.-area music scene. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release Minor Disturbance by The Teen Idles...
, Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
, and her label Decomposition. She played guitar and bass and was a singer and songwriter for all three bands, although Hanna was the main vocalist and lyricist for Suture.
Publications
In the mid-'90s, Cheslow published her comprehensive list of women in late '70s punk in Interrobang?! and it became available as an online list. Interrobang?! #2, published in 1994 featured an interview with Cork Marcheschi of Fifty Foot HoseFifty Foot Hose
Fifty Foot Hose is a psychedelic rock band that formed in San Francisco in the late 1960s, and reformed in the 1990s. They were one of the first bands to fuse rock and experimental music...
. In 2000 Cheslow edited an anthology on music and transcendence as Interrobang? #4 which featured writings by Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Maggi Payne
Maggi Payne
Maggi Payne is a composer, flutist, video artist, recording engineer/editor, and historical remastering engineer who creates electroacoustic, instrumental, and vocal works, and works involving visuals ....
, Nicole Panter, Public Works
The Tape-beatles
The Tape-beatles are a multi-media group that formed in Iowa City in December 1986. Its members have included Lloyd Dunn, John Heck, Ralph Johnson, Paul Neff, and Linda Morgan Brown...
, Niko Wenner (of Oxbow
Oxbow (band)
Oxbow is a long-lived Avant-Garde band out of San Francisco, California notable for a unique sound. Oxbow plays a blend of Noise rock, Avant-garde jazz, Musique concrète , and Blues, creating soundscapes caustic, or plangent, with overtones of paranoia, revulsion, exaltation.-Current line-up:*Dan...
), and Allison Wolfe
Allison Wolfe
-Background:Born an identical twin in Memphis, Tennessee on November 9, 1969, Allison played a significant role in the formation of the riot grrrl movement of the 90s. She grew up in Olympia, Washington, with mother Pat Shively and sisters Cindy and Molly Wolfe...
.
She is a contributor to Thurston Moore's
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
book Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture
Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture
Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture is a 2005 book edited by musician Thurston Moore on Universe Publishing.-Info:The book is a collection of stories, essays, art, and other contributions by various artists, musicians, and writers...
.
Cheslow edited and published the book Interrobang?! Anthology on Music and Family in 2008, with contributions by Cynthia Connolly
Cynthia Connolly
Cynthia Connolly is an American photographer, graphic designer, and artist. She graduated from Corcoran College of Art and Design and worked for Dischord Records and d.c. space. In 1988 she published Banned in DC: Photos and Anecdotes From the DC Punk Underground through her small press Sun Dog...
, Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Ian MacKaye
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well...
, Alan Licht
Alan Licht
Alan Licht is an American guitarist and composer, whose work combines elements of pop, noise, free jazz and minimalism. He is also a writer and journalist.-Biography:Licht was born in New Jersey in 1968...
, Jean Smith
Jean Smith
Jean Smith is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Vancouver-based band Mecca Normal, as well as a painter, novelist, lecturer and filmmaker...
, Anna Oxygen
Anna Oxygen
Anna Oxygen is the stage name of an American musician and actress from in and around Olympia, Washington, Anna Jordan Huff.After graduating from Evergreen State College with a music degree, Huff began her musical career in the late 1990s with the novelty synth-pop group the Space Ballerinas...
, Bill Berkson
Bill Berkson
Bill Berkson is an American poet, critic, teacher and sometime curator, who has been active in the art and literary worlds since his early twenties.-Life:Born in New York on August 30, 1939, Bill Berkson grew up on Manhattan’s Upper...
, Kevin Mattson
Kevin Mattson
Kevin Mattson is an American historian and critic.Mattson received his B.A. from the New School and his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. For several years he ran the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University,He is the Connor Study Professor of...
, and others.
Coterie Exchange
While studying intermediaIntermedia
Intermedia was a concept employed in the mid-sixties by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the ineffable, often confusing, inter-disciplinary activities that occur between genres that became prevalent in the 1960s. Thus, the areas such as those between drawing and poetry, or between painting...
arts at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
in the music department, she began performing and exhibiting experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
, sound art
Sound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
, and installations
Sound installation
Sound installation is an intermedia and time based art form. It is an expansion of an art installation in the sense that it includes the sound element and therefore the time element...
. Her sound collage
Sound collage
In music, montage or sound collage is a technique where sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage, the use of portions of previous recordings or scores...
s and explorations are documented on the CD, Lullabye from the Sky, released in 2002 on Decomposition under the name Sharon Cheslow and Coterie Exchange. It featured collaborations with Tim Green, Julianna Bright and members of Deerhoof
Deerhoof
Deerhoof is a musical group consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier.-Origins:In 1992, Greg Saunier, having recently graduated with a degree in music composition from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, joined a short-lived San Francisco quartet called Nitre Pit, on...
among others. The project was the audio component from sound installations she had been performing. In 2003 Fan Music: Winds of Change was featured at Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
. Her videos
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
to the tracks Dream/Construct and September Son are on two Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
video compilations. In 2004 she toured and collaborated with Yellow Swans
Yellow Swans
Yellow Swans were an American experimental electronic noise band from Portland, Oregon. The duo are renowned for their improvisional approach to music, creating a unique experience for each live performance. They describe their music as "a constantly evolving mass of psychedelic noise that is both...
, Inca Ore, and Chuck Bettis.
Cheslow moved back to Los Angeles in 2005. Since then she has collaborated with Weasel Walter
Weasel Walter
Weasel Walter is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell and is a current member of Cellular Chaos and Behold...The Arctopus...
, Christina Carter (Charalambides
Charalambides
Charalambides is an avant garde musical group originally from Houston, Texas, USA and lately of Austin, Texas. Formed in 1991 by Tom Carter, Christina Carter and Kyle Silfer, they have followed in the footsteps of other Texas psychedelic music artists such as the 13th Floor Elevators, Red Crayola,...
), and Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers
Magik Markers
The Magik Markers are a noise rock band from Hartford, Connecticut. The members, Elisa Ambrogio, Pete Nolan and Leah Quimby started the band in their basement in 2001. After opening for Sonic Youth on their American tour in 2004, the band gained notoriety...
). In L.A. her collaborators have included David Scott Stone
David Scott Stone
David Scott Stone is a musician who has recorded and toured with artists like The Melvins, Unwound, Fantômas, The Locust, Jello Biafra, Keiji Haino, Mike Patton, Adam Jones , Merzbow, Masonna, Big Business, No Age, Joe Lally and others. He is currently a member of LCD Soundsystem...
, Anna Oxygen
Anna Oxygen
Anna Oxygen is the stage name of an American musician and actress from in and around Olympia, Washington, Anna Jordan Huff.After graduating from Evergreen State College with a music degree, Huff began her musical career in the late 1990s with the novelty synth-pop group the Space Ballerinas...
, and Steve Kim (Silver Daggers
Silver Daggers
Silver Daggers were an American Synthpunk/noise rock band formed in 2003. Known for combining intense, atonal music with post-apocalyptic political ideas, they form part of the circle of musicians in close affiliation with The Smell.-Discography:...
). She performs with guitar, electronics, organ, digital audio, objects, and vocals.
In 2006 and 2007 she presented the Coterie Exchange sound event Sonic Triptych in Oakland, LA, and NY. The NY version was a collaboration with filmmaker/video artist James Schneider (who directed Blue is Beautiful
In Film/On Video
In Film/On Video is a collection of video and film of Washington D.C. rock band Make-Up released in 2006 by Dischord Records. Included on the DVD:...
). Sonic Triptych first premiered in San Francisco in 2002 with nine women, including Blevin Blectum
Blevin Blectum
Blevin Blectum is an electronic musician.Blectum comes from a musical family, and she studied the violin during her youth. At Mills College, she partnered with Kevin Blechdom to form Blectum From Blechdom, a performance art electronica duo. In 2001, Blectum From Blechdom won an Award of...
and members of Erase Errata
Erase Errata
Erase Errata is a band from San Francisco, California. They often name experimentalists such as Captain Beefheart, The Fall, and the Minutemen as inspirations...
.
Videography
- Dream/Construct on Video Fanzine #2 (NTSC VHS, Kill Rock Stars, 3 October 2000, KRS300) http://www.buyolympia.com/killrockstars/Item=KRS300
- While the City Sleeps and September Son on Sharon Cheslow Video Shorts (DVD, Decompostion, 2004, DE08)
- September Son on Video Fanzine #3 (NTSC DVD, Kill Rock Stars, 12 July 2005, KRS400) http://www.buyolympia.com/killrockstars/Item=KRS400
Discography
- Mixed Nuts Don't Crack compilation (1982) with Chalk CircleChalk Circle (band)Chalk Circle were an American punk rock band formed in 1981 in Washington, DC. Their raw, rhythmic, minimal sound had more in common with post-punk or art punk than D.C. hardcore, a community they initially helped pioneer...
- Time Clock = Hole in Head compilation (1983) with Chalk CircleChalk Circle (band)Chalk Circle were an American punk rock band formed in 1981 in Washington, DC. Their raw, rhythmic, minimal sound had more in common with post-punk or art punk than D.C. hardcore, a community they initially helped pioneer...
and Bloody Mannequin OrchestraBloody Mannequin OrchestraBloody Mannequin Orchestra were an influential early 1980s punk band from Bethesda, MD. They formed around a small, but active, scene at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and were part of the larger D.C hardcore community. The band members were Colin Sears, Roger Marbury, Alex Mahoney, Sharon... - We Gots No Station compilation (1984) with Chalk CircleChalk Circle (band)Chalk Circle were an American punk rock band formed in 1981 in Washington, DC. Their raw, rhythmic, minimal sound had more in common with post-punk or art punk than D.C. hardcore, a community they initially helped pioneer...
- Roadmap to Revolution (1984) with Bloody Mannequin OrchestraBloody Mannequin OrchestraBloody Mannequin Orchestra were an influential early 1980s punk band from Bethesda, MD. They formed around a small, but active, scene at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and were part of the larger D.C hardcore community. The band members were Colin Sears, Roger Marbury, Alex Mahoney, Sharon...
- Streetlights in the Dark (1985) with Bloody Mannequin OrchestraBloody Mannequin OrchestraBloody Mannequin Orchestra were an influential early 1980s punk band from Bethesda, MD. They formed around a small, but active, scene at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and were part of the larger D.C hardcore community. The band members were Colin Sears, Roger Marbury, Alex Mahoney, Sharon...
- A Wonderful Treat compilation (1991) with Suture
- Static Storm (1998) with Red Eye
- Plug Me In (1998) with Electrolettes
- Lullabye from the Sky (2002) with Coterie Exchange
- Uncertainty Rides the Waves (2004) with Coterie Exchange, KIT
- Collaborations (2005) with Yellow SwansYellow SwansYellow Swans were an American experimental electronic noise band from Portland, Oregon. The duo are renowned for their improvisional approach to music, creating a unique experience for each live performance. They describe their music as "a constantly evolving mass of psychedelic noise that is both...
, Inca Ore, Chuck Bettis, Jerry Lim, Kris Thompson - Macro-Eden compilation (2006) Sharon Cheslow solo
- Less Self is More Self compilation (2006) with Trebville Exchange
- Plants That Kill (2007) with Liz Allbee, Weasel WalterWeasel WalterWeasel Walter is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell and is a current member of Cellular Chaos and Behold...The Arctopus...
- Reflection (2011) with Chalk CircleChalk Circle (band)Chalk Circle were an American punk rock band formed in 1981 in Washington, DC. Their raw, rhythmic, minimal sound had more in common with post-punk or art punk than D.C. hardcore, a community they initially helped pioneer...
EPs and Singles
- “Pretty Is” EP (1992) with Suture
- “Special Delivery to My Heart” 7” (1995) with Red Eye
- “Octane Lies” 7” (1999) with Electrolettes
External links
- Official Website
- Interrobang?!
- Banned in DC
- Electrolettes' Kill Rock Stars Factsheet
- Decomposition profile by Tobi VailTobi VailTobi Vail is an independent musician, DIY zinester, and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington, noted primarily as the drummer of the defunct punk band Bikini Kill. She formed one of her first bands as the drummer for The Go Team when she was 15, later collaborating in several other groups...
- Sharon Cheslow's myspace