Interviewed by Joe Montague

 

Scream! Spit! Sing! is an album not for the faint of heart and it is certainly not for the younger set, mostly because of the language that can be found in some of the songs, from Shiragirl, a hard hitting, all female band that launches a full scale assault on the listener’s ears and uses unusual environs to release their CDs, such as the case was, with this one when they officially introduced the music while navigating down New York City’s Hudson River on board a yacht, earlier this year. 

 

The band’s leader, who also goes by the name Shiragirl, says,” The tile (of the album) comes from the lyrics to one of my songs, and I think that it paraphrases my various styles pretty well. I am screaming in your face, spit is just another word for rapping and rhyming, as they bring the hip-hop element into it, and sing is just the melody.”

 

Shiragirl which is also comprised of, musical director / drummer Raine, Mar the bassist and Josette on guitar (all of whom go by just their first names), is a gate crashing band that made their first big splash in 2004 during The Warped Tour, an annual extreme sports and music traveling event. Pink was the order of the day as both Shiragirl’s hair and van were pink and she drove through the gates, onto the field and next to the stage.

 

“In 2004 I approached the director of The Warped Tour and said that there weren’t any female bands on the tour, and coming from New York, I knew a lot of female musicians and female bands. I didn’t really understand why and I told him that we really wanted to do something for girls on this tour. I said let us come in and bring a girl band. He was like, ‘Maybe next year, not this year, it is the tenth anniversary and there is a lot going on.’ We said okay, and then we just did it anyway (she laughs). We had a pink RV that we were touring in and we were set to go, so we just said, let’s see what happens. We already knew Kevin Lyman (the creator of the tour), and we knew some people on the tour, so we used that to get access. We drove in, parked next to the gate ramp and we said well here goes nothing. We got a great reception and doors opened, girls and guys came running over to see what this RV (was all about).  We were in the middle of a field and we played right out the back of the RV with a little PA. Kevin came by and it was the moment of truth. We asked if he would offer us the tour now. He thought that it was really cool that we took the risk. We were self sufficient, we never asked for anything. We just wanted to be able to do our thing. Kevin is cool. He saw a little bit of himself in me I think, and he just said okay, it’s cool. He asked us to come back the next year and we were on the official stage.  That summer paved the way for subsequent summers working with them.”

 

The brief description of the band and its leader, which appears on their myspace website describes Shiragirl as,” she makes a scene, demands attention and gains respect as she carves out her own place in music, rather than sitting around waiting to be discovered. She knows what she wants and she goes after it.” 

 

Many of Shiragirl’s songs are much closer to emulating the Ramones and NOFX than they are in sounding like The Clash, and their message is not extreme like that of the Dead Kennedys.  The noisy, distorted guitars which offer more volume than beauty in a lot of punk rock acts, is also common to Shiragirl. What Shiragirl has accomplished in their brief careers and which may contribute to their longevity as a band, is they have clearly demonstrated their ability to diversify musically, as they mix their rhymes with punk and demonstrate their creativity on lighter tunes such as the newly released “Sick Day,” and the companion video.” Sick Day,” is still in your face, but is more of a pout and a temper tantrum than it is an angry scowl.