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Or online, or from your fanbase? Tell us about your experience/s with those...
Yes. My second week of living in New York, I volunteered here at Willie Mae’s Rock Camp for Girls. I made a lot
of friends right away. It helped me find my current room- mates, linked me to number of other connections and boosted my confidence in teaching guitar that I started giving private lessons. It feels so refreshing to see different kinds of people making different kinds of music be it at rock camp or at Ladyfest and the like.
Do you have much connection with your family/com- munity/neighbourhood history? Would you like to tell us about those?
Somewhat. I work once a week as a band coach at the YMCA by my house in a program for teenage girls where they get the opportunity to jam on instruments lent to the Y by Willie Mae.
Was it a journey in terms of being shy initially when making music, or have you always been fairly confi- dent with playing in bands, etc?
Oh dear! It has been quite a journey. I cringe thinking about my first ever show at 18, playing solo acoustic songs at gay pride. My throat was closed up, I had diarrhea, my fingers were uncontrollable sausages, and I bumped my head very hard on the microphone after a song. For years, I refused to use a boom stand because of that. My first band started in Bloomington a while before Aye Nako.
It was called Quadrillion Babes and I was teeming with
stage fright at every show: I didn’t know how to project my singing voice, my eyes were closed or looking at my hands, and I didn’t really speak in between songs. Or in general.
Do you have band/record/music recommendations for readers?
Speedy Ortiz (Northampton, MA) - I have a great appre- ciation for 90s alternative/indie bands and their sound fits in that category so well, they could have been one. Little Victory (Brooklyn, NY) - They aren’t a band any- more, but I still love the songs they have recorded. One of the best tours of my life was with this band.
Reading lists or website links for awesome reading?
This page has introduced to me many cool women in history that I probably never would have heard of other- wise http://unapproachableblackchicks.tumblr.com/
I also look at The People’s Record, http://thepeoplesrecord.com/
Please include anything at all you would like us to print with this interview. Thank you!!!
The below drawing was done by me!
Mars and Aye Nako can be found here: https://ayenako.org/