Los Angeles art-punk veterans L7 have seen all of it, from taking part in Raji’s in Hollywood within the ’80s, to the grunge circuit within the ’90s, to very large punk and metallic festivals everywhere in the world.
“We feel at home in a lot of places,” stated L7 co-founder Donita Sparks, “and we feel out of place in a lot of places.”
In lots of these locations, particularly within the early days, L7 was one of many few bands — if not the one band — that was all feminine. So when L7 began placing collectively its personal pageant, the Quick and Horrifying Takeover on the Belasco on Nov. 23, Sparks made positive ladies had a robust presence.
“It’s called Fast and Frightening because that’s the kind of bands that I wanted,” Sparks stated. “Bands with chutzpah and style, something kind of threatening and in your face.”
Becoming a member of L7 on the pageant are teams with dynamic performers similar to Surfbort, Grownup., Olivia Jean, the Paranoyds and NIIS. “Each band has their own style,” Sparks stated.
Surfbort singer Dani Miller known as the pageant “a dream come true” and was thrilled to be a part of the lineup.
“It’s super heavy on the women band members, women bands and women-led bands,” Miller stated. “I think that’s special because a lot of festivals, no offense, are kind of bro-centric. It’s cool to have L7 take the lead and mix it up.”
As soon as phrase obtained out concerning the pageant, bands began contacting Sparks and providing to play, however “I really wanted that powerhouse second band,” Sparks stated. “I wanted Redd Kross, our brothers in rock. We have such an L.A. legacy, the two bands, but we haven’t played together since 1991.”
That present was on the Hollywood Palladium with the Butthole Surfers headlining. In some ways, that gig embodied the eclectic mixture of performers L7 needed to emulate with its personal pageant.
“Each one of those bands was an island. Butthole Surfers, an island. Redd Kross, an island. L7, an island. We’re still islands. Redd Kross and L7, we don’t fit in any one particular category.”
Straight out of Hawthorne, Redd Kross is getting some lengthy overdue consideration with a brand new documentary, “Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story,” directed by Andrew Reich, and a brand new ebook, “Now You’re One of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross,” written by founders Jeff and Steven McDonald, with Dan Epstein.
“We love L7,” stated Steven McDonald, who joined his first punk rock band when he was in center college. “In fact, Redd Kross used to share a rehearsal room with them.”
L7 frontwoman Donita Sparks.
(Robert Fagan)
McDonald had a entrance row seat to the beginning of Black Flag in Hermosa Seaside, however Redd Kross sounds nothing like that group — or anybody else, for that matter.
“I feel like L7 and Redd Kross share a certain sensibility,” Sparks stated. “Not only that out-of-place kind of thing, but the way we look at the world. It’s serious, but it’s also ridiculous and absurd. Both of our bands make note of that.”
With L7’s Quick and Horrifying Takeover, Sparks hopes to seize the spirit of the L.A. scene when punk was an impulse to create one thing new and never an aesthetic with inflexible guidelines and a longtime sound.
“In true L7 fashion,” McDonald stated, “they’ve curated a lineup that is uniquely thrilling, thoughtful and plain ol’ badass. We hope it goes on to be an annual event and are honored to be included on the maiden voyage.”
Talking of voyages, L7 will probably be transport out subsequent spring on Little Steven’s Underground Storage Cruise with X and Social Distortion. However for now, the main focus is on the pageant, from determining the schedule to selling it on social media.
“We’re from the art punk scene,” Sparks stated of L7’s do-it-yourself origins. “I wasn’t from the L.A. hardcore scene or anything like that. I consider punk rock a really broad term, and I feel that this is a very punk rock festival. There’s goth, there’s electronica.”
After which there’s Detroit’s Schizophonics, which have constructed a repute within the Motor Metropolis as a not-to-be-missed stay act with explosive power.
“Just you wait,” Sparks stated. “The frontman in the Schizophonics is a madman.”
There’s nothing hardcore concerning the Mexican Standoff, however strive listening to “One Way Ticket to TJ,” with out it getting drilled into your head without end. These Mexican American women sing Mexamericana tunes in English and Spanish with candy harmonies and lyrics that chew.
L7 is maybe greatest recognized for the crossover hit “Pretend We’re Dead,” however magician Rob Zabrecky truly communes with the deceased on the Magic Fort’s Houdini Séance Room. The previous frontman of Possum Dixon will probably be performing on the pageant however is one way or the other not probably the most outrageous act on the invoice.
That honor belongs to the Lou Man Group, whose members play Lou Reed covers in blueface. Sparks is the band’s drummer.
“We haven’t played in a very long time,” Sparks stated. “It’s almost like a Lou Man Group reunion.”
The Quick and Horrifying Takeover has been within the works for a very long time and attracts closely from L7’s experiences taking part in a variety of festivals and festivals — each world wide and proper right here in L.A.
“We’ve been asked to do these boutique festivals, and they’re not big, all-day things,” Sparks stated. “They’re like block parties and more eclectic than some of these big festivals. So we figured there was a space to fill in L.A. for that.”
Sparks in contrast the pageant, which takes its title from L7’s 2016 album of deep cuts and canopy songs, to the Sundown Junction Avenue Truthful, which shut down in 2011.
“Sunset Junction was very inclusive, freak flags flying, lot of different kinds of people,” Sparks stated. “This is kind of like Sunset Junction in a bottle, all at the Belasco. You can drink, you can eat, you can rock and you can dance.”
Dancing at a punk present? In L.A.?
“It used to be more common, especially in Europe,” Sparks stated. “The rock show would end, and then there’d be a dance club at the same location. We’d come out of the dressing room, and there would be a dance party.”
DJ Paul V. of Dragstrip 66 and DJs from Lesbian Goth Night time will probably be serving up tunes to bounce the evening away.
“I think it’s going to be an epic night,” Miller stated, “and a good place for all us all to get together and scream and cry and support each other.”
Sparks echoed these sentiments: “I feel that everybody needs a night off. I think we should all celebrate cool culture and come together. Let’s have some fun and dance the pain away.”
L7’s Quick and Horrifying Takeover on the Belasco, 10500 S. Hill St. in DTLA at 5 p.m. Nov. 23. $43.23 to $75.50, fastandfrightening.com
Ruland is the writer of “Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records” and the novel “Make It Stop.”
